vanblah

So, the band and I were discussing this last night. What makes a good show? Specifically, at a small bar or club that doesn't have fancy lights and phenomenal sound. There are obviously bars with great sound systems and decent lighting ... but for the most part this is not true. Most places have underpowered PAs; untuned systems; and static Red/Yellow/Blue lights.

So, if you go see live, local music what keeps you coming back to see the same band again and again?

I'm not interested in mid-level (or national acts). Mostly I'm concerned with local music. Most people (not all) go see mid-level and national acts because of strategic marketing.

Me? I'm a musicians musician. The only thing that keeps me coming back is musicianship. I don't care if the performer looks good performing. If the music is "there" then I'll keep coming back. If the band screams and flails and makes cacophonous noise I won't stick around long. Again, that's just my taste in music. Some people love scream/flail/noise. More power to them.

Fly

i'd have to agree.........


fuck the lights and PA's........you have good tunes...i'm in.


liking your stuff too vanblah.....

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jimk

songs with loud-to-soft (or vice versa) seem to be a real hook for me. i love when a band lulls me in with a nice soft melody & then cranks it to 11. i'm thinking of jane's addiction & tool & old, old uncle tupelo specifically.

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vanblah

Man, oh man ... dynamics are something that is sorely missing in music today. No one seems to care because by the time a song makes it to CD it usually has the life squashed out of it by the "mastering" process. Why take the time to have dynamics in a live show if it's all the same volume on the CD?
It's harder to pull off in a live setting, sure, but you're supposed to be a musician up there. I love loud music, but after a while loud isn't loud anymore unless you have something to compare it to.

(PS: Thanks for the appreciation Flyman!)

Fly

we have about 4 different tunes that were written using a drum machine.......pretty fucking boring but.....useful none the less......

we took those same tunes on with a live drum track....(me)...and that's where they totally grew into a whole nother monster.

the tempo changes at certain places in the songs just made them better.

dynamics is a big part of how we play.......


that's how we are going to make our album too.......not gonna master the hell out of them.

and no prob vanblah.....it is good stuff.

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BASTARD

SterlingStudios

vanblah

Let me know when your record is out ...

Derwood

Even if the PA is shitty I think the band has to be mixed right. A lot of small bar/club sound guys mix bands with drums the loudest, followed by bass, guitar, then vocal. I think it should be the reverse. In fact, I've seen a couple of small bar shows where the drum kit wasn't even mic'ed and it was perfect

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Willravel

The most important ingredient in a good show is honesty. Get up there and play your music. If you play like you mean it, I'm there. Beyond that, acoustics, quality of the instruments (be they an instrument or a voice box), talent, and showmanship - the ability to entertain in addition to or despite music - are all important.

Martian

Musicianship is important, but showmanship is equally so. Performing live takes a certain energy; if you're into it, I'm into it.

High energy bands are contagious. That's what makes groups like Barenaked Ladies or Rocket From the Crypt so great live - they really dig their music and they have a great time onstage.

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Bacchanal

Without doubt if I dig the music I'm going to stick around. I think that's pretty standard though.

I know some people don't necessarily dig it, but I like the between song banter. Makes the show seem more intimate, even if there's only 20 people there.

Also, the energy of the band has to be high. Korn proved this to me. At the time I was a rabid fan. Seeing them live, just standing there, playing their songs, and not talking at all killed it for me. I need them to act like they're enjoying what they're doing, and not act like they're at work.

chelsea_9

talent.
pure unwavering talent.

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jth

being a musician....

Good music, not mindless music. Something in there that speaks to their abilities as a musician to play with some level of skill. I'm not interested in people playing the same 5 chords every song, I want some melodies, some harmonies, solos, different tones. It has to be changing, it has to be engaging to the ears. I want them to sound rehersed, not like they're frigging around with their sets.

The artist has to have a lot of energy. I don't want to have to be convinced they are pasionate about what they're doing, I want it to be obvious, slamming into me, punching me in the face (figurtively)

They don't need lights or crazy systems but they at least have to sound good and know how to work the stage in terms of their sound.

When the crowd is having fun I have more fun, mob mentality. I've been to a lot of shows in my time, the best ones are when the Ladies are dancing on stage topless.

However I don't go anymore really. I dislike smoky places to the point that I almost refuse to go unless the act is of truly exceptional levels as well musical tastes don't fit that sort of venue style anymore (bars or clubs)

anyway, my thoughts.

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roachboy

if you arent doing a relatively standard type of music, bars can be tough mostly because (1) people are not, in the main, really listening and (b) the sound usually sucks. well, there's a third thing: i am a pianist and i like horizontal pianos. most bars dont have them.

what really bugs me about playing bars is routinely shitty monitors.
i expect they bug everyone.

i prefer to be taken somewhere sonically that i did not expect to go. if there is a significant improvisational component to the performance, i prefer that all elements of the ensemble go out at once--none of this holding down the changes and chuggin along with a rhythm while a soloist does his or her thing--the whole group should jump into the void at once.

rock shows in the main bore me, so i dont go.
when i do, i like loud, i like energy and i like dissonance.

i like clean sound run by a competent sound guy.
for example manipulating/processing noise only really works in the context of clean sound----the cool stuff is in the details---you need to hear them.

i do not like hearing what i already have heard on recordings.

i like sets that places demands on the audience, that puts them in a position of either having to be there (listen/focus) or leave. aggression competence and focus.
i dont think of music as entertainment: it is more an assault.
but there should be something empty behind the assault.
getting to the zero is the hard part...for me, the sense of the zero, of emptiness is the main criterion that seperates levels of players.

theatrics dont mean much--well-lit wankers are no different for being well lit.

hip hop only when the turntablist is actually generating the beats.

my brother is a bluegrass musician, so from time to time i have to go to bluegrass shows--as i really dislike bluegrass in general, the marker of a good show is that i am not annoyed to be there at the end. it is not a form in which it makes any sense ot look for surpises, no sense to wait to be taken somewhere you didnt expect. thing is that many of the players are very good in their way, so i try to focus on that. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt. i find that it works less often with bands that wear matching outfits on stage. but that is, i am sure, just me.

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samcol

Nothing ruins a show for me quite like drums and bass that drown out everything. I agree it should be vocals guitar then bass and drums. Other than that the thing I look for is musicianship and sincerity on the stage. Also, it's usually best when the lead singer doesn't talk in between songs because usually they just end up annoying me, unless they really know what they are doing.