JakeDobner

Mel
trying not to play your guitar shoe-gaze style (crowds don't want to look at the top of your head all night; make eye contact; smile), paying close attention to what everyone else in the band is doing and adrenalin is merrily keeping you pumped.

Unless you are playing shoegaze music, then by all means stand still. Also, I don't want any band to be smiling on stage. That looks very dopey.

Dick was smiling, laughing and so was the bassist and drummer last Sunday. Nokie on the other hand, not sure I've ever seen him smile. Even off stage.

Guess if you want the band to look like they're enjoying playing to the crowd about as much as having a root canal that's a personal preference. I like to watch performers who appear to have a pulse.

Personally, I don't think it looks dopey, there's a multitude of other ways to make yourself appear dopey. Longevity will permit you to experience all of those.

Mel

Mel

Mel
Dick was smiling, laughing and so was the bassist and drummer last Sunday. Nokie on the other hand, not sure I've ever seen him smile. Even off stage.

Guess if you want the band to look like they're enjoying playing to the crowd about as much as having a root canal that's a personal preference. I like to watch performers who appear to have a pulse.

Personally, I don't think it looks dopey, there's a multitude of other ways to make yourself appear dopey. Longevity will permit you to experience all of those.

Mel

I should clarify my thoughts on this. There is looking like they are having a good time and then there is "Gee whiz, look at me I'm on stage". it is great to see people having a good time, but there is definitely a way to go overboard that really makes me nauseous.

Just playing with someone else is a whole different experience than practicing. Timing problems that you didn't realize you had, become real obvious. You can't slow up a tad for the hard parts, and you can't start over at the point of making a mistake. Also, this is just me, but I can become all thumbs when playing in front of other people .

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playing live poses challenges to you that practicing does not. you can learn your chords and scales until you rot in your room, but there are some things you can only learn when your "in the field". its just part of the experience process.

you learn to think on your feet. everyone makes mistakes, but if you do mess up, the show still must go on, and you gotta be able to recover and keep the song going. there is no "do that part again".

you learn to coordinate with other musicians, and this is huge. being a great player is one thing, but being a great musician is another level up.
you could be Steve Vai, but it won't mean a thing if you can't mesh with the band. a good player knows how to control style, dynamics, volume, tone, etc. in order to fit in with the song and mood. if you cant blend with the band, you'll stick out in a bad way.
not only that, but learning to communicate non-verbally mid-song is worth a lot. playing with a band rather than yourself can be harder than it looks at first.

at any rate, i cant imagine NOT playing live performances. a big reason why i play is because of that. i LOVE playing live. its fun, simply put. i think you actually owe it to yourself to do it. why would you want to practice in a garage the whole time and never take it anywhere? yea, some people like to just play for enjoyment, i dig that. but playing gigs makes it much more fun and interesting. it motivates me a bit more to improve. plus, it gives me something to do on weekends...lol

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Turtle, you're pretty spot on there. Playing in a band is completely different to playing at home.

You didn't mention the mental blanks. We played a gig a couple months ago and I forgot how Pipeline started! What! I realised I was blank just after I said, "...4!". Drums started. Bass started then suddenly it clicked and my fingers started playing. Phew. Like you say, there's no chance of "We'll start that again.."

Worse ones are the ones in the middle of a song. The blanks you can see coming! They come at you and you pray your fingers know what to do. Or is it just me?

I think the volume of a gig makes you play differently as well, compared to playing after midnight in the lounge.

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da-ron
Like you say, there's no chance of "We'll start that again.."

Unless you're Paul McCartney, of course

Ralph
The Storm Surfers

Be at one with the universe. If you can't do that, at least be at one with your guitar.