Stage Presence...

Charlie E.

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Jan 2, 2002
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There is alot of talk about this lately so I figure it deserved its own little thread. Let's discuss what kind of stage presence we prefer? Likes and dislikes.

Likes:
Bands that feel their music. You can often see them almost feeling possessed by what they're playing and its almost as if something else takes over.
Dislikes:
Musicians standing in one spot and showing no emotions whatsoever. Or creating fake emotions.
Likes:
Occasionally letting a fan sing a vocal line through the microphone.
Dislikes:
Adding a break section to a song (usually just drums and bass) and singing a chorus over and over and rehearsing it with the crowd, then letting one side sing, then the other etc. Then not being satisfied and asking the crowd to sing louder. Then going even further and asking the people who don't even like the band to sing too otherwise they are losers etc.
Likes:
Playing a song that's very unusual for the band to play live. (making the crowd feel special)
Dislikes:
Covers.
Likes:
Tight playing/musicianship.
Dislikes:
Careless playing, and focusing too much on looking cool on stage.
Likes:
Drummers that experiment with different sounds (percussion/electronic pads etc). Focused drummers (on their playing!)
Dislikes:
Drummer constantly twirling their sticks, standing up, and just generally begging for attention.(usually putting more importance in that than their playing)
Likes:
Guitarrists with chemistry. They feel what they play off each other.
Dislikes:
Cheesy 80's standing side by side guitar unison movement.
Likes:
Vocalists who get extremely emotional during their vocal lines. Looking sad in sad parts, looking happier in happy parts, angry in angry parts etc. Vocalists who are free and not afraid to experiment in conveying their feelings.
Dislikes:
Careless vocalists who think its more important to get the crowd to clap along with him during an important and emotional vocal line.

Well you get the idea. I'm sure most people on this board like the exact opposite of what I like :D
 
I think it depends on the band themselves. Some bands aren't as 'deep' and serious as others, I don't know. I don't give this too much thought, other than to say that the people who absolutely need every band to be attempting Maiden-esque acrobats and antics should understand that every band doesn't need to BE Maiden...someone once remarked to me that he saw Death on the Human tour, which would have been the greatest thing. he then said it sucked because Chuck never headbanged, and the other guitarist and bassist were doing fucking hair twirls. As if this is important.

-Eric
 
Charlie, I tend to agree with you on most of those points, but then Gamma Ray did a lot of the things you dislike, and I thought their performance was amazing. I think the difference is that they were able to do those things without detracting at all from the music, and that's the important thing.
 
Originally posted by Wandrail
...someone once remarked to me that he saw Death on the Human tour, which would have been the greatest thing. he then said it sucked because Chuck never headbanged, and the other guitarist and bassist were doing fucking hair twirls. As if this is important.

-Eric

I can't speak for the Human tour, but judging from the Sound of Perseverence tour, anyone who saw Chuck play live and was that unappreciative should be shot (and i don't mean because he's dead, either, because I'm figuring that he wasn't when those comments were made). I thought his guitar playing was completely awesome to watch, one of the better guitar performances I've ever seen.

Ryan