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10 Things You Need to Stop Doing on Stage Immediately

Posted: Apr 26, 2022

Category: Live Performance

stage rules live performances gear gigging the legit musician stage banter timeliness

**Guest post written by Scott Aumann, originally featured on The Legit Musician blog.

 

10 Things to Stop - Legit Mus


"I have played many live shows where I have seen bands do some unprofessional things. A lot of these things are simple things that can be fixed. Most of them will improve your overall image as a professional musician. Some of them will improve your relationships with other bands as well. Here are 10 things you need to stop doing on stage immediately."

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Start shows EARLIER! | Words of Fang #28

Posted: Mar 15, 2021

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post by Fang from Lords of the Trident, the most METAL band on earth!

 

Start shows EARLIER! | Words of Fang #28


"?HUH? WHAT!? YOU'LL HAVE TO SPEAK UP JIMMY, I'M QUITE OLD."

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Tour Diary: What I Learned On the Road with Metal Heavyweights Mushroomhead

Posted: Mar 1, 2021

Category: Touring

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**Guest post written by Gideon Waxman, a London based drummer & music educator. Originally posted on Soundfly's Flypaper.

 

Tour Diary Gideon


"Although by no means a long run of shows, my band Familiar Spirit’s 2019 UK summer tour in support of American metal heavyweights Mushroomhead was an utterly insane and eye-opening experience — filled with wonderful people, great venues and an abundance of earth-shattering riffs. Having only formed a year ago, this was an opportunity that my band just couldn’t pass up, and I learned a lot from the experience. Here’s some of what I took away from the tour, and what I think young bands can do to prepare for and seize their own career-opening moments."

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Mmm (Musicians Making Mistakes)

Posted: Oct 7, 2019

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post by Eki Shola, a musician and physician that creates a healing and transformative space for the listener through sharing her lush, jazzy-soul, live electronica vibes.

 

"We all do it but I’m not sure if we openly talk about it. Instead, what I’ve observed are a range of reactions - some subtle and others not. I’ll chat about two different scenarios but in reality, I think we all fit on a spectrum, save for the bands that appear to play completely perfect and are tight all that time (but I guarantee they did not start that way)..."

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5 Awesome Stage Bantering Tricks that Will Hook Your Audience

Posted: Aug 20, 2018

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Anitra Jay of TheCraftyMusician.com.

 

"The difference between a really good show and a terrible show is not how good the music was, but how good the connection was between you and your audience...The best way to break the ice and make a connection with your audience is by employing some skillful stage banter..."

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Improving Speaking Skills Between Songs - Part 2 of 3

Posted: Jun 8, 2015

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Wade Sutton of Rocket to the Stars.

 

"In the second of a three-part video series, Rocket to the Stars' Wade Sutton continues examining how artists can improve their speaking skills when on stage performing at live shows!"

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Turn it down a few notches, please!

Posted: Mar 23, 2015

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Paula Tolly, one half of the Boca Raton based Americana duo 33 Years.

 

"My band recently did a gig where, just after the first song, a note was delivered onto the stage...“Turn it down a few notches, please.” Really? It’s Saturday night and this is only the FIRST song. (sigh) So I ask you, ‘what would you do?’ At first, this seems like a pretty easy question, right. But think - there you are in your first set and how do you really want to deal with this negative feedback?"

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Why Your Acoustic Show Doesn't Have to Suck

Posted: Jun 16, 2014

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Wade Sutton of Rocket to the Stars.

 

"So many artists forget about and fail to take advantage of what makes an acoustic show in a small venue so important to building a fan base. The audience is close to you. The setting is intimate. The audience can see you expressing emotions with your eyes and face. Yet so few actually capitalize on the opportunity." Read on to find out how you can...

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The Worst Brand of Opening Bands

Posted: May 26, 2014

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Joshua Powell, singer-songwriter, DIY musician, and frontman for Joshua Powell and the Great Train Robbery, as featured in his blog Fearsome Folk.

 

"So we’re on this bill and the first act is a singer-songwriter who sang from a digital piano. Now, I have zero intentions of discrediting him or her, or of being condescending in any regard – this blog won’t serve as an outlet for snark for snark’s sake. But in my observations of this artist, I collected some notes that demonstrate well what I believe to be three ways to NOT conduct yourself as an artist who aims to be taken seriously..."

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Principles of Playing an Excellent Show

Posted: Apr 21, 2014

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Joshua Powell, singer-songwriter, DIY musician, and frontman for Joshua Powell and the Great Train Robbery, as featured in his blog Fearsome Folk.

 

"I met with my old friend Sal at Panera one morning. He’s a young and aspiring musician and was willing to look past my greasy hair and elbow-holed flannel to ask for advice on getting his foot into the door of the independent music community....As I fumbled to explain to Sal what I believed makes our show (or any show) one of superior quality, I realized that I could distill most of the factors into four easily digestible elements...and I believe them to be..."

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The Visual Aspect of Music

Posted: Apr 14, 2014

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Danny Schmitz, an indy musician, writer, and connoisseur of all things Mexican food.

 

Pirate
"Being a musician, it has taken me a long time to accept the fact that music is actually quite visual. To be honest, I’ve always intrinsically known this, but have never really realized it. There is no disputing that people associate their favorite artists with their best-known songs, but it is almost always accompanied by a visualization of the artist."

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How to Make Your Audience Love You!

Posted: Dec 16, 2013

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Sarah Lynch, digital music marketing and social media content manager.

 

"Just how powerful does a statement have to be in order to capture an audience’s imagination?? For musicians, having a killer live show is essential because it is one of the only opportunities that fans have to see, interact with and get to know you as a person behind the music. So how do you make an audience fall in love with you?"

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5 Rules of the Stage for Live Performance Musicians

Posted: Mar 12, 2013

Category: Live Performance

be courteous live performances live performing stage rules fan engagement

**Guest post from Jordan Gaw of Final Drive, a Metal band from St. Louis, MO.

 

As an independent band, we all play countless shows in small venues and DIY spots with local promoters and club owners. Communication, respect and networking are essential for getting the most out of every gig. Gaining new fans, establishing relationships and executing an amazing show, that not only sounds, but runs smoothly, is your mission (should you choose to accept it).

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