The dont's of live performance

[B36arin]

I also hate when bands fill up their set with covers. Especially when it's a band that I've paid to see because of their own original material.

 

[avenger]

Agreed. Any time a band member tries to force crowd participation is lame-sauce in my eyes.

"Put your hands in the air!!" *I stick up my middle finger*

"I wanna see everybody move!!" *I 'move' straight to the exit*

"Put your hands together!!" *I don't clap for the rest of the set*

"I want everybody to sing this next part with me!!" *I go find something to drink and probably spend the rest of the set outside smoking, or something*

Few things turn me off more than somebody telling me how to listen to/enjoy music/musical performance.

*note* All of the above are probably fine if we're talking about some GIANT festival with THOUSANDS of attendants, but when you're in a dive bar playing to 20 people, knock that shit off. Seriously.

Not trying to start shit but you kind of sound like a douche. Heaven forbid a front man try to get people into the bands live show.

So of the craziest shows I have been to have been 20 people in a dive bar. Welcome to the underground.

 

[rahul_mukerji]

Ever had your lead singer show up 10 mins after the band has gone on stage (and I mean started playing, not just setup) because ..... wait for it .... they decided at the last second to burn their SOLO CD to distribute at the band's gig ......

Also had 2 members disappear exactly when the band had to go on. The Drummer and I spent 10 mins playing solo material (and you can just guess how that went) while shouting out the singers and bassists name to the public. .... and that was supposed to be our biggest gig and you really do not want to know why they disappeared

DEAD SERIOUS .... yes both those happened to my band

So ALWAYS have your singer bound to the hood of your car when you drive out

Always chain your members to the stage with concrete blocks 10 mins prior to going on stage.

 

[marky]

And let's not forget abouta band that just stands there. FRIGGIN' DO SOMETHING!!! Hear that Dream THeater?

Definitely! Don't just STAND there!

 

[SargeantVomit]

Not trying to start shit but you kind of sound like a douche. Heaven forbid a front man try to get people into the bands live show.

So of the craziest shows I have been to have been 20 people in a dive bar. Welcome to the underground.

Front men should always be trying to get the crowd into the show and some of the best shows I've been to have been in dives like that, what the previous poster was saying was forced crowd participation is dumb. If people are digging the band they'll be up front, you don't need to remind them they can come close. If people want to sing along they will.

It's the WORST when a frontman complains about the "lack of energy" in the crowd like it's the crowds fucking job to keep him entertained and not the other way around.

Slayer and Megadeth played near here a couple weeks ago and I heard each of them only talked to the audience twice. Once to say thank you for coming and that they were just going to let the music do the talking and once to say thanks and goodnight.

 

[TasmanSam]

2 members of my band stole my car while drunk.
then attacked me when I threatened to call the cops
BIG DONT!

EDIT: just realized that had nothing to do with live performance. our drummer forgets simple song structures on stage and just plays whatever the fuck he wants. stupid cunt

 

[Soubi7string]

4ARM // THE OFFICIAL 4SITE

4ARM on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

It's in my profile.

Oh yeah I added y'all way back when
Good shit


Just because your fav band sets their sound a certain way doesn't mean set it the same way.I'm reffering to my drummer telling to turn my amp down when everyone else in the band says the levels are good and then he goes on a rant on how this local band coat hanger abortion turns their rhythm guitarist WAAAAY down.
Also if you are said person or anyone in fact,
Don't,touch,the fuckin,amp.PERIOD.

 

[Lon]

Agreed. Any time a band member tries to force crowd participation is lame-sauce in my eyes.

"Put your hands in the air!!" *I stick up my middle finger*

"I wanna see everybody move!!" *I 'move' straight to the exit*

"Put your hands together!!" *I don't clap for the rest of the set*

"I want everybody to sing this next part with me!!" *I go find something to drink and probably spend the rest of the set outside smoking, or something*

Few things turn me off more than somebody telling me how to listen to/enjoy music/musical performance.

*note* All of the above are probably fine if we're talking about some GIANT festival with THOUSANDS of attendants, but when you're in a dive bar playing to 20 people, knock that shit off. Seriously.

i completely agree with you, but i have to say i never crowd participate except pogo... and in my experience some people just NEED to be encouraged, the most of the audience totally digs this "comeon do that thing with us and the drummer will try to hit the bassdrum in time with you"... its just crowd pleasing

 

[synrgy]

like it's the crowds fucking job to keep him entertained and not the other way around.

That was the point I was getting at. Well put.

I don't mind a frontman who has energy. What I mind is generic energy. It's one thing to tell an audience who is already singing along with you that you think it sounds beautiful or whatever, but it's another thing entirely to try and force the audience to sing along with you.

I believe in organic moments rather than manufactured ones. I just think that the whole "Put your hands in the air!!" thing is just SO fucking DONE.

It's a contextual thing, too. I don't want to hear a singer tell a 'crowd' of 20 people the same thing he would tell a crowd of 20,000 people. That's just stupid, and more or less proves to me that they're not performing for the moment, but for the 'glory'.

When I saw [a band I've decided to not name who has some popularity around here], there were *multiple* moments that felt EXACTLY like what SargeantVomit was talking about in the quote I copied above. In brutal honesty, of the few hundred in attendance, *maybe* 50 people in the venue seemed half interested in the band. Still, the singer kept saying shit like "Come on, I wanna see a circle pit!!" (there was no 'pit' to begin with, and obviously no circle pit formed after he requested it) or "This is our home town, I wanna see everybody bounce!! Bounce!! Bounce!!"; (maybe 3 people jumped up and down a couple of times), etc etc. The majority of the crowd was standing there with their arms folded (which I hate just as much, believe me), because frankly, he was just kind of making an ass of himself. If an audience doesn't like you or hasn't made up their mind if they like you or not, barking instructions at them isn't going to help you win their adoration.

What I'm saying is, bands win me over by playing really well; not by giving me explicit instructions for how I should participate in the show. It's like somebody watches a U2 Live DVD and thinks that just because Bono can work a crowd of 100,000 people that they can use the exact same tricks on a crowd of 20. It just doesn't work that way. Understand where you are and who you're playing for.

By the way, I think one of you gave me the wrong rep for my last comment. People don't usually give me positive rep for being "spiteful".

 

[thefpb2]

And let's not forget abouta band that just stands there. FRIGGIN' DO SOMETHING!!! Hear that Dream THeater?

Cheers

 

[slayerrulesyo]

Don't show up 2 minutes before sound check is supposed to happen, and THEN unload...

or if you're opening...show up early to the gig, 30 minutes AT LEAST. Last show I played, we showed up an hour early, didn't sound check till our set actually started because the venue didn't have anything plugged up......

^If this happens, don't complain and bitch to the venue WHILE you're playing...seen this before...

DO know your set time, if you need to ask how much time you have, don't be shy. It's polite to all the other bands playing after you.

DON'T Be too loud. Nothing I hate worse than a Spider III cranked louder than the vocals...dude your shit sounds terrible 0

If at all possible.... with a lot of pedals...GET A PEDAL BOARD. That way everything's out, plugged in, and all you need to plug up is 2 cables.

DON'T wait 'til you're up on stage to see if your amp or guitar is gonna work. If you think/know your gear has a problem, get it checked out before the show...bring tubes, fuses, you never know what could go wrong.

If you miss out on a part of a song, go with a flow. The musics gotta flow. I hate watching bands that clearly haven't practiced in ages and it's just awkward to see the play...sounds like a broken record with the starting and the stopping... or don't stop playing...shouldn't have played the song if yall weren't 110% beforehand.



I can't stress this enough HELP OUT YOUR BAND MEMBERS. It's a team effort, work as a team, have fun doing so, and don't be a dick after the show and get others to help tear down your equipment and look at your drummer for half an hour while he takes his stuff apart. Take everything off stage, put it in one place, then worry about putting it all up... If you play with a fairly easy rig, it's very nice to help others out. They might buy you food afterwards. and that way yall tear down sooner and you have more time to talk to fans/people at the show

and finally...get into the music! How many of yall have seen Periphery play? During bulb's solos....crazy movement, faces, looks like he's really enjoying it. Have some fucking fun, it should be more of you wanting to play and have fun than just playing and getting it over with...it's your passion..

 

[NickDowe]

Yeah so we just kicked our singer out 3 hours before our show on thursday for the above mentioned behavior... the crowd was awesome... we had the best show ever and sold about 11 EPs and 3 shirts. Not one time did we call the crowd "fuckers" or told them they "better move their fucking asses" and the crowd was happy about that. I come to find out today that our X singer just removed all of our Youtube videos.... not that i care.

I agree with getting the crowd into it even if your playing to 20 people in a dive bar, I just disagree with using profanity or telling people what they need to do. You catch more flies with honey.... we were the headliner at a bar on thursday and we played to about 25 of our fans and another 20 that stuck around just to see us and we thanked everyone for coming out and then told them to give thereselves a round of applause for sticking around and getting waisted with us... they went apeshit!

 

[NickDowe]

and finally...get into the music! How many of yall have seen Periphery play? During bulb's solos....crazy movement, faces, looks like he's really enjoying it. Have some fucking fun, it should be more of you wanting to play and have fun than just playing and getting it over with...it's your passion..

classic... a thread about live performance and someone has to make a Periphery reference... I am starting to think Bulb has 20 accounts on this site lol

you had me in total agreement with your post til you slipped that shit in there.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

I can't stress this enough HELP OUT YOUR BAND MEMBERS. It's a team effort, work as a team, have fun doing so, and don't be a dick after the show and get others to help tear down your equipment and look at your drummer for half an hour while he takes his stuff apart. Take everything off stage, put it in one place, then worry about putting it all up... If you play with a fairly easy rig, it's very nice to help others out. They might buy you food afterwards. and that way yall tear down sooner and you have more time to talk to fans/people at the show

THIS.

My prog band organised a headlining act with 2 other bands as support. After the first band's set, the bass player decided to leave his gear onstage and went to socialise. Everyone else got their gear off and the second band was already setting up. We told the first band members to tell their bass player to get his gear off the stage asap. His excuse was "but the amp isn't mine, it's the venue's." That's not an excuse to leave all your gear onstage after using it. By the time he got his gear off, half an hour has passed.

Because of that, to save time, my drummer used the second band's kit and we cut our set to 1/2 an hour. And because our songs border from 9-15 minutes duration, we only played 3 songs.

 

[drmosh]

classic... a thread about live performance and someone has to make a Periphery reference... I am starting to think Bulb has 20 accounts on this site lol

you had me in total agreement with your post til you slipped that shit in there.

So because he mentioned bulb his posts are now a farce? go away

 

[slayerrulesyo]

So because he mentioned bulb his posts are now a farce? go away

Hahaha thank you.

It was merely an example of how much better it is live to move around and get into your playing live than it is to just stand there...and almost everybody on here knows Periphery/probably has seen them live, so I thought it'd be an easy reference some people don't like bulb...unheard of! jk

 

[JohnIce]

I can't stress this enough HELP OUT YOUR BAND MEMBERS. It's a team effort, work as a team, have fun doing so, and don't be a dick after the show and get others to help tear down your equipment and look at your drummer for half an hour while he takes his stuff apart. Take everything off stage, put it in one place, then worry about putting it all up... If you play with a fairly easy rig, it's very nice to help others out. They might buy you food afterwards. and that way yall tear down sooner and you have more time to talk to fans/people at the show

On that note, this applies during the set also... help eachother out. If the singer drops his mic/pulls the cable or loses his voice, then you start singing while he fixes it. If the other guitarist breaks a string/has amp problems, play bigger chords to fill the space. If the bass player has problems, flesh out by playing as low as you can or add the fifth underneath if you can, or if you have a keyboard player let him play a bass line. If someone's cable comes out during a solo or difficult passage, you plug it back in for them,

It's especially good to tell your singer this, if he doesn't play an instrument he'll have two free hands.

I once saw a Rockabilly trio playing, and the upright bass player's bridge fell over... took him a good 5 minutes to get it back and retuned. During that time, the guitarist and the drummer asked the audience for three words, a place, a person and what the person was doing in that place, then improvised a 5 minute comedy song about it. I was amazed at how they turned such a catastrophical live situation into a great number, just by helping eachother out.

This can be compared ro when I saw another band play... the guitarist broke a string, they broke off the song and he went backstage to get new strings to put on. There was still another guitarist/singer, bassist and drummer onstage, but instead of playing anything, the singer just said: "Shit... I suck at talking to crowds..." and it turned into him walking away from the mic to chat about music with me and my bass player... when the guitarist had finally got his string back on and was in tune, there were about 5 people left on the floor, including me and my bass player.

 

[ZXIIIT]

Don't forget to scope out the stage before you go on (where everyone's gear is placed at, hanging PA speakers, lights)

Countless times I have fallen/tripped while playing (kept playing too, quite funny)


Watch at 2:10

and one time got a slight concussion from headbanging into a very low PA speaker.

This might not apply to anyone else but me, lol

 

[Guamskyy]

I hate shrewd comments like " When I raise my hand, I want you to scream at the top of your lungs"FUCK YOU, I SMOKE WEED!", or "This song is about cum! Specifically in your mouth!"

I hate it when they have the gain at like 5 o'clock, with NO noise gate, so they have soo much fizz. I also hate scooped mids too, how can I like you if I can't hear you?

I hate it when they throw open water bottles either to the crowd or the crowd throws it them, you get the floor wet and people slip and get hurt, and you can mess up the band's gear.

I hate it when band members spit. It's disgusting.

I HATE PUSHPITS.

 

[Meinrad]

I hate it when some guy from a band decides to insult another band while playing live. Like the guy from Municipal Waste who said, between songs, that Disturbed is crap and their fans are crap. If you're so sure of that, put on a good show and prove you can do better, then!

I also hate it when someone doesn't know how to control the feedback from their guitar, and all you hear during the concert is the feedback squeal.