Crowd interaction from artists

[Skip997]

23 minutes ago, shuttlep said:

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 

Spot on there, he's a boring old geezer who should keep his chat and ideally his music in some dull traditional pub.

[cdm22]

Very much depends on the artist but a bit of acknowledgement that the audience is there with the occasional interaction is all good. If they go on it can very much suck the life out of the gig and also means fewer songs if they go on too much.

[kalifire]

39 minutes ago, shuttlep said:

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 

Yeah Macca can stick that smug self-aggrandizing stuff, but I actually found his casual little stories about legends of music really entertaining.

Stuff that bugs me: artists who shout things like "are you having a good time?" or "Glasto, how you feeling?". Like, I'm at fucking Glastonbury so yeah, I'm not too bad thanks. Also "PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!!" Stop telling me what to do!!

Re: the 'go low' stuff needs to get in the sea as well now. Saw some poor sod unable to 'go low' because he had a dodgy hip, so he stood there like a killjoy while everyone around him made him look really obvious. Really felt for him.

Edited August 8, 2022 by kalifire

[moogster]

Just now, kalifire said:

Also "PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!!" Stop telling me what to do!!

 

This. If you put your own hands in the air and the feeling's right then people do it without you asking to do so. That means you don't rock hard enough. 

"I can't hear you!" is another one.

[DeanoL]

53 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.

I dunno, the image of him playing a guitar with a "vibrator" was definitely entertaining...

[rgill3]

Chris Difford on the acoustic this year explained how much closer he was getting to a full erection after each few songs and I enjoyed that

[tarw]

23 minutes ago, kalifire said:

 

Stuff that bugs me: artists who shout things like "are you having a good time?" or "Glasto, how you feeling?". Like, I'm at fucking Glastonbury so yeah, I'm not too bad thanks. Also "PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!!" Stop telling me what to do!!

Re: the 'go low' stuff needs to get in the sea as well now. Saw some poor sod unable to 'go low' because he had a dodgy hip, so he stood there like a killjoy while everyone around him made him look really obvious. Really felt for him.

The worst is when a new band just learning their trade try it to a sea of uninterested faces and when it doesn’t work they just try harder

[Skip997]

7 minutes ago, rgill3 said:

Chris Difford on the acoustic this year explained how much closer he was getting to a full erection after each few songs and I enjoyed that

No idea who he is, but I'd have walked out at the first mention of erections. I can't stand puerile school yard "humour" in general, but especially in music.

[rgill3]

4 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

No idea who he is, but I'd have walked out at the first mention of erections. I can't stand puerile school yard "humour" in general, but especially in music.

sound mate cheers for that input

[stuartbert two hats]

49 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

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.

Not understanding dance music is part of his personal brand at this point!

[Neil]

they could be exciting like fat bob smith.

[tarw]

10 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

Not understanding dance music is part of his personal brand at this point!

Are you suggesting that he has a made up personality and is a brand rather than a person?

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

2 hours ago, moogster said:

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.

Dave Grohl was over the top. Just play the damn song already!

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

One of the funniest sets was the Eels in 2011 I think. E was hilarious. It was all short and sweet in between songs. No big intros, no big family backstory, no credits to dish out, no agenda to push, just jokes about his band, the crowd, his love for the festival and how much fun he was having.

 

[Hugh Jass II]

As if nobody has mentioned The Hives yet...

[BumJuice]

1 hour ago, kalifire said:

stuff that bugs me: artists who shout things like "are you having a good time?" or "Glasto, how you feeling?". Like, I'm at fucking Glastonbury so yeah, I'm not too bad thanks. Also "PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!!" Stop telling me what to do!!

Artists shouting GLAS TUN BERET get on my underwhelmed knockers

Edited August 8, 2022 by BumJuice

[Gnomicide]

28 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

Not understanding dance music is part of his personal brand at this point!

Quite right.

 

18 minutes ago, tarw said:

Are you suggesting that he has a made up personality and is a brand rather than a person?

Yeah, in real life I love a bit of techno as long as it's *checks notes* 130 bpm.

[sfroml]

1 hour ago, Jay Pee said:

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

That Spiritualized gig at BWH was easily one of my all time favourite gigs.

[kalifire]

Goldblum couldn’t help himself. He’s so naturally open and charismatic. I believe he was interacting with the crowd during the sound check before his set even began. He’s somebody I hope comes back. He seemed to love being there and has openly said he’d love to return. 

[philipsteak]

2 hours 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. 

fuck yes. My knees just can't take it anymore. 

[gigpusher]

I think crowd interaction is an art and done well does elevate a live performance, done badly it can diminish the performance. Doing it well does mean having charisma and ideally not just repeating the same stuff night after night because if you go and see them a second time you don't want all the same anecdotes. 

I also think what you can do depends on the size of the venue. People complain about the mexican wave type stuff but that works really well in a large venue where sometimes the person furthest back doesn't have the best sound or view. 

I wouldn't say I am an either or person here I have loved gigs with clearly quite shy frontpeople who didn't do much interaction but the music/sound was perfect. Someone like John Grant is a good example for me of someone who usually gets the balance right of interesting stage patter and great sound. 

[gigpusher]

57 minutes ago, Hugh Jass II said:

As if nobody has mentioned The Hives yet...

Yep The Hives bring a party with them because of having a really great front man!

[stuartbert two hats]

52 minutes ago, gigpusher said:

Yep The Hives bring a party with them because of having a really great front man!

Sadly, they don't bring a ladder.

Edited August 8, 2022 by stuartbert two hats

[Quark]

The main thing for me is how much the artist / band / whatever is into what they're doing and looking like they actually want to be there. Interaction can vary wildly from one to another in terms of what works, what's appropriate, and what's unnecessary nonsense, but if the act doesn't look like they're into it then why should I feel involved.

Gary Numan is a great case in point.  Saw him this year and he barely said two words, but at the same time he was moving all across the stage, engaging with the crowd through physical movement and facial expression, and looked like he was having the time of his life. He didn't need to chat loads but it still felt as though he had been, if that make sense.

Whereas with a band like Dub Pistols I know I'm gong to get broadly the same crowd chat as I get every time, they're going to do the "get down get up" thing, and they'll lead the crowd in exactly the same singalongs. And I absolutely love it every time. Or with Foo Fighters, where yes there's a lot of chat but it feels like natural enthusiasm and character from Dave.

Horses for courses. All I ask is that if I'm paying money to see you then at least look like you want to be there as well.

[Green Croc]

2 hours ago, kalifire said:

 

Stuff that bugs me: artists who shout things like "are you having a good time?" or "Glasto, how you feeling?". Like, I'm at fucking Glastonbury so yeah, I'm not too bad thanks. Also "PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!!" Stop telling me what to do!!

 

When I say "Hey" thou shalt not say "Ho".
When I say "Hip" thou shalt not say "Hop".
When I say, he say, she say, we say, make some noise - kill me.