When your band plays...

rcaz

Do you just play your songs with a bit of banter, or do you try to really put on a 'show'?

I've only started playing gigs with my band, our third gig is only coming up, and I'm starting to think we should try put a shape on our 'set' to make it a little more than just a list of songs.

What do you do?

maccored

i just chill out and jam. nobody pays me anyway.

Fandango

Put on a show. Always hated going to see bands and thinking i might aswell saved the ticket price and put on their CD. Get the crowd involved, get them clapping along and singing along. At the end of the day, you want them leaving thinking it was an amazing gig. If you just play the songs as you do in practice, that wont happen so ya have to put everything into it. Love playing live so i always try to do that anyway.

tom thum

definitely get the crowd involved. put on a show. if the crowd sees the band enjoying themselves , then it brushes off on the crowd too.

Sidney77

things that are popluar for nights out, hey jude is a good one, and the usual cheese, 500 miles, summer of 69, and something that can make them laugh

MilanPan!c

Depends on the band and the material.

Vomit

If you don't look like you're enjoying yourself, the audience will not enjoy your music. And if you act like it's the most important and fun night of your entire life, the audience might be somewhat entertained.

drumdrum

^^^

Exactly!

Also, tell our singer/frontman to be careful about trying to get hand claps going etc.

There is nothing worse than seeing a singer trying to get a hand clap going, and the audience not responding. Its kind of sad.
Just make sure that the vibe is right before attempting! If you dont think its there, then dont attempt!

lmahoney79

Sidney77 wrote: »

things that are popluar for nights out, hey jude is a good one, and the usual cheese, 500 miles, summer of 69, and something that can make them laugh

I wouldnt always agree with this type of thing.......when i hear a band playing that usual crap I just switch off.

lmahoney79

what i would suggest though is to structure your set properly. Have a good mix of tunes rather than the whole set just sounding the same. Nothing worse than a band just thrashing through all the tunes and they all sound similar. Nice to hear some change in the set every now and then.

Mr. CooL ICE

drumdrum wrote: »

There is nothing worse than seeing a singer trying to get a hand clap going, and the audience not responding. Its kind of sad.
Just make sure that the vibe is right before attempting! If you dont think its there, then dont attempt!

Very very true. Getting some audience participation going is much easier said than done. Especially if your singer is the shy type who finds it hard to look directly at the crowd when he's not singing, the audience will sense their lack of confidence

enfield

Talk at the audience. Never ask a question that depends of an answer from them or you will be disappoited when the answer does not come. Get a lot of tried and trusted one liners. One liners of a topical nature that is i.e. We have the best politicans money can buy etc.. Never but never criticise the audience. Slag yourself but not band members. Slagging other members WILL grow to hostility in the band. Have the last 30 minutes of a show pre-planned so that when it starts it will finish with the National Anthem with no breaks in the middle, i.e. one song runs into the next until BANG! its all over. Work on medleys as you don't have to learn the full songs. Do a few vocals without instruments and work in harmonies on them. It MUST be seen that the band are enjoying themselves without looking stupid. The most important thing is avoid blushing if someone makes a boo boo with repartee, support them not bring notice to their error in judgement. People want to be entertained so if you are enjoying yourselves it will radiate outwards.
If you are doing instrumentals arrange them so that each one is in a different key and if at all possible have the last one of the set in a minor key, it gives a great lift.
Go and enjoy the gig and approach it as a bit of fun with your friends not something that has the be trudged through.
You cannot push the audience into listening to you, they must 'like' you first.
Regards.
Tom.

eoin5

In the last band I was in we definitely put on a show, in a battle of the bands in the king kong club I was narrowly missed by the lead singer swinging a banana wrapped in a condom, fun times . Then there was the masks, pretty suffocating but fun. It worked in our favour for sure, we couldnt bring enough people compared to the winners but the bystanders were loving it.

PMI

Show all the way....

Remember when your starting out gigging, most bands are playing to people that arrive by chance so your usually hoping to keep them. The more you try and build and meet and greet you will have people waiting and then have the venue doors closed before your gig starts

Your not going to get this 100% in your 1st year, it takes time and there's lots to think of ie: PA/Lights, PR after gig chatting to EVERYONE and getting in with staff etc... and repeat business as thats what its about.

The 1st half hour of the set is very important as this is when people decide to stay or move on somewhere else, the mid is still important but you can afford to deviate a bit and then hit them hard at the end as this is the point they will remember.

Its all one big stratagy from the point you arrive to the point the van is packed and hopefully you will have fun inbetween

Good luck with your band.

aido179

some great advice here. In my last band, our gigs were just as practice, but we were very young and far too inexperienced. two of our members were 15/16 and the other two were 16/17.

Demeyes

Try and put on a bit of a show for sure, if you're doing things that entertain people then you're doing a good job. Of course it depends on the gig and the kind of music you play.
In general though bands that look like they are having fun convey a better gig than a bunch of fretboard gazers on stage. In my band we all generally move around a bit and in some parts we have cheesy gimmicks, but it's all for fun. Crowd interaction is really hit or miss. If the crowd don't respond, you can't make them and further trying will generally just make things worse.
As others said, you should plan your setlist carefully. You don't need to have every song planned out but a general idea of how you want things to go. Start off with something more upbeat and you might get some crowd going. Then you can slow it down a bt and bring it back towards a big finish. Some people say finish on a slower song to wind down a gig but I always think it's better to end on something faster or more upbeat and leave the crowd wanting more.