The dont's of live performance

[Leon]

when i saw King's X, at one point in the night, Doug said that we were all beautiful. i felt dirty

[eaeolian]

Originally Posted by TomAwesome

Don't take half of your allotted set time to set your gear up and goof off only to play over your time and into most of the next band's set. Bands do that to us and each other all the time here. We have been forced to play two-song sets before because of it.

I've been there. I'm practically the stage manager at Jaxx when we play there because I *will not* let this happen to us. Somebody's got to teach the kids how it works...

[Leon]

stage volume is a biggie. it's also nice to be able to hear your bass player from the other side of the stage when he yells, "HEY LEON, WHAT KEY IS THIS IN AGAIN?"

[eaeolian]

Originally Posted by Popsyche

Control your ....ing stage volume!

You are not playing in Wembley. The club holds 23 people including that hot chick behind the bar, your band and the clubowner/scumbag. No need for you to crank up to get your "tone". Learn to generate your tone at a volume commensurate with your current situation and surroundings.

I'm tempted to sticky this post.

[Chris]

Smiling like a madman the whole time.

For reference, see the bald guy in Dimmu.

[7 Dying Trees]

Originally Posted by eaeolian

I'm tempted to sticky this post.

It's making for an entertaining read

[The Dark Wolf]

Originally Posted by TheMissing

You know what I hate?
Singers who get all pissed off at people who aren't standing right up front in their face. Now it's one thing to say "I wanna see some movement!" or "Hey, lets all get up and mosh!" But when they go up and be a complete ASSHOLE about it, it's just ....ing stupid. For example: "Hey!! You stupid mother ....ers at the bar sitting down! Get your drunk lazy asses up here! I wanna see you mother ....ers moving right now!!" *Crowd simultaneously thinks this guy is an asshole and stops paying attention* "Hey! I'm talking to you! Get the .... up!"

...Nothing makes me want to NOT pay attention more.

Dude.

I saw a band a few weeks back where the singer says some dumb bullshit to the crowd like, "You guys ....ing suck. You're the weakest crowd we've ever had. Whatever."

I got right up and ....ing left.


NEVER insult the crowd, ....ing douchebag. Maybe if your band didn't suck balls, we might get into you.

[Leon]

^

if they don't feel like being the "entertainers" instead of "the entertained" then they ought to get the .... back in their garage.

[Groff]

Originally Posted by The Dark Wolf

Dude.

I saw a band a few weeks back where the singer says some dumb bullshit to the crowd like, "You guys ....ing suck. You're the weakest crowd we've ever had. Whatever."

I got right up and ....ing left.


NEVER insult the crowd, ....ing douchebag. Maybe if your band didn't suck balls, we might get into you.

I like it more when people are paying attention, personally.

We don't play music for people to mosh to, we make music for people to listen to.

It's called music, we like to make it musical.

[7 Dying Trees]

Don't complain about monitors, stage sound or that your set is being ruined by not being able to hear stuff properly. Monitors are always shit. They always sound rubbish and then more you rely on them the more lost you'lll get when they really screw up. So don't complain about them when setting up, just get on with the job, don't whinge, use what you're given and just play.

[7 Dying Trees]

Also, don't show up to the gig, ask to use someone elses gear, change their settings and then complain it sounds shit.

[Stitch]

Ever.

Also, don't turn up 40 minutes late for your soundcheck, pull all of my effect out the way, take my rack off my head, look at my 7 string and go "pftah, a Korn covers band" then wonder why I am not helping you set levels at the desk.

[Lozek]

Originally Posted by 7 Dying Trees

Don't complain about monitors, stage sound or that your set is being ruined by not being able to hear stuff properly. Monitors are always shit. They always sound rubbish and then more you rely on them the more lost you'lll get when they really screw up. So don't complain about them when setting up, just get on with the job, don't whinge, use what you're given and just play.

Yup, unless you're the singer and need melodic reference, as long as you're in tune then all you need to hear is the drummer. If you can't play your stuff without hearing it in full technicolour dobly, then you probably don't know it well enough to be playing it live.

[Groff]

Originally Posted by Popsyche

Control your ....ing stage volume!

We've actually gotten compliments on how loud we WEREN'T.

So many people have commented that they can actually hear everything, and that it's not all white noise.

It's easier to enjoy that way.

[Stitch]

I've had the same. I hate unbalnced mixes. Make it loud enough that every nuance is there, but not so much that the whole thing 'sizzles'. How hard is that?

[Popsyche]

Originally Posted by TheMissing

We've actually gotten compliments on how loud we WEREN'T.

So many people have commented that they can actually hear everything, and that it's not all white noise.

It's easier to enjoy that way.

Yes it is! We are more vocally based, and hearing what we are trying to sing gives you a better idea of what we do.

[7 Dying Trees]

Don't insult the sound guy. You WILL sound worse and he won't care.

Don't insult the monitor guy. He'll not care about your mix.

Throwing stuff at said people makes you look like a twat.

However, the exception to this rule is asking for more trombone and xylophone in the mix.

[nitelightboy]

Originally Posted by Chris

Smiling like a madman the whole time.

For reference, see the bald guy in Dimmu.

You mean Noodles??


[action=nitelightboy]thinks Noodles doesn't want us to know he's secretly in Dimmu.[/action]

[7 Dying Trees]

Originally Posted by nitelightboy

You mean Noodles??


* nitelightboy thinks Noodles doesn't want us to know he's secretly in Dimmu.

Can someone photoshop a moustache onto noodles? Then we can prove it for once and for all (for once and for all!)

[Stitch]

Wait, it was a secret?

[ohio_eric]

Don't ever ask the crowd if they like to party/drink, especially if you're playing a bar.

"Does [fill name of city/establishment] like to party?"

"Why no sir we are all quaint Amish folk who enjoy knitting and our barn raisings. "

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Popsyche

Yes it is! We are more vocally based, and hearing what we are trying to sing gives you a better idea of what we do.

the thing that i personally had to get my head around is that there's a stage mix, which is largely acoustic, and the venue mix, which is about 90% controlled by the soundguy. his job is easiest (and can thus make a great mix) when the stage mics aren't saturated with everything.

when i figured out how to keep my amp pointed at me, and NOT the vocal mics, our stage volume plummeted, and the soundguys got happier

[7 Dying Trees]

Also, don't complain about everything sounding shit on stage and automatically thinking it sounds rubbish in the venue. Stage sound and venue sound are wildly different. Sometimes both are amazing, sometimes both suck, most of the time it's a mix between the two. Deal with it.

Also, never ever blame the sound guy for the stage sound. It's got very little to do with him.

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Originally Posted by Leon

stage volume is a biggie. it's also nice to be able to hear your bass player from the other side of the stage when he yells, "HEY LEON, WHAT KEY IS THIS IN AGAIN?"

We used to have our set up in stereo, my cab on top of the bass players, one stack on each side of the drummer, dropped our stage volume in half, improved our FOH mixes, made it easier for each of us to hear ourselves on stage, and it just looked cool.

[eaeolian]

Originally Posted by 7 Dying Trees

Also, never ever blame the sound guy for the stage sound. It's got very little to do with him.

Feel free to eviscerate the monitor guy, though.