9/1/2015 - does performing make you happy?

Complain about your schedule. Apparently people like that sort of thing.
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Niveous
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Re: 9/1/2015 - does performing make you happy?

Post by Niveous »

jb wrote: Set your expectations appropriately and you'll have a better time. That even means playing those crappy coffeehouse shows-- you'll feel a lot better about them if you are only looking for that one person in the crowd that you didn't know who turned out to be paying attention. Getting a stranger to be interested in your music is a feat.
Agreed. If I can get one person who comes up to me after a show and tells me they liked what I did, success. Hell, if I get the usual one person or so who comes up to me and tells me "That was depressing" or "That song was dark", success. :)
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Re: 9/1/2015 - does performing make you happy?

Post by iVeg »

jb wrote:Major artist... Corporate gig... They can't assume the crowd is there to hear them, and a large portion of the crowd won't be... It's only if you are at a show where people are purposefully there to listen to YOU that you can play whatever you want and expect them to listen to you. That means your own show, or a Song Fight show (even that will be hit or miss of course).
Yep. Saw John Mayer at a corporate gig. Probably 75% of the people were ignoring him/ drinking/ talking loudly [shouting quietly?].
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Re: 9/1/2015 - does performing make you happy?

Post by fluffy »

Sure, I mean it was a bar that happened to have a regular open mic (that only me and a couple other bands ever showed up for) and the fact that the audience even got to know me as being "that person who plays an ironic cover of Toxic" was something. And I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong. It was just a bit frustrating, all the same.
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Re: 9/1/2015 - does performing make you happy?

Post by Jerkatorium »

I thought that performing live made me happy. Then I saw the Jerkatorium SFL footage.

Jerkatorium is best as a studio band. We may still (and probably will) perform live again in the future, but I've learned a few lessons: 1) keep me away from the microphone, 2) keep me away from the accordion, and 3) remember to come up with a third thing before you start listing lessons learned.

Seriously though, thank you Glenny, it's awesome of you to do all that work and post all of that SFL stuff.
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Re: 9/1/2015 - does performing make you happy?

Post by Caravan Ray »

Niveous wrote:
jb wrote: Set your expectations appropriately and you'll have a better time. That even means playing those crappy coffeehouse shows-- you'll feel a lot better about them if you are only looking for that one person in the crowd that you didn't know who turned out to be paying attention. Getting a stranger to be interested in your music is a feat.
Agreed. If I can get one person who comes up to me after a show and tells me they liked what I did, success. Hell, if I get the usual one person or so who comes up to me and tells me "That was depressing" or "That song was dark", success. :)
Absolutely. Knowing that you have entertained at least one person makes it all worthwhile. And remember, if you get one person who was moved to come up and tell you they enjoyed it - there is a fairly good chance that there are probably another 10 or so who also likewise enjoyed it to some extent, but didn't bother making the effort to tell you (unless that person who compliments you is a complete weirdo - in which case, you probably shouldn't read too much into it.)

And the corollary to this of course is - if you are at an open mic and you find somebody to be particularly entertaining - go and tell them you enjoyed it. A genuine compliment is always appreciated (unless the person that I compliment assumes me to be a complete weirdo - in which case, they probably don't read too much into it.)

And also remember - while the random compliment is great. Don't expect them. Your audience is probably just out to have a good time and forget work. They are not there to stroke your ego. They have no obligation to be appreciative or even polite. You are invading their space essentially. For me - just hearing/seeing a small laugh or smile at the appropriate time in a song signals they picked up on a joke - which means I am not wasting my time.
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Re: 9/1/2015 - does performing make you happy?

Post by BBABM »

I'm not super into performing live anymore. At one point I was very motivated, and practiced enough to actually make a go at it... not so much as of late. When I was younger, I had rock star dreams, but quickly came to realize that I was nowhere near talented enough to do that without some kind of random act of sheer luck. I have always gotten really nervous when I'm about to go on stage, and feel like my voice quivers when I'm singing. In theory I like the idea of performing and have screaming fans in front of me begging for more music... but in reality I'm not that good, and I should stick to playing live music for myself, and occasionally you fine folks when the show comes to the east coast.
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Re: 9/1/2015 - does performing make you happy?

Post by tuuur »

Caravan Ray wrote:You are invading their space essentially.
Exactly this is the reason I don't like performing in bars that much.
But I love to play with my band in front of people who came to see and hear a band perform.
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Re: 9/1/2015 - does performing make you happy?

Post by fluffy »

Jerkatorium wrote:I thought that performing live made me happy. Then I saw the Jerkatorium SFL footage.
You'll get better. I wince whenever I see or hear my early SFL performances. Now I only want to die of embarrassment a little bit.
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Re: 9/1/2015 - does performing make you happy?

Post by Caravan Ray »

jb wrote:
But I love being up there and performing a song to its utmost artistic potential. I don't feel like a showman though-- there's a local band where the singer/guitarist jumps on tables and stuff, and people seem to be really into that level of energy. I don't have that in me, but I do love to put it all out there, music-wise, in a performance.


JB
You don't have to jump on the table. You have to have energy. My pet hate is guitarist who sit and read off a music stand. Stand up FFS. And learn your frikking song BEFORE you subject people to it. And ENJOY playing it. That is where you get energy

The most common compliment I get is " dude - that was really energetic". Best compliment ever.

And for the record - I have seen jb play many times now. He always brings energy. I approve.
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Re: 9/1/2015 - does performing make you happy?

Post by Billy's Little Trip »

I used to live for it and my life revolved around it. Now I hate it.
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