Band Member Pointing Out Mistakes to the Audienc

[Luke19Boarder]

Originally Posted by mellowinman

We might make fun of each other onstage for mistakes. We might make it a joke. "Sorry everybody, Joe has a different set list than the rest of us," that type of thing. "No more shots for Sammy!"

Not something we would do often, and only in a show where we're killing it.

The facebook post would get you severely beaten, though.

Pointing out mistakes to the club owner?

I can't even address that.

Exactly this.

[MartinG1957]

If he has high standards and wants to put on a good show then point out to him that having high standards and not realising that putting on a show means applying high standards across all areas of your performance - including dealing with mistakes in a professional manner - then your standards are not actually all that high...other options are that he is, as has been said either:
(a) A complete tool
(b) Cruising for a serious bruising
(c) A Bonzo Dog Variant...on Harmonica the infallible Mr Pope...
(Youngsters, look it up!)

:-)

[fkh006]

I used to play in a band with two female singers.
One was pretty much always off pitch and when she was really way off she would make excuses over the P.A. that she couldn't hear herself.
It was total bull as I could her her fine from her monitor as I didn't use one and I was at least six feet farther from it than she was.
I let it go twice but the third time I stepped up to the mic and told the audience that she was always full of excuses when she had problems staying on key.
Please excuse her.
Pretty sure she never did it again.

I'm with the "smile and play on" responses here.
I bailed pretty soon after that as she never improved.

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by fkh006

I let it go twice but the third time I stepped up to the mic and told the audience that she was always full of excuses when she had problems staying on key.
Please excuse her.

So, you did the same thing, re-enforced the bands mistake to the audience?

Blue

[bassinplace]

Remind him that people are there to have a good time and be entertained. Not to listen to a wet blanket broadcast his insecurities.

[Raymeous]

A long long time ago (i.e. 80's) a guitar mag had an interview with Dave Murray and Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden fame. In the interview the guy asked them about being known for having a flawless show at which point the boys corrected him with something along the lines of "are you kidding me? We mess up all the time. We just roll with it and keep playing the song."

Yeah your band guy was being kinda stupid. Unless the audience has been to your rehersals on a regular basis or have memorized you CD the audience will not notice a mistake unless it is REALLY obvious, in which case you wont need to point it out because they will already know about it.

Just talk to the whole band about it at the next practice, and try not to turn it into a "gang up on the bad guy" thing. Stuff like this happens from time to time, people making stupid mistakes, and just endeavor to not do it again.

[bodoger]

A few years ago the singer in a hard rock cover band I was in long term started acting like that and after the 4th or 5th time some of the other members took him out back during break and left him laying face down in the gravel parking lot, when he came back the next set with two black eyes and several abrasions he apologized and never acted like that again.

I thought that the bar owner would fire us on the spot but turns out he didn't like him very much and actually held the door open for them, needless to say I'm no longer with that band.

[fkh006]

Originally Posted by bluewine

So, you did the same thing, re-enforced the bands mistake to the audience?

Blue

Whatever you say Blue.

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by fkh006

Whatever you say Blue.

?

Blue

Attachment 303514

[DwaynieAD]

our shows are high action and high energy. cables get kicked out of instruments and microphones. we handle it in stride.

singer rolled across the stage kicking out the guitarists cable in the process. notices he did it and says "guess it's time for a bass solo" I played solo until guitarist plugged back in. audience loved it. singer kicked out my cable in much the same way. i pretended to strangle him with my cable before plugging it back in. crowd loved it. I kicked out the cord from the singers mic at the last show we played. he just screamed at the top of his lungs until a vocal break and plugged back in and we all had a good laugh.

as far as actually making mistakes, we just keep chugging along and hope none of the other band members noticed so they don't make fun of us later.

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by DwaynieAD

our shows are high action and high energy. cables get kicked out of instruments and microphones. we handle it in stride.

singer rolled across the stage kicking out the guitarists cable in the process. notices he did it and says "guess it's time for a bass solo" I played solo until guitarist plugged back in. audience loved it. singer kicked out my cable in much the same way. i pretended to strangle him with my cable before plugging it back in. crowd loved it. I kicked out the cord from the singers mic at the last show we played. he just screamed at the top of his lungs until a vocal break and plugged back in and we all had a good laugh.

as far as actually making mistakes, we just keep chugging along and hope none of the other band members noticed so they don't make fun of us later.

Quote, I can see those antics working, but only if the band is very tight otherwise it could come off pretentious.

Either way better than pointing out mistakes to the crowd.

Blue

[BrentD]

I haven't read the whole thread, but I keep thinking someone else in the band needs to introduce him for a solo. "This fine, handsome guitar player here is Johnny Marksman! We call him that 'cause he's real accurate! But careful ladies, he's quick on the draw!"

[MNAirHead]

I'd not look for much of a future in this type of band.

Folks like this don't change and don't understand marketing....

Venue owners could care less if you suck -- if you bring in $$$ to the reigster you won.

[MNAirHead]

The Pogues technically sucked...

Sold a ton of pints

[jaywa]

I take it even farther to the point where I consider it completely unnecessary and inappropriate to say something like, "this is our first time playing this song", or "we're gonna play this request even though we've never done it before..." before the song, or after.

If you're so lacking confidence in the tune (and/or each other) that you have to disclaim it before hand, you shouldn't be playing the song. And if you pull a tune out of your rear orifice and it gets a great crowd response, why stomp on the good feeling with a self-deprecating comment after the fact? The crowd let you know you did fine, so appreciate it and move on to the next tune.

I've had many instances in cover bands where we pulled out a song on the fly, unrehearsed, it sounded pretty good and the crowd loved it and was none the wiser. If there was a muso friend of mine in the crowd or something I might fess up to him at break that we had never rehearsed it, but that's NEVER info that should be put out there by anyone on mic.

[vlado]

I'd say nothing is as good as clear relations. Talk honestly and openly about the issue next time you all meet and discuss it, open and through. If the guy wants his band to sound more professional that shouldn't be disqualified, but saying things behind other band member's back is hardly professional and displays insecurity and cowardice. If he says he's sorry and won't repeat it I'd say the problem's solved. Otherwise I'd take off and find somebody nicer to play along with.

[Vintage Guy]

I had a guitarist in one band I was in turn around and make faces at the offending individual no matter how minor the mistake was. That made everyone in the audience realize there was a problem even if they did not notice it before. That drove me crazy! And most of the time he was the biggest offender!

[JohnMCA72]

I'm all for precision & rehearsing things down to the finest 'T'. However, as someone famous once said, no battle plan survives contact with the enemy! __it happens, even to the best of players, & there's no need to call attention to it. Make it look like that's the way it was supposed to go & nobody will be the wiser. I had a gig a couple of weeks ago, where I swear I can't remember a single song that I didn't screw up somehow. None turned to trainwrecks, & I actually got lots of complements later from people who either didn't notice or didn't mind.

The worst thing that could happen, though, is for somebody to get so beat-down intimidated for having their faults pointed out (in public or in private, even) that they quit taking chances & trying new things. One possible consequence of pushing the envelope is that sometimes you crash & burn. Luckily, we're not flight-testing airplanes, so we get a chance to do that more than once.

[jive1]

I'm typically a self critical person, and I can always talk about what I messed up and can do better. But, in terms of the music biz, I have to can that a little. As much as you may be tempted to counter a compliment with a self deprecating comment about how poorly you played, it's rarely ever a helpful thing. IME, the best response to a compliment is "Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it". Your work should be enough to stand on it's own, so no explanation is needed.

I learned the lesson the hard way when I told a client that really enjoyed the show about how I bad thought our performance was. He didn't take it as self deprecating or humble. Instead, he gave me a funny look like I had gotten one over on him. He was a little mad about it, and we were never booked there again. Which is sad because we did well, and the owner liked us, but my statement was enough for him to have doubts about us.

Over time I learned that I shouldn't second guess a client or fan's taste towards our band. If they like us, who am I to question their taste? If anything, it's rude. I had someone tell me that my version of "Voodoo Chile" was one of the best guitar performances he ever saw. I know for a fact, it wasn't even close. Now I could tell him that he was wrong, or that he doesn't know what he's talking about, he needs to get out more, etc. but what does that accomplish other than you getting additional comfirmation or them feeling like their opinion doesn't matter and they are being condescended towards? No need to go there, so I just said "Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it".

Look at it like a restaurant. What goes on in the kitchen is kept away from the consumer. If you are a cover band, you are being a waiter. If you are an original band, you are a chef and waiter. If you have a customer who loved what they ate, would you tell them that you almost dropped their steak on the floor? If someone said that they loved their meal, would you tell them that you substitued Italian seasoning because you ran out of oregano? If a restaurant is having a special on their famous Chicken soup, do they advertise that it is leftovers from yesterday's roast chicken?

In short, if your customers are happy, you should be. If you want to debrief, do it with a bandmate, friend, spouse, etc. I would only debrief with a client if they were a repeat customer that I had a close relationship with. I don't believe in countering the opinion of the customer that likes you. You may be seen as humble, but you may also be seen as fishing for compliments or invalidating their opinion, which isn't good for any relationship.

[Tampabass]

His "going public" with perceived band mistakes is a MUCH bigger mistake than any actual band mistakes.

It's something an amateur would do -- and smart bandmates will tell him to never make that mistake again.