Your Front Person

[backup]

yeah same story. bad stage presence in general, shyness , no crowd engagement. it varies though, sometimes its ok, kind of relaxed but sometimes she even trembles and talks nonsene into the microphone out of shyness or something.
i mean if youre already singing on stage (and she does that pretty well) why being afraid of engaging the crowd?
most people i know can handle that pretty well me included. maybe its a girl thing?

[kevteop]

Our front man has a good voice, plays guitar, he's good looking and a really nice guy. He doesn't talk to the audience much at all but we're all fine with that, we try to keep the music going at all times anyway. I try not to tune up throughout the whole set if I can get away with it so me and the drummer can be constantly playing.

[jmattbassplaya]

I got lucky with my singer. He's an absolutely fantastic performer and he really gets our audiences into our music. That said, he can sometimes have trouble enunciating when he sings, but he has gotten better at it. He also isn't that great at talking to crowds. Fortunately, the rest of our band is, so everyone else tends to do the banter.

[hrodbert696]

I think our front person is great, but yes, she needs to work on the banter side a bit. Basically she's a charming and funny personality but doesn't trust herself to ad lib. So she's done things like bring written jokes on stage to tell.



Hopefully she'll grow out of that...

[modulusman]

In my main band the frontman is a great singer, good guitarist and great MC. He worked as a radio DJ for years and is totally comfortable in the spotlight. He is the main reason we get paid well. The other band I play with the frontman is a great singer, guitar player but doesn't engage the audience at all. This is the main reason this band makes about half what my other band does.

[ChrisB2]

Originally Posted by bluewine

" what's happening babies? "

LOL!

I'll take #6. He's a great singer but even he realizes he's a little weak in the banter area. But he's working on it...

No suggestions on what to do or how to handle it. I'll be watching this thread for ideas...

Side note: Great thread idea, Blue. Geez, when you count all of your own clicks (just guessing it's a lot from the sheer volume of posts you make), add to that all the traffic generated by people viewing your threads and posts, and all the blue-bashers' posts and the reponses/replies, you're probably single-handedly responsible for over half the traffic in BM.

TalkBass should give you a complimentary membership, a free t-shirt or something... you certainly keep the cash register ringing in this little corner of TB...

[klokker]

Our front man is great and gets people laughing, but he lies a lot. When he says we're going to take requests sometimes we don't. He says, "We'll work on that one" and then we don't of course.

Good with people in the moment, but a major BS'er. It's cute but annoying.

[RitchS]

Originally Posted by dminer

Our last female front person was entirely too shy and although a great singer, she would never engage the audience. Funny too, because she was a schoolteacher and had to engage her students all day long. We tried to get her to be more personable with the crowds but she just wouldn't. Finially, the lead guitar/ 2nd vocal had to start stepping up and thanking the club and staff ect. and work the crowd. That worked a little better but it was still kinda lame. She finally quit the band and we reformed with a new singer babe who has lots of friends and is not afraid of the audience.

Pics or it didn't really happen.

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by hrodbert696

I think our front person is great, but yes, she needs to work on the banter side a bit. Basically she's a charming and funny personality but doesn't trust herself to ad lib. So she's done things like bring written jokes on stage to tell.



Hopefully she'll grow out of that...

Maybe she could write a few scripts and work from that.


Blue

[Unrepresented]

Our front man does a good job of interacting with the audience. He's got good stage presence and energy. He's not much of a talker between songs, but that's usually because he's out of breath from trying to put on a show while screaming out lyrics.

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by ChrisB2

LOL!
Side note: Great thread idea, Blue. Geez, when you count all of your own clicks (just guessing it's a lot from the sheer volume of posts you make), add to that all the traffic generated by people viewing your threads and posts, and all the blue-bashers' posts and the reponses/replies, you're probably single-handedly responsible for over half the traffic in BM.

TalkBass should give you a complimentary membership, a free t-shirt or something... you certainly keep the cash register ringing in this little corner of TB...

Thanks,

I've learned a lot from the forum especially about the new generation of musicians that came up in band culture completely different from mine ( 60s & 70s).

A lot of folks don't like my opinions, some that just plain out don't get it and some jealousy as well. Why anyone would be jealous of me is beyond my comprehension.

Blue

[modulusman]

Originally Posted by bluewine

Thanks,

I've learned a lot from the forum especially about the new generation of musicians that came up in band culture completely different from mine ( 60s & 70s).

A lot of folks don't like my opinions, some that just plain out don't get it and some jealousy as well. Why anyone would be jealous of me is beyond my comprehension.

Blue

I'm not jealous.

[mellowinman]

I am a "good" front person. By "good," I really do mean "just good enough." Some audiences get me, and find me fun, and funny. I'm not always comfortable enough, and some things do fall flat.

That said, I'm the best of three. Krystal can get an audience behind her, at times, but she's not consistent, and sometimes she mumbles a bit, and they have no idea what she's saying. She's a little too "off the cuff" for my tastes; I think you have to have some rehearsed banter or patter, that you can always improvise or expand upon.

Arthur is just awful. "How's everybody doing tonight?" said in a not-very-enthusiastic voice is about his best work. Every now and then, he knows to ask the audience about a sporting event he knows people in the area will be fired up about. The kid's shy. He's not really a frontman, anyway, as lead guitarist, but I play a lot of instruments, and I need these two to cover for me sometimes while I am doing stuff.

I feel that we are entertaining, and actually better than most local cover bands I've seen, but I do NOT feel we are anywhere near good enough.

[Wookieonbass]

We need a good frontman or woman.So I quess we would be catagory #5. We're a 3 piece band. Our drummer sings most of the songs but doesn't say too much if there's a lull in the action although he will handle any announcements that are needed to be said like drink specials and the like. Myself, 'Im kind of withdrawn when it comes to snappy reparte' and I'm the weakest vocally so I don't sing much. Our guitar player who is the BL does most of the talking which I'm beginning to wish he wouldn't. He has a few really corny lines he uses that are really getting old and I see lots of rolling eyes in the crowd. Or he'll come up with some really strange of-the-wall stuff like UFO sightings or something. We used to do some choriography (sp?) ala ZZ Top but now he can barely walk so these days he mostly sits on a stool while playing. Our stage show lacks energy. I've seen videos and while the music is ok we are really boring to watch, in my opinion. I move around and can get pretty animated but it looks kind of dopey just me jumping around while the others are sitting. So then I fall back into line. We really need a shot of energy. BAD!!!

[BBox Bass]

Band 1: excellent singer, poor stage presence, occasionally bashes on the drummer's cymbals (he gave her a pair of sticks), checks her text messages during guitar solos (I gave her hell about that at our last show). Seldom helps with loading in/out.

Band 2: okay singer, fantastic stage presence, plays guitar on a few songs. Seldom helps with loading in/out.

[JumboJack]

Originally Posted by bluewine

Thanks,

I've learned a lot from the forum especially about the new generation of musicians that came up in band culture completely different from mine ( 60s & 70s).

A lot of folks don't like my opinions, some that just plain out don't get it and some jealousy as well. Why anyone would be jealous of me is beyond my comprehension.

Blue

Why you would think there is a single person here that is jealous of you is beyond comprehension and coments like that are what make you the recipient of so much flack. If you could just go one thread without saying something ridiculous or inflamitory it would go a long way.

... back to our regulary scheduled programing.

[tjh]

Originally Posted by klokker

Our front man is great and gets people laughing, but he lies a lot. When he says we're going to take requests sometimes we don't. He says, "We'll work on that one" and then we don't of course.

Good with people in the moment, but a major BS'er. It's cute but annoying.

... in the sales industry we don't call it lying ... its 'building a relationship' (AKA schmoozing) ... and is very much needed (witihn reason and done with good intentions) to support the people that have mustered the courage to come up front feel like they did something positive and more importantly, their input was given credibility ...

... one time somebody came up to our front man asking us to play a song, and he stone faced barked back at them "we dont take requests!!" ... I never give anyone the chance to approach him again .. I see them headed his direction, I cut between them and greet them .. and, I often encourage people on the mic to 'let ME know how they are doing tonight', or 'if they have something special that they would like us to do or play for them tonight, make sure they tell ME ...", I never say us ...

I always thank them for their suggestion, and if we cant do it, I tell them what a great idea it would be ... "I will run it by the group and see if they are up for it" (and I will at our next rehearsal, then it is usually dismissed) ... then I always make a point of dedicating something to the requestor, or to the group they are with ...

.. no matter how bad your day/night is going, everybody that comes up gets a smile, a polite reply .. and something shown appreciation for their effort ... getting someones first name and announcing over the system is golden ...

some of the group think I am nutz ... but thats why they call it a 'show' ...

[Beej]

Originally Posted by bluewine

Well, like I said, being a good frontman is a special skill. It's not like it comes natural to everyone and I am not sure it can be taught.

Blue

I'm not sure if it's too special a skill, but I completely agree about the coming natural part. It comes down to personality type in my view, and in particular introversion/extraversion. A strongly introverted personality can be taught (conditioned) to accomplish what is needed, but for sure it won't be a natural comfortable role. A strongly extraverted personality will be more likely to step right into the role and folks will say "what a natural". For a strong extravert, it's often difficult to be a silent wallflower, even when its necessary for success in a particular situation.

Bottom line, when evaluating your front person, do they have natural energy? Are they excited/motivated/charged by being in groups or in complicated social situations? Are they a talker? If you see some of these signs, you're probably on the right track...

[ChrisB2]

Originally Posted by mellowinman

Arthur is just awful. "How's everybody doing tonight?" said in a not-very-enthusiastic voice is about his best work. Every now and then, he knows to ask the audience about a sporting event he knows people in the area will be fired up about. The kid's shy.

Not trying to be a jerk, but... If what you say is true, why is he talking to the audience???

[PimasterPearson]

I play in a soul/rock trio. My frontman is an excellent singer, a fantastic songwriter, a really solid guitarist, and very well-liked and personable. The only thing he lacks is stage presence and that magnetic confidence that the best performers all seem to radiate.