Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Show Off

“Should we have a great live show with lots of jumping around, or should we focus on playing every note perfectly?” I hear this question a lot. My answer is “Yes”.

When you are in a live band, you tell people “We have a show coming up.” The word “show” indicates you are going to do something worth watching. You are going to consider what to wear. You are going to place yourself on stage. You are going to arrange yourself around that stage so everyone in the audience can see each member. And then, most likely, you are not going to do anything worth watching.

That is what I see in most clubs. A band performs a selection of songs they may have written, but does so in a most boring fashion. If you are going to put on show, do so with the thought that you are going to demand the audience’s attention. You are going to keep them engaged. Once you have them engaged, you are going to lead them to do or feel something. Will they dance, will they laugh, will they cry, will they be amazed?

That is your challenge. If you have great songs which you play with a sound that is attractive and clear, then you need to create a great show which draws people nearer.

Get people to stop talking to each other because they feel a need to watch and listen to everything you do. How can you get the crowd to turn away from the bar tv screens which are showing ESPN highlights?

To answer this, you need to look honestly at your music and understand how it is designed to make people feel. If your songs are meant to get people up and dancing, nothing is less compelling than musicians whose heads are down while they stare at their own hands, and a singer who looks like a deer in the headlights. If your songs are mellow, or quiet reflections of deep personal tragedy, a bunch of silly upbeat banter between songs may not quite fit. In fact, most people treat their show as an apology for their songs. As if they are embarrassed by them or not proud.

Take ownership of your songs. Take that stage over like this is your home. Then do all you can to invite people into the songs you believe in.

If you show the audience you believe in the songs so much that it takes over your facial expression, your movements, your body language, then they may want to believe in them right along with you.

That being said, you can not give up musicianship for performance. If there is no way you can look up from your fretboard or move around on stage while playing, then you need to keep working on your instrument.

Once you’ve committed to putting on a show every time you hit the stage, there are so many things you can work on. Yes, the band can be lively during the songs, but what about between the songs? How much time do you allow before you start the next song? What order should the songs come in?

To answer these, first remember that your job is to grab their attention and the second is to not let them go. The less mount of dead time between songs, the better.

The order of songs is up to how you want the evening to progress. Consider your time on stage is one long story you are telling. And that each song, or each break between songs, is a chapter in that story. So at each and every point, the audience is entertained by what is going on, but also eagerly waiting to see and hear what is next.

If you ask them to watch someone tune a guitar, you are not telling a very compelling chapter. Hearing an inside joke or bland conversations with the sound man is not going to inspire someone to buy another beer so they can hear you talk about vocals in the monitors again. Strings break. Guitars go out of tune. People need to switch instruments. You need good sound on stage. Prepare for those situations so when they come up, you can work them into your show or adjust on the fly without upsetting the flow for your audience.

Take any of the artists you want to be compared to and get bootlegs of their concerts. Video bootlegs would be best. Sit down and take notes while listening to them about how they do things. Does your favorite band roll through the first couple of songs before addressing the audience? Where do they place their hit song? What kind of rapport do they have with their fans? How do they handle problems that arise?

Your favorite band may have roadies who present new guitars to them between each song. Or incredible sound companies that prevent monitors from going out. But you can be creative. The more creative you get within your limitations, the more you impress your audience.

I once saw a three piece band whose signer/guitarist broke a string. They had no roadie to take the guitar and restring. They could have stopped the show to put on a new string. But instead, the bass player and drummer went right into a simple groove wile the bass player took over the mic. They proceeded to play a game of name that tune. In the middle of their groove, the bass player would break into a bass riff and challenge the audience to name the song. They were easily identifiable songs. Soon enough, the guitarist had a string on and took over on the mic. He continued the game using mouth noises while he finished tuning his guitar. Once his guitar was in tune, he took it off bypass and did one more name that tune contest, but this time continued it with the band until they ended up playing the entire song. When they were done, they got the biggest applause of the night. They took a situation which could have been boring, got the audience entertained while they worked out the issue, and ended up rewarding them for sticking around.

Remember, you do have to write incredible songs and play them exceptionally well. But that is the easy part. Putting on a show that entertains and leaves the crowd wanting more (and telling their friends the next day) is going to put you head and shoulders above anyone else in your home town.