Being a jerk to the audience?

[BassCliff]

Hi,

My band will occasionally mess with the audience....

It's all in good fun and 9 out of 10 times it goes over pretty well, but some might view it as being jerks.

Yes, rather than berate an individual, as in the OP's story, sometimes you can get away with teasing the entire audience. Sometimes, if the band has just shredded a particular tune and the "crowd goes mild" I will say something like "Hey! What are you out there? A painting?". Or "Gee! I've never seen dead people smoke before." But you DO have to be careful and read the crowd very accurately. Normally I just try to say lighthearted silly stuff like "The surgeon general warns that long term exposure to country music has caused line dancing in laboratory animals."


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[modulusman]

Hi,



Yes, rather than berate an individual, as in the OP's story, sometimes you can get away with teasing the entire audience. Sometimes, if the band has just shredded a particular tune and the "crowd goes mild" I will say something like "Hey! What are you out there? A painting?". Or "Gee! I've never seen dead people smoke before." But you DO have to be careful and read the crowd very accurately. Normally I just try to say lighthearted silly stuff like "The surgeon general warns that long term exposure to country music has caused line dancing in laboratory animals."


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Next time you play at THE RANCH say "line dancing, look what happens when cousins breed"' that ought to go over well.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. modulusman,

Next time you play at THE RANCH say "line dancing, look what happens when cousins breed"' that ought to go over well.

Yup, my wife and I decided to get a divorce. But that's OK. She said we could still be cousins.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[The Mighty 'V']

Your memory is not faulty: in addition to the head-kicking, "Dig" also features a scene of Anton kicking a band mate, mid-gig, in retaliation for a clam. This during a make-or-break industry showcase. Hey hey my my!

This kind of 'behaviour' seemed to be almost expected by the audience during The Brian Jonestown Massacre's shows! At least in the later of the 7 years this documentary was filmed. Mate of mine who'd lent me his 'Dig!' DVD back then went to their gig here in Wellington and seemed almost disappointed that there were no such incidents! I'll be on the lookout for my own copy.

 

[codycon96]

Next time you play at THE RANCH say "line dancing, look what happens when cousins breed"' that ought to go over well.

I found this funnier than I should have.

 

[The Mighty 'V']

...I saw Joe Jackson refuse to continue playing until some ducktards stopped yelling stuff out during the soft bits...

Yeah but at least he stopped playing for a good reason! Good ol' Joe seems to be a troublemaker magnet anyway. There are a couple of gigs online that were filmed for German TV, a long time ago; In one of them, some guy in the audience starts trying to rark him up after the first few songs, until somewhere mid 'Is She Really Going Out With Him', when Joe's had enough and yells at the guy "Shut uuuuup!!" There's also something about said song in terms of stuff happening between artist and audience, in various live versions; Like him telling them (jokingly, I assume) "Now that was the worst singing I've heard in my life!" when they're singing along.

 

[Vince Klortho]

I was at a Blues Traveler show in the mid-80s and Widespread Panic opened. Later in WP's set, between songs, several people started yelling, "Free Bird" and WP's bass player went berserk. He went up to a mic and repeatedly yelled, "Do you think that's funny?" interspersed with several expletives. It was a real buzzkill to what had been a really good show up until then. They played one more song and got applause from about three people. I lost all respect for the guy then and still have none.

 

[pablomago]

What would Jimi have done? Probably smiled that big smile and gone over and played to the dude.

I had a gig last week where we didn't have as good a turnout as expected. But we just played like the joint was packed. If the town floozie is doing her drunk dance in front of the stage, I may find it sad, pathetic or offensive, but I'd never take it out on her. When you're on stage you've got a job to do. If you've got one person who's digging the band, that's all that matters.

That whole entitled rock star attitude is just so lame

 

[NWB]

Main reason I quit the last band I was in was that the BL kept going on and on with racist comments. One night I heard him call out n***** n***** n***** over the PA when a black woman walked in.

We never worked that club again.

Couple of months later I found another band.

I would have immediately walked. I have absolutely no tolerance for that sort of crap.