Doing Live shows

In a live show, a band has to really win their audience over. This is where a lot of beginner bands fail. My advice to you is to start as soon as possible in a working band and get some experience backing you. You'll see what works and what doesn't. You'll also get to know human behaviour and what people demand of a band. After about a year or two of regular gigging, you'll know where it's at and you'll have met a lot of competent musicians along the way that you can maybe recruit for your own band.


In my case, I spent about 4 years in a sucessful working band and during that time I analyzed why it was so sucessful. The biggest reason was that the front man was very active and charasmatic on stage. The people 'wanted' to be entertained by him and his band. The sound of the band was very tight and everyone in the band contributed to making the show interesting. We would come up with ideas for things to do on stage, like dressing up the trombone player like a surgeon to sing a song and using wireless systems to be able to come down from the stage and dance with the crowd while doing a guitar solo, etc. Stage antics came naturally because rhythm section was tight and powerful. We had a total of 5 people doing backups that sounded pretty good. And, of course, last but not least, the sound man did his job very well and the 16.000 Watts of power were sounding very clean at almost every show.

*Why didn't this band get to the top 40? Simple, we were only doing cover songs.

Now, let's take a look at few of the best bands that have 'made the grade' and been able to reach the most amount of people, and why.

There are literally hundreds of reasons that we can think of, but there are a few important reasons why bands or soloists have been able to soar above the rest and remain in our CD collections for a long time.

Examples:
The Beatles
There has never since been a group that has influenced the world and people of all ages to the degree that these 4 mop-tops from Liverpool did. Why?

Charisma -They did a good job of winning the audience over. Not just one of them -they all participated to make the live show interesting and entertaining.
Originality -They ventured to do things that no band would dare to do. They set the trends that many others followed and broke molds.

Versatility -They didn't just stick to one style of music, they were in constant evolution.

Good vocal work -They all sang and did backups -so that makes at least 8 instruments in total in a live show (4 instruments + 4 vocals).

Queen
Charasmatic Front Man -Freddy Mercury knew how to get a crowd roaring and very often gave his audience a chance to sing along and participate.

Tight rhythm section -The shows had plenty of power when needed and a lot of contrasts which were well executed during live performances.

Originality -They ventured to do things that no band would dare to do. They set the trends that many others followed and broke molds.

Versatility -They didn't just stick to one style of music, they were in constant evolution.

Excellent Backing Vocals -These took the world by storm in the mid seventies and are still referred to today as a milestone in music.

Good guitar work-the first guitarist to make harmonizing guitar parts popular.-full guitar sound and good rhythm tecnique.-Use of interesting scales and harmony (unlike anything anyone else was doing at the time)

Van Halen

Charasmatic Front Man -David Lee Roth was wild and controversial. He knew how to get the crowd roaring.

Tight Rhythm Section

Excellent guitar work -The first guitarist to make everyone want to learn the tapping tecnique.-excellent rhythm tecnique which provided a full clean sound.

Good backing vocals -These make the audience want to sing along

Powerful Live Performance -Energetic live show that made the audience feel 'entertained'

*There's always a reason for a soloist or band's success. It's up to you to discover it and apply it to your own situation. If you see a local band doing very well, don't just sit there and criticize them -they must be doing something right to get where they are! Analyze and pinpoint what exactly makes them stand out from the other bands in your area. Is it the sound of the band? The charismatic singer? Their style and originality? The luck of friends ...or any other combination of elements?

Sure, there are some acts that have been very successful, but lasted a very short time (a flash in the pan, so to speak). But these have usually been a product that was backed by huge sums of money and good marketing tactics. Only the test of time can reveal if it was a really good product or not.

The Song List
I've seen many ways of going about preparing the order of songs and this depends on the crowd you're playing to. Yes! Put yourself in the spectator's shoes and think about what they want to hear. This is not easy to do if you're an inexperienced band, but make an effort.

I wouldn't choose the same order of songs in a nightclub as in a banquet, but something that has worked well for me in an 'all ages' gig is to work your songlist in an ascending order. Especially if you're doing cover songs. Start with something melodic like a ballad and as your show progresses move on to maybe R & R classics, and shuffles and leave the heavier stuff for the younger people who will last throughout the whole show. Middle-aged people usually leave earlier and you're left with the easier to influence crowd. Don't forget to leave little or no time between songs when you want to pickup the pace. Empty spaces bring down the pace that you've worked so hard to build up with the last song you played; and if you've got people up and dancing, it's a sure way to clear the dance floor!

For a nightclub gig it's a good idea to look and see what other bands are doing there and see what's working for them. A good band can keep the people entertained till the last minute. Look for the characteristics mentioned above. Are you being entertained or is it just another boring show? What made the people want to dance, etc.? Make a list of the songs that they played and the order they used. Don't plagerize, but apply what works best in that club. Don't think that Heavy Metal is going to go down well in a jazz club.

If the show was a complete success you'll have the crowd wanting an encore. If this is the case, do it and then maybe finish with a nice ballad if you want them to wind down and let you end the show.

Mistakes
I have yet to play a tecnically perfect show and I don't think even the biggest names in the business have. We are not machines, but people, and we do make mistakes. A good band will cover up most mistakes and it's all part of the show.

DON'T BLAME OR CRITICIZE A BAND MEMBER IN FRONT OF THE CROWD! This is very unprofessional, and if it's a reocurring mistake, fix it in the practice hall or fire him or her. When I see this happening in live performances, I start thinking that the person who does it has no consideration for the other band members and I don't think I'm alone in my way of thinking.

Music should be fun for everyone and especially for the members of the band. Don't just think of how YOU look on stage, think of how the group looks on stage. The time to judge the success or failure of a show is when it's over.