In my most recent article in the Examiner, How to Create Great Live Performers Night After Night, I interviewed Tom Jackson, a premier live music producer. We discussed the method Tom developed to teach artists how to generate replicable excellence in live performance by focusing on the audience and how to connect with them and how to direct their attention in the right places.
What I'd love to open up for discussion are the following questions:
What are some of your most memorable moments regarding live performance, either as a performer or one attending a performance?
What are some of the challenges you've struggled with or seen others struggle with in terms of live performance?
What do you do to prepare yourself or your band for a live performance?
I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences.
P.S. As always remember that to see the comments in a separate window, click on the "Comments" link. To see the comments in the body of the topic, click "Links to this Post"
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For a glance at other topics covered so far, please visit:Christopher Harding's Entertainment Column at the Examiner,
My most recent posts are:
Music Nomad -- a Philanthropist for Indie Artists
How to Empower Your Band -- Do You Want to Know a Secret?
Artist Integrity and the New Music Business -- A Match Made in Heaven?
Or check out some of the articles that have generated the most discussion:
"20 Questions Every Band Should Answer"
or
"Secrets of Social Networking for Bands -- Do it Yourself Music: part 3",
Social Media Basics for Bands -- Do it Yourself Music: part 4 and
Social Media Stragegies for Bands -- Do it Yourself Music: part 5
Our band was one that thought we were awesome on stage (and we certainly had people tell us we were). Our challenge was translating that into revenue. We ended folding our band up after four years of hard work, because we couldn't really make our band business even pay for itself, let alone generate money to go in our pockets. Wish Tom Jackson had been around then.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of concerts that have blown me away, it was because I felt like I was caught up in a wave... like somehow we were part of what the artist was creating. I saw Garth Brooks (don't laugh) in Ireland and it was such a totally cool experience (and I'm not even close to being a country fan). It wasn't so much his pyrotechnics and high wire flying as it was that while he was on stage he related to us like we were somehow special to his heart. Make sense to anyone?
ReplyDeleteI have to say the Paul McCartney concert I attended a few years back was a very memorable experience. His musicianship (and that of his band) was flawless, but as you said in your article, it was the moments he created with the audience that made it unforgettable. He made you feel like you were having at a house concert in your own house... it was so personal.
ReplyDeleteKiss was the best show of my life!
ReplyDeleteThe concert hoppened in Apoteose, Rio De Janeiro!
Lights and violent explosion sound!!!
I never forget!
I think the first thing is to prepare yourself - get all the music and show stuff in habit, so its not the MAIN thing you're focused on, onstage. Then, you gotta let that kinda "super-professional" mindstate go and just be natural and "relaxed" with the crowd. They came to be included, but depending on where you are, you should make sure your music's gonna be something they can connect to, so YOU can connect to THEM while yall are TOGETHER. I say "relaxed" because even if half the crowd is your friends, they dont want to hear a group or solo artist "just screwing around" - they want an experience...or at least a good show. Bless
ReplyDeleteTwo fantastic memories: The first a Men At Work concert. My dad took me one year when I was young. The music was a great balance...it seemed timeless for us both to like it, with just enough masculine and feminine for us both to really want to share it with one another.
ReplyDeleteThe second was a Howard Jones concert. It was amazing. We had great seats which we didn't use because the music was so entrancing that we had to dance the entire 3 plus hours. And the other aspect was the show. HJ was so transported himself into the costumes, the smoke or the colors of the show that it was just absolutely intoxicating to watch him perform the music. That was by far the best concert I've ever seen. It was almost like he created an entire circus or an entire zoo experience all by himself on stage. I loved it.
Oh, and another one was a recent Police concert. Sting is profoundly charismatic, even as he ages. It was still fantastic to watch him move and hear his passionate and emotive voice. The chorus' to his songs are so well known that he chanted back and forth with the audience many times, feeling at times like it was a spiritual chanting session and that we were all one. Awesome!
The bar none most memorable concert I have ever attended was Live Aid at Wembley in July 1985. The size of the crowd, the line up of artists, the intent behind the massive arrangement AND Bob Geldof himself were my prevalent reasons for attending, and I will never forget a moment of my time there.
ReplyDeleteI'm jealous of AEP and her attendance at Live Aid in '85. I watch Geldolf do "I don't like Mondays" all the time on youtube.
ReplyDeleteMy most memorable concert was the Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense tour at the Greek theater in Berkeley, CA. 1984 it was the night before they filmed their concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, Ca. I think our concert was better. 4 hours of standing up listening to the Talking Heads, it was amazing and I needed no stimulants.
Warren Zevon at the Zypher. Intimate, loud, everybody there knew who they were there to see and why.
ReplyDeleteFor me it was Santana... man it was a spiritual experience. The man is a guitar god, but that was only part of it. It's like he's magic or something and has the ability to conjure up an energy that took the whole crowd by surprise. I was very moved, crying, laughing, smiling. It was a very memorable time.
ReplyDeleteWhat are some of your most memorable moments regarding live performance, either as a performer or one attending a performance?
ReplyDelete- As a performer I have yet to reach proper live performance stage in front of big crowds but I do find Tom Jackson's advice extremely helpful. I went to the Peace One Day concert in September and though the rest of the lineup were all very good, Elton really stood out. His performance was truly unforgettable.
What are some of the challenges you've struggled with or seen others struggle with in terms of live performance?
- There are lots of aspects to performances. Stage fright is definitely the most common but luckily I don't get stage fright as such.
What do you do to prepare yourself or your band for a live performance?
- Everybody is different in preparation. There are lots of different approaches. I personally like to rehearse a lot in the way Tom Jackson says and get a vision for my show and looking at my notes.