A band is a perfect formula for musicians and showmen. Your drummer is the backbone of the band, holding everything together. Alongside the drummer is the bassist who functions as the base (bass?) of the rhythm section. From there, all of the other instruments can flow around the beat and groove to create your perfect sound.
But there’s more to a great band than just the sound, isn’t there?
Certainly. There’s the show. Some will say that the greatest shows they’ve ever seen were Pink Floyd or Tool. Sure, a killer light, fog, fire, and whatever other visual effects-driven show is wonderful! Still, the best performances are based on, well, performance! Your drummer can display a little presence by standing up between songs and waving his sticks (or twirling them, or throwing them. Whatever you prefer!) Keyboardists and drummers are generally somewhat stuck, but if you’re a mobile musician like a bassist, guitarist, vocalist, etc. then get out there and move around.
Regardless of the craziness on stage, there is always one person who stands out the most. The singer.
This is:
- The person who’s guiding the crowd.
- The person who’s delivering the lyrical story.
- The person who’s conducting the crowd participation.
All eyes are on the singer. So your singer is your ringleader. This is a very important job. I’ve worked with phenomenal singers who couldn’t work a crowd whatsoever. They had amazing charisma while singing, and none whatsoever between songs. Such a shame! I remember once auditioning singers and one guy came in and belted out the high note at the end of Aerosmith’s, Dream On. You know that one, right? The note that Steven Tyler was hitting even at age 70! The note that makes dogs cock their head just slightly while their ears go up. Incredible, right? We didn’t pick him because he was incredibly introverted. The man could sing his butt off, but he was a bore between songs. Tragic!
Beyond singing.
Of course, it’s important to be a great singer. That’s a given. Although many accomplished frontmen/women have said, “50% of singing is attitude.” There’s truth to that, too.
First, a few things you should avoid.
It’s great to chat up the crowd between songs, just don’t overdo it. If you waste time people will leave. Besides, they came there to hear music. Hit them with more songs, not more talking.
This isn’t VH1 Storytellers. Don’t tell your life story, a tale of woe while you were out shopping, the stress of traffic on the way to the gig, or anything else unimportant. No one cares if you lived next to a guy who knew a guy who happened to live next door to Bruce Springsteen. No one is interested in the history behind each song.
Keep things simple. Not every song requires an introduction. Some songs are best left to speak for themselves. When your guitarist fires up that intro riff to Sweet Child O’ Mine you can bet everyone in the room knows the song and most are thrilled to hear it.
If you’re having technical issues, don’t speak them over the mic. Your audience doesn’t need to know that something is going wrong at that moment. If it’s obvious, your sound person should be able to remedy the issue. If not, prep some simple hand gestures to get your point across to whoever is in charge of your board. Casually motion to your mic and point up if the volume needs to be raised. Keep the ball rolling.
Never bring up personal matters. “Our other guitarist couldn’t be here today because he has a burning case of explosive diarrhea.” The crowd does NOT need to know about this. “This is Bob, he’s filling in for our bassist tonight. Our bassist couldn’t make the gig because his wife wanted to go to dinner.” You’ll only look like an unprofessional egg-head if you make comments like this, no one thinks you’re funny.
I swear… you should not swear. There’s a time and a place for everything, but nothing is more tasteless than a singer who swears so often that their four-letter favorites are used like commas. Be cool and classy. Sure, you can swear for comedic effect or out of anger if some jackass just started a fight for no reason. That’s fine, that’s acceptable and understandable. No one blames you. The ol’, “How the ___________ are you mother ____________ doing tonight?!”, is just plain overdone. It’s ridiculous and juvenile. This is right up there with being the guy who pulls into someone’s driveway in a nice quiet suburban neighborhood and refuses to turn down their car stereo.
Keep politics, religion, current events, etc. out of your performance. No one cares if you don’t like the president. They sure won’t think you’re cooler if you flipped the guy off as the motorcade scooted through your city. You might even come off like a complete jerk rather than cool. It’s cool to praise your god, it’s not cool to thank your lord and savior after every song. We all know about the skirmish in that middle eastern country that was just on the news. There’s no need to utilize that event so you can make a semi-semi-clever joke. Leave it be. This is a musical performance. Can you imagine if an hour into his set Tony Bennett had suddenly said, “So I hear the Yankees traded their shortstop? What a bunch of crap!” This might be okay at a sports bar. After all, far too many places today want their patrons to watch 12 sports on 40 different televisions while there’s a band performing. Sometimes the ol’ adage, “if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em” applies. However, there’s no need to rant about a bad play during your weekend wedding gig.
So what should you do?
Think about the setlist you have. Which songs are singalongs? Those are the ones that you want to involve the crowd in. Prepare them by running a round of the chorus acapella before the song begins. Or, you can vamp a bit in the middle of the song and have them sing along them. Remember the great Freddy Mercury? He could work for a crowd like no other. Even singing absolute nonsense syllables can be quite effective when done properly.
Keep your song intros to a minimum. Don’t intro every song, perhaps just a handful per set. Keep those intros under a minute. Yes, under a minute. Have your band start playing and vamping the song intro while you’re speaking. This will keep the dead air down and make you look more prepared. Sometimes banter is a good way to delay the show so a guitarist can switch guitars or tune back up. That’s fine, but then arrange something with the remaining musicians to start playing while this is happening. This keeps everyone looking prepared. The illusion you want to give is that all of this was planned – even when it’s not!
It’s okay to be a little fun between songs, but jokes aren’t necessary. Avoid telling jokes or making jokes, but you can be funny. For instance… we ALL know 867-5309, yea? Well, a quick, “Jenny, why haven’t you called me?”, could be a fun way to jump right into that well-known intro and give people a little chuckle. It doesn’t have to be Rodney Dangerfield funny, but it can be clever and fun. Def Leppard wrote a song in the early 90s called Let’s Get Rocked. The song starts on the album with singer Joe Elliott saying, in his raspy rock voice, “Do you wanna get rocked?”, and immediately the song begins. When they play the song live, Joe intros the same way. It keeps things just like the record, which is familiar, while also serving as a great live intro.
Move around A LOT. Don’t stand like a well-rooted tree. Move all over the stage (assuming there’s a decent amount of room.) Interact with your bandmates. Put your arm around your bassist, or point at your guitarist when he’s going into a solo. Stand on the drum riser periodically; maybe hop off rather than merely stepping down. HAVE FUN.
One last tip…
Want to avoid those technical mishaps? Sometimes they are unavoidable. The best thing you can do is be on time. No one likes an ego-soaked superstar or diva thinking they are too important to show up at the same time as everyone else. You need time to soundcheck, double and triple-check batteries, and connections, and make sure everything is exactly as you want it during the show. Even the physical position of things like monitors, mic stands, guitar stands, effects pedals, and more are very important. Give yourself plenty of time to set up your stage so you won’t have to worry about any sort of surprises later. “Oh no, where’s my capo??? Have those business cards ready if you’re playing at a local venue. People will always ask for them. An ounce of preparation is worth it in the end.
Courtesy of Niko Lalangas
~Featured by Line 6 Guitars!
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