Appearance of the Stage - Does It Make A Difference?

jaywa · #1 07-05-2011, 12:44 PM

A steadily gigging "weekend warrior" bassist here who would like to hear perspectives on how important you feel it is to a band's image to have reasonably well maintained gear on stage, cords and cables taped down, etc.

The reason I ask is that in my band we run the full spectrum:

1 guy (lead guitarist) who is borderline OCD about his gear (everything maintained in showroom condition, entire stage rig in Anvil cases, custom made pedalboard with cables ganged and tied off, etc.).

2 guys (myself and the drummer) who are above the norm on the neat freak scale but not like the lead guitarist.

1 guy (BL/ lead singer/keys) who doesn't totally let his equipment go but isn't especially picky/careful about it either.

1 guy (utility musician) who really doesn't give a damn; gear is all older than crap, beat to heck, no stands for his instruments, etc. Not so surprisingly, whenever someone is having a problem with their gear it's almost always him.

On our last gig I looked at our stage and you could literally draw a line at the drummers kit center stage and everything stage left (lead guitar and my side) had nice gear, very few cords and the few there were taped down, etc., and everything stage right of the drum riser (BL and utility guy) was total chaos and looked like a bad pawnshop with cords and cables everywhere.

It just made me wonder if anyone in the audience other than musicians (and maybe even them) notices this kind of thing and affects their perception of the band.

Thoughts?

bassbully · #2 07-05-2011, 12:51 PM

Joe and Jane Public could care less. Other musicians might. I have heard quite a few people say they have heard bad bands and good bands but never a bad looking band or a band that had a messy player with beat up equipment.

LiamPodmore · #3 07-05-2011, 12:51 PM

I think people notice old tatty gear, such as a beat up amp or guitar, but not so much about the cables being taped to the floor and pedalboards having all the cables organised and neat, as they dont tend to look at the floor (From what ive seen) as they are focusing on the musicians.

Liam

stflbn · #4 07-05-2011, 12:56 PM

Most basic watchers often assume ratty gear is vintage gear. And everyone knows that vintage gear sounds better.

IMHO it doesn't matter one bit... just if the band sucks or is good.

.

TheVoiceless · #5 07-05-2011, 12:57 PM

I think it counts towards presentation. Most of the people in the crowd won't know the difference, but the select few will, like you and myself. And too us it makes a difference. Its not a deal breaker, unless the poor quality in gear can be cheaply and easily repaired or replaced, and its upsetting the set/band performance.

lovechick · #6 07-05-2011, 12:57 PM

I used to work with a guy that was obsessed with this stuff: his homemade pedal board had to be painted black (for appearance), all the of his cables were "snaked" tyogether with zip strips, etc. Me, I could seriously care less. Then again, a messy stage with cables and such everywhere is unecessary and potentially risky.

LiquidMidnight · #7 07-05-2011, 12:57 PM

In my experience, the general public probably doesn't care that much as long as it sounds good. On the other hand, good, well-kept, and professional gear generally leaves a good first impression on people in the biz, particuarly sound engineers.

jaywa · #8 07-05-2011, 01:00 PM

Cool, these responses are kind of what I was thinking as well.

I.e., yeah it would be nice to have a totally pro-looking, taped down stage etc. but considering we're a weekend covers band going totally DIY (we don't even have a sound guy), there's probably more important things to spend our time and energy on. I won't even bother bringing it up with the BL cause if it mattered to him he would have said something by now... and the biggest culprit in the band (the utility guy) is 60 years old and not gonna change his M.O. anyway.

And actually I've seen (and been in) bands that are worse than this one as far as that whole thing goes.

I think a lot of it for me is that before I was in my current band I spent 5 years in a band where the board was set up right next to me and so I always had all kinds of cords in my "space" and was stepping/tripping on them all the time. It really got to annoy me after awhile cause I move around a fair bit when I play and it got to be safety hazard sometimes. Thankfully in this band, the board is set up next to the BL who sets up on the opposite side of the drummer from me... so the spaghetti factory is on his side, not mine. And we're all wireless for both instruments and IEMs, which helps a lot too.

Gearhead17 · #9 07-05-2011, 01:01 PM

For the gear, not really. Other musicians will notice that while everyone else will focus on the singer.. I play in a cover band as a "weekend warrior" myself. The only people who care about your gear are other musicians and/or the sound guy.

You should purchase some Gaffers tape for shows and tape down cords that can be easily unplugged before playing. Other than that, the clothing you wear on stage will affect the audiences perception of you more than gear will. If you are a tribute act, you need to dress like the guy are imitating. If you are all wearing Slayer shirts and playing pop music - maybe you need to have a band discussion about it. And so on....

In regards to the "utility guitarist", for his own sake, he needs to get with it on his rig. I can not believe he would deal with gear on stage that consistently fails or gives him issues show after show. And for goodness sakes, when is his birthday? Buy him a cheap $30 guitar stand and bring it yourself to shows! He probably would conveniently forget it...

stflbn · #10 07-05-2011, 01:03 PM

What would you rather spend a night listening to... a Great band with cords all over the floor and ratty equipment? Or a horrible band with fantastic gear and a pristine stage?

I'd go for the Great band.

SteveHeissner · #11 07-05-2011, 01:06 PM

If the performance is great then I won't notice nor will I care whether the stage is neat or not. Ditto regarding their gear.

Immigrant · #12 07-05-2011, 01:09 PM

I think an untidy stage makes an impression on a non-musician audience member, whether they realize it or not. Smoke and mirror theory.

TheKirkNasty · #13 07-05-2011, 01:09 PM

Yes, appearance is extremely important. There is a genius musician in my town who has had many chances in his career to "go big." He missed because of his unprofessional wardrobe choices and hunched appearance.

As far as stage goes, the audience usually sees the band before they hear the band, so it is effective to have a stage free of clutter, gig bags, food, etc.

jaywa · #14 07-05-2011, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gearhead17

Buy him a cheap $30 guitar stand and bring it yourself to shows! He probably would conveniently forget it...

We did... and he did forget it.

Matter of fact on one gig an hour and a half drive away, he forgot to bring his [only] guitar, AND his amp. If our lead guitarist didn't roll with multiple guitars and a spare amp he wouldn't have been able to play the gig with us at all.

Gearhead17 · #15 07-05-2011, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiquidMidnight

On the other hand, good, well-kept, and professional gear generally leaves a good first impression on people in the biz, particuarly sound engineers.

Exactly. Sound guys and other entertainment people will respect you a little more if you have functioning gear that does not look like an absolute mess on stage.

Peepaleep · #16 07-05-2011, 01:12 PM

People do not notice when things look nice, but they do notice when things look like crap. That can hurt anyone in any setting.

Gearhead17 · #17 07-05-2011, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaywa

We did... and he did forget it.

Matter of fact on one gig an hour and a half drive away, he forgot to bring his [only] guitar, AND his amp. If our lead guitarist didn't roll with multiple guitars and a spare amp he wouldn't have been able to play the gig with us at all.

Yikes! I think you have a serious problem with this guy. Can't remember his guitar or his amp? Not professional at all. I know it is just a bar band, but you can not be THAT CLUELESS.

electracoyote · #18 07-05-2011, 01:19 PM

Depends on your audience and your direction as a band.

I'm doing three gigs this weekend with the same band. At the wedding and video shoot, you can bet everything will be spruced up, cables lined up or hidden, cases and extra gear hidden, etc. At the bar gig, I couldn't care less, and neither could the patrons.

jaywa · #19 07-05-2011, 01:23 PM

There's one "audience" no one has commented on here yet and that's the client... whether it be a club owner, street dance organizer, wedding planner, whatever. It would seem to me that gear/stage condition would matter to them, but maybe not.

One thing I DO know makes a difference with those folks... definitely more than what your gear or stage looks likel... is how you interact with them. My current BL is an excellent "people person" and all of us in the band are pretty personable and laid back, and I can't tell you how many times we talk to clients and they say, "so and so band was here last week/night and they weren't as good as you guys, they charged more and on top of that they were jerks. You guys are so much easier to deal with." At which point they usually ask when's the next time they can book us, and often offer us a raise.

jaywa · #20 07-05-2011, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gearhead17

Yikes! I think you have a serious problem with this guy. Can't remember his guitar or his amp? Not professional at all. I know it is just a bar band, but you can not be THAT CLUELESS.

Yeah... it's only happened once but that was my 3rd or 4th gig with the band and I was like... wow.

The deal with this guy is, he can play four instruments as well as doing bg vocals. We would probably have to hire two guys to replace him, and/or scrap a lot of the material that makes our show unique, so we've all just kind of resigned ourselves to rolling with it.