I dont think so.

Occassionally, if anything i think gigs are shorter now than before, most venues in dublin (bar the Olympia) seem to finish up aroung 10.30 which i think is a bit too early, i would prefer if they started a bit later.

As for your point about arcade fire, i would be a bit peeved if i paid 50/60 euro for a ticket and the gig was over within an hour

All depends. If an artist has the back catalogue and the stamina to hold an audience for three hours, then why not play for three hours?

Even for a band or artist on their first album, and hour is just too short. I remember Ryan Adams played for just over an hour in the Ambassador a few yeas ago. Despite putting on a good show and being well received, the atmosphere was a little cold walking out of the venue.

Yeah i agree.

Another thing that annoys me is bands playing encores for the sake of it. Fair eoungh if its a good gig and the crowd are really into it but i dont see the point in encores in run of the mill gigs.

Last time Ryan Adams played in the olympia, he said that he was gonna take a break for 5 minutes so people could get drinks and/or use bathrooms and that he was gonna play for another half and hour afterwards.

i kinda agree with that on the encore, peejay... i also like the idea of two sets or 'acts'... i've seen various people doing it, perhaps most perfectly done by joanna newsom (first set with orchestra, second with small band)...

...ah yeah, i could listen to certain types of music for hours but after an indie-rock band has belted out its 14th 4-minute guitar 'classic', i'm usually starting to reach saturation point...

Far too many bands keep some of their songs specifically for encores, whether their performance merits it or not, so they're keeping their best songs from the set and assuming we want to hear more of them when they should be finished, which we might do if they had played some of those best songs. Silly. I think the best long gig I've ever been to was Final Fantasy, he played three or four encores, and he obviously wasn't expecting it.

As for long gigs...if a band can't keep your interest for an entire set then they're just not worth going to in the first place. With really good gigs you just never want them to end! I'm sure there is a certain perfect point that a gig should end, but it's too hard to tell, particularly as it does just depend for different bands and types of music. I don't think I've ever been to a gig I actually enjoyed but thought it went on too long. As for the Arcade Fire gig, I don't think the length was what made it sag in the middle.

Asking if gigs are too long is like asking is a piece of string too long? Well, yes, no, maybe, depends... depends totally on the band, how much you like watching them play, how good the set is, what the weather's like, what drugs you've got on you, how you feel that day, who yr with, what you had for dinner etc etc etc...

Shit bands should play zero minute long gigs. Great bands should play forever.

Yip! That pretty much sums it up!!!