The Rock and Roll Matrix

I'm going to hinge a lot of comments on this simple diagramme. 

What I'm saying here is that there are two critical elements to your live performance - the way you look and the way you sound. And for each of those elements there are two aspects - those you control directly (Internal) and those that you must rely on others for (External). 

The less you care about your performance, the less anybody else will care about you. Any band can draw a collection of friends and family, and all they need to do is slob onto the stage wearing whatever clothing was not crawling away from them under its own power, play a lifeless rendition of their music, and then get off the stage in time to allow the next band to set up. For those of you who aspire to something better, I'm going to hit on the green an blue segments of this matrix in the next few posts. 

Swagging up the club

One of the innumerable cranky old rock musicians I know, respect, and do my best to love had this suggestion for increasing your presence...

"Swag up the clubs where you play. Give the sound guy a tshirt and a CD. Make them love you."

Consider this... clubs play music between sets and before and after the show. They typically have a collection of CDs sitting next to the sound board. If you give up one copy of your CD to the sound tech and they like it, they'll play it. Which means that your music is ringing through that club, even when you're not there. If it's a club that you have or will be playing then you KNOW that you're dealing with the people you want to reach.

Oh, and the more chances the sound tech gets to hear what you sound like before he/she has to mix you live, the more likely they are to get it right.

The intro, briefly

This blog is my attempt to impart some wisdom, a bit of creativity, a few opinions, and hopefully some good advice to working bands who give a shit about live performances.

Some of these ideas and comments are my opinions, others come from other musicians and musically inclined people that I know. And of course comments are welcome although I will be ruthless in keeping them in line. Remember folks, edit yourself or I'll do it for you.