Crowd interaction from artists

[tarw]

How do you like bands to interact with the crowd during a gig?

personally I like to be entertained but not bored. 
 

I love Wolf Alice but think that Ellie’s lack of interaction with the crowd may stop them from headlining because the crowd don’t feel a part of the performance. 
 

How much interaction do you like at a gig?

[Skip997]

Kinda depends on the artist and the type of music. 

Love it when the likes of the Chemical Brothers walk on stage do their set and walk off without a word.

[moogster]

I just couldn't with Dave Grohl. Too much... Just a bit for me, thanks, that song is about xxx, one or two short story somewhere and that's enough.

[balti-pie]

The Pixies and Rammstein have the same approach - get on, say hello (perhaps), play songs, might say goodbye at the end, finish. perfect!

 

though i do like a rambling nonsense from the Flaming Lips (well, Wayne, obvs) ensuring you dont get an encore cos he's crossed the curfew by describing love like an old episode of Star Trek 

 

 

[Alvoram]

2 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

The Pixies and Rammstein have the same approach - get on, say hello (perhaps), play songs, might say goodbye at the end, finish. perfect!

 

though i do like a rambling nonsense from the Flaming Lips (well, Wayne, obvs) ensuring you dont get an encore cos he's crossed the curfew by describing love like an old episode of Star Trek 

 

 

Till did speak a few times between songs at Cardiff, during some costume change breaks. But nothing major or deep. He was mostly doing silly little comedy bits while the others were off stage though. Cringed when he was getting girls to show their chests 😕 

[Hugh Jass II]

Depends who you're seeing. Some acts make interaction part of their show.

Macca, for instance, has his whole kindly grandad schtick and rattles off a few anecdotes between songs and that feels right for him. You wouldn't want stoney silence between songs from him. Similarly Liam G gives it the whole "rock and roll yeah? Have it large!" and that's part of the experience of seeing him.

Doesn't work for everyone though, some acts suit a lot of interaction, others don't.

[fred quimby]

Really does depend on the artist.

As Skip says Chemical Brothers no chat  all good.

Others it is good to have interaction with the auduance feels more connected.

Used to see Robyn Hitchcock a lot. He would have a stream of consciousness mad flights of fancy, between some songs. Which were all part of the entertainment.  Never the same at each gig on a tour that I am aware of

[stuartbert two hats]

Eliie who?

[tarw]

7 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

Eliie who?

Rowsell

[Ayrshire Chris]

Haim rambled on a bit about some phone call and the diabetes story I’ve heard before,  apart from that quite enjoyed their set! 

[tarw]

23 minutes ago, Hugh Jass II said:

Depends who you're seeing. Some acts make interaction part of their show.

Macca, for instance, has his whole kindly grandad schtick and rattles off a few anecdotes between songs and that feels right for him. You wouldn't want stoney silence between songs from him. Similarly Liam G gives it the whole "rock and roll yeah? Have it large!" and that's part of the experience of seeing him.

Doesn't work for everyone though, some acts suit a lot of interaction, others don't.

I was specifically thinking of headlining the pointy one. Where a lot of the crowd are casuals that need pulling in to the show. 
 

Personally I’d go and see the Chems on the other over the Foos on the Pyramid. 
 

But I would choose Foos on other over Chems in Pyramid because I think the chattering of people who were not pulled into the music would drive me insane

[BlackZeppelin]

Be nice to hear a little bit more from Thom Yorke.He let's the music do the talking, but a bit of a chat would be nice 

Macca got it right. Felt like he was chatting to you in the corner of a pub.

 

[Gnomicide]

Comes entirely with a big "depends" this one. I like an act to interact with the crowd even though it can be a bit predictable if you've seen them loads before. You have to remember that some people there haven't heard that George gave him that ukulele.

Away from Pyramid headliners, with many acts it's now part of the show. I didn't see Hobo this year but if he didn't do the screensaver bit I'd be disappointed. Billy Bragg, Beans, Jesse Malin... those and many more tell a good yarn between songs and I'm here for it. Other acts though, probably more the punk and metal ones I see, I'm more than happy for them to rattle through. Even like The Manics never doing an encore, just crank 'em out and fuck off.

Do dance acts interact at all other than waving there arms in the air? I imagine for the Chems, a bit of chat between songs would be a welcome break. 

[stuartbert two hats]

22 minutes ago, BlackZeppelin said:

Be nice to hear a little bit more from Thom Yorke.He let's the music do the talking, but a bit of a chat would be nice 

Macca got it right. Felt like he was chatting to you in the corner of a pub.

 

I thought Macca's story about Hendix's guitar going out of tune went on for far, far too long.  Especially if you've heard it several times before.

[jparx]

Personally I like letting the music do the heavy lifting with very small pockets of chat. Phoebe was perfect for me. She didn’t say a lot, but what she did say had a lot of impact. I give Macca a pass because it was a very special and particular set, but generally I’d rather much less than that.

On a similar note, acts need to stop jumping in to the crowd and also stop asking people to do the sit down/jump up gimmick, acting like they invented it. It worked with Slipknot 15 years ago but the novelty has gone now. I’d really rather an act have confidence that their music and stage show can hold the attention and not rely on overused crowd engagement cliches. 

[stuartbert two hats]

1 minute ago, jparx said:

Personally I like letting the music do the heavy lifting with very small pockets of chat. Phoebe was perfect for me. She didn’t say a lot, but what she did say had a lot of impact. I give Macca a pass because it was a very special and particular set, but generally I’d rather much less than that.

On a similar note, acts need to stop jumping in to the crowd and also stop asking people to do the sit down/jump up gimmick, acting like they invented it. It worked with Slipknot 15 years ago but the novelty has gone now. I’d really rather an act have confidence that their music and stage show can hold the attention and not rely on overused crowd engagement cliches. 

Confidence Man and Elbow can keep doing that forever as far as I'm concerned.  

EDIT: I know Elbow's "reverse Mexican wave" isn't quite the same thing.

Edited August 8, 2022 by stuartbert two hats

[shuttlep]

MACCA winds me up , "oh i started a band with a few mate, there was me John , George and Ringo. you may have heard of them"

 

of course we know them you sanctimonious twat , play songs we know and sing along to. no one cares about anything else. your new stuff is w*nk 

[sfroml]

Watched Pixies last night in Bingley. Apart from the singing not a single word was said at all including at the end. Brilliant show though!

[Hugh Jass II]

13 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

I thought Macca's story about Hendix's guitar going out of tune went on for far, far too long.  Especially if you've heard it several times before.

Aye, can't pretend there wasn't a fair amount of fast forwarding when I watched it back.

[tarw]

13 minutes ago, jparx said:

Personally I like letting the music do the heavy lifting with very small pockets of chat. Phoebe was perfect for me. She didn’t say a lot, but what she did say had a lot of impact. I give Macca a pass because it was a very special and particular set, but generally I’d rather much less than that.

On a similar note, acts need to stop jumping in to the crowd and also stop asking people to do the sit down/jump up gimmick, acting like they invented it. It worked with Slipknot 15 years ago but the novelty has gone now. I’d really rather an act have confidence that their music and stage show can hold the attention and not rely on overused crowd engagement cliches. 

I’d certainly agree with Phoebe. Saw her at Manchester and the interaction was spot on. Probably, as with most things, the quality of the chat is more important than the quantity. 
From memory there wasn’t any repetition of the chat from her Glastonbury set. Scripted banter can be a killer

[Jay Pee]

Someone was moaning after Spirtualized at the Bridgwater Hall the other month that Jason never said a word and how poor the interaction was etc etc.  it may have even have been a "Critics" review

As my mate said. "I have seen them 15 plus times and probably heard him say Hello and thanks maybe twice.... go and watch Gary Fucking Barlow"

Have to agree.  on the next level., Jeff Goldblum on the West Holts was absolutely brilliant.  Its horses for courses

[MEGABOWL]

Not really arsed about chat. Play some tunes. I’m with Bob Smith on this one. A lot of people don’t like Kings of Leon but last time I saw them they crammed 25 songs into 1hr 45. Some people tell great stories, like Jarvis Cocker, but generally I’d rather have more music.

[Skip997]

53 minutes ago, BlackZeppelin said:

Be nice to hear a little bit more from Thom Yorke.He let's the music do the talking, but a bit of a chat would be nice

Not sure you would, having met him.

He's a very strange fellow and a tad socially awkward IMO.

[Skip997]

47 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

Do dance acts interact at all other than waving there arms in the air? I imagine for the Chems, a bit of chat between songs would be a welcome break. 

Seldom if ever and neither should they.

Clearly you don't understand dance acts, The Chemical Brothers talking would frankly be ridiculous as would breaking up their set.

[moogster]

I think it's nice when the story is actually linked to the day/ the venue, the city etc. As in the artist did just think about it and it's not one coming of the "book of good stories to tell". Then of course Glasto artists may mention mud or wellies a bit much ...