# How to improve my vocalist's stage presence??? help!



## HumanFuseBen (Apr 14, 2007)

hey guys!
I play in a pretty technical metal band, and our vocalist is amazing. he seriously never, ever messes up live, and he can make his voice do anything! BUT, he has zero stage presence. Usually i'm always up at the very front acting a fool and trying to keep the crowd into it, and our other guitarist and bassist drift from front to back throughout the set. our vocalist is mostly BEHIND us, in front of the drums. he rarely, if ever, looks out at the crowd, communicates with them, or gets physically involved (like walking around while singing, headbanging, whatever). he's basically never at the front. our fans and my own bandmates have told me that as it is right now, i am the frontman, and that's just not how it should be.
i've tried talking with our singer about it recently. he admits that he puts on a poor show live. he says that he has a hard time getting into it if the crowd isn't... but what i don't think he understands is that it isn't the crowd's job to get US into playing our own songs. that's just stupid. people got in their cars, drove to the show, and paid money so that WE can put on a show for them, not so they can come out and help us get pumped about our own music. i really think we would get a FAAAAAR better response from our crowds live if our singer would just start paying the audience some attention instead of ignoring them. If you ignore the crowd, they're going to ignore you.
if anyone has some tips for what i can do, or maybe someone has been in the same boat, PLEASE help! I'm getting tired of doing the majority of the work on stage to keep the crowd interested.


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## -K4G- (Apr 14, 2007)

tell him to drink a few shots. it will definately help.


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## JJ Rodriguez (Apr 14, 2007)

Fire him and do the vocals yourself if you got decent stage presence.


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## Makelele (Apr 14, 2007)

JJ Rodriguez said:


> Fire him and do the vocals yourself if you got decent stage presence.



What if he can't sing?


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## Aghorasilat (Apr 14, 2007)

drop kick him or her a few times. no seriously maybe try telling them to take acting classes..


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## Carrion (Apr 14, 2007)

Tell him to watch multiple live videos on Cryptopsy.


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## shredfreak (Apr 14, 2007)

Work on stage?  

To me it's just brainless fun all that headbanging shizzle. But on to your/his problem. We fired our vocalist last year and i took over (now lead guitar and vocals) and i remember the first show i 'sang' and played my stage presence was pisspoor . Everything sounded great and the ppl said we didn't need to look for a new vocalist. Review and sound was good that night but the presence was gave the crowd the impression we weren't into our own thing. Specially the part of communication and all between songs, it was just having a quick drink and on to the next song. Nowadays it's a lot better but im still spooked at start. I have to agree with your singer that it is A LOT easier to get into it if you see that the crowd is. But if you play technical music a lot of ppl just come to the front to see how it's done. Im like that too when i see a tech deathmetal band i must admit.

To cut it all short. For me it's like bungeejumping without a rope, i either dive in the water or hit the rocks  (so far no rocks though). So far it's improved and after a few times it'll come more natural but it's the first few times that he has to get over. All i need to work on now is remember where the mic is cuz sometimes i start singing and realize the mic ain't there


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## OzzyC (Apr 14, 2007)

At practice, put a mirror in front of him so he can see how poor his presence is.


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## SevenatoR (Apr 14, 2007)

I like the mirror at rehearsal idea. Video of a show would be good too. I use show video to critique myself to death a lot. 

One thing I've found that works really well is to find friendly faces in the crowd...friends, girlfriends, whatever...make a lot of eye contact with the audience. Start with the friendly faces, then move to people that you can tell like what they're hearing, the ones that are getting into it. You can't fix it overnight, but once he sees some success, it will become easier for him to interact with the audience and then things will really start to take off. 

Another trick is one I learned when I was a kid. If you have to speak or sing in front of a group of people, look up a lot, but look over their heads. Find an exit sign, a door handle, the Bud Light sign over the bar...anything that gets your eyeballs facing the direction of the audience. 

The funny thing is, the dumber the stuff he does, the more the audience will usually like it.


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## Leon (Apr 14, 2007)

don't worry about it. he doesn't NEED to be the frontman. it's usually nice to have the vocalist be the frontman, since he only has a mic to worry about, but if you feel that you're more visually passionate on stage, then take stage center and rock the fuck out.


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## Vince (Apr 15, 2007)

I'm going to completely & respectfully disagree with Leon on this one. The singer has a microphone for a reason. They're the peacock of the band. If you don't have a singer that's outgoing, it can kill a band. The singer has to be the frontman of the band, if someone else is the frontman, there will ALWAYS be a pissing contest between that member & the singer, it seems. Singers get jealous if the spotlight isn't on them. That's why most of them got into it in the first place.

At the same time, some singers grow into it. Being a good frontman has a lot to do with overcoming natural stage fright. Do you guys remember how bad of a frontman James LaBrie used to be? He always seemed terribly frightened on stage and said the dumbest things. Just watch that old Images & Words live in Japan video they put out. _"Hellow pee-powl!! Are you ready to have a good tiiiiiiiiiyyyyymmmmmmeeeee??!"_  that shit still cracks me up.

LaBrie still isn't the greatest frontman, but he grew into the role through experience.

IMO, your singer just needs A. Some confidence, and B. Some experience. He has to open up to people on stage, be himself, and fucking dominate the room. Those are the best frontmen IMO. If he can't do that, maybe look for someone else.

It may be a harsh reality, but I'd rather spend 3 years looking for the right frontman, than spend those 3 years wasting my time with the wrong one.


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## 7slinger (Apr 15, 2007)

desertdweller said:


> I'm going to completely & respectfully disagree with Leon on this one. The singer has a microphone for a reason. They're the peacock of the band. If you don't have a singer that's outgoing, it can kill a band. The singer has to be the frontman of the band, if someone else is the frontman, there will ALWAYS be a pissing contest between that member & the singer, it seems. Singers get jealous if the spotlight isn't on them. That's why most of them got into it in the first place.
> 
> At the same time, some singers grow into it. Being a good frontman has a lot to do with overcoming natural stage fright. Do you guys remember how bad of a frontman James LaBrie used to be? He always seemed terribly frightened on stage and said the dumbest things. Just watch that old Images & Words live in Japan video they put out. _"Hellow pee-powl!! Are you ready to have a good tiiiiiiiiiyyyyymmmmmmeeeee??!"_  that shit still cracks me up.
> 
> ...




I'm going to agree with you, but the singer dominant thing I think applies to the 'typical' band setup, and really a band can be anything you want it to be.

take TooL for example, where MJK attempts to take himself as the 'frontman' out of the equation by hiding in the dark or even being offstage at times while performing (I remember seeing several performances of ticks and leeches where he wasn't even on the stage with the band). However, his 'all members equal' thing has either backfired, or his reverse psychology has worked perfectly (whichever one he's really trying to do), because the crowd seems more interested in what he's doing than ever before now that they can't really see him all the time.


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## Cancer (Apr 15, 2007)

HumanFuseBen said:


> i've tried talking with our singer about it recently. he admits that he puts on a poor show live. he says that he has a hard time getting into it if the crowd isn't... but what i don't think he understands is that it isn't the crowd's job to get US into playing our own songs. that's just stupid. people got in their cars, drove to the show, and paid money so that WE can put on a show for them, not so they can come out and help us get pumped about our own music. i really think we would get a FAAAAAR better response from our crowds live if our singer would just start paying the audience some attention instead of ignoring them. If you ignore the crowd, they're going to ignore you.
> if anyone has some tips for what i can do, or maybe someone has been in the same boat, PLEASE help! I'm getting tired of doing the majority of the work on stage to keep the crowd interested.



Firstly, I think you deserve kudos for understanding the responsbility that bands have towards people who pay to see you. I've come across of a couple of singers like this in my history and I've come to find it basically boils down to a level of either arrogance or fear, even if its passively displayed. If you think that his underlying problem is arrogance (ie.... he feels that since he's in a band AND he's up on stage looking down upon the "serfs" in a kinglike manner that THEY should pay him respect) know that his behavior will probably not improve over time, actually it may only get worse as you get more popular, and you'll have to deal with it inside of your band dynamic as well. Musicians like these have basically forgotten what its like to be a fan, if even they ever were one, and either need to be reminded or ejected.

OR IF ITS FEAR.....

Perhaps your singer is just nervous, you mentioned that he nails his parts, perhaps this is just his way of maintaining a high level of consistency. If this is his reasoning, while it is comendable, I would approach by saying "Hey man, you do such a great job, but now we need you to expand on it". To that end I'd rent some DVD of singers who exemplify that behavior and suggest that he try to incorporate some of their ideas, and then once he gets comfortable he can expand into his own ideas. My belief is, once he finds success (ie: the crowd responds to him), he'll be inspired to do more. Success breeding success and all that.


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## noodles (Apr 15, 2007)

To all the people who say fire him: fuck you. If the guy has an amazing voice, work with him. *Anyone* can be taught to have a stage presence. Do you know how hard it is to find a great singer that you can work with? Everyone has problems, and I'll take no stage presence over raging egotist control freak any fucking day of the week.

Interact with him. Bump into him, lean up against him, make faces at him, get in his face and start head banging. My favorite live acts are never the ones that involve four or five islands on stage, but move all over the place and seem to be enjoying making music with each other.

Division are total metal stage cliches live. Both guitarists front and center for the harmony solos. A singer that plays air guitar when someone is soloing and is never afraid to pump his fist and egg on the crowd. If the drummer is on a riser, I'm jumping off that thing at least twice a show. Feet planted firmly on monitors half the time. The crowd loves it.

Maybe deep down, your singer is just afraid of fucking up by moving around too much. You gotta tell him to practice his stage moves at band practice. If he practices standing one spot, that is what he's going to do live. Our singer spends almost the entire practice with his back to us, making all the hand gestures, head banging, air guitar, and ego singer posing that he is going to do live.

If you can get yourself this pumped up when no one is watching, then you can get yourself pumped up no matter what the crowd is doing. We've run around like rapid puppy dogs to a half full bar of seated people before. They key is to be excited by your own music. As far as I can see it, I play guitar for my favorite band in the world, so I simply act like a fan would at their favorite band's show. Tell your singer to just let go and do the same.


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## Leon (Apr 15, 2007)

i agree with ya, Vince, to the point of putting together an energetic, firey metal band. but, that doesn't always have to be the case. for myself, when the band is good, i sometimes don't even watch. really, if i'm just standing there, watching the band, then i'm already bored. if the band is good, i generally only have time to look at them between songs, when i've stopped dancing


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## All_¥our_Bass (Apr 16, 2007)

noodles said:


> To all the people who say fire him: fuck you. If the guy has an amazing voice, work with him. *Anyone* can be taught to have a stage presence. Do you know how hard it is to find a great singer that you can work with? Everyone has problems, and I'll take no stage presence over raging egotist control freak any fucking day of the week.
> 
> Interact with him. Bump into him, lean up against him, make faces at him, get in his face and start head banging. My favorite live acts are never the ones that involve four or five islands on stage, but move all over the place and seem to be enjoying making music with each other.
> 
> ...


 
 Stage presence needs to be practiced during band practice. I just naturally have a sort of stage presence. I just get into themusic I'm playing and the rest is history.


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## Drew (Apr 16, 2007)

noodles said:


> To all the people who say fire him: fuck you. If the guy has an amazing voice, work with him.



I'm with Noodles. Maynard James Keenan used to sing with his back to the crowd, behind the drums, and Tool certainly never had any problems...


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## Cancer (Apr 16, 2007)

Drew said:


> I'm with Noodles. Maynard James Keenan used to sing with his back to the crowd, behind the drums, and Tool certainly never had any problems...




It interesting that you bought this up. I don't know if Maynard had some kind of stage fright or something, but whatever he had he turned into an asset. I remember seeing Tool, by accident, 3 or 4 years, and there was Maynard, in blue, or a little stage thingy next to drums. It was like they had no frontman, and made Maynard appear more as one of the instruments, which I thought was genius.


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## DelfinoPie (Apr 16, 2007)

noodles said:


> As far as I can see it, I play guitar for my favorite band in the world, so I simply act like a fan would at their favorite band's show. Tell your singer to just let go and do the same.



That is a fucking awesome statement


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## Drew (Apr 16, 2007)

psyphre said:


> It interesting that you bought this up. I don't know if Maynard had some kind of stage fright or something, but whatever he had he turned into an asset. I remember seeing Tool, by accident, 3 or 4 years, and there was Maynard, in blue, or a little stage thingy next to drums. It was like they had no frontman, and made Maynard appear more as one of the instruments, which I thought was genius.



Tool's interesting like that. Their bass and drums function like melodic instruments as opposed to rhythmic, their guitar is more rhythmic than melodic, and Maynard's off doing his own thing like just another part of the band, instead of being a "frontman" in the strictest sense.


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## All_¥our_Bass (Apr 17, 2007)

Drew said:


> Tool's interesting like that. Their bass and drums function like melodic instruments as opposed to rhythmic, their guitar is more rhythmic than melodic, and Maynard's off doing his own thing like just another part of the band, instead of being a "frontman" in the strictest sense.


 
One of the reasons I love tool. They also do this when recording, the vocals are mixed at the same level as the instruments, and not higher, so they work more as an instrument themselves.


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## The Dark Wolf (Apr 17, 2007)

Drew said:


> I'm with Noodles. Maynard James Keenan used to sing with his back to the crowd, behind the drums, and Tool certainly never had any problems...



When he's not fucking fans up with his jiu-jitsu skills.


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## Vince (Apr 17, 2007)

psyphre said:


> It interesting that you bought this up. I don't know if Maynard had some kind of stage fright or something, but whatever he had he turned into an asset. I remember seeing Tool, by accident, 3 or 4 years, and there was Maynard, in blue, or a little stage thingy next to drums. It was like they had no frontman, and made Maynard appear more as one of the instruments, which I thought was genius.



I'd say he's the exception to the rule though. You guys ever seen George Lynch play live? I saw him at NAMM a couple years back, and he was facing off to the right end of the stage the entire time, even though he was on-stage alone. He didn't face the crowd unless he was talking into the mic between songs. I had heard that back in the 80s he used to not face the crowd sometimes because he was fearful that someone would "steal his licks" if they saw him play. I never saw a Dokken show, so I have no idea if that's true, but it corroborates with what I saw when I watched him live.

Weird fears on stage are not a good thing IMO. They need to be overcome.


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## TomAwesome (Apr 17, 2007)

That was a crazy weird Tool video. I'm not quite sure what to make of it.

I pretty much agree with Noodles. If your singer is good and is willing to work on things, then it'll be fine! I had terrible stage presence for a while, but I do all right now. It's not uncommon for me to randomly start head banging and moshing into the other non-drummer members of the band to try to get more of a response out of 'em. You might even try that! Just anything to get him to loosen up and have fun with it.


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## Wayniac (Apr 17, 2007)

It doesn't have to all be over the top stuff. Just some goofing/interaction with eachother to loosen him up is good. Eye contact with eachother onstage - laughs, headbanging, etc. Making room for people when they solo, stepping up and if it is an emotional passage - sing with his eyes closed. Make the audience feel you are into you guys - cause if you aren't there is no reason for them to be. And you have to do it without being self important or cocky. They are there to be entertained and see a show - so give 'em one !
And if he is nervous, just do the trick of looking into the audience and pick the top of someones head or their forehead.. don't look 'em in the eye. Just like public speaking. From the audience, it looks like he made eye contact. Sweep the audience - involve the entire roon (and balcony if applicable). And c'mon - many times you may not even be able to see the people depending on the lights - let that work to his advantage
Just my .02 from when we had to try to groom our singer to be more of a frontman

Oh yeah - remember to mention the band name more than once.. plug mailing lists or merchandise, and announce song titles.. you havbe to sell the audience!


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## leatherface2 (Apr 17, 2007)

do u think axle rose practiced the snake dance in front of a mirror?


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## Naren (Apr 18, 2007)

noodles said:


> To all the people who say fire him: fuck you. If the guy has an amazing voice, work with him. *Anyone* can be taught to have a stage presence. Do you know how hard it is to find a great singer that you can work with? Everyone has problems, and I'll take no stage presence over raging egotist control freak any fucking day of the week.
> 
> Interact with him. Bump into him, lean up against him, make faces at him, get in his face and start head banging. My favorite live acts are never the ones that involve four or five islands on stage, but move all over the place and seem to be enjoying making music with each other.
> 
> ...



I was gonna make all these comments until I read this post. You just said just about everything I wanted to perfectly.  

I'm pretty much a jokester myself and, as my band's frontman (guitar/vocals), I find it hard not to joke between songs or do the stereotypical stuff to the extreme (even though oftentimes it doesn't fit at all, which is what makes it great). Over the top headbanging, going over the bass player and other guitarist (who are also big jokers) and doing stereotypical metal moves. I can't move around much when I'm singing, since I can't move away from the mic, but you can still have great presence even without moving away from the mic (there are a lot of bands like that).

The downside to our screwing around and joking is that the serious grim death metal and black metal guys might think we're not "metal" and have forgotten the seriousness of the genre, but who cares? As long as the crowd is getting into it, that's all that matters. In an old band, I used to mimic famous guitarists by how I was playing (kinda making fun of them).

And, Noodles absolutely got it. ANYONE can be taught to have a stage presence. Some people have it naturally and some people have to learn it.


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## noodles (Apr 18, 2007)

Naren said:


> The downside to our screwing around and joking is that the serious grim death metal and black metal guys might think we're not "metal" and have forgotten the seriousness of the genre, but who cares? As long as the crowd is getting into it, that's all that matters. In an old band, I used to mimic famous guitarists by how I was playing (kinda making fun of them).



I fucking hate that attitude. I've also noticed that the people that say that tend to be the people that do the find spot, assume power stance, band from the neck only the whole show. That looks cool for about five minutes.

We actually knock into one another. Not on purpose, though. More as a side effect of three guys going in three different directions at once, two of whom have headstocks that could be classified as lethal weapons in the northeastern states. Our singer stays in the same general area, mainly because his life depends upon it.


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## 7StringofAblicK (Apr 18, 2007)

I look at it this way:

fans can be the best or worse critics. You have those that will stand by you no matter what, attend all your shows, etc. Then you have those that you must do whatever you can to make them into your better critics. putting on a lame show will ultimately kill you; they will forget your band name or never brag about you. so when i'm on stage, i think of everyone out that might not have seen us live...and i want them to come back and support us. If i'm not up there doing something something constructive or allowing people the chance to understand that i'm playing for them, then who am i playing for? first impressions are constant when you're in a band. there will be new people at every show, so it's up to you to make sure you snag 'em while you're there, because you might only have that one shot


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## starsnuffer (Apr 19, 2007)

Hire a large hairy fellow from Kentucky to chase him around with a 16" long rubber phallus. Either he'll enjoy it and get into it, or he'll move around a bit.

Seriously sounds like he needs to re-evaluate his situation.

-W


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## 7StringofAblicK (Apr 19, 2007)

I resent that Starsnuffer...

granted i'm 5'11" and weigh 165


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## skattabrain (Apr 20, 2007)

new singer.

if he doesn't get it after a couple of shows, you can't teach 'em. you either have it or you don't regarding this particular quality. if being under influence can't even do ti it's hopeless.  i say this 'cause ... well ... this is rock and roll after all.



Leon said:


> don't worry about it. he doesn't NEED to be the frontman.


i disagree here leon. unless your talking dream theater ... snore.



noodles said:


> *Anyone* can be taught to have a stage presence.



no way!



Drew said:


> I'm with Noodles. Maynard James Keenan used to sing with his back to the crowd, behind the drums, and Tool certainly never had any problems...



tool rules but the whole band portrays a certain aura and image. i saw them back in the early days at lalapoolooza for undertow and they kicked ass. i remember little more than they kicked ass, they had a presence and "man does that tattoo look painful." you can have your back turned and still have attitude about it.



7StringofAblicK said:


> I look at it this way:
> 
> fans can be the best or worse critics.



true statement. if it bothers you ... then listen to us comment, why you posted, right? otherwise just do your thing.


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## Naren (Apr 21, 2007)

noodles said:


> I fucking hate that attitude. I've also noticed that the people that say that tend to be the people that do the find spot, assume power stance, band from the neck only the whole show. That looks cool for about five minutes.
> 
> We actually knock into one another. Not on purpose, though. More as a side effect of three guys going in three different directions at once, two of whom have headstocks that could be classified as lethal weapons in the northeastern states. Our singer stays in the same general area, mainly because his life depends upon it.



Both me and the other guitarist in my band hate that attitude as well. When we first started the band, we were talking about how so many local metal bands (most prominent amongst death metal and black metal bands) just stand there the whole performance, maybe banging their heads in unison every now and then. The other guitarist commented, "That can be cool, but not if you do it through the entire performance." They have this "image to uphold" of being "evil" or being "grim" or whatever and they sacrifice a lot by doing that.

Like some people mentioned, if you're not giving your best because your crowd isn't getting into it, then you've already given up. I try to give my best so that, if the crowd isn't into it, they _will_ get into it.


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## NegaTiveXero (Apr 21, 2007)

starsnuffer said:


> Hire a large hairy fellow from Kentucky to chase him around with a 16" long rubber phallus. Either he'll enjoy it and get into it, or he'll move around a bit.
> 
> Seriously sounds like he needs to re-evaluate his situation.
> 
> -W





7StringofAblicK said:


> I resent that Starsnuffer...
> 
> granted i'm 5'11" and weigh 165



Well, I'm 6'2" and 250lbs., so I really resent that statement.  Although, I'm not from Kentucky and a 16" rubber phallus will indubitably be floppy.

See here's my thing. I know some of you guys seem to think that practicing at practice helps, it doesn't. I know I feel like an idiot when I'm doing my stage thing at a practice spot. I mean, I might be different, but my stage presence just comes to me. But, how much energy I ultimately have is more than half due to the audience. I could be tired as fuck but, if I can just get them started, they keep me going.


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## leatherface2 (Apr 21, 2007)

wow.............. lots of advice.............. i would tell your singer to watch the breaking the chains vid by dokken........ alot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!study every move,get the facial expressions down to a t........get into the vibe of the tune.ask ......why did don look so into the song? also watch alot of old van halen vids on u tube.................study roth inter reaction with the crowd.............also ask why is dave such a jack ass and how can i be a jack ass 2..............lol.......................lol..................................


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## TomAwesome (Apr 21, 2007)

NegaTiveXero said:


> See here's my thing. I know some of you guys seem to think that practicing at practice helps, it doesn't. I know I feel like an idiot when I'm doing my stage thing at a practice spot. I mean, I might be different, but my stage presence just comes to me. But, how much energy I ultimately have is more than half due to the audience. I could be tired as fuck but, if I can just get them started, they keep me going.



Thanks for posting that; I thought I was the only one! I feel like a douche doing that at practice, and my band can't get me to do much but stand (or sit) there and play. As soon as we take the stage, though, it comes to me, and I just go.


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## Shreddy Krueger (May 15, 2007)

noodles said:


> To all the people who say fire him: fuck you. If the guy has an amazing voice, work with him. *Anyone* can be taught to have a stage presence. Do you know how hard it is to find a great singer that you can work with? Everyone has problems, and I'll take no stage presence over raging egotist control freak any fucking day of the week.
> 
> Interact with him. Bump into him, lean up against him, make faces at him, get in his face and start head banging. My favorite live acts are never the ones that involve four or five islands on stage, but move all over the place and seem to be enjoying making music with each other.
> 
> ...



Couldn't have said it better myself...


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## Drew (May 15, 2007)

Naren said:


> They have this "image to uphold" of being "evil" or being "grim" or whatever and they sacrifice a lot by doing that.



I totally want to start a metal band and play shows in khakis and oxfords just to fuck with all the black metal guys.


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## Zepp88 (May 15, 2007)

Borrow some of our singers presence....he's got more than enough...


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## Cancer (May 15, 2007)

Drew said:


> I totally want to start a metal band and play shows in khakis and oxfords just to fuck with all the black metal guys.




You mean like these guys....


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## noodles (May 15, 2007)

^ No, because they look like metalheads wearing suits. Drew means guys that look like a page out of a Gap catalog, playing black metal.


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## Drew (May 15, 2007)

Um, no, not really. That's more like post-matrix. 

I mean just wear the same buttonups and khakis I might at work, collars unbuttoned, sleeves rolled - just casual preppy clothing. You know, the shit I normally wear. No pretext at all. 

I think the music should be able to stand on its own, if it's any good, so why change my image just to appeal to people who won't consider it outside of the "image" they expect?

EDIT - snooped by Dave, who as usual is right.


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## Naren (May 15, 2007)

noodles said:


> ^ No, because they look like metalheads wearing suits. Drew means guys that look like a page out of a Gap catalog, playing black metal.



That's exactly what I was thinking when I clicked on the link.


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## Benzesp (May 18, 2007)

I'm kinda a shy modest guy, but when I have a couple of Maker's on the rocks, I hit the stage and I totally ham it up. Stage fright is a mind fuk'er. I would ask your singer why he is so selfconcious, and try to work from there.

A little trick that works for me as far as looking out to the crowd is just focus on a point at the back of the room. It also keeps me from looking at my guitar when I'm playing. 

YOu can definatley learn self confidence on stage, give it time but make sure you've made your point that he needs to step up and bring it. Somebody said "fire him" thats bad advise.


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## Naren (May 18, 2007)

Benzesp said:


> I'm kinda a shy modest guy, but when I have a couple of Maker's on the rocks, I hit the stage and I totally ham it up. Stage fright is a mind fuk'er. I would ask your singer why he is so selfconcious, and try to work from there.



I like to drink _after_ a show, but drinking before a show is just about the most stupid thing I could do. It's basically me saying "I don't give a fuck about the audience or about giving a good performance." When I drink, my voice starts to go. The more I drink, the worse my voice gets. If I drink a couple beers before a show, my singing voice is going to be maybe 50% of what it would have been if I hadn't drunk. Maybe worse. My guitar playing isn't going to suffer unless I drink a lot. My band plays very very clean live. So alcohol is not a good element to introduce. It tends to make things sloppy (my old bass player sometimes drank before/during practice/shows. And, when he stopped doing that, he commented, "Hm, I'm playing a lot better today than I ever have before." and I said "That's because you aren't drinking" and he said "Yeah... I think you're right...").

Some people would drink before a show to relax themselves, but for me, that would be completely sacrificing my voice.


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## Shawn (May 18, 2007)

I wouldn't fire him just because he doesn't move on stage. If he can sing great, i'd keep him. I agree that he could loosen up if he drank a few shots before the show to get loose and have fun, that should work. 

I still remember when Jon didn't move around much back when we first started, we told him about it and the next thing I see at our next gig, he's throwin' down all because we told him. Try talking to him.


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## msherman (May 19, 2007)

Have the rest of the band eat beans before the show, then occasionally walk over and drop the vapor of death on him, that will get him moving at least


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## Crucified (May 20, 2007)

I'm a singer in a hardcore band a bass player in a epic instrumental band and a guitarist and a grind band and i out move everyone else in the band every time. For me, it comes down to loving every second of what i'm doing. If i notice one of my band guys is getting down or doesn't seem to be feeling it right before we head up i'll take him aside and let him know how stoked i am about the show or something to that nature and when he sees me going off, i'll see him getting a little more into it. If you have to be the "morale officer" for your singer, do it. give him something to be stoked about and get him moving, bump into him, smile at him. get the fucker going. i bet it'll work and he'll see how much more fun he could be having up on stage.


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## Ancestor (May 24, 2007)

It's the singer's job to connect with the audience. He should be able to at least talk to them. Just have him speak to them sincerely, like he's talking to a friend. "How's everyone doing tonight?" "We appreciate you guys coming out to see us." etc. He's the host of the party and has to at least try to make sure people are having a good time.

A drink or two might help. Or not.


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