About stage presence...

[Groovy_Gravy]

Originally Posted by avvie

Yep. Setlist. It's just that simple.
People dance to familiar tunes, and only if they're worth dancing to. Playing what the band likes or wants to play almost never works.

but that takes 100% of the fun away. we play what we want to and its all obscure 60s/70s psychedelic rock, jam tunes, blues songs etc that no one ever hears or plays around here and the people love it. we have more gigs booked right now than i'd like but I love it too much so F**k it, gotta just roll with it!!

[NYCbassist]

Originally Posted by Groovy_Gravy

but that takes 100% of the fun away. we play what we want to and its all obscure 60s/70s psychedelic rock, jam tunes, blues songs etc that no one ever hears or plays around here and the people love it. we have more gigs booked right now than i'd like but I love it too much so F**k it, gotta just roll with it!!

Ain't a dang thing wrong with this method. A bass player having a great time and an audience that enjoys it. Roll with it is exactly what you should do. I wouldn't change a thing in this situation.
As for the OP, Knowing the audience and what songs will get them up and dancing is the answer. Every situation is different and JE did amazing things that the entire audience appreciated. He was a little further in his career than people dancing in a Pub or at a party

[jive1]

Originally Posted by Hobobob

Another thing to remember: even when you think you're rocking out, it'll probably take another 50% to make it actually look like it. I was watching video of a show from a few weeks ago, and while playing I thought I had great energy and was putting on a great show. When I watched the video, however, everything looked half done. If you feel like you're exaggerating your stage presence, you're probably only just beginning to put on a show.

As I've said to another band member.......
Just because you're tired and sweaty afterwards doesn't mean that you put on a great show.

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by Kmonk

I think its a combination of song choice, alcohol and the fact that you were playing at someone's house. If you had been in a club people may have gotten into it sooner. In my opinion, great musicianship and song choice will always top stage presence. Many of the world's best musicians have little stage presence. (John Entwistle, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton for example).

They all have stage presence in their own way. Jumping around does not necessarily mean you have stage presence

Eric walks on stage, instant stage presence.

Blue

[morgansterne]

I only recently started to understand exaggerating your movements onstage. I like to be a little over the top on stage cuz I'm naturally shy and anti-social.
Go ahead and rock out like an idiot with your foot on the monitor, get a wireless unit so you can go all over the stage (I hate going out into the audience, personally).
I played and sang "are you gonna be my girl" on saturday and about five young ladies were dancing right in front of me the whole time, I kept my smile and eye contact for 'em, some of 'em smiled back at me. I was in rock star heaven! developing your stage presence muscles is well worth it.

[socialleper]

Originally Posted by bassinplace

Yeah, but in his case he was surrounded by three madmen. His low-key demeanor probably helped to ground the performance and make sense of the chaos.

All of these observations about Entwhistle are pretty dead on. The Who were an energetic band, even for today's standards and certainly by the standards of the day. John had his own style of stage presence, but it was still a presence. It was still something that said "I'm a rock star."
THAT'S the trick. And of course knowing your audience. Different crowds are going to want different things from their musicians. Even something like Country, where you are going to want to be low key, you still need to have the confidence in your appearance and demeanor that tells the audience that they want to look at you. Be a mirror to the energy they are giving you. Unless the crowd is dead, in which case try not to antagonize them.

[Lilgray]

Originally Posted by NYCbassist

I feel it is probably 75% song choice that will get a crowd up on the dance floor. The other 25% would be Your bands stage presence. IOW it's about the music. Good danceable tunes with a good beat and good bass. Bass is what pulses through the crowd and gets them moving. It's hard to get that through the heads of guitarists. They often just want to put on a concert with them as the Hero of the day.

That seems to be so true. I'm new to playing bass and just joined a band that is relatively new as well - we are all friends who started playing later in life, only they started a few years before I did. Anyway, previously the band only had two guitarists and a drummer, so now there is the new flavor - which is my bass! And they are excited - and we plan to do a "friends and family concert" this April, which gives us time to practice and get our sh$@ together.

I looked at the set list and was dismayed - because NONE of the songs are FUN. It's half cover songs, half original material but NOTHING remotely danceable - no catchy beats. I may be new to bass playing, and new to being in a band - but instinctively this seems like a bad idea. I'm worried if we don't pepper the list with some lively stuff we are going to bore everyone to death, and I'm trying to think of a careful way to bring this up, considering I just joined with them.

It reminds me of years ago when I had to listen to my then-roommate play his guitar endlessly - every song was 15+ minutes long and 12 minutes of that was a solo :-) Nobody has fun listening to that except the person playing it!

[alembicguy]

Seen many a band rock a crowd just standing still. What type of gigs are you doing? Some of the songs on your list don't really have that tried and true get up and dance thing.
Though stage presence can be entertaining it can also be a bit of a joke if somebody is flailing around like a wounded duck.
Ask your fans and crowd what they want to hear to make them get up and dance.

[najko]

Originally Posted by Lilgray

I looked at the set list and was dismayed - because NONE of the songs are FUN. It's half cover songs, half original material but NOTHING remotely danceable - no catchy beats. I may be new to bass playing, and new to being in a band - but instinctively this seems like a bad idea. I'm worried if we don't pepper the list with some lively stuff we are going to bore everyone to death [...]

It reminds me of years ago when I had to listen to my then-roommate play his guitar endlessly - every song was 15+ minutes long and 12 minutes of that was a solo :-) Nobody has fun listening to that except the person playing it!

That's the point. Even the songs we write are **** and boring (the same boring riff over and over again). Only these songs with cool riffs on bass get the people moving. I don't mind playing just these tunes, because otherwise, even if I'm playing something else I love, I just don't get the same feeling.

It feels so good to get the crowd moving and get involved and make out of it a nice party. I guess it's just the first time and it might die down eventually, but for now that's going to be my main objective when I'm at it.

What are the songs you play and get the crowd going? I want see what tunes you play and learn just this "kind" of cover.

[rusanderson]

Quite a topic. It's such a combination of things; set list, band presence, crowd mood, room, sound...

I've seen outstanding musicians play songs nobody wants to hear and bomb. I've seen mediocre bands play the most covered "dance" songs and kill it. I've seen a band full of great musicians take a back seat to the guy who was the least skilled musically, but had the most charisma. And I've seen bands play all the right songs in the right club, but be timid about it, lose a crowd.

What I've seen work almost always is playing the songs well and with authority. Act like you know what you're doing and have a sense of humor about yourself. If you mess up a song, own the mistake and make a joke about it. If someone else messes up, make a joke about it. Engage the crowd and don't be cliche'.

To get better, video tape your shows and watch them. Like someone else said, you may think you are real active on stage, but when you see the video you'll see how still you really are.

[LiquidMidnight]

Originally Posted by bluewine

They all have stage presence in their own way. Jumping around does not necessarily mean you have stage presence

Eric walks on stage, instant stage presence.

Blue

Bingo!

Johnny Cash wasn't doing windmills and doing backflips off of the drum riser, but he had incredible stage presence. It's about having charisma and conveying that. Some people can have great stage presence by jumping around. Others can do it just by standing relatively still.

[pgolliher]

Originally Posted by LiquidMidnight

Bingo!

Johnny Cash wasn't doing windmills and doing backflips off of the drum riser, but he had incredible stage presence. It's about having charisma and conveying that. Some people can have great stage presence by jumping around. Others can do it just by standing relatively still.

Sure, but I think you are talking about the exceptions to a rule. Both Clapton and Johnny Cash were legends. Cash wrote great songs and had the cool thing down - he was the man in black, he had an outlaw image -he was known for being wild in his early days. Clapton was in the yardbirds and cream and the famous "Clapton is God" graffiti helped build his image. So, yes neither of those guys had to do back flips- but for the rest of us, we need to win the audience. I wouldn't recommend to any bass player in yet another bar cover band to rationalize to themselves that "Hey, Entwistle and Clapton" didn't need to doing anything but stand there and play, so I can just stand there and play"

[pklima]

Originally Posted by najko

What are the songs you play and get the crowd going? I want see what tunes you play and learn just this "kind" of cover.

Well, the obvious thing is to start learning the lyrics to "Are you gonna be my girl". Tbh I've never heard that song, but if your audience dances to it, I'm not gonna argue. When something works, do more of it and more stuff like it.

What works best for me to get people dancing is playing stuff that's in regular rotation at the biggest dance clubs. Sean Paul, Shakira etc. You might not want to go that far, but don't be afraid to try one super-successful dance song, like "Gangnam Style".

I agree that it's probably more setlist than stage presence, though of course stage presence is a good thing, too.

Originally Posted by Kmonk

Many of the world's best musicians have little stage presence. (John Entwistle, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton for example).

I won't disagree, but OTOH I don't know if Entwistle, Dylan and Clapton ever really were the world's best at the specific task of getting people dancing.

[IngerAlb]

My 2 cents:

1. invite a few friends/fans to your band rehearsals so that the shy guys in your band would get used to playing in front of other people and loosen up a bit.

2. learn & know all the songs like the back of your hand; this will give them a sense of security. Some guys get nervous on strage because they're either afraid of screwing the song up, of being afraid that someone else in the band doesn't master that specific tune enough (including myself). When you know the chance to flop are minimal, you don't concentrate that much on every single note and won't stand stiff as a board.

3. build your setlist with songs that are both easy to play for your level (if you struggle to play a more difficult song, chances are that you will look like someone struggling to play that song :P) and that are notorious (with major hooks in 'em). That will allow you to look more natural on stage and increase the chances to play something everyone in the crowd knows. The crowd is not "educated" - you (as a musician) might listen to hundreds of bands and consider thousands of songs to be major hits, but the regular listener doesn't; sometimes even certain songs from major names are not known to the general audience, so make sure you pick something even someone living under a rock would know.

4. there's a reason why "the person with the mike" is called "front man/woman". It's his/her job to move the crowd. If you're that guy, you need to feel the general vibe of the crowd, feel when certain songs don't click with the audience and even change the setlist a bit if needed. You need to capture their attention and keep them focused on you. From my own experience I can tell you that if the crowd is concentrating on guitarist/bassist/drummer/etc the front man is not doing his job properly. So advice your vocalist to walk around before the show, talk to a few people in the audience and have a friendly open attitude. When you go on stage you will have already won a few friendly faces in the crowd. And the "good mood" is contagious - a few guys into it may "virus" the entire audience and get them to boogie.

5. don't force anything; let your "stage moves" come to you naturally as you gain experience. There's nothing more pathetic than a bunch of guys doing a staged choreography - looks like cheap circus. So let your guitarists find their natural way of acting on stage. They don't need to run all over the place and jump like mint drops in a pepsi bottle, they just need to find their "thing". The bands that you may like look great on stage because what they do during their shows is natural and (often) spontaneous. Ok, you can (and need) to have a few things pinned down (like for ex: during this part of X song I'll do this) so you won't bump into each other if someone decides to pull an unexpected stunt, but other than that, let it flow.

6. don't look like just a bunch of guys on stage, try looking like a band. That means if most of the band members are not jumping all over the place, don't do it either. You'll only manage to look out of place and make the rest of the band look even weirder. Instead of doing that, try to communicate more with the crowd - instead of sending them a vibe that says "I'm busting my butt here while these guys stand like zombies" ask them if they liked the previous song, or let them choose the next one, like "ok guys, we have these songs...which one would you like to hear next..." and so on. Keep a smilie face and remain positive throughout the entire performance - the crowd will feel it and eventually pick it up.

And remember, no two shows are the same; sometimes even if you do everything by the book things don't click. Good luck

[TRichardsbass]

Everyone here knows that I think show outweighs talent 99% of the time. However, after reading your set list, only TWO songs would make any chick move. The rest are songs you guys like and at best you might get a guy or two head banging. Your song choices fail.

Guys don't dance, don't get excited. Chicks get excited, dance, and Then guys get up to dance with chicks. I have NEVER seen tons of babes get excited by Metallica or Nirvana or NoFX. That is bro music. Hold a beer, stomp your foot, bang your head music.

You need to change just about all he songs you do if you want them to move with you. Call Me Maybe, Tonight Tonight, In New York, Katy Perry, I think you get it. Throw in some danceable '80 s. Brick House. Super Freak. THAT makes babes move which then makes crowds move.

Ask your female friends what their favorite party songs are. That is where you should start. Leave Enter Sandman for warming up at rehearsal.

[thedudebrah]

How old are you and how old are the crowds you're playing that set to? It seems like kind of a "young" set list, so I wouldn't really be surprised if some older folks didn't even know those songs.

Edit: It can go the other way as well. My band and friends are made up of guys in their mid 20s, and we covered Boxcar by Jawbreaker at a show with a lot of younger kids there and it went over like a fart in church. The only ones that knew it were my friends and another touring band. I guess that song was "too old" for that crowd.

[EvanF1322]

After just reading the original post here's my two cents..
Definitely everyone on stage moving around is a plus, if you're standing still appearing as if you're not even interested in the music, then why should the people listening be interested in it too? From my experience it doesn't really matter what the song choices are, if people are enjoying the music then they'll move. My band plays what i would call "punk rock n roll", we're a fast pace melodic three piece. I've played shows where people who have never heard us will just stand there looking and listening, and i've played shows where people have never heard us and are moving around like crazy, alot of times that depends on how many people are in the place we're playing..Playing show where the venue is barely filled is going to happen, it's something you'll have to get used to. In a scenario like that it seems that noone wants to move, because noone else is doing so. You just gotta keep playing music you enjoy and if people enjoy it then great, but if not oh well.. You cant please everyone ....Unless you play in a Bar band that plays out of a book, and can play any song they shout out at you....But what fun is that

[SnowCal]

This thread inspired me to try to up the ante on my stage presence tonight. We were a 5-piece on a tight stage, and I avoided getting more visible than our frontman (who is doing Ian Curtis-style epilepsy dances). And I'm not gonna lie, it was a ton of fun rocking out as hard physically as I felt we were sonically.

Thanks for the thread. It inspired me to enjoy the night. I feel like an idiot and am waiting for the 'never do that again' e-mail from the band, but sincerely, I think it went real well.

[ChrisB2]

Originally Posted by SnowCal

I feel like an idiot and am waiting for the 'never do that again' e-mail from the band, but sincerely, I think it went real well.

LOL! Thanks for the chuckle, hey, at least you had fun!!

[RadioRob]

Funny video about bass players stage presence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF7vghzj6pk