Stage patter

[Rayman]

I do it all for us, but unless there’s a joke to be had, usually at the expense of someone in the audience, I keep it to a minimum. I think it’s important to have a bit of chat between songs… but the big no no as far as I’m concerned, is introducing individual bands members. Literally nobody cares.

[Mickeyboro]

58 minutes ago, Rayman said:

the big no no as far as I’m concerned, is introducing individual bands members. Literally nobody cares.

I think in non-club/pub venues people like to show appreciation and identify with the band. Important if you have a lineup like ours thats ever changing.  

[BassTool]

1 hour ago, Rayman said:

… but the big no no as far as I’m concerned, is introducing individual bands members. Literally nobody cares.

We do it over the end music of the last song, and we've always had a great response for each individual band member.

We find that the audience love to show their appreciation for each musician after watching the band play for two hours.

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, Rayman said:

but the big no no as far as I’m concerned, is introducing individual bands members. Literally nobody cares.

 

We do it (both bands, and the previous band too). Not a huge introduction, just "X on drums, Y on guitar, Ʈ on bass, and I'm Z" while playing the main riff of whatever song it is we're doing.

[ricksterphil]

1 hour ago, BassTool said:

We do it over the end music of the last song, and we've always had a great response for each individual band member.

We find that the audience love to show their appreciation for each musician after watching the band play for two hours.

We do the intros somewhere in the 2nd set and generally the audience like it. 

[NoRhino]

There are lots of great ideas in this topic and I'll nick a few of them.   My tuppenceworth is never ever mumble or speak too quietly.  Always project and sound confident.  It's not a private conversation.   

[Stub Mandrel]

3 hours ago, Rayman said:

 but the big no no as far as I’m concerned, is introducing individual bands members. Literally nobody cares.

 

Never found that, audiences always seem to appreciate the chance to show appreciation for the individuals. 

[Jackroadkill]

In my last band the singer used to introduce me as "the long-haired, soap-dodging, sandal-wearing friend of Jesus on the bass", and despite none of it actually being true it always got a laugh.

[Mickeyboro]

20 hours ago, Jackroadkill said:

In my last band the singer used to introduce me as "the long-haired, soap-dodging, sandal-wearing friend of Jesus on the bass", and despite none of it actually being true it always got a laugh.

Pretty sure its killed the thread too! 😂

 

Maybe we all fear being described thus…

[Wombat]

That’s gotta be pretty accurate for the average bass player 😂.

[Woodinblack]

On 10/10/2025 at 22:08, Norris said:

We've never had a "set" list, more a menu really. Funnily enough it's written on the back of a cereal box

 

 

Edit: Oh, and I'd better explain that the lady was taking a photo of the "Kipper" sticker on the drum head - she used to follow the band in which the guitarist and drummer played, in the 70s.

 

She used to follow a band in the 70s? Shes looking good on it for her late 60s/70s!

[Woodinblack]

Our singer announces lots of things, who we are, near the beginning and near the end, and where we are from, which as most of our gigs are within 5 minutes is sometimes unnecessay 'we have travelled all the way down the A37 to be here!' (yes, its about 1.5 miles of the a37), he announces songs, but normally by the wrong person, and sometimes the wrong song. He does quite a lot of chatting when something comes up.

Sometimes announces the drummer as everyone locally knows him

[Supernaut]

On 25/09/2025 at 16:43, 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
 

 

If there is more than ten seconds of silence between songs, you're not doing it right. 
 

I don't care about your memories! 

[MacDaddy]

On 11/10/2025 at 13:57, Rayman said:

but the big no no as far as I’m concerned, is introducing individual bands members. Literally nobody cares.

 

We always get a bit cheer when we do it.

Maybe it's just that no-one cares about you? 😜

[Fionn]

In 8 years of touring we never said a single word to the audience that wasn’t integral to the music/ performance.
 

Zero patter since day one 

[Rich]

On 09/10/2025 at 23:54, Stub Mandrel said:

Last nightwe got together and spent two hours watching the 49-minute video of the originals band's first gig and critiquing everything from the lighting, what we wore, where we stood  to what we played right and wrong and how we can tighten up dome of the arrangements. 

This is a great idea, and more bands need to do this.

[Woodinblack]

1 minute ago, Rich said:

This is a great idea, and more bands need to do this.

 

I would love to be in a group where we could do this

[Woodinblack]

34 minutes ago, Fionn said:

Zero patter since day one 

 

Yeh, can work but then you get groups like Fields of the Nephilim, great stage asthetic, kind of boring live because a lack of interaction. I mean you don't have to get to the Steven 'shut up steve and get on with the song' Wilsons in depth discussions about things, but some sort of acknowledgement there are other people in the room can go well!

[TimR]

26 minutes ago, Rich said:

This is a great idea, and more bands need to do this.

 

Every band should be recording and critiquing arrangements. Preferably before moving on to learning the next tune. 

[Stub Mandrel]

32 minutes ago, Rich said:

This is a great idea, and more bands need to do this.

 

With better spelling, I hope.

[Stub Mandrel]

5 minutes ago, TimR said:

 

Every band should be recording and critiquing arrangements. Preferably before moving on to learning the next tune. 

 

We work a few songs in parallel... otherwise it would take forever.

[tegs07]

38 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Yeh, can work but then you get groups like Fields of the Nephilim, great stage asthetic, kind of boring live because a lack of interaction. I mean you don't have to get to the Steven 'shut up steve and get on with the song' Wilsons in depth discussions about things, but some sort of acknowledgement there are other people in the room can go well!

The illusion is ruined when Carl McCoy speaks and sounds like he just popped in to fit a new boiler…

[Frank Blank]

On 26/09/2025 at 09:32, Stub Mandrel said:

But this did result in a sticky end...

 

...that'll teach you to enhance your hampton with a M&S eclair.

[EliasMooseblaster]

Happy Jack made the very good point about the people who just mumble into the mic between songs - those cases may as well just be "dead air" between songs, for all the good they do! Whoever gets the job needs to lean into the role, become a bit of a circus ringmaster, if you like. Loud, clear voice, as if you're doing theatre (dahling!), and if you keep it short and punchy, you keep the audience engaged. Have some good lines planned ahead of time if it helps. If you can nail it, I can't imagine the band would sustain their objections.

 

If you need inspiration, Pete Townshend did it very well around The Who's creative peak. Look up one of their (better) live recordings (Isle of Wight 1970 is a good starting place) and skip to the breaks between the songs. It's often daft, even a bit camp, but it helps to maintain the energy.

[peteb]

On 25/09/2025 at 16:43, 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
 

 

 

Hi Mick. You have mentioned in the past that you want to start getting bigger and better gigs for your band. The thing is that to do this, things like having decent stage patter and getting a bit of a look together are non-negotiable! You have to be able to be able to do it. 

 

A few years ago, I did a few months of deps for a R&B type band with a decent following, while their bass player underwent treatment for cancer (thankfully, he's still playing and seems to be doing well). Now this band were not great, but they were all nice guys, had a good inter-band friendship and loved what they did. All of this came across to the audience and many loved them, far beyond their actual ability as a band. They also had a singer who was a good frontman, hardly Dave Lee Roth in looks or his stage act, but was funny and engaging with a crowd. They also had a lead guitar player who was sort of OK, but nothing special. However, they constantly namechecked him and talked him up as if he was Eric Clapton! A lot of punters bought into this and thought he was a great player, where other musos would just roll their eyes. I know for a fact that a number of promoters used to book them for festivals, despite not really wanting to, just because of the demand from the audience. 

 

These things just need sorting out if you want to play better gigs. It's not really that hard to do, but the whole band needs to buy into it. If they really don't want to, then perhaps you need to start thinking about playing with someone else. 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by peteb