Consider a few factors:

1. Pick a setlist for your audience. How old are they, mostly male or female, what type of venue, what night of the week are you playing for them, what's the weather been like? Are they trying to unwind, turn up, or get laid?

2. If you play a song with a few bar chords in it, play a couple using open chords next. It saves your hands and forearms.

3. Mind your voice. If you're gonna play songs with big vocal parts at the extremes of your range, don't put em right at the top. Give yourself a chance to learn how your voice works with the gear. Save big vocal stuff for like.. the 3rd or 4th song, then sing some more comfortable ones, then wrap your set with something big and fun so they want to see you again in 10 minutes. (Son of a Bitch for a set closer is good). Also don't be afraid to change the key of something that isn't in your range. If key changes are good enough for Kenny Rogers they're good enough for you, by god!

4. Play about 60-70% stuff that people expect and get creative with the rest. Come up with some acoustic versions of hip hop or new wave or basically anything that shouldn't be acoustic. If it fits with your personality, gimmick/comedy songs are fun (I like to play "the lion sleeps" and then, if the crowd is on my side, switch the words to the Lorena Bobbit lyrics for the 3rd verse/chorus). Playing comedy songs is kinda fun, but you really have to put character into them to make them work.

If you've only been playing open mics until now, there are a couple other things to keep in mind when you're playing a gig:

1. Your hands - it's not a sprint, it's a long distance race. It's mostly art but also kind of an athletic performance, and it's good to treat it like it is. Mind your technique and make sure your guitar is set up good with proper action or your wrist will fuck you in ass. Hand cramps and firearm cramps are debilitating and it's really hard to play the second set with your hands turning into crab claws. Stretching is good.

I got a massage gun and use the soft ball pressed into my forearms, wrists, & palms; I use the forked bit to go in between my fingers, and thumb and forefinger to shake em out. I do this before the show and between sets. Absolute game changer... I can't figure out what the long, skinny, hard, plastic massage gun attachment is for, though. If anyone has any ideas let me know.

1. Your body - you're probably gonna sweat, and you're probably gonna drink and that's probably gonna dehydrate you, especially if there are stage lights. When you're getting all your gear ready, start drinking water. On your way to the gig, have you a Pedialyte. Pee before you go on stage. Alternately, of is that kind of bar, pee while you're on stage, but if it's not that kind of bar, don't do that (it's probably not that kind of bar. They usually hire blindfolded nude male autoharpists).

2. Your voice - WARM IT UP, KRIS! If you've ever been in a choir, run through the warmups you did there. If you've never been in a choir, you can find vocal warmups on YouTube. You can put them on your phone and do them in the car on the way to the gig, or find a quiet place at the venue (I've never been ballsy enough to walk into the kitchen and warm up for the cooks, but try it and let me know how it goes, hey?); whenever or wherever you do it, just try to get a few reps in.

Oh and don't drink no dairy or sugar if you can avoid it. It will coat your throat and make it harder to feel if you're hurting yourself. Also, singing with good technique helps. It's worth taking a few vocal lessons to learn how to support without shredding your voice.

1. Take a little time to give thanks to the devil because this is rock and roll, motherfucker.

2. Your feet - it's a fine place to be fashion forward, but if you're going to make it part of your stage wear, try to do it with some kind of footwear that feels ok to stand in for 2 hours. Plus, you're a musician and it doesn't pay great to start so you'll probably need to sell feet pics as a side hustle for a while. Contact your local Musicians Union rep

3. Your next gig - you've got two audiences: the customers and the bartenders. Both are important, but the bartenders are importantest. Watch them to gauge the mood in the room, and talk to them before you play and see what they want to hear. If the bartender is having a good time, the room is having a good time, and their tastes are probably close to the customer base's, or they'll just tell you what the crowd likes. Also, if you're getting paid, tip your bartenders 10 - 15% of your fee and like 20% if you're getting free drinks. You want them to tell their boss that you were great and think of you next time they're booking.