Sit down and listen or get up and dance?

[ProfD]

This could be a poll question but this isn't an election year.

 

Of course, we have heard of musos who would berate their audience for sneezing during a performance. Any type of audience noise and/or movement would result in a fit.

 

OTOH, there are bands who implore the audience to get off their a**es and jam. They still party like it's 1969, 1979 and 1999.

 

Songwriters pour their heart and soul into well-crafted lyrics. The worse thing would be for someone to be so into the music that they miss clever wordplay.

 

Same goes for musos whose melodic and harmonic arrangements are to be heard and cherished as high art. The fact that it goes by at 237 bpm is inconsequential.

 

Personally, my musicianship doesn't require attention. Whether a tune is fast or slow, my music is designed to bring people closer together.

 

Of course, as the ringleader of the sonic circus, I do expect first choice in confectionery delights of the estrogenic variety.

 

So, let us know how you expect folks to react to your music. It is not a quiz, test or exercise.

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

I don't care if the dancers miss the lyric. The beat is there so that they'll dance. The lyric is there because I've got something to say (unless we just needed a dance tune...) but there are places and there are places. In concert, I love to listen. In a club, you get paid to make the people dance.

 

What really disturbs me is gong to a high dollar concert to see an artist interpret his works for me in a live setting, and having everybody sitting around me screaming the words loud enough that I can't hear the artist. I paid to hear the artist. If I wanted to hear a bunch of yokels singing along, I'd have a party and invite my buddies, pull out the tequila and a guitar and have a sing-along.

[MonksDream]

At my band's last gig I looked up while playing Monk's Bemsha Swing to see a bunch of people dancing! To me that's the best of all possible scenarios. I'd rather they dance and holler than just sit there "appreciating" it.

[J. Dan]

totally dependent on the style of music. At our shows, if we don't have the whole place dancing, it's a bad night.

[Tonysounds]

So, let us know how you expect folks to react to your music. It is not a quiz, test or exercise.

 

Since that is the question, my answer is "GET OFF YER ASS AND SHAKE IT....and men: as you were, or go buy us some drinks."

[wmp]

There's no way to express appreciation that beats money. They can watch the Celtics game for all I care.

 

 

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

I have a variety of songs, and some are absolutely great for "get yo ass on the dance floor", while others are more introspective, songwriterly tunes that call for kicking back and listening. But I find that I don't care what the audience does, as long as no one's being disruptive to the point where the rest of them can't enjoy the show. But that's few and far between.

[ProfD]

totally dependent on the style of music.

That is changing as musos continue to mash-up. See Monk's comment above regarding the reaction to a Jazz tune.

 

Lang Lang is a classical pianist, yet, based on his performance style, I don't really think he's overly concerned with having the "typical" audience. As I understand it, the guy is treated like a Rock star.

 

There's no way to express appreciation that beats money. They can watch the Celtics game for all I care.

I wholeheartedly appreciate that sentiment. Yet, as a businessman, I know the band will not get paid for long if the bar owner/promoter figures out the crowd is more interested in the Celtics game. Look to be displaced by the DJ or Karaoke machine more sooner than later.

 

I have a variety of songs, and some are absolutely great for "get yo ass on the dance floor", while others are more introspective, songwriterly tunes that call for kicking back and listening. But I find that I don't care what the audience does, as long as no one's being disruptive to the point where the rest of them can't enjoy the show. But that's few and far between.

Great point. Especially for singer-songwriter-musos, the key to being an effective ringleader, er, entertainer is knowing how to control the ebb and flow of the show so that people act appropriately depending on the song.

 

I hope nobody reads the title as an either/or deal. There is a lot of gray. Feel free to use percentages i.e. 60% (shut up)/25% (OK, dance now)/15% (buy more drinks).

[MAJUSCULE]

I think it needs to relate what the performer feels about the tune. Many of ours are dancing numbers, but we tone it down on occasion. That's pretty much what I expect from the crowd; enjoy yourself your way, but if I want you to dance, dance and if I want you to shut up, shut up. Most people are pretty good about it.

[ProfD]

That's pretty much what I expect from the crowd; enjoy yourself your way, but if I want you to dance, dance and if I want you to shut up, shut up. Most people are pretty good about it.

D*mn.

 

Around here we call that carrying a big stick or having a lot of grip. It works if the band has the right swagger.

[Dave Pierce]

For the kind of music I mostly play, if the people ain't dancing, I'm looking around to figure out what is going wrong.

 

Listening is cool too, but I love when they feel compelled to dance.

 

--Dave

 

[marino]

It totally depends on the environment. If I'm playing jazz, which is most I do these days, I don't like screaming and dancing because it would be inappropriate with the music, but I'm very tolerant about noise and chattering, unless I'm playing solo piano.

A few times, I had to *stop* piano solo songs because someone was speaking so loud that I had difficulties to hear my own playing! Usually, after I stopped playing, they realized how loud they were and just reduced their volume to a more human level...

 

On the contrary, if there's one thing I'm missing from the times I was playing big stages, it's people dancing and singing along. I understand it can be annoying for someone in the audience who's there just for listening - but from the musician's point of view, nothing beats that moment of excitement that comes from realizing that they're appreciating your music at a very physical level. Of course that's only true if you're playing some *powerful* kind of music. But even on a big stage, if someone is using every moment of break in the music or delicate passages to scream, whistle or otherwise get crazy, of course it bugs me.

 

 

[Eric Iverson]

I mostly play in church bands, and in that context I like to see 'em dance, clap and sing along. Of course, there is an occasional performance number where they just listen.

 

But there isn't much fine detail in the playing in that context that I want people to hear. If I were doing material with a lot of fine craftsmanship, I'd want it to be appreciated.

[Tonysounds]

If you're Keith Jarrett, it's easy: Sit down and STFU!

 

 

[ProfD]

If you're Keith Jarrett, it's easy: Sit down and STFU!

Yep. One of my sentences was tightly based on that character. Yet, he still gets the award for best "performance faces".