This will be a short entry -- no reason to expand too heavily on an old cliche that I've adapted for the musician/performer class.
That old cliche, of course, is "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have." It's very sound advice for anyone with a job, and a ladder of promotions somewhere in the distance. You want your managers and the higher-ups to see you, day in and day out, with a clear desire for upward movement. You want people to look at you and see someone who is under-utilized, in need of advancement. You do not want to give your peers the impression that you belong where you're at, but rather that you belong at least one step higher than you are.
I feel that the same applies to bands and musicians, and can be very effective at increasing the odds of success at a live concert.
Look, you can get a bunch of people to come to your shows, beg your friends, coworkers and family to come support you. You can get heads in the crowd, who can buy drinks at the bar, and you could very well be invited back to play that venue again. But, that means very little if the strangers at the gig don't remember you, and perchance, talk about you to their friends/coworkers the next day. The best compliment anyone can give your performance is the kind of compliment you can't receive the night of the show. It's the one that pops in your band's Facebook feed the next day...an unsolicited "Like" or message from a person who was at the show that remembered what you did the previous night and is making an effort to stay in the loop with your band. This person may want to find out about future shows, and is actively planning to invite a friend or 2 to the next one.
With this said, the thing that I'm stressing is that it's extremely important for a band, even at a bar on a Wednesday night to perform like a band who's playing a small theater. It's important for the band in the small theater to perform like they're in a large one, headlining on a sold-out night. No audience member has any interest in seeing a detached, disinterested band run through a set because they're not super-inspired by their surroundings. No audience, at any level, wants to see band members joking and taking sips of water between songs, looking down at their setlist to see what's next, then casually beginning the next song after asking "you guys ready?" They want to see what you'll do if you were at a big place, with big ticket prices, on a big tour. They want to see you at your best. No one, anywhere, at any time, is going to be interested in any performer who is not trying their hardest.
This is where it becomes essential to perform for the gig you want, not the gig you're at. You have to be impressive on a small scale to move up to the bigger things. If it's clear that you're only willing to perform at your peak if the circumstances fit you, you can be absolutely sure those circumstances will never come your way.
That old cliche, of course, is "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have." It's very sound advice for anyone with a job, and a ladder of promotions somewhere in the distance. You want your managers and the higher-ups to see you, day in and day out, with a clear desire for upward movement. You want people to look at you and see someone who is under-utilized, in need of advancement. You do not want to give your peers the impression that you belong where you're at, but rather that you belong at least one step higher than you are.
I feel that the same applies to bands and musicians, and can be very effective at increasing the odds of success at a live concert.
Look, you can get a bunch of people to come to your shows, beg your friends, coworkers and family to come support you. You can get heads in the crowd, who can buy drinks at the bar, and you could very well be invited back to play that venue again. But, that means very little if the strangers at the gig don't remember you, and perchance, talk about you to their friends/coworkers the next day. The best compliment anyone can give your performance is the kind of compliment you can't receive the night of the show. It's the one that pops in your band's Facebook feed the next day...an unsolicited "Like" or message from a person who was at the show that remembered what you did the previous night and is making an effort to stay in the loop with your band. This person may want to find out about future shows, and is actively planning to invite a friend or 2 to the next one.
With this said, the thing that I'm stressing is that it's extremely important for a band, even at a bar on a Wednesday night to perform like a band who's playing a small theater. It's important for the band in the small theater to perform like they're in a large one, headlining on a sold-out night. No audience member has any interest in seeing a detached, disinterested band run through a set because they're not super-inspired by their surroundings. No audience, at any level, wants to see band members joking and taking sips of water between songs, looking down at their setlist to see what's next, then casually beginning the next song after asking "you guys ready?" They want to see what you'll do if you were at a big place, with big ticket prices, on a big tour. They want to see you at your best. No one, anywhere, at any time, is going to be interested in any performer who is not trying their hardest.
This is where it becomes essential to perform for the gig you want, not the gig you're at. You have to be impressive on a small scale to move up to the bigger things. If it's clear that you're only willing to perform at your peak if the circumstances fit you, you can be absolutely sure those circumstances will never come your way.
