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Anybody intentionally speed up their songs when playing live?

catcauphonic

catcauphonic

High Freak of the Low Frequencies
Mar 30, 2012
6,221
45,710
Seattle WA
#1
I'm asking cuz I watched some videos taken of our last show, and even though we pretty much played everything like we rehearse it .. it felt like a few of the songs were dragging.

What may sound ideal thru headphones or in your car or bedroom, i just thought could use a little more oomph in front of a live audience.

I understand this may not be ideal for all styles of music, but we play post punk / indi rock, and bumping 2-3bpms on some songs may add a little life to the set. Is this uncommon?
 
#4
tbirdsp said:
Wow - almost every live performance I've seen (or been a part of) has been faster than the studio version. Our singer likes things faster for more "energy" - but I protest when it kills the groove of the song.
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There's certain songs I wouldn't want to ruin the mood of, but most of 'em I'm referring to are the more energetic ones that I'd like to tinker with.

Come to think of it, I have seen some bigger bands occasionally do this, but most of the ones I catch these days I don't have their records yet, or often don't know what they do before I get there ... so maybe they're already doing it! I'll have to check with some local peers.
 
#5
DiabolusInMusic said:
I've never done it but I know Type O Negative loves to do this. Apparently brooding goth music isn't as fun live as rock and roll.
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...perhaps "used to love to do that" would've been more apropos...

From my experiences, this happened much more frequently (and at times, with bad sonic consequences) in the *latter* years rather than in the BK & Oct Rust shows, and WCD was the noticeable start of the trend to me. The exceptions for BK/OctRust tours I mentioned were when O- was a support act (Pantera, Queensryche, etc) and had an extremely stringent time limitation for the set according to the day sheet for the venue: for example, onstage at 8:00 sharp, off at exactly 8:45, otherwise the headliner crew and FOH starts shutting things down.
When O- was the headliner on their own tours, the stage&set times were more flexible as long as support acts had followed their times as required. As for songs getting faster as Pete got older, I believe that had everything to do with his now-well-known cocaine use. I mean no disrespect to the dead or a dead friend... but I watched it happen firsthand.
 
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#7
We don't do it, but I know Taking Back Sunday used to play live at supersonic speeds. Not sure why, but heard a rumor back in the day that Roadrunner Records forced their bands to record at slower speeds.
 
#9
Yes, we do one tune that we intentionally speed up: Leroy Van Dyke's "The Auctioneer":



By the end of the song, we've got that mother flying at worp speed. What's really funny is that our lead singer, Tim, never misses a beat.

Riis
 
#12
Adding 5 bpm to 10 bpm for certain songs live can really add some oomph. As others have said, if you go too fast, the groove can quickly disappear. Green Day and Offspring songs in many cases sound better a bit faster than recorded. The key to playing songs faster is discussing AS A BAND before playing live. Check with the singer to make sure he can sing that fast and make sure band practice occurs at album speed FIRST. Get good there and increase it as everyone sees fit.

On the flip side, I remember the last three song of the nights being the heaviest sounding and the tempos were definitely increased. The result? The drunks loved it! As a band, we LOVED it. Sometimes it is just fun to do.
 
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#14
We go well beyond setting a higher tempo. Most of the covers we do had 64 plus tracks to work with - we are a 4 pc with 3 singers... We put our spin on everything...

Dead Flowers - The Stones tune... Kinda poppy right ? Ever hear the Townes Van Zandt version ? Great tune and an interesting take but dirge tempo... Some songs improve - or at least take on a different flavor of good vibe... My band is an unabashedly commercial party band. We do what works for us and screw the original...
 
#16
Al the bands I play with play the tunes a little faster live.

One group I was invited to played everything outrageously fast. Kinda decent 80s cover band, something I thought would be fun to make a little money with.

In the first rehearsal, the drummer kicked a couple of slap-style tunes so fast that there was no playing the right part. The band stopped and noted "You aren't doing the slap thing" Me: "We are playing the tune a little fast to do the slap properly. Drummer: "So you've been here 45 minutes and you're already telling us how to play". Me, putting bass in case and packing gear "not any more".

Of course, the drummer and keyboard player badmouthing the guitar player about the way they filed taxes as I walked in, continued in front of me and for several minutes should have been a clue to how the day was going to turn out.
 
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#18
Since I play in bar bands and the object is to get people up and dancing , there are a few songs that we pick up the pace a bit to make them more danceable. "Mary Janes Last Dance" comes to mind. Too slow at studio speed to get a dance groove going. Pick it up a bit and the dance floor fills up every time. For the most part , we tend to keep them pretty close to the recorded speed. What I find to kill the groove is letting some songs drag. A lot of songs slowed down even a little bit become agonizing both to play and to dance to.
 

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