Stagecraft...

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Stagecraft...

Postby oddioguy » Sun Jan 07, 2007 8:24 pm

Years ago I used to try to impress the importance of stagecraft on other band members, but they were having none of it.

How important is stagecraft to you?
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Postby Alain Benoit » Sun Jan 07, 2007 10:34 pm

Do you mean from a 'performance' angle or from a 'having your shit together' angle?
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Postby oddioguy » Mon Jan 08, 2007 12:00 am

U1176 wrote:Do you mean from a 'performance' angle or from a 'having your shit together' angle?

Performance, moreso....
We were musically tight. Perhaps too tight at times (that's another story), but it was the lack of presentation that annoyed me to no end.
Our front man barely spoke a word, not even a "This next song is by....". Mostly silence between tunes, ya dig?
No "presence" at all.
Then there were the shoe starers....
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Postby Malcolm Boyce » Mon Jan 08, 2007 12:28 am

It is mega important, from all angles. I'm not saying you have to be Justin Timberlake with dancers. Looking like you're playing in a band in front of people, instead of looking like you're practicing by yourself in your basement is what separates great performers from good.

Even great drummers who are seated (mostly) for their stage time can have huge stage presence. It's mostly about comfort and confidence... playing with "flair".

The fact is, they teach classes in "stage presence" at technique heavy schools like Musician's Institute. It is part of the total package.
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Postby Alain Benoit » Mon Jan 08, 2007 1:14 pm

It is something that I feel very strongly about. Unfortunately many local artists are lacking this, but if the 'frontperson' is missing this ingredient then I fear all is lost.

The other Stagecraft I feel is missing from almost all young players around here these days is the lack of basic Stage 101 knowledge. Perhaps Malcolm could address this on another thread. Perhaps in the Live Forum. I'll jump in and fill in the gaps.
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Postby oddioguy » Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:16 pm

I always felt strongly about it too.
Look at your favourite touring acts as an example....there is no dead air between songs...nobody's looking to the drummer for cues to the next song, nobody's staring at their shoe laces (unless you're trying to emulate some EMO band).
I could never get that point across and it would piss me off to no end.
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Postby Malcolm Boyce » Tue Jan 09, 2007 12:50 am

U1176 wrote:It is something that I feel very strongly about. Unfortunately many local artists are lacking this, but if the 'frontperson' is missing this ingredient then I fear all is lost.

The other Stagecraft I feel is missing from almost all young players around here these days is the lack of basic Stage 101 knowledge. Perhaps Malcolm could address this on another thread. Perhaps in the Live Forum. I'll jump in and fill in the gaps.
http://forums.middleaudio.com/viewtopic.php?t=197
Last edited by Malcolm Boyce on Tue Jan 09, 2007 4:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Alain Benoit » Tue Jan 09, 2007 9:40 am

This is why people always went to see Hot Grits because they were always entertaining even if they were too drunk to play.
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Postby weatherstation audio » Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:04 pm

I saw Sigur Ros live once, at Place des Arts in Montreal... they never even spoke one word to the audience... and it didn't turn me off at all ?
Although, they didn't take an eternity between songs, it was a tight production.
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Postby fish » Tue Jan 16, 2007 2:49 pm

weatherstation audio wrote:I saw Sigur Ros live once, at Place des Arts in Montreal... they never even spoke one word to the audience... and it didn't turn me off at all ?
Although, they didn't take an eternity between songs, it was a tight production.


Sigur Ros are deliberately trying to recreate the mood they create while listening to their albums. They're trying to create an atmosphere, not an image. Jumping around the stage / yelling "how ya doin Montreal" etc, etc would completely ruin it...where as if you went to go see, say, The Hip, you'd want alot of interaction.
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Postby oddioguy » Sun Feb 11, 2007 7:43 pm

fish wrote:
weatherstation audio wrote:I saw Sigur Ros live once, at Place des Arts in Montreal... they never even spoke one word to the audience... and it didn't turn me off at all ?
Although, they didn't take an eternity between songs, it was a tight production.


Sigur Ros are deliberately trying to recreate the mood they create while listening to their albums. They're trying to create an atmosphere, not an image. Jumping around the stage / yelling "how ya doin Montreal" etc, etc would completely ruin it...where as if you went to go see, say, The Hip, you'd want alot of interaction.

But if they went into a huddle between every song, had false starts, endless tuning (at volume, no less...) you'd be turned off. Yet this is the basic sort of thing that screams "AMATEUR", and could easily be avoided.
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