Why Your Show Is More Than A Collection Of Songs

Many artists at varying levels of success put little thought into their stage show, and it shows. It's a rare performer that can captivate an audience by his or her performance alone, and most audiences, even on a club level, expect to be entertained on multiple levels these days.

In the following excerpt from my How To Make Your Band Sound Great book, I point out the differences between an amateur show, one that's tight and professional, and a big production show that you'll see from a typical arena act. Which one do you fall into?

"So what is a Show exactly.  It’s much more than just a collection of songs.  While the world is full of performers that have seemingly no stage show, there’s a lot more that goes on than meets the eye.  

Everyone can name a great performer who just stands there and plays and gets rave reviews and while that can be you too, today’s audiences are a lot more sophisticated and require a certain level of professionalism from a performer, even with a minimal show.  Let’s look at some typical shows and spot the differences.

An Amateur Show

In an amateur show you’ll typically find the following traits:

• The band doesn’t know what song to play next
• The band tunes up in-between songs
• The band has mindless banter with audience
• The band has inside-jokes that only the band or a few people around the band understand
• The band takes too much time between songs
• The band keeps the audience waiting while changing guitars, clothes, etc
• The band doesn’t acknowledge the audience, or worse, disrespects the audience

A Tight, Professional Show

Likewise, in a tight, professional show you’ll typically find the following traits:

• The band has a set list and knows exactly what they’ll be playing and how much time it will take
• The band knows exactly what will happen in-between songs
• The band knows exactly when, where and how the audience will be addressed
• The band has as little time possible between songs, or has something predetermined that will entertain in those spaces
• The band plays to the room

A Big Production Show

Not only observes all of the above, but has the entire show planned

• The band designs the set for maximum audience impact
• The band works out sound and music cues beforehand
• The band works out lighting cues beforehand
• The band works out wardrobe, guitar changes, etc. beforehand"

One tip - the old showbiz adage of “always leave them wanting more” really works.  You’re a lot better off to leave too early than too late, so sometimes just a single encore song (or none at all) is really the best."

To read additional excerpts from How To Make Your Band Sound Great and my other books, go to the excerpt section of bobbyowsinski.com.

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