How to put on a good show?

E

emotionalpenis

New member
I know that putting on a good show can be summed up to this: HAVE FUN AND SHOW IT!

Probelem is I don't show it! I zone into the music and the most I ever wanna do is headbob. But, I want to put on high energy performances! Like, SUPER high energy, I want to be all over the place pumping up the crowd! So, I'm gonna have to jump out of my comfort zone and "fake" it a little bit.

Does anyone have any tips on how to do that, on how to keep the PERFORMANCE energy going? Or just tips in general for playing live and giving the audience a good show? I've only played a handful of gigs in my life, so I've got a lot to learn! Thanks everyone I appreciate it!
 
It can come with experience. But basically, that's what a band's 'frontman' is for. Your best bet is to play wit a band that has a good frontman and learn.
 
Think of it as dancing. Dancing means moving with the music and doesn't have to be the way we think of it. Even headbanging is a type of dance. Think dance, and thou shalt deliver energy. Or do a line.
 
I feel that when I see a band or performer on stage and they are each looking confident in what they are playing it seems to be more professional. Professionalism can go a long way in making it a good show. Including the crowd in your show is also a good way to make it exciting. Talk to the audience, and maybe include them in your performance some way.....

This is JUST AN EXAMPLE lol but I used to go see a reggae/party band here and they used to have girls form the audience come on stage and do beer bongs between songs.... those shows were always awesome :)

ps - NEVER in my opinion should you cuss out your crowd ;) just remembered a few shows Ive seen that were NOT good ones to watch haha
 
Surely watching the bobbing head of an emotional penis is a fairly unique live experience in itself?

Possibly one that may cause grown men to ask certain questions of themselves afterwards...but undeniably a memorable night out nonetheless.
 
Beaverbee said:
I feel that when I see a band or performer on stage and they are each looking confident in what they are playing it seems to be more professional
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To me, confidence and enjoying yourself on stage are the big ones. however, you need to have both. I've seen bands who are clearly having fun but have no confidence and, as a member of the audience, you enjoy the show but aren't blown away. i've also seen bands who are confident in what they're doing but don't look like they're having fun and, as a member of the audience, it makes you feel like the band don't give a crap about what they're doing and are verging on arrogant.

Believe in yourself and enjoy what you're doing and audience should come away from your show thinking "yeah man, that was AWESOME!"

just my opinion of course :)
 
These guys put on one of the best live shows I've ever seen. I guess we were 150 people in the audience. Their music doesn't really translate well to recordings, the bass was rumbling and the guitars were screaming for mercy. The vocals were not anywhere near as loud in relation to the instruments as they are on the recording, but you can see their professionalism and confidence clearly. Sure, they overdo it, but that's all part of what I like to call the dance. Go to the depths of your evolutionary primal being or something like that.



What kind of music are you performing?
 
Thanks for the replies everyone! They reinforce what I think I already knew, about having fun and showing it, which should give me the confidence to put on a good live show!

dainbramage said:
Think of it as dancing. Dancing means moving with the music and doesn't have to be the way we think of it. Even headbanging is a type of dance. Think dance, and thou shalt deliver energy. Or do a line.
Click to expand...

Indeed, this is how I think of it!

Beaverbee said:
I feel that when I see a band or performer on stage and they are each looking confident in what they are playing it seems to be more professional. Professionalism can go a long way in making it a good show. Including the crowd in your show is also a good way to make it exciting. Talk to the audience, and maybe include them in your performance some way.....

This is JUST AN EXAMPLE lol but I used to go see a reggae/party band here and they used to have girls form the audience come on stage and do beer bongs between songs.... those shows were always awesome :)

ps - NEVER in my opinion should you cuss out your crowd ;) just remembered a few shows Ive seen that were NOT good ones to watch haha
Click to expand...

The beer bong idea is great! I'll be playing to college crowds so they'll really like that!

robgreen said:
Surely watching the bobbing head of an emotional penis is a fairly unique live experience in itself?

Possibly one that may cause grown men to ask certain questions of themselves afterwards...but undeniably a memorable night out nonetheless.
Click to expand...

Memorable indeed, I'm not sure why I chose the name. I like certain intense emotions and I like using my dick, and it was the first thing that came to mind!

Justsomeguy said:
To me, confidence and enjoying yourself on stage are the big ones. however, you need to have both. I've seen bands who are clearly having fun but have no confidence and, as a member of the audience, you enjoy the show but aren't blown away. i've also seen bands who are confident in what they're doing but don't look like they're having fun and, as a member of the audience, it makes you feel like the band don't give a crap about what they're doing and are verging on arrogant.

Believe in yourself and enjoy what you're doing and audience should come away from your show thinking "yeah man, that was AWESOME!"

just my opinion of course :)
Click to expand...

That's exactly some words I want them thinking. Thanks for the advice everyone! It is really going to help knowing that it really is just about confidence and having fun. The beer bong idea ( feed them intoxicants while I play ) is great too!
 
dainbramage said:
These guys put on one of the best live shows I've ever seen. I guess we were 150 people in the audience. Their music doesn't really translate well to recordings, the bass was rumbling and the guitars were screaming for mercy. The vocals were not anywhere near as loud in relation to the instruments as they are on the recording, but you can see their professionalism and confidence clearly. Sure, they overdo it, but that's all part of what I like to call the dance. Go to the depths of your evolutionary primal being or something like that.

***YOUTUBE VIDEO, 22 - Algorythm***

What kind of music are you performing?
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Yeah that is kind of what I'm going for! Not that style of performance, but I want to put my whole body into the performance.. tastefully, though. One thing I fear about performing is that I will overdo it and not realize that I'm overdoing it!

I'm going to be performing electronic music, a mixture of trance and dubstep, so I won't really have to worry about messing up the music, which will give me a lot of room to pump up the crowd with dancing!
 
Watch some videos of guys who "do it" for you. Emulate and steal from them. Fred Leblanc of Cowboy Mouth is still, even in his 40's, a very high-energy front man- and he FRONTS the band from BEHIND his drums. Much to be learned there.
 
emotionalpenis said:
I'm going to be performing electronic music, a mixture of trance and dubstep, so I won't really have to worry about messing up the music, which will give me a lot of room to pump up the crowd with dancing!
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Since you don't have to worry about messing up the music, that gives you a lot of room for making it theatrical. You might consider wearing fluorescent lights and stuff, all depending on how trippy your music is I guess.
 
This is so easy......

Owlsley acid in the refreshments.

Everybody will have agreat time, except for Dr Bogey who will be over in the corner rolled up in the fetal position.
 
mjbphotos said:
Yeah, but with the drugs the audience were doing, to them *the whole stage was moving* :laughings:
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I was there. The whole stage WAS moving. Everything within 500 yards of the theatre was moving.

True story. I was at the Strawberry Festival at Camp Mather Yosemite about 20 years ago and Peter Rowan was singing "The Free Mexican Airforce" and right as he was singing the chorus about the "free mexican airforce is flying tonight" there was a streak of 4 or 5 meteorites that looked like planes flying in formation. A lot of folks saw it and it raised a cheer from the crowd.

I wasn't even high back in those days!

Another true story: Last summer we were up at Darrington at the bluegrass festival on saturday night. We were drinking and smoking and I took a couple hits of some low-grade LSD. My brother and I are sitting there in the dark of the forest and suddenly there is this really weird horizontal lightning that came from west to east and passed right over our heads. There wasn't a cloud in the sky!

Now, we both saw it, and I was the only one that dosed. We asked some of the other campers the next day and nobody else had seen this strange lightning.

The only thing I could figure was this it was static electricity moving from one tree to another in the canopy over our heads. It makes sense, because the temperature was approaching the dewpoint, and dust and pollen and such suspended in water can easily conduct electricity.
 
I saw the Auroroa Borealis (as did my tripping compadre) from Boston in May, 1978 ..... only proves that hallucinations somehow can be shared!
 
dainbramage said:
Since you don't have to worry about messing up the music, that gives you a lot of room for making it theatrical. You might consider wearing fluorescent lights and stuff, all depending on how trippy your music is I guess.
Click to expand...

I don't want to detract from the music, and personally I find flashy gimmicks to be distracting! Some people like that kind of stuff, but it's not for me!
 
stevieb said:
Watch some videos of guys who "do it" for you. Emulate and steal from them. Fred Leblanc of Cowboy Mouth is still, even in his 40's, a very high-energy front man- and he FRONTS the band from BEHIND his drums. Much to be learned there.
Click to expand...

That's the plan! I'll check out Fred Leblanc, too!
 
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