Recently, my band You and What Army supported the band Hadouken - a band that’s huge over here in England and is on Major Record Label Atlantic records – Check it out:

While I was there I learned quite a lot…

Before the show

Prepare Yourself

Do some excercise to prepare your body for running around (If you’re not going to perform to the people then they’re not going to remember you.   At a live show it is NOT all about the music, that’s the CD.)   Eat healthily so you’re in even better shape.   Organise extra practices and in general just keep on top of things.   Make sure you leave NOTHING until the last minute.   There will always be things that crop up that will take up your time – if you’ve dealt with everything you can deal with, then you can’t say you didn’t do your best to prepare.

Bring Merch

Make sure you’ve prepared your T-shirts, posters, badges and all that well in advance.   Merch is definitely the way you’ll make the most money at a gig of that size!

If you can, get a chatty friend to man the merch stand – someone who can converse with the fans will increase your sales for sure, and if they get talking to the merch people from the other bands, you never know what connections can be created!

Talk to the other Bands

There’s always one member of the band who’ll be a bit more sociable than the rest – let them work their magic and make friends with the band.   Maybe ask the promoter or a security guard to introduce you to the band if you feel uncomfortable just imposing.   Being nice helps when you’re actually talking, engage them and ask them how their shows have been going – chances are they’ll like talking about their band! (Don’t you?)

During the Show

Go Mental!

It’s your chance to play to an audience you wouldn’t get in a months worth of small gigs – make the most of it!   Scout out what you can jump off and what you can talk about with the crowd.   That reminds me…

Banter!

Engage the crowd!   This shouldn’t be too hard to get them making some noise, if you mention the headline act you know they’ll respond, just take a look in the video above!   Get them doing things and they’ll feel more like a part of the show.

After the Show

Make Friends with Fans

After you’ve played, go down and talk to the people – if you made an impact then they’ll come and talk to you.   Don’t just sit in the back room, you won’t make a lasting impression half as effectively as if you talk to the people that watched you and go that extra mile.

Take some Cards

I got the whole band handing out business cards with our myspace, facebook and website on when we were talking to the fans – the next day we had literally over 100 new friends on facebook alone.   At gigs, fans may be entheusiastic, but they’ll also be drunk and forgetful.   A card is a quick way to give your details so they can remember without having to mess around with pens and paper, and they’re also seriously cheap.

Thank everyone

Send a message to the band(s) you were supporting… to the promoter… to anyone that had anything to do with the show.   It could open up avenues of conversation and they’ll appreciate that you took the time to thank them!

Sometimes there’s no avoiding it – if you want to play guitar music live, even with synths and samplers, there’s no substitute for the real guitar-bass-drums behind the electronica. Samples just don’t cut it. So when you’re starting up your band, or if someone has left and you need to replace them – here are some tips to make everything less stressful!

1. Get their phone numbers!
You suddenly find out that a record label exec wants to meet with you -exactly on the time when your audition with the most promising guitarist is taking place! Without a phone number you’re letting someone down. With it, you’re telling Mr. Shred to hold onto his pickups and organise a new date, then sorting out a billion pound world-record-breaking contract. Sorted. i.e. You just never know when you might need to get in contact.

2. Get them to say something!
“hi im fred bloggs I wanna play guitar for u” – This doesn’t give you much to go on. When requesting applications, make sure to give them a space to talk. You can see from this who genuinely wants to be in your band and who just wants an easy ride to superstardom off the top of your dope skillz, yo. If someone takes the time to say why they would be an awesome addition to your band, and what they can offer, and someone else doesn’t – you know who’s going to be dedicated enough to put in extra hours after the band practice is over!

3. Keep things in one place!
When requesting auditions it can get confusing if they’re coming from everywhere. You might have myspace messages, emails, phone calls and blog responses all just waiting to slip out of your head. You might miss the only drummer in your area who can play to a click track if you don’t keep things organised. Direct everyone to one place. If it’s public, it also weeds out those who are embarrassed easily (not a good trait on stage!) And by redirecting them, if they don’t bother then it’s also weeding out those who don’t really care enough to put in a few extra minutes!

4. Keep a database!
Sometimes it’s not possible to get everyone to go to the sample place – as strange as it may sound not everyone has myspace… hell some people still don’t have the internet! So if you do have to keep in touch with a lot of people, make sure you note down everyone that’s applied in a database, with all their details. This way you won’t forget anyone or anything!

5. Don’t go chasing wild geese.
Remember – it’s an amazing opportunity for them. When talking with them, don’t bother chasing up those people who can’t be bothered to reply. You don’t want to be in a band with people who aren’t going to be easy to contact. Communication is vital to the success of any business, and a successful band is run like a business!

Now go forth and assemble the greatest group the world has ever witnessed! (Alliteration FTW!)

Any other tips when it comes to organising auditions? share them with us in a comment!

You could be the greatest songwriters and musicians in the world, but with a boring live show no-one will stick around to notice!   Here are some tried and tested ways to get your audience talking about your performance instead of over it whilst playing some of the smaller venues!

1. Plan your performance – A short brainstorming session with the band before you go on stage recapping what you’re going to play and what you’re going to say can save embarassment on stage when people are asking what song is next!
2. Banter is Good – Audience interaction makes shows unique.   In the past I’ve even encouraged hecklers to get people involved.   Try not to go overboard (Unless you are a stand up comic/electrometalcore band) since people do like to hear some music between the outbursts, but being friendly and not taking yourself too seriously is a great way to earn respect from new potential fans!
3. Lights… – Getting some interesting lighting is a sure fire way to turn some heads – most people don’t expect epic lasers from a local live music venue.   Fog machines are cheap and there must be a mate you know somewhere who you can rope in to man the makeshift lighting rig!   Strobes can be great too, but remember – for lasers and strobes you need to warn the management and put up warning posters at the entrance to the venue!
4. Camera… – Recording a show and putting it on youtube (Or putting a short compilation up) is a great way to get new subscribers and views after the show is over.   Make sure to tell people when and where it will be uploaded during the show and people will watch it to see themselves and remember parts of the set they particularly enjoyed!
5. Action! – Make it a show; It’s not all about the music, no matter how many doped up TV hippies tell you otherwise – Prance around, steal someone’s drink and entertain people as you run away from them whilst still performing the song (Scary, but I’ve proven it gets people interested)… hell so long as you do something that attracts attention go for it! (If you think the venue will allow it!).   One specific rule of thumb I go by; If there’s a balcony in a venue it’s just ASKING to be jumped off.
6. Break it up! – Instead of simply running through your songs and leaving, try interspersing some other things – electronica based bands can throw down some raves, hip hop bands can spit some freestyle lyrics, rock and metal bands can play some instrumental riffs… Solos can be fun if they’re short – people like to see talented musicians, but generally they don’t like to see their egos running away with them!
7. Get them involved – Finally we come to the most important part of a live show – if you aren’t involving the crowd, they may as well listen to a CD or watch you on the internet.   Whether they’re dancing, raving, clapping, moshing, headbanging, boogieing, skanking, hip hop bouncing, swaying, screaming, cheering, booing, jumping, joining you on stage or attempting to break the world record for conga line length, if they’re actively involved in a show they will find it infinitely more memorable.   If no-one is moving, MAKE THEM.   Grab them physically and drag them to the dancefloor, or pick the biggest guy there and start a pit.   If you aren’t afraid, that is.

These are all things that have helped turn my band’s live shows into a spectacle instead of just another gig.   If you’re worried about people not liking your band for being too in-your-face then you’re going to have to be really lucky to get any sort of recognition from playing your songs at people in bar after bar after bar.

Another useful tactic; think about which shows you remember and why.   It’s not ripping the other bands off – it’s called taking influence!

I hope there is something you can take away from this list and try at your next show!

Any methods you’ve learned that make a show wedge in someone’s mind?   Something you’ve seen at a show that you’ll never forget?   Share them with us using the comment box below!