Bob Gollihur Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Lee Sklar posted this on facebook, a performance a bit over the top: [video:youtube]bZBic3nD5M0 But it does bring up stage presence... does your gig require you to perform as well as play? Self conscious? 1000 Upright Bass Links, Luthier Directory, Teacher Directory - http://www.gollihurmusic.com/links.cfm [highlight] - Life is too short for bad tone - [/highlight] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard W Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 This cracks me up because my band plays Have You Ever Seen Rain, and I certainly do not look like this guy while doing it. Personally, I find his gyrations to be distracting from the song--not to mention that he's playing about 1,700 more notes than are in the original recording. But on the other hand, who cares? The crowd appears into it, and that's all that matters ultimately. My band plays in bars--tucked away in a corner and not on a stage. If I thrashed around like this I'd end up giving the guitarist a black eye. As far as "performance" goes, I figure my job is to be engaged with the band, the audience, and the song. That means eye contact, smiling, hitting the right notes, singing on key, and moving around a little bit just to show that I'm relaxed and having a good time. I have my hands full just doing that. "Everyone wants to change the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves." Leo Tolstoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumpelstiltskin. Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 i got douche chills. because i like people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Brown Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 disturbing... "When I take a stroll down Jackass Lane it is usually to see someone that is already there" Mrs. Brown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 That was scary. However, you are performing every time you play your instrument in public whether you think you are or not. Standing still looking at the floor or your fingers is a form of performing and a choice that you have made. Even an audience like the one this guy had (guys at the front table completely ignoring the band and people dancing who really don't care what the band looks like) can appreciate some eye contact and appearance of energy (if they happen to look your way). Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul K Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Yet another reason to practice blindfolded. Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottom End Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 It looks like the band was into it, and the crowd was into it, let him play! That dud has some mileage on him from his looks, he probably played in some hard rock bands for decades,and obviously has knows his way around the fretboard. He's rehashing some bar-band standard, not a hymn or Bach cantata, for the 100,000th time, but he's lively, he's looking at the audience, and the crowd will remember "that band with the crazy dude, lets' go see them again!" NOt only that, but the camera is on him the whole time, most videos ignore the bass player, even when he's the guy playing the hook, taking a solo, or even if the bass player is the only one playing! "Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, yet you cannot play upon me.'-Hamlet Guitar solos last 30 seconds, the bass line lasts for the whole song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Brown Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 good point.... I am not taking his fun away.... it did make me smile.... "When I take a stroll down Jackass Lane it is usually to see someone that is already there" Mrs. Brown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicklab Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 I guess this what you can expect when a Brazilian band covers some Creedence. He at least seems to be enjoying himself. But the douche-chills upon watching this? MASSIVE. Obligatory Social Media Link "My concern is, and I have to, uh, check with my accountant, that this might bump me into a higher, uh, tax..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcadmus Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 well, he certainly "owned it," as this guy recommends -- who, incidentally, I still think is a genius. [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=140QmUnAGeI "Tours widely in the southwestern tip of Kentucky" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b5pilot Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 A tad bit over the top but I have no problem with it. Heck in my youth I used to climb the PA, do back bends, stand on chairs and table tops, and dance all over the place. All the time singing to myself. Or if I felt I or the crowd wasn't at the energy level I thought I and/or they should be at I would stomp around like a crazed angry bull metal maniac. Pete Townsend was one of my influences (minus the guitar smashing). Now that I'm older and fatter not as much. I still dance around a bit although not as dramatically and occasionally do something a bit over the top but I also these days play in a trio where the guitar player mostly sits on a stool and the drummer of course is sitting. I would look way over the top next to those guys. My philosophy is how do you expect the crowd to have a good time if you don't appear to be. Being a bit of a clown breaks crowd inhibitions, I think. Kind of like, "If that guy can act like a goof then why can't I"? Plus it breaks up the boredom of pumping out roots all night long. Yep Jcadmus, I think that guy is genius too. Lydian mode? The only mode I know has the words "pie ala" in front of it. http://www.myspace.com/theeldoradosband Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcadmus Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 Another oldie, but goody. Love the way he makes the reverb tank on the guitar player's amp go kaflooey. [video:youtube] "Tours widely in the southwestern tip of Kentucky" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Gollihur Posted January 9, 2014 Author Share Posted January 9, 2014 My level of schmaltz onstage changed with the gig; other than acoustic duos/trios when I sang a lot, many have been more or less Musical Wallpaper but, even when they weren't, I was often more present than a presence. These days I'm a little looser, but I draw the line at spitting fire and six inch platform shoes; I fall off the tens too easily. 1000 Upright Bass Links, Luthier Directory, Teacher Directory - http://www.gollihurmusic.com/links.cfm [highlight] - Life is too short for bad tone - [/highlight] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imogene Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 My current gig requires a lot of stage presence from the front people (3 lead vocal showmen/show-woman) and they REALLY deliver. Its a 7 piece old school soul/R&B/funk/Motown type of thing. I'm expected to play well and maintain the "cool, laid back look of the bass player." I do enjoy it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcadmus Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 *points* Tom Sullivan! "Tours widely in the southwestern tip of Kentucky" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddiePlaysBass Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 We had the interesting experience last week of having one of our lead singers (who is pregnant and will go into labor any day now) as an audience member, and her sub on stage Afterwards she said: "I didn't realize we are so boring to watch - we need a stage act!" I may cop a few moves off this fella :grin: "I'm a work in progress." Micky Barnes The Ross Brown Shirt World Tour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric VB Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 [H]ow do you expect the crowd to have a good time if you don't appear to be[?] Exactly. I've been in bands who have lost gigs because we didn't have enough of a stage show. We weren't statues and we weren't guessing; the club owners, managers and booking agents flat out told us so. YMMV Did the guy in the first video go over the top? For Brazil? I don't know, have you ever seen their beachwear? It's a bit extreme, too. Or Carnival. I think his stage show could be a bit more refined, mind you. Playing the bass as it sits on top of your head -- hey, that's new to me -- isn't a bad trick. It's just bad that he does it (twice) without rhyme or reason. How does it fit in with the emotion of the song or what his bandmates are doing? Sadly it doesn't. It doesn't flow well, either; one moment it's on his head, the next it isn't. It's just poor choreography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b5pilot Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 I think his stage show could be a bit more refined, mind you. Playing the bass as it sits on top of your head -- hey, that's new to me -- isn't a bad trick. It's just bad that he does it (twice) without rhyme or reason. How does it fit in with the emotion of the song or what his bandmates are doing? Sadly it doesn't. It doesn't flow well, either; one moment it's on his head, the next it isn't. It's just poor choreography. I agree with you Eric his moves had no flow to them. Seemed kind of spastic. Yeah he definitely needs to spend some time working on some choreography and his timing as some of his moves seemed to throw it off in spots. Got to use your moves to help keep time. Lydian mode? The only mode I know has the words "pie ala" in front of it. http://www.myspace.com/theeldoradosband Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimberWolf Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Having a "repertoire" of often repeated but largely inappropriate antics (for the music / venue) can be the basis of a bad comedy schtick, but it doesn't fit my definition of "stage presence". I've always seen it as a combination of image, style, and situational awareness - with the fundamental requirement to serve the music (pun optional). My choice of dress, equipment, and even the "attitude" I project depends on what we're playing. "Hey - Look at ME" stunts are reserved for the moments when the spotlight IS on me. I'm not there to upstage the front (wo)man - I'm part of a cooperative venture with my band-mates - and we ALL need to be attentive to the "feedback loop" we try to create and maintain with the audience. TimberWolf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamy ALB Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Ah, I think he was having fun, fair play!! It us a case of horse for courses, I would have liked to seen what the rest of the band where doing. When you walk on stage people judge you right from the get go, if you let go and have fun then the audience will to, they drink/party more and have a ball. Venue owner checks his tills at the end and you get booked again. Those who perform, entertain, engage with folk work more. I think everybody should be thinking what's my thing when I go out to perform. http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Little-Bitter/185235472447 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard W Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Seemed kind of spastic. Well, there's spastic...and then there's spastic: [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRzKUVjHkGk "Everyone wants to change the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves." Leo Tolstoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Seemed kind of spastic. Well, there's spastic...and then there's spastic: [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRzKUVjHkGk And then there's f***ing SPASTIC! [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvxkJCqmhg A bunch of loud, obnoxious music I USED to make with friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcadmus Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 And yet, somehow, Joe and James seem to make it work. "Tours widely in the southwestern tip of Kentucky" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wally Malone Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 When I saw James Brown at the Sugar Shack in Boston Bootsy was playing bass. Wally I have basses to play, places to be and good music to make! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard W Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 And yet, somehow, Joe and James seem to make it work. So true, and that's the difference between artists and non-artists. "Everyone wants to change the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves." Leo Tolstoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phloid Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I felt sad for the bass player in the first video. I get the impression he is out of touch. He is the guy who thinks he is cool and sexy up there. More people may laugh at him than admire him. Plus he is too old to look and act like that. If he had been famous for that when younger and was still doing it I could understand it. I think he has no idea how out of place he is regardless of whether the crowd is into the moment. The guy with the beer (kid was he old enough to drink?) and three tips was funny. I think the best thing one can do as a bass player is be the least bass-player-like as you can be. It depends on the genre but in rock the bass player is ironically the one with no ability to dance, is the biggest stiff, and has the least amount of charisma. Most of the rock bass players trying to have a presence that I have seen have looked like dorks on stage. The guy who played in Dokken who may still be playing with the latest Foreigner is an example of a typical rock bass player. The least bass-player-like bass player I know of is Paul McCartney. You would think he was playing guitar. He should not be playing bass but he is one of the best. Madonna has always had a stage show featuring dancing. In one of her early videos a guitar player is just a normal guy playing his instrument. She dances all around him, even kissing him at one point. He is immune, doesn't bop around with the rest and just smiles. In another video a different guitar player who obviously does not have a rhythmic bone or muscle in his body tries to bop to the music. It is a disaster. Maybe it looks plausible from the cheap seats at the back of the stadium. The point is that two people just standing doing nothing placed side by side will already have differing degrees of presence and connection to other people around. That can't be faked or jazzed up. You can work at getting more comfortable which develops some of it though. Some people don't have to do anything yet they have stage presence and are in synch with the moment. Sometimes even with an extremely active stage show it does not matter if you have a band member on stage not doing anything other than playing an instrument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcadmus Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I felt sad for the bass player in the first video. I get the impression he is out of touch. I dunno, the audience seemed to like it. The guy with the beer (kid was he old enough to drink?) and three tips was funny. I'm telling you, the dude is a genius. The guy who played in Dokken who may still be playing with the latest Foreigner is an example of a typical rock bass player. That's Jeff Pilsen, and I agree -- I think he's underrated, personally. "Tours widely in the southwestern tip of Kentucky" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phloid Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Aside from someone focusing a video camera on him the entire time I didn't see anything showing the audience cared about what the bass player was doing in that first video. They were having a good time though. The bass player was aware that he was being filmed so he probably stepped things up at least a couple of times but not much. That appears to be his routine. Good for him. Isolating him like this is not fair. If I were there experiencing the event it would have been different for me I am sure. I am going to look for more videos of that kid. As I watched this one I looked for a sign that he was doing schtick but I didn't see him flinch. He may be young but he seems to have guts. You may be right about genius. The Foreigner line up that is on the live Soundstage DVD is really good. They have replaced the drummer Bonham since but the new guy is good also. Jeff Pilsen can backup sing as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Aside from someone focusing a video camera on him the entire time I didn't see anything showing the audience cared about what the bass player was doing in that first video. They were having a good time though. The bass player was aware that he was being filmed so he probably stepped things up at least a couple of times but not much. That appears to be his routine. Good for him. Isolating him like this is not fair. If I were there experiencing the event it would have been different for me I am sure. I agree. Here's an example of a "SPAZ" in context.... [video:youtube] A bunch of loud, obnoxious music I USED to make with friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddiePlaysBass Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 I like it - the drummer Griff posted, I mean. He tones it down a notch during vocals / solo's (though not much) and - more importantly - never misses a beat. Now if he were to do this for every song, it would quickly lose its meaning. Leaves me wondering a bit about that But the dude definitely knows what he's doing up there :grin: "I'm a work in progress." Micky Barnes The Ross Brown Shirt World Tour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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