Members theextremist04 Posted March 9, 2008 Members Share Posted March 9, 2008 Never turn your back to the audience. They're the whole reason you're there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SKEETERtunes Posted March 22, 2008 Members Share Posted March 22, 2008 Appologising ... bad news for sure. Recently saw a great acoutstic pair, and they told us three times that they hadn't practiced for months. Huh? Why would you say that!? This is true. People tend to want to think of musicians as being professionals and someone to admire. Saying things like "we haven't really had time to work on this so, here goes" is really not good. Don't set your audience up to have low expectations of you. Sure as you do, their view of you won't go any higher than your view of yourself. Better you look confident and even a bit cocky about it and screw up than to appear as though you don't think you are up to the job. When you appear confident it looks as if you have had so much experience that the situation doesn't intimidate you. The audience will then assume you are a seasoned pro, even if you screw up. But if you start making excuses for your performance before you even do the song, they will know you are a rookie. On the other hand, a lot of times I have been at gigs and someone come up and ask the front guy to do a song I didn't know and maybe one of the other members of the band didn't, but we do the song best we can anyway. In a situation like that, it doesn't hurt for the front guy to say something like "this isn't one of our tunes, but Matilda here wants us to do it, so we are going to give it a shot for her". The fact that you can do an unpracticed song for a request reasonably close shows that you are professional enough to do songs you haven't worked on, and are not the least bit timid about trying it. In fact in my experience crowds tend to eat it up when you do that, even if you don't exactly get it right. Having the appearance of being confident is the whole ballgame. I have never been intimidated by the stage so I guess I am fortunate in that I was born with a personality that has the appearance of that. I get a LOT of bonus points for that both from band members and crowds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted March 23, 2008 Members Share Posted March 23, 2008 Also, in the "keeping things moving along" don't talk between every song. maybe do 2 or three in a row. Nothing worse than chit chat or a singer trying to be funny between every single song. Be in tune, before you hit the stage, and no farting around between songs. Keep it professional and tight. Each member should have a volume pedal and a tuner or a tuner that kick off the sound. I would check my tuning every 2 or 3 songs, while the singer was talking. But yeah have fun. If you guys are having fun the audience will react to it and have fun as well! Don't sweat the odd mistake, NEVER make a "oh I made a mistake" face. The audience will never know, except the 2 gutarists sitting at the back mumbling how "they could do it better" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DanielQ Posted March 24, 2008 Members Share Posted March 24, 2008 Never turn your back to the audience. They're the whole reason you're there. I wouldn't say this, necessarily. If you have a very active stage presence and you do it right this can *sometimes* be okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators BATCAT Posted March 24, 2008 Moderators Share Posted March 24, 2008 I wouldn't say this, necessarily. If you have a very active stage presence and you do it right this can *sometimes* be okay. I agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MorrisMinor7th Posted March 24, 2008 Members Share Posted March 24, 2008 Well i haven't played live much myself but i have a few times, and a few things that help would be: 1. Believe what you are singing. 2. Visualise yourself with the crowd cheering as if you have already played the best song in the world and everyone loves it. "Think as though i am, and i will be" was an old proverb. and it will up your confidence and you should smile anyway. 3. Watch what your influences do on stage (when they're not drunk). 4.Look like you want to be there. that's all i've got, hope it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members indigoguy Posted March 24, 2008 Members Share Posted March 24, 2008 I wouldn't say this, necessarily. If you have a very active stage presence and you do it right this can *sometimes* be okay. Agreed, apart from anything else yr drummer will get bored if no-one looks in his/her direction the whole night, esp the bass player Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members imacutyou Posted March 25, 2008 Members Share Posted March 25, 2008 One thing I would never do is apologize to the crowd for a bad show. No matter how bad you play that show do not apologize. If you just laugh it off then most people will not even notice you played bad and won't care. Apologizing just points it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Real MC Posted March 25, 2008 Members Share Posted March 25, 2008 If you spot musicians in the audience who are critics or are intimidating, DON'T PANIC! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SKEETERtunes Posted March 27, 2008 Members Share Posted March 27, 2008 I wouldn't say this, necessarily. If you have a very active stage presence and you do it right this can *sometimes* be okay. I was thinking the same thing. There are times when turning your back to the audience is appropriate, for example at a songs ending when you walk up to the drums at a songs end to watch the drummer ( I normally don't do this, I can see what the drummer is doing in my periph vision, but some guys do) or, when I am playing with another guitarist and he has a solo, I will turn away from the audience to look at him, obviously because that is where I want the audience looking. I wouldn't suggest to play all the time while mooning the audience.. but that doesn't mean you can't turn around for a few seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SKEETERtunes Posted March 31, 2008 Members Share Posted March 31, 2008 Also, in the "keeping things moving along" don't talk between every song. maybe do 2 or three in a row. Nothing worse than chit chat or a singer trying to be funny between every single song. Be in tune, before you hit the stage, and no farting around between songs. Keep it professional and tight. Each member should have a volume pedal and a tuner or a tuner that kick off the sound. I would check my tuning every 2 or 3 songs, while the singer was talking. But yeah have fun. If you guys are having fun the audience will react to it and have fun as well! Don't sweat the odd mistake, NEVER make a "oh I made a mistake" face. The audience will never know, except the 2 gutarists sitting at the back mumbling how "they could do it better" I think this depends on the crowd. If it is a small to medium sized club and you know most of the people there, it doesn't hurt to talk to the crowd, as long as you aren't preaching to them or discussing the weather. Things like " I see Herb is here tonight looking dapper as usual" "Hey Janet, we're gonna do your song for you later" and short quips like that are sometimes appropriate. Obviously it is not the same situation in a strange place where you are not well known. The rule of thumb for me is for the band to always be part of the party. Which, if you know the crowd well means acknowledging that you know them. And if you don't, don't try to treat them like you do. The real purpose is to keep it moving and stay entertaining. Sometimes a little chatter can be part of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted March 31, 2008 Members Share Posted March 31, 2008 I think this depends on the crowd. If it is a small to medium sized club and you know most of the people there, it doesn't hurt to talk to the crowd, as long as you aren't preaching to them or discussing the weather. Things like " I see Herb is here tonight looking dapper as usual" "Hey Janet, we're gonna do your song for you later" and short quips like that are sometimes appropriate. Obviously it is not the same situation in a strange place where you are not well known. The rule of thumb for me is for the band to always be part of the party. Which, if you know the crowd well means acknowledging that you know them. And if you don't, don't try to treat them like you do. The real purpose is to keep it moving and stay entertaining. Sometimes a little chatter can be part of that. I like that - I bet your band is fun as hell, love to come and see you guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gnarly Posted March 31, 2008 Members Share Posted March 31, 2008 I say do whatever the hell you want. Don't copy your idols and be sure to express yourself the best you can. If you just stand there so be it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted March 31, 2008 Members Share Posted March 31, 2008 It's simple - be a fan of music, and just put yourself in the crowd's shoes and give them what you would want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RyanVanHalen Posted March 31, 2008 Members Share Posted March 31, 2008 NEVER TAKE YOUR PANTS OFF ON STAGE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GreenAsJade Posted April 1, 2008 Members Share Posted April 1, 2008 heh heh thanks got a giggle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HRS Posted November 30, 2013 Members Share Posted November 30, 2013 This thread was linked on another (general discussion) board I visit, and I got such a good laugh out of some of the posts it prompted me to join up. Well, I also saw that Mickey Dean was on this board. Assuming it's the same guy, he did a very cool tune called "Crying Over You" that I always thought deserved more airplay (read, any airplay), but like ole Neil said. "No matter where I go, they never play my record on the radio". As for myself, I'm an old fart of 57 but been playing since I was a teenager. Still play in a rock and roll/electric blues band, and with some other guys playing on the old country stuff like Haggard, Whailin Waylon, Hank, Hank, and Hank (Snow, Williams, Jr) and others.Looks like you guys have a good forum here. Thanks for having me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted November 30, 2013 Members Share Posted November 30, 2013 Welcome aboard brother Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wesg Posted November 30, 2013 Members Share Posted November 30, 2013 Yep, welcome aboard. I've been here for a couple of years and just read this thread now....last post was in 2008. StratGuy22 is still around, I think the others in the thread are gone, but there's lots of different and great people still hanging out here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted December 1, 2013 Members Share Posted December 1, 2013 Here's some stage presence. Last song of the night. About the 6th song of an encore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 2357 Posted December 25, 2013 Members Share Posted December 25, 2013 Alright, I have a question. I'm playing in a rock band, and we're I playing in the final of a song contest (battle of the bands kind of thing). We only get to play two songs, so we really need to kick ass the entire time. My problem is that in one of the songs, I have long breaks where I'm not playing anything. Does anyone have any tips in regards to what to do when not playing? You can listen to the song in question here:https://www.demotape.no/artists/292994 (Press the play button) I play synth in this song, and lead guitar, so basically I don't do much in the verses and first half of the chorus. Any recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wesg Posted December 25, 2013 Members Share Posted December 25, 2013 Play real quiet rhythm? Chick chick chick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nomadh Posted December 26, 2013 Members Share Posted December 26, 2013 I dont know why the anti noodling rule. It seems arbitrary because some bands are just all noodleing. Thats bad. Sometimes a bandmate needs to hve a sidebar with the soundguy or adjust something. In that case i want to play a bit of something. maybe play a namethattune riff or test my gain setting on a few notes for the next song. I also prefer it when in the audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted December 26, 2013 Members Share Posted December 26, 2013 nomadh wrote:I dont know why the anti noodling rule. [...] a few notes for the next song. "Telegraphing" the next song is a real faux-pas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members turnip Posted January 23, 2014 Members Share Posted January 23, 2014 notamachine wrote:Be in tune. No noodling. Limit stage banter and time between songs. Keep the show going. Hit the ground running and have fun. This. I'm here to light s*** on fire. Nothing kills that faster than a bass player trying and failing at tuning, or a guitarist fiddling with knobs (or god forbid wanking and riffing in between songs) or the singer asking the audience how they are doing. Maybe after the second song or so, mention the band name. Before the last song, the name again, and mention the merch table, e-presence, et cetera. Destroy things during the last song. Limp off stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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