Members YeahDoIt Posted March 11, 2012 Members Share Posted March 11, 2012 Do you use an opener / introduction to begin your show? How do you begin your show? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted March 11, 2012 Members Share Posted March 11, 2012 Always w/ the first couple of songs...after the 2nd or 3rd, I'll introduce myself. Until then, it's just singing/playing and, if appropriate, a smile and nod at applause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fingerpicker Posted March 11, 2012 Members Share Posted March 11, 2012 Depends on the venue, and my mood! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Howie22 Posted March 11, 2012 Members Share Posted March 11, 2012 Most of the time, I usually just open with the music. After the first song or two, then I'll do a simple intro. Something like. . . "Thanks to everybody for coming out to (insert venue name). Hope you are having a great (insert day of the week) so far. My name is (insert name) and I'll be playing tonight until (insert time). We appreciate you coming out to spend your weekend with us here at (insert venue again)." Maybe throw in the bartender's name, what drink is on special, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted March 11, 2012 Members Share Posted March 11, 2012 Depends on the gig. Usually with an instrumental song. I think this gets the audience ready for music coming without expecting them to have to pay full attention right away. Before the first song I size up the audience. Age is important. But so is dress. You can tell a lot about an audience by how they dress - pointed yokes on men's shirts = country - strappy high heeled shoes on the ladies = ballroom dancers - and so on. How chatty are they? Are they going to mostly ignore you and go on visiting (often at cocktail hours this is the case) - if so you are sonic wallpaper. Are they energized and ready to dance/party right off the bat? A lot of sizing up the audience is very difficult to explain. Pay attention to your audience before you start. Let experience be the teacher. But if you aren't paying attention from the start, trying things, and seeing what works and what doesn't work, you won't get that experience. If the audience doesn't know us, I'll start with recognizable and pretty universally loved songs for the group as I've evaluated them. Always ready to switch in case I've misjudged. It's important to make friends right away. With audiences I am familiar with, and I know already know us, that isn't as important. I can throw familiar audiences a curve once in a while because they already like us. I know this isn't a definitive answer, but I hope it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted March 12, 2012 Members Share Posted March 12, 2012 Hey Notes, If I was to Skype you just before my next gig, would you be able to help me out? I could never tell when a girl wanted to kiss me, never mind subtle stuff like audiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted March 12, 2012 Members Share Posted March 12, 2012 It's sitting down playing songs while people eat dinner for the most part...hardly what I'd call a "show". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members leftyjay Posted March 12, 2012 Members Share Posted March 12, 2012 i also look at the crowd before i start to see if i know anybody that has seen me before. if i'm playing for a completely new crowd, i may have to start the night with 2-3 songs that will break the ice. i look at the age bracket, are they couples, groups of girls wanting to party, or a bunch of barflies that have been drinking all afternoon. usually i introduce myself after the first song. tell them that i play a variety of music and if you have a request for a "style" or "artist" you want to hear, let me know and i'll play it. be prepared to go in a completely different direction with your music if needed. my personal approach is to definately stay away from a set list. just a couple songs to get kick started and the rest is off the cuff. watch the crowd. eye contact is crucial to see how they are reacting. i pick the next song by the reaction i'm getting on the song i'm currently playing. as for dinner sets,... i still watch the crowd and see if they react. if they dont react, i'll try some other style of mellow music to see if that gets a reaction. i treat each gig as a chess match. what can i do to get them to react to me. applause, foot tapping, dancing, requests, and eventually tipping and buying cds. it all depends on the beginning 2-3 songs on whether you're going to capture the crowd or not. make those first couple songs your best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doezer Posted March 12, 2012 Members Share Posted March 12, 2012 i treat each gig as a chess match. what can i do to get them to react to me. applause, foot tapping, dancing, requests, and eventually tipping and buying cds. it all depends on the beginning 2-3 songs on whether you're going to capture the crowd or not. make those first couple songs your best. i really like that chess match simile...it is like that! you have to kind of figure them out. they might be a certain type of crowd but theyre never exactly the samesometimes you drop a tune and are quite sure its gonna work and it just bombs! i agree with you that the 1st 2 or 3 tunes are absolutely key! but they cant be too upbeat at the same time, unless you land into a crowd that are fully up for it already,which is rare for me... so u have to find 2 or 3 tunes that just gets them interested a bit..its always a challeng for me to think of thoe 1st 2 or 3 tunes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members glepko Posted March 12, 2012 Members Share Posted March 12, 2012 the less pre-thought we/i put into it the better things go. we know which songs flow one into the next and jump around the 'set list' at will after a quick analysis of the environment. NN expands on this brilliantly. as a matter of fact, after his recent posts i'm going to search out a show of his next time i get to FL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jmullen45 Posted March 12, 2012 Members Share Posted March 12, 2012 Great responses already...usually I start with a song everyone knows and one I'm comfortable playing to warm up (Son of Son of a Sailor, Pink Houses, Folsom Prison Blues, etc.) and then go from there. I will introduce myself immediately...after the first song or two, I like to pimp the bar a bit, ensuring that I mention to take care of the wait staff and bartenders...like most people mentioned, I'm looking for regulars and if I see them, I try to play what I know they've enjoyed before. Either way, I do mention that I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eyesore Posted March 13, 2012 Members Share Posted March 13, 2012 i seem to start with fingerstyle version of "sunny" or sunshine of my life.something laid back people will know....anything but mar..ville! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chemikool Posted March 13, 2012 Members Share Posted March 13, 2012 my personal approach is to definately stay away from a set list I agree that having no set list is a plus. It becomes easier to "give them what they want" if you're not tied to a pre-fab routine. i really like that chess match simile... Yea, great comparison! Perfect description! OP --- Lately (last 3 months and in no particular order) it's been any/some/all of the following: *Wonderwall (I like it...I perform it well...it translates for me...usually first or second)*Shine On You Crazy Diamond (slightly reworked for one instrument)*Poppy early Beatles (think Hard Day's Night album or Beatles For Sale)*An instrumental "jam" of sorts before I start the first song with singing (usually 2-5min of me wanking around quietly)*An original or two (depends on who is in front of me)*Everyday (I usually see every person in the room singing lines for this one) I completely agree with LeftJay about the first 3 songs capturing (or repelling) the crowd. I try to make an "age" assessment of the people in front of me and pick a decade. Lots of people with grey hair and cocktails? It's going to be 70's and earlier for the first 30 or 60 minutes. Younger people drinking beer? 90's and up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cephus Posted March 13, 2012 Members Share Posted March 13, 2012 Alot of interesting perspective here. I usually come out guns blaring and try to blow their doors off from the get go. It sort of works sometimes. I am mostly a weird looking guy who is 6'4". I just figure I may as well go all in. But, there are just times when it doesn't really work and it doesn't really leave me an out to try something else. I have alot of friends that are loud mouth wannabe comedians or theater people and I really like it when I've gotten one of them to introduce me/us. I had a 3-piece band for a long time and we played a "theme song" at the beginning of every set. The first song of the night, it would be the full version and then each set afterward we'd just do the coda so that it was 45 seconds long. Not sure if I can make that fit in the solo show, tho. I am trying to make my show less cartooney and reflect my recently maturing that I am confronted with. The clubs are different now. The crowds are different. Seems like I hardly play beer joints anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted March 13, 2012 Members Share Posted March 13, 2012 <...>NN expands on this brilliantly. as a matter of fact, after his recent posts i'm going to search out a show of his next time i get to FL Let me know when you come down, and I'll let you know where we are gigging. We gig more in the winter than the summer (it's a seasonal thing here) but we have a steady Tuesday gig for 10-11 months of the year (it's our fourth year). I've never done set lists. I'm not clairvoyant so I don't know what the audience is going to want to hear a few songs down the road. When I'm at a 'dance' gig, I usually go from song to song quickly. When the dance floor is full, it's easy to see what they want next. The only pauses are before either a slow song or a 'specialty dance' song that someone requests (like Tango or something else that will not fill the floor). At an informal listening gig, it's a little tougher to pick what goes next, and there are occasional moments of "what do you want to do next" on the gig, but it doesn't seem to hurt any. We have had a few experiences when we did a "show" and had it planned from start to finish. Concerts at a library and so on. Last month we did a volunteer show for the wheelchair bound vets at the VA hospital, had a show planned from start to finish, as we were setting up we got a half dozen requests. So before we started I got on the mic and said, "We had this entire show planned, but as we were setting up, we got a few requests -- so I'm going to toss the show out, play the requests, and wing the rest." Applause followed. We made friends before the fist song. It went well, they came up and thanked us for the great afternoon, asked us to come back, and we went home feeling good about the day, bringing a bit of entertainment into what must be a boring wheelchair bound existence. Plus it felt good to give a little something to those who gave so much. While I don't always agree with what my country asks the men and women in uniform to do, I appreciate the men and women who put it all on the line to do my country's bidding. But if the audience is not familiar with you, bring out songs with broad appeal first. Make friends in a hurry. Once you have them on your side, the rest is easy. Insights and incites by Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDLMUSIC Posted March 17, 2012 Members Share Posted March 17, 2012 My oldies/classic rock trio is called "Rock This Town" so our opening number is almost always "Rock This Town." Sets the mood for the rest of the night. As a solo performer, I'll scope out the crowd and try to pick something that's slightly uptempo, but not too over the top. A good shuffle, like "Kansas City" or "Route 66" is usually a good choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sgt. Rock Posted March 18, 2012 Members Share Posted March 18, 2012 I start off with a dropped D tuned song because it tends to help with keeping the nylon strings in tune for the rest of the set. I don't talk, and most of the time I play some noodling instrumental things to get warmed up while they decide to turn off the house radio or music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sgt. Rock Posted March 18, 2012 Members Share Posted March 18, 2012 It's sitting down playing songs while people eat dinner for the most part...hardly what I'd call a "show". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted April 8, 2012 Members Share Posted April 8, 2012 Do you use an opener / introduction to begin your show?How do you begin your show?a song or two and then check in with the audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bob Dey Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 I start with an instrumental. That allows me to check the balance between my guitar, mic and backing tracks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SusieP Posted April 15, 2012 Members Share Posted April 15, 2012 Cocktail lounge jazzy/dinner music show - low volume PA settings and we start soft and gentle with either 'summertime' or 'sentimental reasons' followed by 'Girl from Ipanema' then we continue for about 15 minutes with slow tempo standards like that and then just gradually go into livelier tempo stuff. As the diners talk gets louder and starts to buzz, we get a little quicker tempo. 70s/80s Pop/dancing show - crank up the PA so it sounds TOTALLY different to the dinner music, and hit 'em right between the eyes with a cover of the Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This" - we just love to see them turn around when they hear it. Because at gigs where we are booked to do both shows they just expect the dance stuff to sound the same as the lounge stuff only a bit faster. Hee hee hee, it doesn't!That's my favourite part of a gig.The first number of the dance set!Hah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RogueGnome Posted June 13, 2012 Members Share Posted June 13, 2012 Anybody play wineries?I'm doing one next week.I play mostly instrumentals.I'm expecting an older, more sedate crowd that the breweries and taprooms. More like a coffeehouse; right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EightString Posted June 13, 2012 Members Share Posted June 13, 2012 Depends on the audience. If it's a semi-anonymous club gig, I usually get going with a couple of instrumental bebop jazz songs, say hello, then ease into some vocal material. Then again, if I'm hearing hard rock on the jukebox, I might kick it off with "Breakin' the Law" or something and see where it goes. But if it's a real "show", where people are actually paying to see me? Then I'm much more structured and will jump right in with attention-getting vocal material, and maybe even tell short little stories about some songs here and there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nchangin Posted June 13, 2012 Members Share Posted June 13, 2012 In the beginning - that lil intro on Motley Crue's shout at the devil album. However I'm a DJ maybe this pertains to soloduo dudes and dudettes only, if it does, I'm sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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