I would say the 'genre' and 'venue' comments are almost right, although I would say it is more the situation of the event you're playing determines how loud you should be and can get away with.
I mean, if you've been hired to play at a music bar, people are there to listen and watch you, not to chat amongst themselves, so you can get away with considerable volume.
On the other hand, a regular pub that has a band night, you get a lot of punters there for a night out socialising with their mates. As much as you may want to be the main focus, the audience will want to be able to chat to each other whilst you're playing. The same goes for functions such as weddings and parties. You're there to entertain those that want to be entertained. Some people will want to sing and dance, other haven't seen each other for months and want to catch up and talk. If you're blasting it out, they won't be happy, and you will probably lose potential booking from audience members (I know, I have in the past!).
In these situations, you need to learn how to focus your sound. You need to be heard clearly on the dance floor or 'golden circle', the area in front of the stage for those who want to dance and sing along, or just soak up the atmosphere, but the volume needs to be low enough off the dance floor for people to talk without having to shout. And you can only really do this with a decent soundman managing your levels.
As an aside on the genre venue thing. It does make me smile that 20 years later, Sweet Child O Mine has become somwhat a wedding standard. Hell, we've even been asked to play Skunk Anansie at a wedding.
I mean, if you've been hired to play at a music bar, people are there to listen and watch you, not to chat amongst themselves, so you can get away with considerable volume.
On the other hand, a regular pub that has a band night, you get a lot of punters there for a night out socialising with their mates. As much as you may want to be the main focus, the audience will want to be able to chat to each other whilst you're playing. The same goes for functions such as weddings and parties. You're there to entertain those that want to be entertained. Some people will want to sing and dance, other haven't seen each other for months and want to catch up and talk. If you're blasting it out, they won't be happy, and you will probably lose potential booking from audience members (I know, I have in the past!).
In these situations, you need to learn how to focus your sound. You need to be heard clearly on the dance floor or 'golden circle', the area in front of the stage for those who want to dance and sing along, or just soak up the atmosphere, but the volume needs to be low enough off the dance floor for people to talk without having to shout. And you can only really do this with a decent soundman managing your levels.
As an aside on the genre venue thing. It does make me smile that 20 years later, Sweet Child O Mine has become somwhat a wedding standard. Hell, we've even been asked to play Skunk Anansie at a wedding.
