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Opinions on talking to audience between songs


bonzodog
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I was in a comedy band of guitar/voc, keys/voc and bass/voc swapping instruments for certain songs. My two mates both being very charismatic and gifted with gab. We'd plan and rehearse our bits in between songs - if it made us laugh, it was a start and we'd see what went down well, making a point of never repeating a gag unless we'd written it into the song intro/outro. Most of our in-between song stuff was improvised, reacting to the audience or something one of us had one.

The best ever audience participation we had was in a small cafe/bar just before Christmas 2012 and the crowd quickly picked up on the chorus of one of our songs and as my mate on vocals would often find himself in the crowd (often down to his undies - one of our songs was called 'Pants Too Tight'), my other mate and I downed tools and descended to join in. Proper atmosphere of a 70s/80s Top of the Pops special, minus the 'Yewtree Interest'!

Funnily enough, that was my last gig as I was out of action for the last one in the summer - it's the 10th anniversary of our first gig tomorrow.

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[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1392115548' post='2364759']
Tell that to Miles Davis ( a bit late now, I suppose). He was regarded as "Mr Cool" personified. He had little interaction with his audiences and often played an entire concert with his back to them. Granted he was one of a kind....just sayin'.
[/quote]

I saw Finley Quaye (remember him?) at Brixton Jam the other week and he didn't look at the audience once, no talking, no thank you and was either side-on or had his back to a packed room. Miles Davis could probably get away with it, Quaye was just arrogant with it (and high on weed).

It's not so much about talking to the audience but making sure they feel a part of what you're doing musically.

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Another opinion of mine: trying to 'plug' your website/Facebook/[other social media nonsense] on stage seems to me a bit silly, and sometimes the same with saying you have merch/CDs at the back.

If people love your music, they'll probably want to talk to you after, buy you a pint etc. And people will know if you are 'online' or have merch through you being around after you've played. No social/electronic media will ever be better than a real-life conversation.

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[quote name='bonzodog' timestamp='1392408635' post='2368510']
Hes not as bad now but a for a few years Bono spent half the gig sitting down at the front of the stage telling us how he was going to save the world.
[/quote]

And his hand-clap routine of infamous memory :rolleyes:

The po-faced demeanour with which certain luminaries approach audience engagement makes one yearn for the days of music hall. A song, a dance and a drag interlude was good enough for George Robey. Modern life makes me sick.

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[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1392114958' post='2364746']
...
interact
...
[/quote]

Good word that.

Doesn't necessarily mean talk.

It's a two way street. If the audience don't want to play, there's always your band mates. And it doesn't necessarily mean talk.

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[quote]... and be careful about taking on hecklers unless you're really good at it![/quote]

The usual method of dealing with this is to explain that the hecklers wife/girlfriend (take a guess based on age and surrounding people) said they were sh!t in bed when you were giving them one this afternoon. It usually removes the wind from the sails of said heckler and you can get on with the show.

Cheers,
Rich

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[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1392120273' post='2364847']
Agreed. Clapton is pretty much the same. He'll introduce his guests (though only a simple 'please welcome . . . . ') and offer the occasional 'thank you' but he's never been talkative whenever I've seen him. As you say - what do people go to a music gig for? It's not stand-up is it?
[/quote]

It's probably best that Eric shuts up between songs though...


Edit: Beaten to it!

Edited by chaypup
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