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Being at the back of the stage!

M

mitchellprice

Nov 15, 2009
76
0
#1
don't you just hate it when your playing on a smallish stage and your forced to play up the back in the corner next to the drummer!

I mean bass is important! its more important the rhythm guitar! why cant he go up the back!

it really gets on my nerves and i often try and push my self to the front.

what are your thoughts and experiences?
 
#9
how can that bother you ? actually those guys are doing you a favor. your job is to lock in with the drummer. how are you suposed to do that if you run around in front of the stage, playing with your teeth and behind your neck on a mono cycle ? sure. stage performance is important, but if you don't lock in with the drummer you fail as bassist.

naa. all jokes aside, it doesn't really bother me that much, I'm there for the band, we are suposed to be a unity. I really couldn't care less for how much I'm exposed on stage - as long as we sound good and we entertain people, i'm glad :D
 
#10
crusie said:
how can that bother you ? actually those guys are doing you a favor. your job is to lock in with the drummer. how are you suposed to do that if you run around in front of the stage, playing with your teeth and behind your neck on a mono cycle ? sure. stage performance is important, but if you don't lock in with the drummer you fail as bassist.

naa. all jokes aside, it doesn't really bother me that much, I'm there for the band, we are suposed to be a unity. I really couldn't care less for how much I'm exposed on stage - as long as we sound good and we entertain people, i'm glad :D
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yeah good point. i soppose its how the whole band is received that is most impotant. not my bass playing
 
#11
mitchellprice said:
yeah good point. i soppose its how the whole band is received that is most impotant. not my bass playing
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don't get me wrong. I play in a 3 piece band, so my stage performance and bassplaying means alot, but I'm the part that combines the rythm section with the guitarist/singer. my performance means a whole lot, but I actually like standing next to the drummer. we do random breaks and accentuations ( is that even a word ?) all over the place - and the only reason we are able to do that, is because we have a VERY good contact. my drummer knows excatly what I do, and I know excatly what he does - just by looking at eachother, and we've only been playing together for like 18 months.

it's almost like a secret society inside the band ^^ in my opinion a strong, solid and unified rythm section is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE BAND, if we sound like crap and don't lock in, the whole band sounds terrible.
 
#12
Do you ever see anyone in the crowd play air bass? Do they anticipate your solos and pump their fists when you're about to explode into slap? Probably not. We're bass players. Humble is the badge we wear; it comes with the territory no matter how great you are.

Join up with SMV and you'll get the attention you're looking for.
 
#13
Twocan said:
Do you ever see anyone in the crowd play air bass? Do they anticipate your solos and pump their fists when you're about to explode into slap? Probably not. We're bass players. Humble is the badge we wear; it comes with the territory no matter how great you are.

Join up with SMV and you'll get the attention you're looking for.
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I partly agree, but that's really up to what kind of music you play and how you play it. if you just stand around playing roots, I'll agree.

and actually I see alot of people playing air bass. :bassist: guitarist says it's air guitar, but how does he know ? there's no real instrument there, they might just play it with a pick! :P
 
#16
crusie said:
don't get me wrong. I play in a 3 piece band, so my stage performance and bassplaying means alot, but I'm the part that combines the rythm section with the guitarist/singer. my performance means a whole lot, but I actually like standing next to the drummer. we do random breaks and accentuations ( is that even a word ?) all over the place - and the only reason we are able to do that, is because we have a VERY good contact. my drummer knows excatly what I do, and I know excatly what he does - just by looking at eachother, and we've only been playing together for like 18 months.

it's almost like a secret society inside the band ^^ in my opinion a strong, solid and unified rythm section is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE BAND, if we sound like crap and don't lock in, the whole band sounds terrible.
Click to expand...

+1
 
#18
I'm in a 5-piece band and I choose to set up in the back, next to the drummer. That's how I feel I lock-in best. I sing backing vox but my mic is back one "tier" on the stage (i.e. closer to the drums then on the front line). I do come up to the front line every now and then just to give some motion to the "show" but most of the show I'm back by my amp.

Most stages we play aren't big enough to go more than 3 people wide across the front anyway so if our singer and guitarists want those spots they're welcome to them.

John Paul Jones made quite a nice career for himself just hanging out in back by the drums. So did Entwistle. It's all personal preference of course, but ain' no shame not to be out front all the time.

Now if we were just a 3 piece of course that would look kind of odd and in that case I'd probably bring myself more up-front.
 
#19
Hi.

I wouldn't mind. And I won't.

But then again I'm considered somewhat ugly but I do sing lead about 1/3 of the time when we have our lead vocalist (female) and the whole time when she's not with us.

If I wanted to be in the front, I would've picked up a guitar. Oh waitaminute I did, at first, but as the need for a bassplayer was great, I switched :D.

All kidding aside, the guitarists in our band are in the second row if the stage is small (only 5 of us BTW).

Regards
Sam
 
#20
I'm originally a keyboard player so being at the back, side, near the drummer, in the corner, on a low tier, upper tier, no tier, next to the percussion rig is pretty much status quo for me.

I'm actually not as comfortable up front in the rock trio I play bass in because I'm the only one who has freedom of movement. Our guitarist sings lead and our drummer sits (obviously). So I feel like I have to do more with stage presence now to keep us from looking like 3 stiffs! lol!
 

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