Perform Like a Professional
by Richard Reichner
There are few experiences that compare with playing live
music, connecting with the audience, and being paid for it! Here are a few tips
for making your gig more successful.
Give yourself enough time to show up -- and set up. For many performers, the time just before going on stage is stressful. Anticipate it, and do not add to it by running late.
In addition to big-ticket equipment, make sure you have all the necessary smaller items readily
available. If you’re a guitarist, bring extra picks, strings, cords,
capos, batteries, etc. Also bring a chromatic tuner. No one wants to hear you
tuning between songs. (Nor do they want to hear your cell phone ring. Trust me.)
Take your performance seriously.
Start – and finish – on time. Have your set lists ready. Know what you are going to play. Unless management says otherwise, start when you are supposed to, do not wait for people to show up. Similarly, finish on time. If the crowd is all worked up and wants more, check with management. Keep in mind that the staff is probably ready to rap it up.
Know your audience…and the setting. If you are playing a restaurant/bar from, say, 7-11 P.M., you will no doubt be playing to families early on. Choose appropriate material; keep your volume low. As the night wears on and the clientele changes, you will have ample opportunity to rev things up…always with the managers consent. If you are playing a corporate gig or private party, leave the tip jar at home. Same thing with the Marshall stack if you’re playing at a coffee house or small restaurant/bar. Be mindful.
Take reasonable breaks between sets.
In a three-hour plus gig, one fifteen-minute break per hour is standard. Discuss this aspect with management
prior to starting.
If you get a food and drink tab
(which is often a component of your total payment), order your food 4-5 songs before the anticipated end of a set….and
know when the kitchen closes. As for drink, until and unless you are invited
back by management, stick with water or soft drinks. Stay away from alcohol.
Nothing good comes of it. Just look at Keith Richards.
Know your material
-- cold. Practicing at home
and at open mics is the time to discover your strengths and limitations. Not so
with a paid gig. You’re being paid to be competent. If you are a novice
performer, stick with what you know (and it better be more than 15-20 songs;
otherwise you should not be doing a 3-4 hour gig.). If you are uncomfortable
with a song, skip it. Save it for the next gig (then again, if someone throws
down $100 for a request, give it your best shot.)
Mix up your
repertoire. Audiences can be notoriously adult ADHD. They will tune out
if everything starts sounding the same. So will I. Vary the song beat, strum,
dynamics, tonic key (even Jimmy Buffet does that), slow ballad versus upbeat
rocker, “oldies” versus contemporary music, etc., wherever possible.
Demonstrate your versatility.
While you are mixing up the material, gauge your audiences mood. If they are clamoring for Brown Eyed
Girl, play it -- or at least, an upbeat song. This is no time for a waltz.
Similarly, you do not want to start off the dinnertime crowd with Purple Haze.
Once you have built up a good repertoire of songs, create request sheets and hand them out to
the audience. You will not
only engage the crowd, you will walk away with additional $$ from tips. (And do
not assume that all restaurant/bars have tip jars. That assumption could cost
you. Double-check ahead of time.
Be professional at
all times. This applies to everyone you deal with that night -- band
mates, wait staff, management, your audience – everybody. Getting flustered or
bickering with anyone will be noticed – especially if you are the front man.
Be tight with your band mates…or at least look that way. Engage the audience
without allowing them to dictate terms. Never diminish your stature. If things
start to get out of hand with an audience member, let management deal with it.
That is their job.
Similarly, if you make a mistake during a song, never – ever -- stop playing! Few people will notice your hitting the wrong chord. However, everyone will notice your stopping for no apparent reason. To your audience and to management, it will look amateurish. And you will have lost both of them. And future gigs.
There are a lot of people who play music. There are very
few performers. There is a difference. You know it when you see it. Engaging
performers compel their audience to stick around – which, as a rule, generates
more revenue for you and your employer – which increases the odds of your
being invited back.
More importantly, it heightens everybodys enjoyment of your music --- especially your own! And, in the end, hopefully, that is why you play.