What to do, and what not to do in a band

[sweatybettygirl]

What to do:
-expect your band members to get there and start on time, every time.
-practice and work out new material regularly (our biggest weakness).
-strive for the best in musicianship
-set an example of professional behavior on and off the stage.
-meet and talk to the audience during breaks, hand out business cards, give away a cd, create a mailing list, announce where you'll be next
-leave the place as good or better than you found it
-pay your bandmates promptly

What not to do:
-put up with bad behavior from bandmates
-do the same songs in the same order month after month
-adjust the lights, take a phone call, speak to someone on the mic across the room- in the middle of a song / set.

[sweatybettygirl]

I'm hoping this will spark a good discussion. Every time Bill and I go to see a live band we learn something. That something is either what to do, or what not to do.

[Dave Yoho]

What to do:
-If it's possible*, the drummer arrives before the rest of the band and sets up their gear. Then the rest of the band can arrive and setup around the drum set. This makes for an orderly setup and easier for everyone during setup. Otherwise, the drummer has to play a game of Twister to get their equipment in place, sometimes to find that there was not enough space left for the drums particularly on a small stage. If it is a very small stage and if the open-minded drummer does arrive early, they can determine if they should back on the size of their drum kit if need be, to leave enough space for the rest of the band.
I've been doing this for years and the band(s) love me for it(I think). We usually perform locally*, which makes this doable for me. As I will not consider doing this if the gig is on the other side of the county. And don't leave home without your throw rug.

[Nothin' But Trouble]

yep, we love you for it!

Another suggestion for drummers is to get a small notebook sized mixer, run your mics into it then give the sound person one or two outputs but still allowing yourself to control the overall mix of your kit.
Greg

[John Billigen]

this is a bad i dea most sound engineers are capable enough to mix the drums themselves i know how hard it is to mix in a loud room and now you want to take away any control the M.E. has, and that will be more detrimental to the sound of your band, I also know that drummers have the ultimate sound in there heads for what there drums should sound like , well thats all well and good but it the overall scheme of things what a drummer wants to hear is not always possible in certain venues' , some people i have worked with think that the big open drum sound is great , yeah it works in a controlled setting like a studio, but try this at home with your practice pa and see what happens, there are so many mics on stage that if you let the mics open all the time without gates compressors and other devices its gonna sound like a big muddy mess and you gonna send you fans running for the hills from all of the low end and midrange rumble that then is gonna bleed into your guitar and bass mics then into your vbocal mics and for one second you might even see paint peeling off of the walls, let your sound man do the job your paying him for and worry about your own job that is playing your drums,

[Blues Junkies]

Hmmm, what to do: I first will fantasize of my ultimate band set up. I get to the club 2 hours before the show. "Great, a parking place right by the stage door" I say to myself as I back in straight and swift. The load in is easy, all on ground level and there’s even dolly for me too use! The place has just enough space to set up cleanly, its rectangular and wow, "there are three or four separate circuits with like a million plugs to use!" I am in heaven. I quick set up the PA and the big guy sitting at the bar comes and helps me hoist the mains to the speaker poles! I just get the PA in place an in comes the drummer. He sets up quickly while I straighten out some wires - now I can set up my guitar rig, cool! The other guys show up soon after and help set up the lights. My guitar rig fires up the first time with no glitches, bad wires or problems. I'm ecstatic! We're like done an hour before the show. I take a look and see that 80% of our songs from our set list are on the juke box! The owner sends up a round of beers on the house and says we're his favorite band... Okay pinch me cause that usually aint the way it is, but it’s always a goal to shoot for.

Or how about this “bad” scenario: You arrive at the club discover you’re supposed to start at 9PM, not 10PM. You don’t have enough time to set up and you don’t have enough songs to last the whole night either. There’s only one outlet near the stage and it’s not even grounded! There’s a pole in the middle of the stage and the drummer can’t set up there so he has to put his kit on the floor to the left of the stage. There’s a horrible buzz coming out of the monitors that’s killing everyone in the house and on stage. Your roadie is heavily flirting with the bartender and it turns out she’s the owner’s daughter and he’s NOT impressed. The keyboard player shows up 5 minute before show time and he’s forgotten his 3 megabyte quasi-positiron midi cable so he can’t play the intros to 8 of your best songs. You break a string 2/3 into your first song and your back up guitar is at your house… ahhhhhhhhhh

Well you can’t have nirvana and you shouldn’t have to live through ‘hell’ either during a gig so there are some things you “Want To Do” and some other things you “Don’t Want To Do” to keep things going along as good as possible:

I guess what to do is check out the place before hand if possible, bring the right equipment for the right venue, come prepared to get around obstacles like the lack of enough outlets etc. Getting there a couple hours ahead of time is key. You should know how long it takes to set up and give yourself an extra hour just in case. It’s really great to check out another band in that venue ahead of time too. See what they play, what volume level they play at, the type of crowd they get and the crowd reaction.

I like having back up plans in place. I have extra strings, guitars, cables, mics, tuners, you name it - all stuffed away just in case. It pays to be prepared and have some back up plans when Murphy's Law comes into play. Also, I've grown to dislike the overuse of duct tape. It looks crappy, it puts that gooey crap all over your mic stands and equipment and I can't believe a club owner much likes peeling it off the floors and walls. So I use it sparingly. Instead I try to bring enough stands and ways to keep things right with out the roadie tape unless it’s an emergency.

You also have to watch what you bring in a club. Years back my keyboard player brought in a McDonald’s bag into a club that served food. The owner nearly hit the roof. "Don't bring other peoples food into my restaurant" he said. "We serve food, its how we make our money". Wow was he mad. Also some club owners don't appreciate bands putting fliers on tables that advertise gigs they have in competitive clubs. I guess you need to be sensitive to the business side of things and get a good read on the club owner. It makes for a better long term relationship with the club.


Hope you didn't mind the rant. I am sure others have good suggestions as well and probably think half of mine are daft. It's all good I guess...

[jim franciscus]

These are all great suggestions. One that I might add is this. Don't just stand there and play. If you're the singer, you should try to engage the audience in the show. Get them to sing along, talk to them (but not toooo much), encourage them to dance. The musicians should smile when they're onstage. You can't expect the crowd to have fun if it doesn't look like you are. Always keep in mind that people are there to have a good time. We've all seen bands that look like they're mailing it in onstage and it's not at all fun to watch. And Marcy made a great point about going around and chatting with the crowd between sets. Always carry business cards when you do this. Be courteous and polite and don't have too much to drink. Being remembered as the singer who was really nice to talk to is much better than being remembered as the band singer who was a drunk a-hole. You never know when someone in the audience will really dig what you're doing and help you get another job because of it. Of course, if you're a snob and don't talk to them then that's probably not going to happen.
Blues Junkies also makes a good point about going to a venue ahead of time to check out the setup. For one thing, the venue owners/staff love it. They remember that you did it as soon as you walk in to set up for your gig and it really helps build a good business relationship. So when you go in to check out the setup, be sure that you say hello to the person that hired you and thank them for doing so. If you just go in and sit in the corner by yourself, it will be as if you weren't even there. Great line of conversation.

[Kira Gray]

Be careful with hot liquids! Or don't pour your coffee into the lap of the person in the first row. This really happened and I got a free two hour drum lesson and some dry cleaning and no third degree burns(the person liked a lot of cream).

[Katie Simone]

I have a few tips for all the girls on here - and the glam rock guys:

- Never, ever, EVER, under any circumstances, wear 5" stilettos onstage, especially if you're the type who likes to move around a lot when you're really into a song, or if you're on a really small stage. You will fall, and you will mess up your ankle, or worse. I've learned this the hard way, which is why I now always carry a pair of ballet slippers in my bag.

- Thick eyeliner and mascara + creme foundation + bright lights + no setting powder = bad, bad, bad scene. You'll sweat it off and look like Alice Cooper by the end of the set. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but then again, I'm a weirdo and see nothing wrong with that...

- Long, thick hair + humidity + bright lights = sweatfest. Especially if you like to pretend you're Mick Jagger onstage. Bring a clip or something and have it handy - not in your purse across the room. Another thing I've learned the hard way.

And this goes for everyone right here...

- A set shouldn't be 100% "routine." I can't tell you how many times I've had to step outside because the band is playing "Mustang Sally" for the 90 billionth time. Yeah, sure, everyone knows the song, but that doesn't mean it's good. People know lots of other songs, too. It's always so refreshing to hear a band bust out an old Ten Years After or Link Wray song instead of the same 12 bar standards night after night. Yeah, you should have some staple songs, but change it up once in a while. Take a risk - isn't that what rock'n'roll is all about?

- Monitors, monitors, monitors. I can't tell you how many times I've blown my voice out because I couldn't hear myself over the band. It sucks. I know lots of places don't have monitors, so what I do is have the band turn themselves down a bit so I can actually hear yourself. Otherwise it just sucks because you don't know what the hell is going on.

- Bring a bottle of water onstage with you instead of a glass. It's a lot harder to spill a closed bottle than it is a full glass - especially good for klutzes like me.

[Tara Charles]

Can I just say that The Sweattybettyblues band is a CLASS ACT all the way!
tara

[Memphis Mike and The Legendary Tremblers]

If its your 1st time playing a joint, and they have a house PA and soundman...LISTEN to what the soundman has to say! He knows the room, you don't! If you have experience with certain things, in my case, my very bass-heavy voice, discuss this with him. Don't order him around. Remember, he has access to that invisible SUCK SWITCH. He/she can make or break your show.

Example: I have a very bass heavy voice. I always try to alert the soundman to this, and ask if he thinks he should roll the low end off of my mic. Normally he'll agree...but there are instances where the acoustics of the room will dictate a different action. If he/she is the regular soundman for the room, he/she will know what to do! TRUST THEM! I've seen lots of touring acts bring their own soundcrew...and have seen most of them RUIN an otherwise good performance! If you remember Rosebud/Metropol, then you remember my buddy Kevin. He is by far the BEST I have worked with....globally! Rosebud was an acoustic nightmare but he made it work...daily! I saw acts as diverse as Leon Redbone to Rev. Horton Heat there...and Kevin made them ALL sound great!

God Bless the soundmen!

[The hEARd]

At an open jam the other day. One guitar amp on stage. A guest guitarist wants to sit-in, has their guitar but, has no amp. They take the short trip home to get their amp, sit in, sound great. all's good.
If a drummer can carry a drum set in his mini-van, a guitarist should be able to carry their mini-amp. Especially to an open jam. if you don't the room - get rid of the jumper cables.

[Mike M.]

Yes, if your band is not creating new things on a regular basis, things will get stale, practices will get boring, and it's all downhill from there.

DO NOT tune your guitar on stage in between songs, UNLESS you have a silent tuner...it's best if you have one on your pedalboard, so you're not pulling your chord out, and sticking it into your tuner on top of your amp, with your back turned to the audience. Just doesn't look professional, but it's better than tuning out load so everyone can hear it.

PROMOTE, PROMOTE, PROMOTE...and, PROMOTE YOUR EVENT!!! 3 weeks out is the absolute minimum to start promoting your gig or show. How many of your band members have fathers and mothers that live locally? Brothers and sisters? Stepbrother and stepsisters? How many FRIENDS does EACH BAND MEMBER have? The earlier you start telling everybody, and the more you consistently remind them (be annoying!!!), the better the chance that ALL THOSE PEOPLE will come and see you. By the way - they all have to like you to want to come and see you. Treat your fans with respect - if you show interest in them, then kharma (sp?) will be good to you!