Members TrickyBoy Posted November 5, 2009 Members Share Posted November 5, 2009 I think ppl are confusing "being an entertaining and engaging frontman" with just randomly jumping around and acting like an idiot on cocaine.ANYONE can jump around and act like a lunatic - but (for coverbands at least) it's preferable to command the audiences attention and generally act like you are having a good time and getting into the music you are playing. Being pitch perfect is fantastic.....but people will usually enjoy the show more if you are captivating there interest rather than if you are hitting every note.Dont get me wrong...you still have to sing well - it's just less important IME. Agreed - the music is what entertains the crowd. I think the appropriate word for what a frontman needs to be is engaging. Engage the audience so that they pay attention to the music, which, if good, will entertain them. Otherwise, your just background music for their conversation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stratotastic Posted November 5, 2009 Members Share Posted November 5, 2009 Haha, yeah, this is a useful thread. Of course lots of responses are about musicianship, talent, letting the music do the entertaining, etc, because it's ALL MUSICIANS ANSWERING IT! I know from talking to non-musicians and/or those for which music is not incredibly important, that it's ALL ABOUT the singer. The rest of the band may as well not exist, and is pretty much not noticed unless you make some sort of egregious mistake and destroy the song. For those people, i.e. 90% of our crowds, a singer that is entertaining is THE key to how your band is received. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kramerguy Posted November 5, 2009 Members Share Posted November 5, 2009 Interesting. I saw a band have a "special guest" for three songs - he came up and sang vocals- He thrashed around, jumping all over the place, over-doing every move and all everyone could talk about afterwards was what a great front-man he was. All of them seemed to miss the point that he couldn't carry a tune to save his life. He only sang in one key - the key of wrong. To me, even his "act" was phony and over-stated. But everyone else just thought he was the shiznit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mstreck Posted November 5, 2009 Members Share Posted November 5, 2009 I've seen super-dynamic frontmen (and other band members) separate themselves from the band by being overzealous - just not fitting in with the rest of the band because they are too over the top. One in particular (a great singer, too) seems to constantly be in and out of bands because of it. In fact, I used to wish I was that guy, but not anymore. As far as being entertaining, a lot of people say they love us even though Amy is no super dynamic front"man". She'll dance and connect with members of the crowd with her eyes and a smile when she's singing, but she tries to be a part of the band on stage - even though she is front and center. It is the band as a whole that is entertaining. We do very little stopping between songs, so there's little downtime to talk. When we do have downtime, I try to be the one talking only because I speak to a crowd every day and it seems to come more naturally for me. I don't think that makes me a frontman, but more of an MC. BTW - I tend to be far stage left, out of the spotlight. A non-musical hottie said this to our lead guitar player (Dave) at one of our shows a few weeks ago... "I could listen to you and her (Amy) all night, but your bass player and drummer need to settle down. They're ruining it." She was talking about them musically showing off - little stuff that I thought was subtle enough that only musicians would notice. Balance really does matter to the audience - both the visual and the audible. You have to find yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tinker925 Posted November 6, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 6, 2009 Haha, yeah, this is a useful thread. I know from talking to non-musicians and/or those for which music is not incredibly important, that it's ALL ABOUT the singer. The rest of the band may as well not exist, and is pretty much not noticed unless you make some sort of egregious mistake and destroy the song. For those people, i.e. 90% of our crowds, a singer that is entertaining is THE key to how your band is received. I am the front person of my band... but I definitely co-lead with the lead guitarist... she is an extroadinary talent and when she does her solo's I step back and make her the center of attention. I tell her over the mic to "give it to them" and the crowd goes wild. People LOVE her solo'ing like Eddie Van Halen with beer bottles, solo'ing and holding the guitar up with one hand while playing keyboards.... she is crazy good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mstreck Posted November 6, 2009 Members Share Posted November 6, 2009 I am the front person of my band... but I definitely co-lead with the lead guitarist... she is an extroadinary talent and when she does her solo's I step back and make her the center of attention. I tell her over the mic to "give it to them" and the crowd goes wild. People LOVE her solo'ing like Eddie Van Halen with beer bottles, solo'ing and holding the guitar up with one hand while playing keyboards.... she is crazy good! That sounds awesome! Got a link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted November 6, 2009 Members Share Posted November 6, 2009 Interesting. I saw a band have a "special guest" for three songs - he came up and sang vocals-He thrashed around, jumping all over the place, over-doing every move and all everyone could talk about afterwards was what a great front-man he was. Yup. This works with big dumb rock and drop-tuned flog modern rock. Not so much with motown, 60's, 70's and R&B material. Those audiences don't want or expect a lot of movement on stage: they don't get it from the original performers so why the hell should they expect or want it from those that cover the material? It's not a question of "musicians" perspective as much as it is a question of what genre you are in and what the expectations are in that genre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TrickyBoy Posted November 6, 2009 Members Share Posted November 6, 2009 Interesting. I saw a band have a "special guest" for three songs - he came up and sang vocals-He thrashed around, jumping all over the place, over-doing every move and all everyone could talk about afterwards was what a great front-man he was.All of them seemed to miss the point that he couldn't carry a tune to save his life. He only sang in one key - the key of wrong. To me, even his "act" was phony and over-stated.But everyone else just thought he was the shiznit. The one thing about this "special guest" is that in a short burst, his crazy antics can be so over the top that they hide his inability to sing. After three 1-hour sets, I think the crowd would have gotten past the antics figured out the truth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted November 6, 2009 Members Share Posted November 6, 2009 The one thing about this "special guest" is that in a short burst, his crazy antics can be so over the top that they hide his inability to sing. After three 1-hour sets, I think the crowd would have gotten past the antics figured out the truth. I wouldn't count on that. Are you saying you've never seen a clown act with a mediocre vocalist be successful? I sure have. The other half to that equation is stoopid loud volume, modern de-tuned rock, and a {censored}-ton of alcohol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TrickyBoy Posted November 6, 2009 Members Share Posted November 6, 2009 a {censored}-ton of alcohol. That always helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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