Crowds

[The_Punishment]

Does anyone knows what it feels like to play for 100+ ppl
What dos it feel like?

 

[Mystic Michael]

Does anyone knows what it feels like to play for 100+ ppl

Yes

 

[deathsdj]

Yeah.

Cheers!

MJW

 

[elgecko]

I can be the greatest thing you can do with your clothes on or it can be a horrific nightmare can't wake up from. or anything in between.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

It's pretty awesome. Though the best feeling is to play your own original music and have the crowd sing your lyrics back to you. Doesn't matter if there's 5 or 5,000 people in the crowd at that point; the feeling is pure euphoria.

 

[spaz21387]

Big crowds are fun. They are hard to get at shows though. No one wants to come out and see an unknown band. So if you are in an unknown band play benefit shows or at county fairs. I think my favorite moment from playing live shows was watching an elderly couple come sit down at the county fair when we played a slower johnny cash cover. then we went into an original song and they stood up and left so fast. I didnt think a older couple could move that fast haha.

 

[mellowinman]

It feels good. If the performance is top-notch, it feels better than good. You will do it, and you will love it.

 

[SnowCal]

It's like a drug addiction. The first time you do it will either be ecstasy or a bad trip. The next few are the same except you get less of a high. Pretty soon you realize that the crowd needs to be 150 or you don't get that high at all. Within a couple years you're playing sold out stadiums and getting no rush out of it. You're wishing you were sitting on the couch watching Seinfeld reruns.

Eh, it's a really good feeling to play to a packed house. Pretty girls out on the floor dancing, paying close attention to the dexterity of your right hand, the windows fogging up, some punk kid ineptly trying to start a mosh pit at your folk pop gig. It's fun for me. It can be stressful and nerve-inducing.

Do it.

 

[JimmyM]

Big crowds are easy. Small crowds are what's hard.

 

[Downunderwonder]

So much truth already I have little to add, except smaller crowds are my normal and I get no butterflies there, with big crowds I still get the high just getting set. The satisfaction of being well received is pretty freaking awesome either way.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Usually my blood runs cold all the way through the first song to the end of it and that last note rings that out then crowd response is deafening in they're applause nothing quite like it.

That fleeting moment is when I missed all the years (15) that I put it down and the reason I started back up.

 

[lundborg]

To me, it feels less personal than playing for 30. Which is good because you can focus on the music. And usually a large stage comes with better sound. OTOH small gigs are more fun.

 

[hrodbert696]

Big crowds are easy. Small crowds are what's hard.

I agree with this - haven't had big crowds in music, but in teaching and theater, I can say that when there's six people in the room, you feel every single pair of eyes. A hundred people, and it's just a great mass out there. Much easier to perform to.

 

[ShoeManiac]

Big crowds are easy. Small crowds are what's hard.

Agreed.

With a big crowd the audience wants to have a good time, and once you get things flowing well there's almost a feedback loop of energy that develops between the act and the audience. And it can be very much like a drug for the performers.

Smaller gigs are tougher, and it can take some effort to draw that audience in. In that case it's intimate, almost like a seduction. With some small club gigs I've seen the performer draw in the audience with humor. But if you can draw people in during one of those small gigs? It can be a very cool thing.

 

[DannyBob]

Nervous wreck as I walk on stage, but as soon as the first few bars are played, totally different story! The rush I get is similar to that from when I skydived, apart from spread out over an hour or two and not as intense. This is the same for me be it playing for 50 people or playing for over 500 people.

 

[Kmonk]

Almost every gig I have ever done has been for more than 100 people. I have had the good fortune of opening for many well known classic rock acts and the most I have played in front of is 25,000 at outdoor events. I prefer playing large venues to large crowds. I was never comfortable in a small club where the audience is only a couple of feet away.

The picture that I attached was taken a few years ago at "Bike Week" in Laconia, NH. I could only fit about 1/4 of the crowd into the shot but its easy to see that there were several thousand people there. I took it just after we finished our set. The stage was about 150 feet to the left of where the people in the picture are standing.

 

[David Hayes]

Yes. It's like anything else. You get used to it.

 

[two fingers]

Big crowds are easy. Small crowds are what's hard.

Absolutely true. However, it has been my experience that I would rather play to 25 people who are REALLY getting into what you are doing than play to 5,000 who are at a Seafood Festival and could care less about the band as long as the fried shrimp keeps on coming.

OP, playing in front of ANY crowd that is really feeling your work (be it small or large) is a great feeling. It is kind of a dangerous thrill to me. Think about the sheer number of buttons, faders, knobs, strings, dimmers, and other settings that have to be in exactly the right place for everything to sound and look great. Think about the sheer number of notes and words that have to be memorized. A BILLION things could go wrong. But they usually don't. So, at the end of every show I am still (after over two decades) amazed when everything goes off without a hitch. And if you can do it in front of people who are slammed up against the stage, dancing, and/or singing along...... man that is fun!

Come back here and tell us about it when it happens to you!

 

[ChrisB2]

Yes

You did not answer the second question.

Yes, it feels pretty awesome.

It's like getting your back scratched real slow and easy when you're not itching. Just a nice even flow of feel-good.

It's like when ice cream just melts in your mouth and goes down real slow. Doesn't make you feel stuffed and bloated, just a good sensation.

It's like when you're a kid and you first wake up on Christmas morning, all excited knowing it's going to be a great day.

I could go on and on but my mind is starting to drift toward analogies that include content not allowed on TB... you get the idea.

I'll echo the ones, though, who said you get used to it, and it's easier than playing to small groups.

 

[nojj]

like a Jet propelled rocket, with boosters.