Tips for first time performers

smitty_p said:
Yup. Having "friendlies" in the crowd is always good.
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I was considering this before.

Honestly I'm not sure which I'd prefer given the choice as a virgin to the stage: an audience full of friends, or an audience full of strangers.

But then again, like Mike said upthread there, that means I'm thinking about me, and not them.
I need to shift my focus...
 
mcblink said:
I was considering this before.

Honestly I'm not sure which I'd prefer given the choice as a virgin to the stage: an audience full of friends, or an audience full of strangers.

But then again, like Mike said upthread there, that means I'm thinking about me, and not them.
I need to shift my focus...
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I make freinds with strangers throughout the performance and its one of my most favorite aspects of performing.
 
smitty_p said:
This is also true. It's funny - sometimes on breaks between sets at a gig somebody will tell me how well I played.

I'm always very appreciative and gracious toward the person, but in my own mind I'm thinking of every mistake I made and how I could have done better and that I'm not really a great guitar player.

But, I try to be "showy" and look like I'm having fun when I play. I don't stand stock still and I move around a bit. Also, interacting with the other members of the band works good, too. Sometimes, the bass player and I will walk to center stage and face each other as we play.

The crowd will subconsciously translate this behavior as being good.
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Totally get that. Having fun translates to the crowd and you appear to be "better" than perhaps you really are!!

I run around lots. Used to more before my knee joints got a bit wonky.

Just have fun and get into what you are doing.


 
Inspector #20 said:
If you guys lived closer, i would take you all down to the music academy's rehearsal stage and we'd have a jam.
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Dude, that'd be fckin' cool!

Our bass guy used to have a DIY venue on his property, he lived there for years, just recently moved, but there were a lot of bands to play there before the county shut him down. He never had any permits or licenses or proper zoning and all that stuff, totally DIY.

We were going to start practicing there. Only did twice before I broke my knee, then he had to move, so that's all gone now. Oh well, it was in need of some cleaning and repair, but it was a stage and space to practice in.


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chilipeppermaniac said:
Farts @ you losing the space.
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I'm not too tore up about it, it would have actually required LRT and I to travel to the next town over every time we had a practice. Was a cool place though, as dirty and in disrepair as it was. It clearly hadn't been used as a venue in some time, but it would have made a nice spot to play rock star for a bit.
 
This band used to play there frequently. They've been successful at what they're doing.
Actually, they had all their gear stolen a few years back, and the REAL Metallica heard about it and replaced all their stuff for them. I thought that was pretty great.

He even talks just like James haha!



This band too:

 
mcblink said:
This band used to play there frequently. They've been successful at what they're doing.
Actually, they had all their gear stolen a few years back, and the REAL Metallica heard about it and replaced all their stuff for them. I thought that was pretty great.

He even talks just like James haha!



This band too:

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Don't know if you guys noticed, but "James" in Blistered Earth and "Jeff" from Hell Awaits in those two videos I posted are the same guy..
 
smitty_p said:
This is also true. It's funny - sometimes on breaks between sets at a gig somebody will tell me how well I played.

I'm always very appreciative and gracious toward the person, but in my own mind I'm thinking of every mistake I made and how I could have done better and that I'm not really a great guitar player.

But, I try to be "showy" and look like I'm having fun when I play. I don't stand stock still and I move around a bit. Also, interacting with the other members of the band works good, too. Sometimes, the bass player and I will walk to center stage and face each other as we play.

The crowd will subconsciously translate this behavior as being good.
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Yes! People go to SEE a band - no one says "I'm going to hear Metallica" they're going to SEE them. So, the band has to be active on stage, has to look like they're having the time of their lives. No one wants to see a musician impersonating stage furniture.

mcblink said:
This is a good post Mike, thanks.

We had talked about the idea of perhaps putting a vocal mic up, and asking for a volunteer, not sure if that's a great idea though.

The first guy we tried for vocals was great, his style just clicked with what we were doing and it was awesome. And then his wife told him no. Probably dodged a bullet there, cause what happens when his wife decides he can't be a part of it on the day of a gig? Not good.
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Please don't bring Rando on stage... cause that never goes well. Dude gets up, sucks hard, won't leave, makes y'all look bad... then you get blamed for letting @LiveeviL2000 up there in the first place...
 
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