OT-What's a guy gotta do?

[wmp]

You make some good points, wmp. Maybe I'll stop the tricks altogether for now, and see if people will begin to see the playing and natural stage presence again.

I'm not necessarily recommending that. Just mentioning the possible tradeoffs and conflicts of interest. The guy in the duck suit makes the big bucks and I certainly don't. For all I know, he loved the duck suit.

 

One of my favorite guitar players ever looked like a statue of Frank Perdue Sr. with a Ben Stein look on his face when he played. Didn't hurt him a bit.

 

how did your situation turn out in the end? Were you eventually "forgiven"?

It didn't get me fired, and nobody got too nasty about it. Bands and audiences come and go. What matters to me is that when I do run into somebody who remembers me from those days, it's not for that.

 

 

[Eric Iverson]

It seems that a lot of it depends on audience expectations, and their level of musical sophistication.

In some venues, like classical guitar concerts where 90% of the audience is other classical guitarists, they know something about the instrument and probably play a lot of the same pieces themselves.

If you're playing in a bar for people who know nothing about music and just want to party hearty, you can't expect them to appreciate the subtleties. But there are some keyboard players whose playing goes over well - how much of a factor showmanship is probably varies. I don't know if you need to wear duck suits or perform an acrobatic routine, but you certainly don't want to have that somber look some classical players do, where it looks like their face would crack if they ever smiled.

BTW, guitarists often complain that audiences don't appreciate their artistry, too - just the flashy bits!