Good topic. As I'm not at the mic, I have to be an objective listener when Lance starts his drunken-between-song-muttering. I like a couple of words between tunes to stretch and catch my breath. There definitely comes quickly a line which can be crossed. Like, don't talk about yourself TOO much, don't talk about things that aren't somehow related to the gig, or the music, or one of the other bands. Lance will sometimes talk for like 30 seconds too long. I stress sometimes. It might also matter what kind of music you play, but I like (as an audience member) to hear a little "banter" form the stage. Keep it under a minute. For me, some talking is better than like, utter silence. Unless that's part of your act. I'm gonna shut the fuck up, speaking of talking too much.
"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." -Ben Franklin
when bands keep buggin bout gettin yer asses in front of the stage...if i wanted to have my ass in front of the band...id already be there...if your music catches my ear...ill be right there...if im playing that night....im sitting at the bar being social and tryin to keep my hearing...i can still hear you...and ill clap and hoot at the appropriate times...
though band member introduction is appropriate...and how much time you got onstage warrants what ever you can and or have the time to say...personally i find too much rappin to the audience takes away from the energy of the set...but thats just me...
but yeah...berating the audience for not being right in front of the band is uncool...you get my respect when the music is phenominal...and or buy me beer...or...im really drunk and you sound good...because most bands sound better when im drinkin...if they suck...its my damn fault...
o.O
sean
"the quickest way to a mans heart is through his penis" - tammy faye bakker
Posts: 440 | Location: i wish i knew | Registered: January 13, 2004
I don't mind a little chit chat with the audience. Maybe a quick 10-15 second intro to your song and if you have a funny story about a song I don't mind listening to it.......Introducing your bandmates I think is a must...
I hate mumblers, I like to know the names of the songs and I hate saying to my friends at the bar or table "What the fuck did he say?"......
But then again I'll take a mumbler over dead air......Or if the band is having tuning problems and has to stop and tune something.....Then I get a bit edgy and sometimes I feel bad for the poor fucks........
As a drummer I do like it when we have a few seconds before our next song so I can towel off or wax my drum sticks before a heavy tune......
Plus hearing a band talk a litttle tells alot from a band who is deadfuckserious and those who are cool and fun to hear.
In Left Brain I would say we chat up the audience minimally. You wont hear Tristin talking about his week if that's what you mean. We all try to interact with the audience in one way or another though. Once in a while someone in the band has a technical difficulty and that is when you see Trist'e chatting it up for an extended period.
Foodstamps likes to talk to the audience...actually he used to go a step further and hand out prizes...I remember one time first prize was a brand new urinal disc, while second prize was a used one...or ziploc bag full of picked scabs, or the box of cockroaches.... *sigh* the good ole days
Posts: 531 | Location: in front of my computer.......what the fuck is your location??? | Registered: August 17, 2003
Generally I like it when bands just shut the fuck up and rock. It can be annoying when bands plug their merch and their website or myspace page between every song. Telling people you have merch is cool. But don't let it turn into something that is more about the $$$ and less about music. If people want to buy your shit, they will and telling them to buy it 5 times does not help.
But there are some bands like the Gracchi or RGTH which have really funny band chemistry and can be a hoot to hear what crazy comments come out of their mouths between songs.
I always feel the need to check my tuning between songs. It drives me crazy if i'm even the slightest bit out. I hate the pause but I think it's better than being out of tune. This usually forces the singer to have to talk.
One of my favorite bands to see back in highschool was the Ramones when they'd tour twice a year. They almost never said a word between songs.... just 1 2 3 4 and back into the next song. Fucking great... It was just a half hour of back to back rock that hardly gave you time to breathe.
Posts: 3647 | Location: Burque | Registered: July 28, 2004
Agreed web monkey!!! I hate it when a bands begs.. Like "come on help us out, go get some merch please help us out, help us please"
We've been on tour and we know what its like to hope like hell to sell some merch but to beg people to buy it that totally turns me off! I swore to myself I'd never do that!
I think sometimes it depends how much time you got to play. I mean if you have 30 minutes, throw in as much music as possible with little chit chat. You have an hour or so, have fun with the audience. Interact, let them remember how fun music is for us as musicians and for them as listeners. Hell, we have members in the audience come up stage and do a little karaoke stylee with us (when we have the time on stage to do it). At least thats what we do sometimes when we get too drunk to play, j/k.
Originally posted by Cuzin J: Hell, we have members in the audience come up stage and do a little karaoke stylee with us (when we have the time on stage to do it).
We did that at a show at atomic not too long ago. A audience member kept bugging and buggin, along with her friends, that she could sing in russian. We finally gave in and let her sing a few bars. It gave mark, sean and I time to jam out, which we hadn't really done during our practices. But after having to listen to her tone-deaf rendition of god knows what for 2 min that seemed to last like 30, never again, never again....
But there are some bands like the Gracchi or RGTH which have really funny band chemistry and can be a hoot to hear what crazy comments come out of their mouths between songs.
Thanks. I DO prefer "less talk more rock" though. Leonard asked us to stall and drag it out last week since those two other bands cancelled. So we added a few songs and some shit talking. I used to do that stuff a lot more, but I kinda get bored with nowadays. I would rather have not done it honestly. I like back to back. Supergiant barely even left room for clapping during that show! They just rolled into each song like an avalanche. It was great.
About tuning: some bands need to do less back to back and more tuning. They beat the shit out of their instruments, and by 3, 4 songs in they are all off. Drives me nuts. The worst is when you are in the middle of a song and you realize one string or something is WAY off but it's too late to stop so you have to play it on a different string and you realize you are thinking about the song too much and even if you get it right you kinda killed it. That sucks. No, I take it back: the worst is when another band member is out of tune and doesn't realize it and you are trying to signal them and they just keep playing like some jerk.
Sorry we cancelled. I've never before cancelled a show due to illness, but I guess there's always a first. I heard the place was totally packed too. Unfortunate.
Ok. SP uses three different tunings in the course of a set. At this point we group the songs together by tuning. Even switching axes between songs proved to be a little weird. So they've opted to tune on stage. I always try to play a small "solo" during the tuning breaks, just to keep the momentum happening. So my question is: "should 'other' band members do anything while frontman is tuning?"
"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." -Ben Franklin
I remember when we were playin a show at the golden waste and our bass players hand was cramping up (shooting up too much) he took off to the bathroom after a song and we were like WTF? So we just went into some jam session and our singer started singing a song about a shitty bass player and how we did'nt need him. Fucking classic, I could hardly keep a straight face!
i got a good amount of stage fright so i'm not one to be a chatterbox. on the otherhand if i'm comfortable and familiar with where i'm playing i tend to rant a little and say stupid shit between songs. I haven't been told to shut up or say something so I guess I found some balance. If I'm at a show as long as I'm having a good time I really don't care if there's more talk and less rock. or vice versa.
"Sometimes you can give more of an impression by the things that you don't say." - Jack Dangers
Posts: 27 | Location: The Radioactive Desert | Registered: November 30, 2005
My trouble is that I can't talk without feeling like an idiot, like someone doing an impersonation of a lead singer of a rock band. Even though that's me. Strange. But some folks have got it down. Some people are just so damn cool on stage, you don't even want them to stop talking.
Originally posted by terryb: Levi, did Below the Sound play that show?
Sorry we cancelled. I've never before cancelled a show due to illness, but I guess there's always a first. I heard the place was totally packed too. Unfortunate.
Yeah, BTS was there and kicked ass. It was the touring act added last that also cancelled. It WAS packed though, we missed you all. Anyway, yeah, it happens. Don't sweat it. Hope you are feeling better.
back to the topic at hand... Here's my cure for stage fright: make a total ass of yourself. I've had a few shows so bad, where I said so much stupid shit and played so poorly... no matter what happens now I just remember that and think, "well, at least I'll never be that bad again." It pretty much cured any stage fright or impostor feelings I had.
I like a couple of words between tunes to stretch and catch my breath. There definitely comes quickly a line which can be crossed. Like, don't talk about yourself TOO much, don't talk about things that aren't somehow related to the gig, or the music, or one of the other bands. Lance will sometimes talk for like 30 seconds too long. I stress sometimes. It might also matter what kind of music you play, but I like (as an audience member) to hear a little "banter" form the stage. Keep it under a minute. For me, some talking is better than like, utter silence. Unless that's part of your act. I'm gonna shut the fuck up, speaking of talking too much.
