Found this thread and I wanted to chime in because there's something that always happens to me regarding the "bass face":
Basically, I move into two types of music as a performer: A tropical music band and a rock band. I like the tropical music, but that isn't the music I grew listening to. I learned about it after I got into bass playing. Instead, I spent most of my childhood and teens listening to the current rock and pop hits on the radio. That's why I barely move or make a face when I'm playing Salsa or Merengue. On the other hand, my "tropical" bandmates can't recognize me when I'm playing rock. I say this is a severe case of a "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" trauma. I simply can't avoid it because it's PURE FEELING, and I think that's really noticeable. There's a rock band from a town near here and they're good but they're such posers! They look ridiculous to me. That works for Paul Stanley or Pete Townshend, but not for them. So if you don't feel like making bass faces, don't do that just because others tell you to do it. I've always said that if I was required to dance along with the singers in a tropical band, I'd inmediately quit.
But there's another catch: IMO, letting your feelings on the music flow works only if all or at least another of your bandmates can express them in a similar way. I'm posting here two short video excerpts of different concerts in which I played. I enjoyed both of them as much as I could, but every time I see the first video I feel as a stupid clown! A quiet guitarist and a headbanging bassist. Meh! On the second video, both of us (but a different guitarist here) move with the music. The good vibe can be felt (I think).
Anyway, the most important thing here is that music must be first and foremost. If making weird faces gives you trouble with your playing, don't do it. And don't do it for an image. I can tell you for sure that these videos only show pure and natural adrenaline. Nothing planned. No acting (although I must admit that I feel I'm sort of influenced by Ace Frehley, whose stage presence was terrific to me when I was a teenager). If you and your bandmates can combine decent playing with (natural) corporal expression, that's a truly valid approach to live music performance.
Link Removed. :scowl:
Link Removed. Much inferior quality but
P.S.: Problem with streaming videos is that they start playing after a certain percentage but if they haven't loaded completely, they keep stopping while receiving new fragments. That's very annoying. I recommend you to stop the videos just after they start playing, wait until fully loaded in your browser's cache and then play them. Also can use a download manager to save them in your hard disk and watch them after downloaded.
