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Cool things to say between songs

#62
ask the guitarist if he is just happy to play there or is there a banana in his pocket but the have the guitarist say its a banana and have him pull one out and ask some girls in the crown id they want it and toss it to them
 
#63
If you've got a natural flair for talking to people that you don't know, then a bit of banter can't hurt. But it won't work if it doesn't sound confident. What drives audience members nuts is a frontman who mumbles unintelligibly into his mic for long periods, or prattles on with band in-jokes that no one understands.

And for the love of god don't resort to band member introductions. The only people who care already know, and believe me, nobody else cares.
 
#64
There is a local hardcore band out here who makes it a point after every couple of songs to denote themselves as starving artists and reminds everybody about the tip jar at the foot of the stage.

Last time I went to one of their shows, someone jacked the tip jar.

There was nothing in it.











I gave them their tip jar back. :P






[EDIT:] Before people start calling me names, I didn't really take it, just thought it would be funny to say. The pointing out the tip jar thing was really unprofessional and annoying though. Dun do it. I do recommend, however, mentioning once at the beginning and end of a set that you have a demo or a sticker or button or whatever for sale, and can be purchased AFTER the show, if anybody is interested. That is, if you have swag to sell. Otherwise, leave money, or the talk of money, out of your mind.
 
#67
for us we run samples in between songs...we create them on a program called fruity-loops...it a really cool beat maker program with countless possibilities...its great for three reasons....keeps the flow going,gives us and the vocalist a break and builds up our energy going into the next song......but that works for US due to the fact our music more melodic and progressive and we like keeping a certain ''mystic'' to our style....we're big on the ''shut up and play theory''......I played in bands that did alot of talking inbetween songs..tried to get the crowd involved...and i feel like you lose alot of the audience when you kill the flow with excessive talking.....i know i usually walk away and grab a drink when im watching a band do this.....to me,thats ''audience break time''..but thats just my opinion......its a very subjective subject...a ''to each his own'' kinda deal.......theres no right or wrong answers,just advice..........it there was a right answer,we'd all be signed;)
 
#68
pasta4lnch said:
nice!

what do you call 2 guys w/ no arms and no legs hanging from a window??
Curt n Rod!!:smug:
dont know if this has been mentioned but my buddies were going to play the tunes from the freecreditreport.com commercials in between songs . . . :p
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I'm starting to feel guilty about this line of jokes...
What do you call a guy with no arms and legs being towed behind a ski boat?











Skip
 
#69
wnelson said:
for us we run samples in between songs...we create them on a program called fruity-loops...it a really cool beat maker program with countless possibilities...its great for three reasons....keeps the flow going,gives us and the vocalist a break and builds up our energy going into the next song......but that works for US due to the fact our music more melodic and progressive and we like keeping a certain ''mystic'' to our style....we're big on the ''shut up and play theory''......I played in bands that did alot of talking inbetween songs..tried to get the crowd involved...and i feel like you lose alot of the audience when you kill the flow with excessive talking.....i know i usually walk away and grab a drink when im watching a band do this.....to me,thats ''audience break time''..but thats just my opinion......its a very subjective subject...a ''to each his own'' kinda deal.......theres no right or wrong answers,just advice..........it there was a right answer,we'd all be signed;)
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Very good point. Sometimes song breaks give a moment for people to actually hear each other talk for a brief moment so keeping it short and simple is good. I watched a friend play a while back who is hispanic. Inbetween two songs, he introduced the band and then said "I'm the other white meat"
 
#73
Mike151 said:
Very good point. Sometimes song breaks give a moment for people to actually hear each other talk for a brief moment so keeping it short and simple is good. I watched a friend play a while back who is hispanic. Inbetween two songs, he introduced the band and then said "I'm the other white meat"
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yea the samples we use are mainly light fuzzy noises (except for the intro.hahaha) ...splash of piano and strings....nothing abrasive or harsh....so if the crowd wants to talk among themselves then its perfect....but it keeps their attention for sure......its been a huge advantage for our live shows....and its truly builds my adrenaline up going into songs.....we dont do it on every song....just a handful....the rest we have other ways of doing it .
 
#74
Joe Jackson has the best between-song banter of any musician I have ever seen, narrowly winning over Lyle Lovett. Those two guys are both quirky and weird, and tend to have interesting stories to tell about their songs and lives, and tell them well. So, they are acting on a strength. They are also, obviously, original artists and people at their shows are there to see them - so what they have to say about themselves and their music is germaine to the experience.

On the other end of the spectrum, I saw John Mellencamp once, and he said absolutely nothing between songs until he introduced his band right before the last tune. He could not remember his keyboardist's name, by the way, which was funny and sad but another story. His arrangements were sterile, flawlessly executed, and exactly like his records, and on the whole, the experience was not like a concert for me so much as like listening to his CDs in an uncomfortable chair.

For cover bands, I agree with the people who say that less is more, and whatever you do say should be geared towards the bar experience and not towards yourself or your band. Really, anything more than 15 or 20 seconds between cover songs is much more bad than good. Too bad these damned guitarists have to bring five guitars with them to a cover gig and switch among them every other tune...
 

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