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Stage presence ?
- Thread starter DAVEYC
- Start date
Smooth_bass88
vaxx!
- Oct 31, 2006
- 12,122
- 16,793
- Disclosures
- have been on nationally released albums, charting on the Billboard 200
My approach to stage presence: keep in shape, wear nice, dark, non-patterned clothes, don't have a dumb looking haircut, and copy my heros (Nathan East, Pino Palladino, Sean Hurley, Willie Weeks, Lee Sklar).
People hear with their eyes.
The same people consume professionally developed mobile content at an astronomical rate.
dont be creepy... dont be an idiot... dont forget people hear with their eyes
The same people consume professionally developed mobile content at an astronomical rate.
dont be creepy... dont be an idiot... dont forget people hear with their eyes
IMO the best stage presence is when the people on stage just make whatever they’re playing look easy. If they’ve got a relaxed body posture and a smile on their face, that’s good enough. More than that comes off as being a cocky d-bag to me. then there’s me, having to forcibly remind myself to smile once in a while, and shift my weight to avoid hip injuries in the future. You put pedals in front of me, and I’m not moving an inch all night.
One of the reasons I enjoy playing the bass. I just sit back and watch my band members "do their thing". After all, I'm just the bass player in the band.
Here too, all too often.
I do my best.
Sometimes it's corny. Who cares? Corny is fun.
Not sure if I can still do this, but I'll do my best next time there's enough headroom in the venue...
Put one foot on the wedge, and lean forward. The wedge flips over, and you land on your ass on the dance floor.
Do a one foot spin and wallop the guitar player in the back of the head with your headstock.
Leap off the stage onto a small round bar table. Lose balance. Tables go down like dominoes.
Knock over a cymbal. It cuts your guitar cord cleanly. Stand there wondering why no sound is coming out of your amp.
Stage moves?? I know 'em all.
Do a one foot spin and wallop the guitar player in the back of the head with your headstock.
Leap off the stage onto a small round bar table. Lose balance. Tables go down like dominoes.
Knock over a cymbal. It cuts your guitar cord cleanly. Stand there wondering why no sound is coming out of your amp.
Stage moves?? I know 'em all.
When I was in my mid 20's I saw a video of me playing bass and I looked BORED. That isn't an image I want to convey, so started making a point of moving to the music. It took some learning curve before I could headbang comfortably while playing and then I had to learn some basic dancing. Once you practice it enough to be competent, it then becomes fun, and the audience can vibe off that.
The other thing is to force yourself to make eye contact with the audience. Making eye contact feels like an invasion of personal space to me, so I took time to get comfortable doing this, but crowds love it (individuals may not, but crowds do).
The other thing is to force yourself to make eye contact with the audience. Making eye contact feels like an invasion of personal space to me, so I took time to get comfortable doing this, but crowds love it (individuals may not, but crowds do).
Have fun. Yeah. That's me with my San Diego bass shirt and a Super-Chicken hat.
PS. If you're doing shoe-gaiser music, don't do what I do. :-D
PS. If you're doing shoe-gaiser music, don't do what I do. :-D
Just be yourself. To me it's obvious if someone is "faking it" and forcing themself to move about unnaturally. Nothing wrong with being "cool"
It’s nice to see a band that appears to really enjoy what they’re doing - I think that really adds to the event. That doesn’t necessarily mean jumping and kicking because that can also seem so forced that it’s actually a turn off (and exhausting to watch). It’s obvious when things are genuine and just as obvious when they aren’t.
I hadda bass player sometime back - was the stage big enuff - walked in circles the whole set. If it was too small to do that, he'd stand in place and turn circles about 1/2 the set. Lotta work for the legs, that, what with steppin' over the cord.
Once, I watched David Byrne dance backward all night, while he was playing guitar.
Once, I watched David Byrne dance backward all night, while he was playing guitar.
Yoshihiro Naruse is a phenom, for sure! Loved the whole Yoshihiro - Tetsuo Sakurai - Casiopea thing, and add in The Square, and what fun! If you have the time to spare: . (Not to take anything away from Yoshi, but there's youtube of Sakurai and Issei Noro, guitarist for Casiopea doing acoustic music, which is incredible in its own right.)
Anyway, TL;DR. Pretty much I just stare at my fingerboard, praying I get at least some of the notes right, but I'll look at drummie sometimes and grin if we do a special something.
You have to be more engaging to watch than a jukebox, but your moves need to fit the song. "Every Rose" isn't a stage dive, guitar toss, high jump with sword tricks songs and "Jump Around" isn't a song for statues.
I watched a few of my band's early performances and we were so motionless on stage it was boring to watch the playback, I started making an effort to bring some energy into the songs. Once I dialed up the juice, the band followed, and we now are constantly complemented on bringing energy to the venue. Due to a knee injury, there's a lot of moves I can't do, but working within my limits I can still find ways to actively engage the audience. Sometimes that involves getting a little hyped on stage, sometimes it involves asking the audience to sing along to some familiar classics, but the interaction with the crowd and showing you're happy to be performing for them is always appreciated.
I watched a few of my band's early performances and we were so motionless on stage it was boring to watch the playback, I started making an effort to bring some energy into the songs. Once I dialed up the juice, the band followed, and we now are constantly complemented on bringing energy to the venue. Due to a knee injury, there's a lot of moves I can't do, but working within my limits I can still find ways to actively engage the audience. Sometimes that involves getting a little hyped on stage, sometimes it involves asking the audience to sing along to some familiar classics, but the interaction with the crowd and showing you're happy to be performing for them is always appreciated.
Check out Sting and his band here. This is a music-y show, everyone on the stage is a heavy hitter. Which is to say that this show isn't supposed to be a circus.
Nobody is flailing around, but everyone is moving. Sting likes to bounce a little bit in time with rhythm. Dominic Miller is a little more emotive. The background singers are doing a very simple choreographed thing that keeps a little motion visible at all times.
A good, solid, understated but effective amount of stage animation IMO.
Nobody is flailing around, but everyone is moving. Sting likes to bounce a little bit in time with rhythm. Dominic Miller is a little more emotive. The background singers are doing a very simple choreographed thing that keeps a little motion visible at all times.
A good, solid, understated but effective amount of stage animation IMO.
