Trying to return the thread to its original intention - discussing variety in one's "act" over a period:

I have only been gigging for some 2 and a half years, so usually my audiences are new, so whatever tried-and-trusted sets and patter I have usually work OK there. But...

I have already had some repeat gigs; clearly, I could not do the same material, I would feel as if I am cheating people. In such cases, while I retain the strongest songs (that some people might like to hear again anyway) I try to change the patter for them, and also try to introduce something new. In a typical repeat gig I would have 30-50% "new" songs. Also...

When appearing at festivals and doing multiple sets, I try to have a minimum of overlap between them, so that audiences can come to more than one of my sets without being bored. At Otley festival recently I had 5 sets to do in 3 days (each with 7 songs). I repeated 4 songs 3 times and 3 songs twice, using in total 24 different songs. I also varied the position of songs in the set, as I tried to vary the "mood" I was trying to create with the set. Which leads me to...

...construction of a set is an art form in itself, and I have much yet to learn on this, but I already have had some useful hints from friends: Plan the emotions you will take your audience through, not just fast-slow-fast alternations. Use contrasts to great effect (a humorous or irreverent song right after a wrist-slasher). Plan in advance if you want to leave them on a "high" or a "meditative" state - both can be very effective. Plan which songs you will drop in advance and do timechecks to see if you can use them or not. etc etc.

But most important of all, I NEED to vary my sets for my own sanity and pleasure. Let's face it, if I was doing exactly the same set every time I'd get bored soon; that would in turn show in my performance (I am not such a professional that I can "turn it on" like Vin Garbutt and other masters). I need to be enjoying what I do if the audience is to enjoy it too. Perhaps that is because of the kind of performer that I am, "heart on sleeve" like.

At gigs I do not use song sheets - there have been 2 or 3 exceptions only, when I wanted for some reason to sing a particular not-often-used song at that venue for specific reasons. Typically, in my CD launch concerts at "home" I end the set with an out-of-yhe-CD song, most often the newest song I have written; the song sheet is needed then, but as it is an exception, I don't think audiences mind. But normally I would not use safety nets, because they distract and limit my ability to interact with the audience.

But apart from a gigging performer I am also a folk club member. At singarounds in my "local" clubs I like to bring out the newest songs, to "try them out", and get some early reactions. They are often in a still-evolving stage, and typically yet unlearned, so song sheets are the norm there. But in a singaround that is not too much of an issue, one is not performing so much as sharing, and I believe the other club members understand and excuse my use of song sheets at such times.