Stage patter

[Mickeyboro]

How important/divisive/controversial is stage patter to your band?

 

Do those without microphones comment on those with? Do you share the duties or is it solely the frontperson?

 

Have any disputes resulted from comments made? Were/how were they resolved? 
 

I seem to have inherited the between-song duties for my band, but I suspect trouble is brewing…. 😈 Need perspective. 
 

Thanks
 

 

[lowregisterhead]

I'm sure there are endless views on this, but all I know is I'd much rather someone said something - anything - between songs rather than the stony silence you get from some bands.

 

If you can be witty with it, all the better, but perhaps draw the line at a full comedy routine. That said, read the room. Bill Bailey tells a tale of going to a Whitney Houston gig. She kept the audience waiting for an hour, then came onstage and gushed "I just wanna say, I love each and every one of you!" at which point a big black guy standing beside him shouted "Sing, b*tch!!". Tough crowd.

[Acebassmusic]

I seem to have inherited the duties yet again for my most recent band (and for the previous band I set up and ran for 15 years). This was because none of the front persons felt comfortable doing it (ones a teacher so no problem speaking to large groups!) As @lowregisterhead says having some sort of interaction with the audience is part of the show however I tend to keep my waffle to a minimum because:

1) Very few people can hear what most between song chat is about. I find most people mumble into the mic as well.

2) Very few people care what most between song chat is about unless its "the buffet is open" or "last orders".

3) We are more of a party band than introverted singer songwriter that tells what has inspired them....also see 1 and 2 above 🤣

4) I try and keep any comments to be about the music / event / venue and away from politics, religion, football or any controvesy for obvious reasons. This usually reduces the chance of a dispute over things said.

 

Our setlist is grouped into 4 or 5 songs which we play close together. A very short break between groupings is then used for changing guitars / settings etc whilst I introduce the band / thank people for coming / social media stuff / random fact about a song / thank dancers & staff etc. I have notes on my setlist for these sort of comments & the venue name etc. All very regular stuff which if you think about it and write yourself appropriate notes beforehand makes the job easier. The more you do it the more you can come off script and ad-lib / interact with the audience. 

 

Edited 9 hours ago by Acebassmusic

[tauzero]

The guitarist/singer in a former band got very sweary in his intersong patter. Not sure whether the drummer was intending to leave anyway, but he did, and the band broke up - story in the acrimonious band break-ups thread.

 

In another former band, the singer (only a teenager) was very poor at stage patter so we wrote scripts for her. She didn't exactly deliver them fluently, but it was something.

 

I saw another band of teenagers who also had a script. At one point, the singer said "Oh. Our guitarist has broken a string" at which point the guitarist put his still perfectly strung guitar on a stand and picked up his other guitar.

 

Yet another former band had a Scottish guitarist/singer who would do intersong patter in an impenetrable mumble, from which the drummer and I had to try and work out what the next song was ("Hurble wurble wurble hoo hay, ha ha ha"), before the guitarist started and we joined in (no drummer count ins). At least the set list was mostly constant although songs occasionally got omitted.

[Steve Browning]

Our singer/guitarist handles the announcements but we all chip in, off mic, when we are inspired. Usually for the purposes of urine extraction. 

[Sean]

The drummer in the covers band I play in does the between-song banter. Over the years it's become an integral part of the show because he's genuinely funny and the audience responds well to it. Sometimes it's so funny I have to really focus on the intro to the song rather than his chat. None of it is scripted, it's always different, it works. 

 

I'm not a fan of the chat between songs generally, I like a bare minimum, head down, play songs, thankyouverymuchgoodnight but in this band with that specific guy, it's magic. When I'm editing the live show recordings, I trim out the chat where I can but it always makes me laugh out loud when I'm editing it especially if I catch something I missed on the night. 

 

So, to answer the OP question. It depends. Sorry. 

[Elfrasho]

It's an art form in itself if it can be tailored to the crowd and event. The worse on stage patter though is in-band jokes that noone else gets.

[steve-bbb]

just drop a few f and c bombs ... im sure theyll figure out some alternative quickly enough

 

hope this helps 

[oldslapper]

3 hours ago, Mickeyboro said:

How important/divisive/controversial is stage patter to your band?

 

Do those without microphones comment on those with? Do you share the duties or is it solely the frontperson?

 

Have any disputes resulted from comments made? Were/how were they resolved? 
 

I seem to have inherited the between-song duties for my band, but I suspect trouble is brewing…. 😈 Need perspective. 
 

Thanks
 

 

What’s brewing Mickey? 

[Norris]

Our guitarist really has a gift for banter. Usually he's talking utter rubbish but you just go with it because the audience finds it hilarious. Don't be precious as you're there to entertain, but then try to keep the banter pretty harmless too and you won't upset anyone.

[Cat Burrito]

I do the majority of the onstage banter in my duo. I have always had a quick wit and as our music is definitely darker in tone, it lifts the mood. I worked with a singer a few years ago who was naturally effortless at this onstage (not so good without a mic, ironically) and I learned a lot from working with him. 
 

The best line from our last show was as we finished the set, our backing track started up again. I stopped it and said down the mic, “So sorry, you’d not asked for an encore!” 
 

I think it is a difficult balance between not being too full of yourself, not putting your act down, not going on too much but keeping people entertained. I think I usually get it about right but don’t sweat it too much if I don’t. 

[Lozz196]

In both of my gigging bands the singers are naturally very good at interacting with the audiences. That said I prefer when going to see a band to hear them play songs. I’d be more than happy for there to only be a smidging of chat at most. I don’t really care what songs are about and I don’t have any interest in hearing them thank anyone and everyone from the bar staff to the lollipop man who helped them cross the road in 1972.

[casapete]

My guitarist mate in our duo is pretty good with the ‘bants’. I sometimes interject when

I think it’s appropriate, especially if he’s getting inappropriate and needs digging out of

a hole. As we rely a lot on requests for our gigs, there is plenty of opportunity to discuss

the song selection, and also apologise for the ones that are beyond us ( including ones

we’ve just attempted that weren’t that clever). Another topic that comes around quite

often is my age ( being 8 years older than him) so he gets a fair bit of mileage out of

that , which doesn’t bother me in the slightest. 
I think the golden rule is chat when it helps the gig move along, and just shut up and

play the tunes when it’s obvious that’s all they want. Add alcohol into the equation and

it can get harder knowing which is best of course….😆

[Stub Mandrel]

The worst things you can do?

 

Talk yourselves down.

 

Not telling people they are having a good time.

 

Telling people what each song is in advance (people enjoy the buzz of recognition).

 

Waffling or just appearing to be waiting for something to happen.

 

Not acknowledging applause, dancing etc. but keep it proportionate.

 

Criticising bandmates, the venue or audience members.

 

Getting carried away and thinking upur banter is more entertaining than the music (it isn't unless you are Billy Connolly, Jasper Carrott or Ed Sheeran).