The Cardinal sins of live music.
As Darren had mentioned in "paying the cover," about asking people to be on a local show guest list.
What are some of the other big sins that people should avoid playing shows?
Here are my examples;
Attending a show promptly to see your friends opening band but leaving before the other acts that allowed them to play the show.
Asking what time a band plays (for the attendee)
Saying your band will play at 9:30 on a flier, and making it a 10:45 start time (for the artist)
Not watching the bands. Nothing is more frustrating than having a ton of people at a show, but everybody is upstairs chatting while the bands play. Come for the bands, and party after!
sucking really bad
playing/being really boring and uninspired
GET THE NET
Why is asking what time a band plays bad form? I don't get it.
As far as audience sins, how about:
Don't heckle.
Don't bring a harmonica/spoons/tambourine and try to play along.
Don't get on stage.
Don't touch the mics, the monitors, the amps, etc. Don't touch stuff. Keep your hands to yourself. Especially if you're not a hot girl.
Don't throw your drink on the band.
Don't put your crap on the stage - go find a cloak room.
Be nice. Say nice things to the band. Don't tell them that they were better when... Just tell them you enjoyed the show, shake hands, and have them sign your record. They probably don't want to spend all night answering questions about their guitar. Unless you're a hot girl.
Do buy merchandise.
Do dance.
Do buy the band a round of whatever they're drinking.
Do be a hot girl. Hot girls rule.
Hula Hooping in the middle of a crowd. Hula hooping is totally awesome, but try to do it in an area with some space, I don't want to be whacked in the mouth...
I've spoken with many EDM fans and local Dj's but i still don't understand the hula craze. Perhaps i'm too lame.
Arrive right before your set. Play your set louder than anyone else. Use the bathroom. Then leave.
For the bands that play: taking off your clothes while playing your set--a Cardinal sin. If you know you're going to get hot, come on stage in a T-shirt, not a T-shirt, a button-up and a cardigan.
If you're a local band you do NOT need 45 minutes worth of monitor tinkering. A sound guy can only make your monitor so loud before you're just acting like an asshole.
PROMPTLY move your equipment on and off stage (even if you are the last band, it's nice to show people you have your priorities in order).
If you live in the city you're playing there is absolutely no reason to yell "Hello (Insert hometown)!!!". Unless of course you're selling out venues as a non-touring local band, in which case, you're doing something right.
This one goes to fans and artists alike, stick around for the whole show...SHOW SUPPORT TO THE MUSIC SCENE YOU'RE PART OF. If the band you're not wanting to watch is unfathomably bad, just pop in for a song or two and tell them they played a good set. Nobody can get any better without any encouragement.
This one might seem rude an ill-fated for a crap response from some people. However, don't ask the bartenders/staff what they thought of your set. Ask the people that paid to come to your show. If you impressed somebody that's at their job, they will most definitely let you know.
And as always, be nice to everyone and try to enjoy yourself.
Scene kids.
telling someone "good set" when it wasnt.
For the audience: Throwing your purse/drinks/other crap near or sometimes on top of expensive pedals and other equipment.
For the artists: Opening a show and then promptly leaving, or headlining a show and arriving really late.
I can always remember a certain local "critic" that would always show up to see the touring band but would never...and I mean never stay for the local act.
As a sound engineer I could do without patrons asking me to play a song they want to hear at breaks. I'm not a DJ!! Not to mention I don't own any Lady Gaga or any hip hop dance music.
Bands could be more discrete about asking for a change it their mix. Don't ask the audience "How does it sound out there" over the PA while on stage. Giving mix suggestion from only hearing it behind the PA or having your friends tell me how to mix.
Don't apologize, don't make excuses.
Play the best set you can play and leave it all onstage.
Wearing your own band's shirt (I did that back in the day.. I learned that one the hard way)
When a friend/fan asks what time I play I'm always torn. Sometimes that person works until 11 and wants to know if they'll miss my set, so I understand. But it's frustrating cause one rarely knows what time they'll be on exactly. Sometimes the shows start right at 9.. sometimes there's no one there yet so it doesn't start til 10:30. It's important to me that people I invite don't just come to see me, but that if they don't have work, they try to come at the beginning of the show, enjoy the music, enjoy the camaraderie and support local music.
I think most cardinal sins can be avoided if everyone in the music scene tries their best to support the community as a whole. Think of others (fans, friends, musicians, venues, bookers, promoters) first and work together. I understand that everybody wants to succeed and do well, but that success is a product of hard work and cooperation. Success shouldn't be a goal, but a product of hard work and cooperation with the community.
WEARING YOUR OWN BANDS SHIRT IS ONLY OK IN METAL
I ONLY WEAR A CURRENT BANDS SHIRT ON STAGE NETWORKING THOSE THAT PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
A few things that bother me:
Negative comments yelled from the crowd (the rest of the crowd usually takes care of this for us)
Poor sound. Unless there is feedback or something horribly wrong I can't tell while we're on stage, but if the other band's mix is horrible, it's a safe bet that ours is, too.
Regarding asking what time time we play: I rarely know when I'm going to play, but no biggie if I'm asked. It does annoy me when I can't even announce the start of the show.
Venues that show sports during showtime (often making the band wait to play until the game is over) are generally worthless shows; always worthless in the event of a loss for the local team.
GET IN THE CONSTANT HABIT OF A QUICK EFFICENT SET-UP/TEAR DOWN KEEP YOUR CORDS,PEDALS ORGANIZED ,DONT RUN AROUND FOR STUFF YOU KNOW YOU NEED/HAVE WHEN YOU ARE DONE ,TEAR DOWN AND GET OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY!!!!! DONT RUN OVER AND BELLY UP TO THE BAR LIKE PEOPLE DON'T CARE IF THAT GIANT RACKMOUNT 12 PIECE DRUM SET W/ CASES FOR ALL THE LIITLE CRAP YOU HAD TO BUY LIKE SOME WHEEL OF FORTUNE LUGGAGE WORK W/ THE SOUNDMAN BETTER AS COMMUNICATION GOES IF YOU GOTA "KICK ASS " IN THE PIT :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: DANCE, DONT SHOVE PEOPLE WHO ARENT, OR GRAB THEM ON THE WAY BY. IF SOME ONE FALLS SCOOP THEM UP QUICK, DONT HIT THE MIC STAND YOU BREAK TEETH, A LOT .
For the engineers of the world: DRINKING ON THE JOB IS NOT OK. I've been guilty of this one, not a grand idea. For the sober engineers out there: being a complete cock/lacking basic social skills when audience members give you shit is also a no-no. Like it or not, you're in the customer service industry. Some of you make the same amount of money as Wall-Mart employees (side note: the responsibilities of the two are similar), but the audience ultimately pays your way, allowing you to have what I consider to be the best job in the world. Always remember the 4 rules of sound: 1) Make sound. 2) Make good sound. 3) Keep making good sound. 4) Don't be an asshole about making good sound.
Do not try to record a band's entire set on your smartphone. You look like a douchebag. Also, when you're waving that 5-inch screen right in front of me in the middle of the crowd for an hour, constantly working your way toward the front, so you can block everyone else's view as well, you're an asshole.
You do not need a crappy phone recording of the set. Enjoy it on the big screen in front of you, and take from it what you will.
It really bears repeating: tear down and get off the stage immediately. If you're the singer, help your bandmates tear down and get their stuff off the stage. No, seriously, you can talk to people while the other band is setting up. Help the keyboardist move his six-keyboard music cage off the stage. Help the drummer move his rack and drums. Help the guitarist move his Marshall stack. Do *something* other than put the mic back on the stand and schmooze with attendees. . . there's no reason for a changeover to take 45 minutes between bands at any club or bar.
this is just a personal thing never sign up second on an open mic and expect to be second, sometimes the guy that's apparently always there first to play piano magically disappears into narnia and you are warned a minute before you have to get on...
it was so embarassing we were like "holy crap" scrambling to get our instruments out and everything. and we were so mentally unprepared in that first minute that it really showed in our voices and the crowd could definately tell. the last song turned out fine since we got all our jitters out of us but still.
NEVER EXPECT TO PLAY AFTER THE PEOPLE YOU THINK YOU WILL.
also when you put a mailing list sign up sheet on the table remember to pick it up we had about 5 names on there and we forgot to take it. we didn't ask the venue about it the next day cause we knew it was gone by then.
When you're playing in a jam session with a bunch of folkies in your hometown don't play the song with strange chords and riffs that they can't pick up on (one guy with a severely out of tune 12-string face-palmed).
Also when you're in a jam session have a back-up plan for a song you can't play. i ended up taking some pencils and using the back of my ukulele as a drum for the songs i didn't know.
another jam session rule: ALWAYS HAVE A CAPO i actually remembered this one the guy with the 12-string did not, didn't really matter though that thing was so out of tune no capoing could ever help i think he had to be tone def not to notice.
When all of you friends say they're going to try to mosh at your show (when you play slow indiecoustic music) realize they might be serious and warn people.
i may have more in the future
Just do your best and try and get better each time you perform - Tender Krease
The first one reminds me of something I heard one of my friends mention the other day. Someone put the word "Omaha'd" in the Urban Dictionary. I lol'd.
/snip from http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=omaha%27d
"When a little known nationally touring band headlines a show with a big local band. The local band plays first and draws in most of the fans who then leave after the local band finishes their set, leaving the other band playing to an empty house.
The word is derived from the City of Omaha, Nebraska, where the music fans are all asshole scenesters.
Oh man, we're playing a show at Sokol tonight with Cursive opening. I hope we don't get Omaha'd.
/snip
FOR BANDS:
-If your entire band can't set up or tear down in less than 15 minutes, you have too much extraneous shit and should not be in a band. Ideally you should be able to do this in less than 10 minutes. Drummers need to have their kits at least partially built before they go on stage. Bassists: you don't need an 8x10 in Omaha. Ever.
-Stopping after every song annoys the hell out of me. I've been in plenty of bands guilty of these. When you practice (assuming you DO practice), you should also practice transitions between songs. A set that flows well will make you sound more professional, even if your music sucks. There should be no more than 2-3 breaks for every 10 songs you play. And when you do break, you don't need to talk for 10 minutes about how you wrote this song because you were inspired by a rainbow you saw one day while driving to your grandparents' farm... nobody really gives a shit. Say hello, say your band name, then play your songs
-Don't heckle the audience or insult them. Even the Foo Fighters are guilty of this. It's stupid and unprofessional and makes you seem like a wannabe rock star snob. Or in the case of the Foo Fighters, an actual rock star snob. (I still love the Foo Fighters, though, and Dave Grohl can get away with insulting you because 1) he's better than you at life and 2) he still manages to be entertaining.)
-Have a fun bass/drum jam prepared for when your guitarist breaks a string so you don't have to stand there in 10 minutes of awkward silence while he changes his string.
-Don't tell audience members to come up front by the stage. Audience members will do that naturally if you don't suck. Asking them to do it makes them feel awkward and obligated, and then, when they are either deaf from the monitors and/or have had their brains melted from your shitty music, it's hard for them to discreetly slink their way to the spot where they were seated and hide from you.
-Don't lie to the other bands and say "good set man" when the set was terrible. I realize this is sometimes hard to avoid.
-For the love of God, tune.
-For the love of God, wear earplugs.
FOR AUDIENCE MEMBERS:
-Plunk away on your smart phones all you want. Just don't do it obviously right in front of the band. It's rude. Go play Angry Birds in the back of the bar by the pinball machines or something.
-Don't bother/talk to bands while they are setting up or tearing down. This distracts them from something they should easily be able to do in less than 15 minutes.
-Don't tell a band they were great when they were terrible. If they ask you outright, it's OK to tactfully fudge the truth a bit so as not to sound like a dick, but don't go out of your way to stop them and tell them they were good if you genuinely believed they suck donkey balls. Just go play Angry Birds or go home.
-Don't heckle and/or insult bands. Even if they suck, they're still doing more than you. If you don't like live music, leave. Put on your backwards white hat, Affliction or Ed Hardy shirt, take a bath in Ax Body Spray, and go to a West Omaha strip mall dance "club" and sleaze on the girls who are way too hot for you but also too stupid to realize that.
-For the love of God, wear earplugs.
Hey Shmcca84 ,
I agree with your point.
But
A few things that bother me:
Negative comments yelled from the crowd (the rest of the crowd usually takes care of this for us)
Poor sound. Unless there is feedback or something horribly wrong I can't tell while we're on stage, but if the other band's mix is horrible, it's a safe bet that ours is, too.
http://gazaresist.com/
