Advice for a Successful Show?

[SeNeCa]

hey guys, in about a month there is going to be a battle of the bands/talent comp in my town. there are a few bands where i live and most are entering. In skill all the bands are about even like its up for grabs but is there anything my band and i can do to make us stand out above the others? we also only get 1 song so i suppose showmenship comes into it alot?

thanks guys. :)

[Chris]

Stage presence, dont stand (the bassest ect) in one place. You have a hole stage in which to use.

Talk to the crowd.

Be confindent in what you do.

Know your songs inside out.

Play as a unit, not as a group of individuals.

[Damo]

Dress up.

Have a floorshow that will interact with the audience and allow all members of the band to visit each corner of the stage.

Look like youre having fun

Bring a rentacrowd.

[Charlie Manson]

Female nudity.

[the_pure_drummer]

Female nudity.

You have your answer right there my friend.

But everything damo said!

[Corkofski]

rentacrowd is good.

as is nudity

unless you have an acrylic kit, you could play your set naked...

[Sync0pation]

RHCP it, use a sock to cover it

[Josiah]

Lotta great suggestions. I'm just reittereate on being confident in your own material, and play it like your rehersed it. Non of those last minute changes things.

And LOTS of energy, eat good stuff an hour or so before. Pasta, Baked Potato, etc

[oliv_da_skinmasher]

Those guys are all right. The most important thing of all, i believe, is warming up and eating properly before the show. Followed closely by those nude ladies lol

[Corkofski]

dont forget:
http://food.oregonstate.edu/images/grains/oats/quaker_oats2.jpg

[GooseFilms.net]

bring a lot of people

[Drummer300btx]

get into it. If you beleive the music, theres more likelihood the fans will. the inverse is true as well. plus, crowds love wild drummers (just dont let the music suffer)

[Sync0pation]

Yeah drummers are known to be wild and crazy so you have to live up to their expectations. Even if you're playing a small fill with 16ths at 140 BPM make it seem like it's the hardest thing ever and that you're putting all your energy into it. Put your soul into the music, and own the drumset. Remember, this does NOT mean that should play at your loudest all the time!

[London Prophet]

If you're setting up the drumkit, don't put it at the back of the stage, put it sideways on at the front. It makes the drummer a lot more intimate with the crowd and allows the band to look at one another without having their backs to the crowd.

[Damo]

Female nudity can be great - but not if someone on the judging panel is a feminist.

[FL3P]

By putting your all into it we don't mean overplay either. Make the simple things look really challenging and fun and have the singer talk to the crowd and make them feel like part of the show.

[Ethan.]

Man just have fun.

[NCDrummer]

yah have fun with it...but if you wanna have good presence

incorperate the audience in to you songs (hands waving, have them sing a lil etc)

move around the stage(cept the drummer of course)

don't get mad over mistakes...just roll with it

and do this!:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y294/IWantCheerwine/MXPXatWarpeddoingtheToss.jpg

[HeLLmO]

yea dude, get your stuff down cold and have fun. don't try to force yourself to do anything while your playing, move naturally, look cool, but do it naturally, never do forced things, 'cept maybe a twirl or 2. make sure your nice to the crowd, thank them, blah blah blah


another important thing is to be nice to the other bands their, help them set up and take down, be kind, etc. it may not seem like much, but it's nice, and that helps everyone

[NCDrummer]

yea dude, get your stuff down cold and have fun. don't try to force yourself to do anything while your playing, move naturally, look cool, but do it naturally, never do forced things, 'cept maybe a twirl or 2. make sure your nice to the crowd, thank them, blah blah blah


another important thing is to be nice to the other bands their, help them set up and take down, be kind, etc. it may not seem like much, but it's nice, and that helps everyone
that brings up another important thing...

BOW at the end! its a sign thanking the crowd for their time and support

[HeLLmO]

or you could just verbally(sp?) thank the crowd, that works too.


and drink plenty of gatorade

[GooseFilms.net]

bowing at the end of that isnt exactly in style. for some performances you wanna take the bow, but with more contemporary music like this, just verbally thank the crowd after your set.

"G-gosh, what a great awdience!"

If I can offer any other advice, its this: There are two types of people in the world, those who pay for music, and those who get paid.

[NCDrummer]

bowing at the end of that isnt exactly in style. for some performances you wanna take the bow, but with more contemporary music like this, just verbally thank the crowd after your set.

"G-gosh, what a great awdience!"

If I can offer any other advice, its this: There are two types of people in the world, those who pay for music, and those who get paid.
who gives a **** whats in style!? i'm gonna bow AND thank the crowd verbally! so BEAT THAT!

[Electric Requiem]

bowing at the end of that isnt exactly in style. for some performances you wanna take the bow, but with more contemporary music like this, just verbally thank the crowd after your set.

"G-gosh, what a great awdience!"

If I can offer any other advice, its this: There are two types of people in the world, those who pay for music, and those who get paid.

nothing like a little 4th grader with messed up legs to melt your heart

Im not going to bow unless I get a crazy amount of applause, otherwise you kind of look like a dick with a very high opinion of yourself.

[SeNeCa]

all good advice, thanks alot guys yous have given me alot of ideas as well as confidence :)

[Det_Nosnip]

The biggest problem that I've had playing out has been hearing bandmembers. Make sure you soundtest if possible before playing - make sure that you can hear ALL members of the band. If in doubt, lean towards being able to hear others more than yourself. If you don't get a chance to soundtest and find yourself in a situation where the monitor sound is low or nonexistent, you're going to have to try much harder - don't be afraid to simplify your parts, both for yourself and for your bandmates. I've had live situations where I basically couldn't hear my bandmembers at all, and I'm not going to lie and say that it was a great time!

[HeLLmO]

who gives a **** whats in style!? i'm gonna bow AND thank the crowd verbally! so BEAT THAT!



verbally thank the audience and finger all the hot chicks in the audience!


beat that

[FockerTheLopper]

Be confident first of all. Then you can start doing tricks during the simple parts, remember to look like your having a good time playing and smile(I love seeing drummers smile, gives off a good vibe and makes the audience feel good). No matter how tight you have your songs in practice something will go wrong[most of the time](might be because you get nervous, guitarist gets nervous w/e) so make sure to have eye contact to try to fix w/e went wrong. Remember if another band member went off and you kept playing the same thing, your both wrong because its a group effort, so even if he rushes and he doesn't follow your lead on the time follow him so that way it'll feel like a jam. As for stange presence try to look at the audience and do some simple stick tricks(twirls, hitting cymbals understide simple things). I mean these things are very basic but they make up a good show.

[Seafroggys]

The biggest problem that I've had playing out has been hearing bandmembers. Make sure you soundtest if possible before playing - make sure that you can hear ALL members of the band. If in doubt, lean towards being able to hear others more than yourself. If you don't get a chance to soundtest and find yourself in a situation where the monitor sound is low or nonexistent, you're going to have to try much harder - don't be afraid to simplify your parts, both for yourself and for your bandmates. I've had live situations where I basically couldn't hear my bandmembers at all, and I'm not going to lie and say that it was a great time!

my first non-school gig, was with my heavy metal band and there was no monitoring system. I can barely hear anything, but I managed quite well and played all my parts on the spot.

[Mr. Grill]

my first non-school gig, was with my heavy metal band and there was no monitoring system. I can barely hear anything, but I managed quite well and played all my parts on the spot.
Generally, without a monitoring system, the sound guy is going to make a better mix for the audience than making it work for the band on stage.

My band's first show was about a month ago. There was no monitoring system, and all I heard from the guitars was a sort of crackly mock-up of what I've come to hear from them at band practice. However, this is where being locked in with the bassist helps tremendously. Its generally easier to hear bass frequencies on stage through a mess of cymbals and toms (however the bassist in my band also plays a huge part in our sound--- i.e. he turns up really loud and shreds his *** off). I didn't have to rely on him to get through my parts without messing up, but lemme tell you, do everything you can to make your experience on stage easier. Plus loud bass is a plus when youre in the audience. You should be able to feel the music as well as hear it.

[Seafroggys]

yeah, the only thing miced were the vocals though. None of the amps or drums went through the PA.

[Josiah]

Generally, without a monitoring system, the sound guy is going to make a better mix for the audience than making it work for the band on stage.




That's total crap.


The bands on stage montering and the what the audience hears are totally independant things.

[!aaa!]

1-5 Red Bull's and some spaghetti preceeding the show work wonders, and just looking comfortable with yourselves and each other. This you must bare in mind over all else.

[Mr. Grill]

Also remember that the audience is generally made up of non-musicians. This means that small mistakes will generally go overlooked. Just don't make it obvious that you messed up by making a face or stopping.