Showmanship - Page 8

Steve Dallman · #**141** 02-05-2013, 04:55 PM

The guitar player and I are 60. The drummer is 58. I walk with a cane. Yet, on stage, we just have a great time, and include the audience. It's obvious we love what we are doing, and it's infectious. We're nice guys, have lived past our issues, and just like entertaining. We move, we bounce around, we enjoy our own music and get into it, and the audience joins us. We've been doing this a while...46 years for me. We may not be flashy or even attractive, but we know what we're doing, and we enjoy doing it. At this point in my life, I'll take interesting over attractive.

hernameisrio · #**142** 02-05-2013, 04:55 PM

I dress flashy and smile, but I don't move much unless the song calls for it.

Steve Dallman · #**143** 02-05-2013, 04:59 PM

We used to have a frontman in a country band I was in for 8 years, who could always pour it on. Whether 5 people, or a thousand, he was a master showman. He would constantly walk right up to that edge of going too far...stay there a while, but never go over that edge. He had absolutely no fear of being perceived as a buffoon, although he certainly wasn't one.

I asked a psychologist how one becomes like that. I was told to practice in front of a mirror. I told the Doc I'd feel stupid doing that. He said THAT was what I needed to get past.

I never did practice in front of a mirror...and I never became the showman Rube Semrau was.

the yeti · #**144** 02-05-2013, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hernameisrio

I dress flashy and smile, but I don't move much unless the song calls for it.

but you kind of have a built in advantage. which is awesome.

TRichardsbass · #**145** 02-05-2013, 05:21 PM

Now now Chris, I meant the guitar solo silly...

hernameisrio · #**146** 02-05-2013, 09:57 PM

@yeti: never thought of it that way! I thought it was just the shoes or maybe the hair.

**hsech** · #**147** 02-05-2013, 10:04 PM

I'm very old school. I wear a top hat or a bowler hat. Hang a rubber chicken on my microphone boom stand and sometimes put on my arrow through the head. The other guys just stand there.

Russell L · #**148** 02-07-2013, 06:55 PM

I find people watching me play often, and they look like they are enjoying it. But, I don't move much, just get into what I'm doing. I think folks can be mesmerized by genuiness.

**gard0300** · #**149** 02-07-2013, 06:59 PM

Both guitarists we have are trees. Even the drummer is more animated. Pretty much falls to the singer and I.

kanonfodr · #**150** 02-07-2013, 07:57 PM

I jump around, stomp on things, foot on the monitors, more jumping from the kick drum, do the shoulder-to-shoulder rock out with the guitarist, lots of headbanging, grinding on other guys' wives, stomp on some pedals, screaming, raising the horns, lots of stuff.

But you gotta practice, while you're practicing. Alone. With the band. In front of a mirror. Video yourself. Watch your heroes, learn from them. Watch other players, see what they do. Try new things, and drink alcohol!

Peace,
Greg

TRichardsbass · #**151** 02-08-2013, 05:21 AM

Some of the showmanship is related to the style of music you play for sure, but no matter what it cant be like you are playing in your basement. I have this argument all the time with my bud Ziggy as he doesnt want to rehearse a show as a show.

Last week our gig rocked but most of the comments were related to how I looked and moved. The drummer and I have worked out some parts so I can get really animated. In one song there is now a drum riff that is like machine gun fire that I play and "shoot" the crowd with my bass in perfect time with the drums and several spots where I can jump for emphasis (think Foxton) and one song where I wander into the crowd and dance. After the show one guy said I hace serious chops (which I really dont) and one chick said I was the best band and player she had ever seen. Clearly, at least to me, it was the show.

We got rebooked right after too to open for a big Briyish act coming in March.

pklima · #**152** 02-08-2013, 05:31 AM

I used to get a lot of similar comments in one band about how the singer and me were supposedly much better musically than the pianist and cajonist. We weren't really, but we looked confident and interested and alive.

Nate74 · #**153** 02-08-2013, 05:53 PM

The only reason I have a bow on stage is so I can lift up our singer's kilt...

masterFlash · #**154** 03-01-2013, 10:40 AM

Showmanship..I love this topic
here's a great example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...v=a9kPfelTEds#!

I'm not positive what the event really is, but if it's a wedding, then the drummer is way off.

if its a comedy bit, or just for youtube hits, then the drummer rocks it perfectly.

Showmanship depends on what the big picture is.

enjoy

DwaynieAD · #**155** 03-01-2013, 11:16 AM

we've been called an experience, and we take great pride in that.

our singer is non-stop. jumping off everything, rolling, punching the air. i normally push him off the riser before my bass solo. audience loves it.

the drummer does all the classic stick tricks. audiences love it. if your drummer doesn't do tricks he should be. last gig he was throwing sticks in the air and catching them. the audience would cheer so loud every time he did that I could hear them over the music. he said to me afterwards "i've never dropped so many sticks in my life" my reply "who cares, they loved it"

the guitarist and I primarily lock into our respective power stances and rock out. but some other higher energy moves come out when the feeling is right. foot on the monitor, jumping around. punching of guitars, banging them off the stage, some back to back playing. anything the people want.

bluewine · #**156** 03-01-2013, 12:06 PM

A good multi talented attractive female can cover for most of the band.

Yay or nay?

BlueAttachment 321483

zfunkman · #**157** 03-01-2013, 12:22 PM

I just have a good time.

drpepper · #**158** 03-01-2013, 12:24 PM

I went to a show last week, and this thread came to mind. There were 4 bands; the openers were two up-and-comers and a 10 years or so established national act.

It was interesting to see how the progression of "showmanship" went. The first group was good musically. They were tight, and even though I had never heard of them or any of their music, they got and held my attention. Their stage act was the most boisterous of the four, and it seemed forced and contrived almost the entire time. They did give it their all and there was motion as well as music the entire time. You can't fault them for giving 100%, but it wasn't a matter of emoting through their actions. It was more a forced seeming act that bordered on being a distraction. The drummer repeatedly put water on his snare and floor tom heads, and it would "explode" up when he hit them. At one point at looked like the keyboard player and guitarist "accidentally" collided, knocking the guitarist on his back with his feet sticking straight up in the air. At that point, instead of helping him up, the keyboard player grabbed one of his keyboards off of its stand and used the guitarists feet as a stand for part of the song. All-in-all, corny.

The fake showmanship decreased some with each subsequent group.

The headliner played. They played well. They didn't have any contrived moves or gimmicks. They appeared to simply move with their music.

pklima · #**159** 03-01-2013, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drpepper

They didn't have any contrived moves or gimmicks. They appeared to simply move with their music.

Fake is better than real.

In one of my old bands, we watched video of our entire set and the singer declared that the keyboardist moved around "autistically" for himself, and I moved around for the audience, to communicate something to them.

drpepper · #**160** 03-01-2013, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pklima

Fake is better than real.

Possibly to you...

I think you must have missed my meaning.

You can see two people perform the same action, and in one case, it can come across as contrived, while in the other, it can come across as authentic.

Whether fake or not at its basis, I prefer the appearance of authenticity, comfort and spontaneity. It's an "act," and ideally the person watching shouldn't know or even be questioning whether it's fake or not. If it's clear that it's fake, then it starts to become a distraction...the acting actually gets in the way of the performance.

When you're watching a movie, the actor's success in acting comes from making the viewer forget that they're watching acting. The actor is pretending to laugh, cry, fight, be mad, be sad, be happy, be hurt, be sick, die, etc. Over-acting or simply being a bad actor takes away the appearance of authenticity. Good acting creates the appearance of authenticity. Both are "fake."