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Unique Stage Set Ideas


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I've really been thinking lately about making our stage shows more of a visual experience, besides us just rocking out and looking good.

 

Here's some ideas I've thought up, and I'd like to hear your thoughts, or if you've got some cool ideas to contribute. Realize these are a lot of brainstormed ideas, and don't neccessarily have any musical contribution, I just want to try different, wacky things.

 

-have old tv's all over the stage, on the amps, on the drum riser, spread around... all the tv's either showing the same video clip or just having static while we play.

 

-have someone 'playing the lights' in the band. have lights, strobes, floods set up around the stage, and have a light guy as a member of the band who is creating visual lighting atmosphere while we play {(a good example is Fear Before the March of Flames)

 

-building a set. I heard some people discussing the idea of building some sort of set pieces that would fit onto the amps and the cabs, even the drum set and on stage to make it look like buildings , possibly something like destroyed buildings. This is something I've really wanted to look into, just a set not neccessarily the buildings thing, so I'd love to hear ideas on this

 

-trees and plant life all over the stage, to make it look like we're playing in forest or something

 

Come on! I'm serious about this! give some ideas out!

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Dude, that sounds like a lot of work, of course I am lazy. I would say if you want to invest the time and money, then go for it. I like the destroyed buildings idea since you could make it from smaller pieces that you later assemble on stage, and that you could probably make it from something lightweight. The TV thing sound like a bunch of heavy lifting, broken glass, an overtaxed electrical supply, and interference with wireless units, etc. to me. Either way, I like your enthusiasm. Best of luck.

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Dude, that sounds like a lot of work, of course I am lazy. I would say if you want to invest the time and money, then go for it. I like the destroyed buildings idea since you could make it from smaller pieces that you later assemble on stage, and that you could probably make it from something lightweight. The TV thing sound like a bunch of heavy lifting, broken glass, an overtaxed electrical supply, and interference with wireless units, etc. to me. Either way, I like your enthusiasm. Best of luck.

 

I know I can get people to help out with the setup issue, I'm not too worried about that one, it won't take up any extra time.

 

I hear what you're saying about the tv's though. one tv falls and breaks, and it's bad news.

 

Send any ideas you have, I think with any idea there's going to be problems that need to be dealt with, but this is a labor of love for me, so I don't mind working through the issues, in fact, I rather like it.

 

BY THE WAY

my band released a new track on our myspace. if you can get there... go listen!

www.myspace.com/DearStrangerMusic the track is called 'selling lies'

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So I was listening to your song "selling lies," which I liked by the way. The beginning of the song reminded me of an air raid and I was digging the destroyed buildings thing and maybe mini search lights in the back of a drum riser. But then I was thinking if you make a specifically "themed" stage set (like destroyed buildings), will the music match it? Is that a concern? Maybe you should be thinking of something more general in nature? Just some thoughts.

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You must be playing stages that are lot bigger than the ones I usually see. Many of the stages we get stuck on present a big enough challenge trying to fit 6 musicians and our gear on. I can't imagine trying to figure out how to squeeze "props" onto stage as well.

 

Good luck!

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LOL
:cool:
That and you can get an inverted cymbal. Fill it up with some kerosene, light it up, and get a drunken friend to bang the shit out it.

 

Flaming Lips?

 

Btw, I once saw the TV-as-stage-prop thing, from a popular-singer songwriter here in Qu

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LOL
:cool:
That and you can get an inverted cymbal. Fill it up with some kerosene, light it up, and get a drunken friend to bang the shit out it.

 

wait... explain that?

 

Doesn't that... you know.... start everything in close proximity on FIRE?!

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Do you have a backdrop? We recently have one made for us, with a black background, and it really changes the look of the stage for the better. It's great to hide beer ads or stupid stuff bar owners put on the walls to "decorate" their room, and make our stage presence more professional.

 

 

Where did you go to get something like that done? How much did it set you back?

 

that would be awesome.

 

what other ideas have you seen that worked?

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Single-color vinyl banners don't quite look as professional as full-color or fabric backdrops... keep in mind whatever you do, you want it to look good!

 

When we play more party-type gigs (where we don't need to or want to give the appearance of professionalism), we hang this behind us:

 

l_bdd4b8ec533d60b0950065f4f3d159e1.jpg

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I think that this idea has been used to good effect. Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, David Bowie etc. were among the first to combine stage theatrics. Later bands came up with a signature stage set, like Poison's garbage cans, Twisted Sister's chain link fence, etc. I think that the theme should fit with the music that you are doing.

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Single-color vinyl banners don't quite look as professional as full-color or fabric backdrops... keep in mind whatever you do, you want it to look good!


When we play more party-type gigs (where we don't need to or want to give the appearance of professionalism), we hang this behind us:


l_bdd4b8ec533d60b0950065f4f3d159e1.jpg

 

you just gave me a great idea...

 

a sheet of painter's drop cloth is about $10 at home depot. With an airbrush, I could paint it up for a band banner pretty easily. It's prety easy to mask off areas, for clean edges. Probably the biggest pain is filling the big blank spots.

 

drop-cloths are pretty durable, and Createx paint is good on cloth. Pretty cheap, and in the hands of a good airbrusher, should look good.

 

Since it isn't shiny, it'll look good in photos. If it's too big, cut it down, and hem the edges. Heck, a big cloth will let you hide most of the bar crap.

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That's actually all vinyl, not painted; I just found a font that looked like I spraypainted it on. It looks good at certain venues. It's bigger than it looks in the picture (12'x5'), and if we hang it a little crooked, it gets the image across nicely. ;)

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Single-color vinyl banners don't quite look as professional as full-color or fabric backdrops... keep in mind whatever you do, you want it to look good!


When we play more party-type gigs (where we don't need to or want to give the appearance of professionalism), we hang this behind us:


l_bdd4b8ec533d60b0950065f4f3d159e1.jpg

 

Is it supposed to look like you stole a Pantera banner and painted over it?

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Yep. Hey, they're not using it anymore. ;)

 

I originally had the "PanterA" part larger, but it didn't look right. It's also a lot easier to see in person. We don't play metal at all but I wanted a band name that other people would recognize -- if I stole a Bowling For Soup banner, nobody's gonna care.

 

My plan was to switch the band name every now and then but... that's a pain. (I make vinyl banners at work, so it doesn't cost a whole lot)

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And instead of unique stage set ideas, you could always do grotesque and disgusting things on stage ie GG Allin. Piss in your mouth or on fans. Take a giant crap on the stage and then throw it into the audience. There are lots of primitive and unsophisticated things to do onstage...and the best part is, its all free!

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And instead of unique stage set ideas, you could always do grotesque and disgusting things on stage ie GG Allin. Piss in your mouth or on fans. Take a giant crap on the stage and then throw it into the audience. There are lots of primitive and unsophisticated things to do onstage...and the best part is, its all free!

 

 

sometimes I hate you and your ideas.

 

/poopthrow

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-have old tv's all over the stage, on the amps, on the drum riser, spread around... all the tv's either showing the same video clip or just having static while we play.


Come on! I'm serious about this! give some ideas out!

 

 

I once played in a TV studio and their set was made up of a bunch of old TV's and computer monitors suspended from lighting trusses. None of them had glass screens, but they were lit up inside with strobes or flashing colored lights. Actually kind of a neat effect and you could probably pickup a bunch of old beat up TV's/monitors for nothing just by driving around the neighborhood and checking out the dumpsters.

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Come on! I need more ideas!

 

I saw this band play a few nights ago that had lighting boxes on the front of the stage for the two guitars players.

 

the boxes had the lights inside them, and a metal grate on top. the grate was just light enough to rest on top of the switch that turned the lights on without activating it, then when you stood on it, it lit up. about the coolest lighting boxes I've ever seen

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