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Why does the bass player still stand in back?

#23
Altitude said:
I hit a Google photos search on the word "stage" today for an unrelated reason - lots of gig pictures came up that I haven't looked at in a long time.

Like a lot of bass players, I'm standing in the back in most of them.

If you're the kind of player who wants to stand in back, chill, and play - sure. No need to rationalize or justify. But maybe some of you, like me, have decided that the fact you play bass should not, on its own, banish you to the back wall.

In fact, in my groups, keyboardists go in the back (they can't move) along with any player who needs to use his or her iPad or sheet music at the gig.

Me, I want to be up front interacting with the crowd - like I sometimes get to on this stage, where I guess I'm in the front and the back at the same time:



Anyone else abandoning the "bass in the back" rule?
Click to expand...

I'm in a four person band (Gtr-Bass-Dr-Vox) so there's no hiding. I'm more animated than our guitarist but less than the vocalist, so... no hiding in the back for me. Seriously, though, I'd be happy moving back a bit if there were more members. It's enough for me to play correctly; dancing around and making faces may be part of the repertoire but I would just as soon fade into the background and let the playing speak for itself.
 
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#24
Rhythm section in the back, singers and soloists in the front makes sense to me. Rock bands being basically loud rhythm sections with singing instrumentalists means you've got more flexibility and a lot more stage space so you can do whatever you want with it.

I used to get the center stage position with the jam band I played with, largely so my rig could be next to the drummer who could never get enough of my bass in his mon mix. I sang lead on about 25% of the material, and we were vocal harmony heavy, so it wasn't weird.

I basically never sing lead anymore, so I don't want to be out front these days.
 
#27
I'm a bassist and I like basses, bassists and bass lines. BUT Let me sum it all up this way:

This is a guitarist, this is what Mick Ronson looked like on stage (my opinion, he's the greatest):
images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcSdb7S4EmC2Pdc9hrb-f-QR2ZdR98ir5ECkYI00aU6K7-JJ5fUm&usqp=CAU.jpg

Next we have a bassist. This is what Jaco Pastorius looked like on stage (my opinion, the greatest):
upload_2020-6-15_16-55-42.jpeg


We all know Bootsy Collins never got told to hide between the speakers. Anthony never said, "hey, Flea, it's a big gig, why don't you just blend in?" Nobody, and I mean NOBODY ever told a bassist to just show up in flip flops and a sweatband, but sometimes they do, so off to the side of the riser where the spots don't shine.
If you were "hungry" and wanted people to notice you and sing along and grow a following and sign the big deal and blow up the radio and stream your Youtubes, you'd pick option 1. If you're a paid/paying BL it's a really easy choice which one of these 2 would you want leaning over the tape with a sparkly boot on the monitor. Does not matter remotely what instrument they are playing or whether it's melody, rhythm, whatever. If it's a show you put the show up front.
 
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#28
ZedLepp said:
Well I like to stand next to the drummer's high hat so I can groove with the drummer better. It also helps to see what he is doing so I can better time hits and changes that happen.
Click to expand...

See, that's weird. At my last gig, all the bands, including ours, had the bassist stage right, opposite side of the kit from the hi-hat. Everyone seemed totally comfortable with that; it's been the way we've arranged ourselves for a while in the rehearsal space, rather organically, but to see the lead band set up that way and then have the act following us do the same with the bassist absolutely in his element on that side of the stage (very Flea-like stage presence) it just felt like that's the way it should be. I totally get your logic, and now that you mention it a quick image search shows that bassist stage left is the more common setup, but whether all the bands just followed the lead act's arrangement or we actually rehearse that way, that night was three-for-three "flipped" the opposite way and zero complaints.
 
#29
Altitude said:
I hit a Google photos search on the word "stage" today for an unrelated reason - lots of gig pictures came up that I haven't looked at in a long time.

Like a lot of bass players, I'm standing in the back in most of them.

If you're the kind of player who wants to stand in back, chill, and play - sure. No need to rationalize or justify. But maybe some of you, like me, have decided that the fact you play bass should not, on its own, banish you to the back wall.

In fact, in my groups, keyboardists go in the back (they can't move) along with any player who needs to use his or her iPad or sheet music at the gig.

Me, I want to be up front interacting with the crowd - like I sometimes get to on this stage, where I guess I'm in the front and the back at the same time:



Anyone else abandoning the "bass in the back" rule?
Click to expand...


I work in larger ensembles with lead singers. That is their job, be up front and entertaining. If I’m a distraction, either visually, or musically, I’m fired. My job is to make the music flow logically. Of course I look engaged, but doing a Verdeen White?? Never in a million years. Besides, I can’t dance.
 
#32
I used to hang around back, then in the previous band we were all behind the narcissist. Then these guys heard me messing around at practice and told me to get a mic, "You're singing too, so move up here." So the mics are aligned. *sigh* Anyway, it's more fun than I thought, and I am an introvert no more!.

And sometimes, like this stage, it's the only place left anyway! I only whacked the post just out of the pic to stage left a couple of times, fortunately; I couldn't turn left any further. The guitar player kept hitting the ride, if I backed up to reach my amp it muted the high hat, and our stands are on the grass...

FedsBandinging.jpg
 
#33
Altitude said:
I hit a Google photos search on the word "stage" today for an unrelated reason - lots of gig pictures came up that I haven't looked at in a long time.

Like a lot of bass players, I'm standing in the back in most of them.

If you're the kind of player who wants to stand in back, chill, and play - sure. No need to rationalize or justify. But maybe some of you, like me, have decided that the fact you play bass should not, on its own, banish you to the back wall.

In fact, in my groups, keyboardists go in the back (they can't move) along with any player who needs to use his or her iPad or sheet music at the gig.

Me, I want to be up front interacting with the crowd - like I sometimes get to on this stage, where I guess I'm in the front and the back at the same time:



Anyone else abandoning the "bass in the back" rule?
Click to expand...



I tend to stay close to the drums, we lock better that way.
 
#37
Completely depends on two things, IMO: Do you sing? You need to be near a mic up front. Do you move? If you've got stage presence, you need to be where the audience can pick that up.

Otherwise, if you're a statue, take your spot next to the drums and do your job. There's plenty of room for all types.

All of that assumes this is an actual band and not support for a touring act or something like that. If you're working in a support role, you shouldn't be up front even if you have stage presence like Elvis. Your job at that point is to let the front person shine.
 
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#38
I've finished a gig on a bar stool with a bucket beneath me after coming down with food poisoning during the first set. By that time my body had already rejected some of what it found to be disagreeable onstage. What the audience thought of it I don't know. I don't want to know. They probably thought; "Look at the state of that bass player, he's had a few too many." But it wasn't that. This time.
 
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#39
Amusingly, playing upright, I often stand in front because there's no space in back. At one club where I had a steady gig for a few years, I was in front of everybody for this reason. I don't mind, since I enjoy making eye contact and interacting with the audience anyway.
 
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#40
Liko said:
See, that's weird. At my last gig, all the bands, including ours, had the bassist stage right, opposite side of the kit from the hi-hat. Everyone seemed totally comfortable with that; it's been the way we've arranged ourselves for a while in the rehearsal space, rather organically, but to see the lead band set up that way and then have the act following us do the same with the bassist absolutely in his element on that side of the stage (very Flea-like stage presence) it just felt like that's the way it should be. I totally get your logic, and now that you mention it a quick image search shows that bassist stage left is the more common setup, but whether all the bands just followed the lead act's arrangement or we actually rehearse that way, that night was three-for-three "flipped" the opposite way and zero complaints.
Click to expand...

There have been a few stages that I have played where I could only set up on the right side. I just prefer to be on the left.
 

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