Following on from the thread with the lighthearted/ spoof "Rules For Playing Live" -
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/10207/rules-for-playing-live/p1 - I thought it would be interesting to hear what your REAL rules for playing live would be.
I'll start off with some obvious ones, but please join in:
1. Guitarists/ Bassists..USE A TUNER. No excuses.
2. Keep gaps between songs to a minimum. Yes, by all means talk to the audience - in fact, I'd say this was essential - but don't jabber on endlessly or spend an age swapping guitars/ finding your place in your lyric book/ retuning..etc etc. If you have to do these things, do it quickly. Be prepared! Metallica are the worst for this. I saw Foo Fighters play for 2 hours and they were bang, bang, bang from one song to the next, and DG still had time for witty banter. Metallica have gaps between songs that you could fit half of The Ramones' entire
set into
Your turn!
Comments
I knew we had jinxed it!
I haven't had a gig since then, next gig is Saturday...I shall make sure my spare strings are close to hand...
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
As an addendum to Dave's point 2 there should always be something happening so if its a technical reason why you can't be making music then that's the time to start talking to the audience. Or do something that bypasses that problem. I saw Sherman Robertson once (actually I saw him twice but that's by the by) and his keyboard player's keyboard died mid set. Sherman plus bassist and drummer went into an impromptu jam on a couple of Stevie Ray Vaughan numbers whilst the keyboard was put away and an upright piano rolled across from the other end of the pub. Dealing with it in this way got a better response than the rehearsed numbers were doing up to that point.
Look interested. If you look bored or more interested in something on your pedal board or to side of stage than you are with what's happening in the gig then that sends out a clear message to the audience that your band ( presumably its hard to focus elsewhere if you are a solo performer!) aren't interesting.Smiling doesn't hurt ( although not during that epic ballad about the death of your labrador).
:o3
Spare Strings to hand too.
Smile.
Make sure your gear is up to the job.
You are there to entertain.
Smile.
Bandcamp
Spotify, Apple et al
Make sure you have a piss/dump/last smoke etc well before you're due on stage, not 1 minute to go.
Fresh batteries in anything that needs them.
Know what you're playing - but that should be sorted well in advance, unless it's a jam night.
Don't get drunk before/during your stage time.
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
1. No farting on stage forcing your band members to stand in your stench and inhaling your anal vapour to sing with! Void your bowels before the set!
2. Never allow an audience member to come on stage to "play / sing one song" - they will most likely be awful and possibly trash your equipment. All they want to do is show off and attempt to out do the band member they think they're better than.
3. Every band member pitches in equally with set up and tear down no matter how little or how much gear they individually are using.
Be confident - make eye contact with the audience
IF you make a mistake don't stop - make something up or breathe and keep going
Have a setlist printed in a font size that you can actually see
This one is just for me - have electric cigarette to hand for those 'need a fix' moments
Endless bottles of warer and/or lucozade sport nearby and drink them
Give the old hands a shake often to avoid getting cramp
Dont crank the amp up half way through the set - it's not getting quieter - your ears are just getting fatigued
Try and make a barrier between band and punters with monitors - stops lunatics lurching towards you to smash mic stand and mic into ones gob
Smile - this is fun.
Big beer afterwards
My LP's neck didn't fly off @handsome_chris . I was genuinely bricking it thinking something was going to happen..
1. Don't take offence at punters who finish off "1,2" with any kind of witty comment.
2. Don't put any liquid in containers on the floor.
3. Bring a spare everything because if you don't something will fail.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.