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The actor's technique is to look just an inch or two above the line of sight of the very furthest people in the audience... don't fix on one spot, just do the occasional scan or glance. Looks perfectly natural, apparently (though maybe not at the most intimate gigs, a spot of proper eye contact when you can manage it will probably work best there).
If you don't want to make eye contact with the audience then look just above their heads.
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It is also one of the reasons for wearing a hat whilst gigging, it slightly narrows your field of focus and makes it harder for other people to see your eyes so you aren't constantly catching eye contact with strangers.
When I did groupwork ( I used to deliver sex offender treatment programmes and things like that) we would talk about 'lending focus.' If there are two of you delivering a group and you are looking at your notes/ phone/ feet whilst the other person is talking it sends the message that the other person isn't interesting/ as interesting as the thing you are looking at. So look at your band mates, particularly during any moments that feature them. Bass solo? Look at the bassist; you may have heard it 100 times before and find it boring but that's not the message you want to send. Not looking straight ahead can be a bit weird but if you can manage the band line up so that you aren't all in a straight line then that helps to do so without twisting around.
So, in brief, treat the audience like a large group of sex offenders.
If you've ever gigged in Swindon you'll know how easy that is
When I play originals, my music is usually a bit more thoughtful, introverted and intense than a set of crowd pleasing covers, so in those cases I figure it's OK to get a bit more engrossed in the act of playing the instrument. So quite often I pay less attention to the crowd, but have always assumed that they understand if an artist is lost in the moment. So I quite often would be looking at what I'm playing, but then moving with the music, obviously interacting with the rest of the band etc, so people didn't think I was just standing there, being boring.
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Its the crowds that are dead and barely move that make it awkward, as there's no reaction to the music.
Its harder to play in bigger room with fewer people than a smaller room with a packed audience. Usually I'm walking/running around the stage to focus on one particular person, and sometimes I'll have a little wander about in the actual crowd (benefits of being on a wireless system).
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youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
I remember when in the band I sang in, I used to choose someone in the audience to look at while I sang my angst-hate-riddled songs. I think it scared them sometimes.
I’m sure my mouth moves with the wah.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
Used to have quite a few people in the crowds who knew us, so it was like a joke everyone was in on and usually people tried to make me break and smile through doing increasingly stupid things, which others would then try and out do, usually ended up me breaking down laughing trying desperately not to fuck up the song.
Probably wouldn't work in a crowd of 10,000.
Or if you didn't know people around you.
Probably best not do do it.