Getting punters to quit yakking through your set

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  • StuffnJunk
    StuffnJunk Posts: 897
    FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:
    Is that your setlist then?
    Yeah! blows the roof off the dump every time!

    having read your original post, i thought you meant you are the one on stage...thats the impression i got

    but again, i've played in bands where we play originals and no one cares.....so you feel great that you are playing songs you and your friends wrote, but you can't expect people to get too worked up over songs they are not familiar with..you are playing to a room full of people standing still, staring at you.......and chances are, your songs are not as good as anything by lennon/mcartney, jagger/richards, vedder/gossard, etc

    i currently play in a cover band, and while some friends have needled me about "selling out" (such a ridiculous thing to say on any level) it does feel great to play songs that get the whole crowd singing and dancing.....and there IS a crowd.....playing originals, you only play places that need bands to bring a crowd. the only people there are the friends you begged to come down and watch you.....playing covers, you get to play at bigger bars that have their own built in crowd
    "I'll tell you what: If all I had was Pearl Jam, and I didn't have another band in the world, I would not be worried. Because in there is the essence of making great music. You don't have to use it all at once, but it's there." - Neil Young
  • FinsburyParkCarrots
    FinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    All right, I'll let you off, then. ;)
  • Anon
    Anon Posts: 11,175
    StuffnJunk wrote:
    do you have any samples of your music for us to hear? we can let you know if the crowd's apathy was justified or not.
    I've heard some of Fins tunes and they are really good.
  • StuffnJunk
    StuffnJunk Posts: 897
    FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:
    All right, I'll let you off, then. ;)
    cool.
    "I'll tell you what: If all I had was Pearl Jam, and I didn't have another band in the world, I would not be worried. Because in there is the essence of making great music. You don't have to use it all at once, but it's there." - Neil Young
  • keeponrockin
    keeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    StuffnJunk wrote:
    Yeah! blows the roof off the dump every time!

    having read your original post, i thought you meant you are the one on stage...thats the impression i got

    but again, i've played in bands where we play originals and no one cares.....so you feel great that you are playing songs you and your friends wrote, but you can't expect people to get too worked up over songs they are not familiar with..you are playing to a room full of people standing still, staring at you.......and chances are, your songs are not as good as anything by lennon/mcartney, jagger/richards, vedder/gossard, etc

    i currently play in a cover band, and while some friends have needled me about "selling out" (such a ridiculous thing to say on any level) it does feel great to play songs that get the whole crowd singing and dancing.....and there IS a crowd.....playing originals, you only play places that need bands to bring a crowd. the only people there are the friends you begged to come down and watch you.....playing covers, you get to play at bigger bars that have their own built in crowd
    I think the key is play a good mix of originals and covers, then you get the best of both worlds!
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • FinsburyParkCarrots
    FinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    keeponrockin wrote:
    I think the key is play a good mix of originals and covers, then you get the best of both worlds!

    Yeah, but I've seen some acts where a performer gets seal-clapped after his own songs, then he does a Radiohead cover and people go wild. That can be a killer to anyone's songwriting aspirations, right there! :D
  • StuffnJunk
    StuffnJunk Posts: 897
    keeponrockin wrote:
    I think the key is play a good mix of originals and covers, then you get the best of both worlds!
    yeah but from what i've seen, that basically makes you an original band that can only play in places that feature original bands (also known as "shitholes")

    to play at the big bars in my area, you gotta do all the standard covers....and thats what me and my friends are going for!
    "I'll tell you what: If all I had was Pearl Jam, and I didn't have another band in the world, I would not be worried. Because in there is the essence of making great music. You don't have to use it all at once, but it's there." - Neil Young
  • FinsburyParkCarrots
    FinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    StuffnJunk wrote:
    yeah but from what i've seen, that basically makes you an original band that can only play in places that feature original bands (also known as "shitholes")

    to play at the big bars in my area, you gotta do all the standard covers....and thats what me and my friends are going for!


    What's the acoustic circuit like? It's exploding here, especially in London and Manchester. Not so much the generic singer songwriter acts but people who freak the folk up a bit, adding pedals or an upright jazz bassist here and there. This is an area where I think there might be noise issues.
  • SteveMurray
    SteveMurray Posts: 66
    I may be the odd one out here but i feel more comfortable playing when theres a bit of rowdy noise and talk going on

    I've played a few of fund raisers and stuff where everybody is dead silent and listening to your every move, i felt way more uncomfortable in that environment
  • StuffnJunk
    StuffnJunk Posts: 897
    well the biggest bar in my town has cover bands on friday and saturday night where the place is packed to the rafters

    then they have acoustic open mic night on wednesdays where anything goes, but you are playing to the bartender and three cockroaches

    mind you, this is suburban long island....head towards brooklyn and NYC and there is every possible type of music being played everywhere...
    "I'll tell you what: If all I had was Pearl Jam, and I didn't have another band in the world, I would not be worried. Because in there is the essence of making great music. You don't have to use it all at once, but it's there." - Neil Young
  • FinsburyParkCarrots
    FinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    StuffnJunk wrote:
    well the biggest bar in my town has cover bands on friday and saturday night where the place is packed to the rafters

    then they have acoustic open mic night on wednesdays where anything goes, but you are playing to the bartender and three cockroaches


    Open mics are odd events. I think that sometimes they can disorientate the audience: especially where there's no MC and no-one can distinguish by running order, who the established, featured artists and who the beginners are. In some ways that's healthy, in other ways it homogenises the night's music a bit too much, so the audience doesn't really know how to respond. (It's strange how occasionally, some audiences need prompting before they know what's good or not! Not being snobby, that's just an observation.)

    There are good open mic events, though, which can be very well attended by supportive audiences.



    To go to Voiceless's point, I've witnessed over the years how, for example, some trad folk clubs can be anal in their emphasis on rapt, silent attention to the performer. Except when they start singing along on the choruses, with their flat, nasal tones!
  • lucylespian
    lucylespian Posts: 2,403
    In the interest of being a pedantic asshole, I need to pointout to Mr Carrot that the opening question, "how to get punters to stop yakking through YOUR set" quite clearly implies a Mr Carrot on stage.

    Thanks, back to normal programmed viewing.

    Jeez, I'm bored today. Bloody Wednesday Blues !!

    Hey, there's a song title and a subject for anyone who needs a song idea, royalty cheques to me thanks !!
    Music is not a competetion.
  • FinsburyParkCarrots
    FinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    lucylespian wrote:
    In the interest of being a pedantic asshole, I need to pointout to Mr Carrot that the opening question, "how to get punters to stop yakking through YOUR set" quite clearly implies a Mr Carrot on stage.

    Thanks, back to normal programmed viewing.

    Jeez, I'm bored today. Bloody Wednesday Blues !!

    Hey, there's a song title and a subject for anyone who needs a song idea, royalty cheques to me thanks !!


    Er, nope. If I'd said "MY" set, yes. "YOUR" set denotes "YOU", not "ME".


    ;)

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