i play in a heavier type music band and my guitarist use to always rant and rave about going off onstage and how much it gets the crowd going. i use to just disregard this as pretty futile and pointless, so i didnt move around, abnd i played lots of hard/complex (for me at the time) basslines, so it was rather hard to jump around too. but now with lots of practice, and really getting into our music lately, i have found myself to be "goingoff" the most in the band now, jumping off of large stage moniters, jumping around, running around, etc. heh it is pretty fun also and it is a good excercise. just wondering what all of you thought.

its hells good..........

I want to be able to be wild and crazy on stage but still be able to hit my parts just right. If theres anyopne who rocks hard on stage but still manages to stay musical and on top of the song will u please spare some advice or some storys about your experiences. I appreciate any responses.

Thanks
:confused:

I think it can help, depending on what type of music you play, but you may want to look at it a little different. "Going off," to me means, "manufacturing some stage presence." Running around and looking like a dork is just that- looking like a dork. I would look at different musical performers and try to analyze what gives them their mojo. Being active on stage can be a part of it but also looking relaxed, looking into the audience's eyes, interaction with the rest of the band, etc., can add a lot to the stage presence your wanting to achieve.

Music first, actin' the fool second.

Moved to our newest forum.

I would imagine the first tip would be to know the song perfectly and to play it well standing/sitting still. Then do your jumping and other antics while practicing.

I wouldn't know really, I move very little on stage, too little probably.

Practice makes perfect, or so I'm told, though I obviously have done too little of it... :)

I play in a hardcore band where strong stage presence is mandatory. If we don't project the energy, the people will not either, but regardless, the music has to come first.

One thing that has helped me maintain the music whilst still being able to "act the fool" is keeping my strap height reasonably high. That way I can move around all I want and the bass stays in relatively the same position. I can spin and jump and flail around like a maniac and still hit the song note for precious note.

Don't overrate silliness either. We have a song called "Living Dead" that instantaneously switches back and forth between soft & pretty and loud & heavy. During my most memorable performance, I ballet danced during the soft parts and immediately went hardcore thrash during the heavy parts. People ate it up, and I even had a girl throw her lingerie at me! :eek: ;)

I agree strongly with Anders. The better you know your material, the less you'll have to think about it while playing. And the less you have to think about playing, the more you'll find yourself getting into it.

Moving around while playing requires practice in itself. This is something that you can do at home in front of a mirror if you are entirely shameless.

Remember that most of your audience will always likely be non-musicians, so being able to entertain with your performance and not just your music is always a plus.

I'm more reknown for cool stage moves than my playing :rolleyes: ...

Don't force any action. If movement doesn't suit the part, then don't go out of your way to move. Overacting looks as bad as shoegazing.

Make eye contact with the audience, especially to emphasize parts. Think ahead in your lines to see where you can free up one hand or the other. Got an open string note or two in a row? Perfect time to do something with your left hand off of the instrument. Is there a dramatic slide to a note you could emphasize by sliding up the fretboard with your *right* hand rather than your left? Etc.

Move your feet. Dance to the music, use different stances for different songs. Turn to the drummer and interact with him, move away from, or to, the guitarist when there's a solo, or just move a bit when going from verse to bridge to chorus.

Watch established bands and take notes.

And remember that what might seem like a big move where you're standing, doesn't look so big from 10, or 100, feet away. And what looks like rock star clothing at a formal dinner doesn't look so fancy when you're onstage. Point is to magnify everything to actually stand out - small gestures don't carry to the crowd.

Primarily you have to keep the groove, so think about that first and listen to the drummer rather than thinking ahead to your next move. With practice and with knowing your parts well, the rest will come. Just make sure its natural.

And if your band in general has problems with presence, talk to them about it. My stage presence came alive only after switching from working with a very reserved drummer to a very dynamic drummer. As with all things, it must be a group effort with group interaction.

I've merged the Stage Presence and "Going Off" threads, as they seemed to be about the same thing.

Have a nice day :)

yup, i know all about that stuff. the muscle memory in both my hands is perfect in all of our songs and i caqn do pretty much every maneuver and such while onstage and still hit the note every time. its pretty cool, i like being in a band where yhou can move aroundalot and go nuts :D

Maybe this is the wrong way to look at it, but I never really "went off" during a gig, because the crowd was never into it enough to get me into it. When the crowd is psyched and ready to rock, so am I. When the crowd just sat there and stared at us after every song, I would have rather been anywhere else and it showed.

Originally posted by Hategear
Maybe this is the wrong way to look at it, but I never really "went off" during a gig, because the crowd was never into it enough to get me into it. When the crowd is psyched and ready to rock, so am I. When the crowd just sat there and stared at us after every song, I would have rather been anywhere else and it showed.

I agree it's really hard to put on any form of stage presence if the audience isn't into it, but I think it works the other way too. The audience is probably less likely to get into the music if the people on stage are not getting right into it.

Now even if the audience sucks at least I jump around or groove or whatever. If nothing else, at least I'm having a blast.

from how the gigs ive played ( not a whole lot )
it seems the opening band really sets the stage for a gig.

and all that total jumping around running **** makes you look like a moron if you play heavy metal


watch cliff...all i can say.

Play each show like you are trying to blow away 80000 screaming fans. No matter how many peolpe are there. A band that rocks with only a few people in the bar will be remembered and those few people will come back with friends next time. Otherwise they'll just say "Yeah, I've seen 'em, they were kinda lame."

Originally posted by Pacman
Music first, actin' the fool second.

I agree with that

Originally posted by SMASH
Play each show like you are trying to blow away 80000 screaming fans. No matter how many peolpe are there. A band that rocks with only a few people in the bar will be remembered and those few people will come back with friends next time. Otherwise they'll just say "Yeah, I've seen 'em, they were kinda lame."

Yup. I went to a concert last night and while 8 out of the 9 bands that played got an A for effort, they were all pretty bad. I'm willing to bet quite a sum that most of them hadn't been practising for more than a month. But the last band that played was bloody awsome, now they weren't the best players, the did a couple of Bach pieces and they messed up here and there, but they had an amazing stage precence and got the crowd fired up so it didn't matter.

Plus they were the last band and pretty much ruined the stage in the last three songs. :D

as the band, you are like the hosts of the party. So you set the tone. If you are shy and reserved, the audience will be too. If you are having a good time, whether you are shuffling your feet or doing David Lee Roth splits, the audience will react. Just going on stage to play takes HUGE cojones (remember your first few gigs)so going that little extra cant hurt.
Also the audience wants you to be a rock star ( if you're playing rock). They want to see a show.
My band were playing for a Neil Pryde windsurfing competition on am island between Taiwan and China and we were rocking hard and mocking every rock tradition. Some of the windsurfers climbed up the light rigging and started jumping up and down. I can still hear the crack as the bolts sheared off and the entire light setup across the stage came crashing 15 feet down. One of the guys landed on his back on the edge of the stage and then flippied another 4 feet to the pavement. The keyboard got flipped through the air and smashed on the ground. WE didn't drop a beat, the kb player jumped off the stage and started playing his keyboard which was still plugged in (Roland, amazingly indestructible). WE were lucky noone got nailed but those windsurfers will never forget that show. Oh yeah, and we got on ESPN.
The lights and all that was pretty dangerous but the point is they loved it more because we put on a show. It's supposed to be fun, right.

Originally posted by mingustoo
as the band, you are like the hosts of the party. So you set the tone.

Well said!

and always remember, never yank out the cord you are using.

ESPECIALLY if you are borrowing it from me!

;)

A good thing to do is to go to shows, whether crowded or sparesly attended, and study why one band might go over well while another might not.

Ultimately it is the music, but performance matters too.

Realize that from the stage it might be disheartening to look out and see a big room with only 15 people in it, but from the crowd they don't see an empty bar - they see a full stage and expect to be rocked no matter what.

Also, practice what you'll play. In the case of performance, that inlcudes your moves. Outright choreography will come out as pure mouldy cheese, as will any contrived moves, but if in practice you let the emotion come out of you musically and physically, and by doing so develop a pool of physical expressions you can draw from, then it's that much easier on stage.

want to talk about stage preseance whatch steve harris from iron maiden ,he will put alot of bass players too shame!!!!!!!!

I think if you truly feel the music and put emotion into it, it will come out showing in your performance. I've always been a big Hendrix fan. I use to watch him meticuliously, but everything he did on stage was just on the fly. He played how he felt at the moment, and he moved how he felt at the moment. (He got very disheartened when people would come just to see him play with his teeth or set his guitar on fire, they were missing the point)

People can have stage presence by standing perfectly still, or jumping all over the place. It's about letting your personality come through the music and how you are feeling at the time. Just act naturally. (I know that might be difficult. Maybe I'm wierd, I'm more natural/comfortable on stage, than when I'm just walking around)

I think bassists sometime get away with the whole not moving around issue, but this really disappoints me. Of all the concerts I've been to (granted, the number is less than 10) I've yet to see a bassist truly get into it more than shuffling his feet a bit and bobbing his head. This, I really just don't get.

In my last band, I convinced the guys to play a lot of Anti-Flag. We didn't totally agree on the political messages of the songs, but they were deadset on playing punk, and i was deadset on not playing the boring, tiring 8th note roots the entire time. The point of this story is that when we'd practice the anti-flag songs, namely Angry, Young, and Poor, the guys would almost lose it laughing because here we are at practice and I'm jumping around, using dramatic playing moves, and just REALLY feeling the music as if I were playing to a packed house in Madison Square Garden. Now, granted, I'm quite a hyper kid, but if I can do this at practice, shouldnt guys at gigs (who all of which used wireless setups, making it all the easier to act a fool) get into it the same?

No, I'm not advocating placing performance over music. I'm not, nor will I ever. If you choose to jump around like fools rather than play your music at a respectable level, then i'm afraid you're missing the point. You don't get into music to not believe that the music is the most important thing. But you've got an audience (in my concert experience) ranging from 100 people to 15,000, in all cases when there was at least one part of the crowd totally into the show, now is not the time to say "I've done my part, they're digging it." It's at that point when you turn it up a notch.

To make a long story short, feel the music at practice and jump around there so nothing totally unexpected happens when you start to jump around at a show, but play the music as if you were just standing there in your most comfortable position. Lastly, go out there and knock 'em dead, both audibly and visually. Make both the music fan and the guy who wandered in never hearing a song of yours in his life both walk out saying "what a ****** bassist!"

Originally posted by SMASH
I'm more reknown for cool stage moves than my playing :rolleyes: ...
This used to be me as well. Back when I was starting out, I jumped around onstage like a speed-addicted fish out of water, projecting more energy than the rest of my band combined. It was a blast, and I got plenty of crowd attention, but I've toned down quite a bit in the past year or two. I realized that my jumping around was seriously hurting my playing, especially the more complicated lines my experience was allowing me to play, so I'm a bit less exciting now. That's probably good though; I saw some old videos, and when I thought I was looking all hardcore, I was basically looking like a big dork, albeit a big dork having a lot of fun :rolleyes: I really envy/respect those who can go crazy while simultaneously playing difficult lines (Flea is the best example I can think of that I've seen, but I've heard Jaco was even crazier).

Getting a new bass probably had something to do with it too; I could care less about accidentally smacking or chipping my Squier PJ, but I'm a little more protective of my Carvin baby :) I still play to the crowd as much as possible, just in a less violent fashion. I can't quite compete with my horn section though; on several occasions, they've left the stage during our last song to march around in the crowd and finish the song from the floor, with most of the audience in line behind them. That reminds me, I really should get a wireless...

You guys must be playing in different places than I am. The largest stage we play on is roughly16 feet by 8 feet. and we are a 6 piece band. Barely have room to turn around much less jump off PA's and run around:(

Great Thread!!!
I really appreciate a great performance, and would like to know if you guys practice your stage show at practices or just during concerts? I must admit that I am like a constipated giraffe at practice, not moving much at all. At shows however I try my hardest to rock everyones' socks off on stage. I'd like to think that it just comes naturally, but I'm sure big bands spend a lot of time defining their stage image. Has anyone ever witnessed a professional band practice? I have not, but I'm sure seeing just one would really revolutionize how my own band practices.
What do you guys think?

I find the amount of moving around at practice is directly proportional to the amount of beer being consumed :D

Besides that, we usually have 'mandatory stage presence' practices in the week or two leading up to a gig. Besides acting like idiots, we make sure the frontman is comfortable, try to work out when to do band introductions and plugs etc.

I play in a metal band, and if you dont have a stage presence you are dead in the water. Our stage presence is probably our biggest selling point.
One of our friends told us that when they come to see us, its not just to listen to music, its to see a show. And a show we do put on.
It would be impossibe to describe everything, but we move, jump, bang our heads, interact with the crowd and each other. The key is, we have alot of fun and it shows. We do stupid dorky things, like when we play Disposable Heroes, there is a part in the middle, the triple stop, where we all kick our legs like we were are the Rockettes. It probably looks really stupid, but it makes us laugh everytime.
As for the crowd having to be into it. I disagree. One of the best shows we ever did was when we played in front of crowd that was not into metal. They were very quiet and reserved, not paying much attention. We got so pissed off that we thrashed harder than ever before. It was a blast.
I truly believe that stage presence is almost as important as playing the instrument. Notice I say almost. The instrument is always the main thing, but never underestimate your stage show.
Another friend of ours who plays in a different band, once descibed our show as: take band + stage= instant energy.
We play much better live than we do at practice. Why? Adrenaline and we are having such a good time that we dont let little mistakes bother us.
Vegaas

P.S. We never practice our stage show, it is always spontanous. That being said, you do tend to start doing some of the same things at the same parts of songs. For example, we have a song were there is a riff where I just play the E. I always walk over to my beer grab it, raise it to the crowd and have a drink with them.
The whole kick thing is the only thing we ever did in practice, our guitar player did it once and we all thought that it was hillarious.

Originally posted by swingbass
You guys must be playing in different places than I am. The largest stage we play on is roughly16 feet by 8 feet. and we are a 6 piece band. Barely have room to turn around much less jump off PA's and run around:(

Ditto... I'd love to move around more, but if I did, I'd knock over cymbal stands and take out one of the guitarists!

Hey, maybe that's not such a bad thing... ;)

quote:
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Originally posted by mingustoo
as the band, you are like the hosts of the party. So you set the tone.
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This is such a simple, and concise way to think of any gig. I never thought of it like this. I can't thank you enough.

no practicing live shows for us, it's pretty impromptu, it makes it more fun. has anyone ever seen poison the well or dillinger escape plan?? that's what it's like.

A`ve it LARGE and GIVE it some....

we are entertainers after all:D

do it real however ..... if it feels phoney it looks phoney

I have the opposite problem to most guys....

i have to tone it down mostly....
I have even been kicked out of bands for out doing the egoist lead singers and guitarists.....F**k `em your a long time dead, palls

to quote spinal taps keyboard player
" have a good time, ALL the time"
;) ;)

Tons of great advice here. A couple things:

I've never seriously practiced choreography, however there have been times when I've looked at myself in the mirror while practicing at home and tried different moves just to see what looks OK and what looks dorky. For anyone who has to have presence onstage, I would highly recommend practicing in front of a mirror... as a band, if possible (some rental rehearsal halls are set up this way).

As Smash said, band choreography shouldn't look too planned or hokey (I'm thinking of a late-80's concert by Ratt... pretty embarrassing, even for that era). That said, choreography can work when timing and execution and artistry/kewlness are right. That old thrash-metal move where all the long-haired guitarists headbang in sync might be cliche now (or maybe not), but I thought it was neato back in the day.

My #2 band sometimes plays "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" by Judas Priest if the crowd looks like they'll tolerate a metal song (we're normally classic rock and radio rock). For that tune, the guitarist and I do choreographed moves at the front of the stage during the 2nd verse (the drummer sings lead)... it's an exaggerated parody metal move, very Kiss-like, and most people get a kick out of it.

Well, i've learned that if you want to be able to get into it more for shows, or just getting ready for shows, you have to play at your practice the way you would at a show. At a practice, you're probably kinda facing each other and in a circle of some sort (that's what my band's like). Try setting up like your facing a crowd; if you can, rehearse at the place of the show and know your surroundings. And if you're gonna go really nuts, look into a wireless.

A thought on stage presence. Don't know how many country pickers we have here, but if you happened to see the CMA awards last Wednesday night when Vince Gill did his new number "The Next Big Thang" the gal background singer with the tamborine was the one that excited me about the number just as much as Vince and the music itself. Her movements, her method of slapping the tamborine etc. She stood in one spot, behind the mic, but she was a performance in itself. I don't think you have to run around acting a fool, jumping off amps, etc...just look like you are into the music and having fun.

In the past, I've been both deliberately subdued and delibterately hyperactive on stage, and neither of them really felt comfortable. I'm probably pretty lucky in that I'm in a band with a singer who, shall we say, is not the shyest, but all the same, I find that if you just act comfortable onstage and don't try to force anything, you'll be okay. As long as you look and feel like you belong up there, it should come quite naturally.

Originally posted by SMASH
..but from the crowd they don't see an empty bar - they see a full stage and expect to be rocked no matter what.

I'm going to steal your quote.

Originally posted by Pacman
Music first, actin' the fool second.


Pacman, I disagree! People can hear the music from radio, they are there to see the show.

Well, perhaps except in your employers case :)

Smash and a few other similar posts are right on. A guitarist in a previous band of mine was all embarrassed to move around on stage, and I always told him that hey, you're up on stage and everyone is looking at you anyway so go for it!

People go to see a live band to be entertained! That's why they call it performing. My only caveat: it has gotta be natural, even if natural of you is goofy lookin'! Nothing worse than a musican who has a few practiced, choreographed moves that come off looking really steril and predictable.

And yes, give everyone who shows up, even if it is only 5 people, one helluva show, they are your customer, and word of mouth is your best advertising. Besides, it's fun!

I would definately say it's all good. I'm usually, depending on the music stylings, wild on stage. I find that i can still get the notes that i need to out, and maybe every now and then, i may miss a note, but it's alright because no one knows that it happened nor do they care. People usually go to Concerts to see a show and not to hear the music necessarily to it's perfection. So i say, let yourself go, have fun.

bump for a good post, keep them coming without the arguments, good job so far, very helpful!

ultimately cool stage antics

1.) get really long cord
2.) use really long cord
3.) start near drummer and run forward
4.) jump into the audience
(bonus points if you go directly over someone)
(negative points if you land on someone)

well dont forget that people often dont hear the bass so loud,then it seems really stupid if you are running around with a look on your face saying: " oh,i totaly rock,yeah oh yeah!,"
Its a different thing if the lead guitar plays a solo and acts a fool.
Then people really digs it.

Just watch the Dillinger Escape Plan, playing live.

I'm gonna take some more of this advice, we should have a gig in a few months (drummer lives in the other end of the country so lack of shows) and im gonna shake it up, enjoy and rock out.