Talking to the Crowd

Catalyst77 · April 2022

Just wanted to get a few thoughts on talking to the crowd at gigs.

At the moment we kind of take it turns (singer/guitarist/bassist) to introduce songs in the set list etc and talk the audience, but is it a bit off piste for us to spread it between the three of us, and taking it in turns etc, rather than the singer doing most of the talking?

horse · April 2022

Ideally I'd think you'd want the singer to do it, but if they're no good at it then whoever is best at it. I suppose all 3 could work if the chemistry is right though

Danny1969 · April 2022

There is (normally) one problem with more than member talking to the crowd because generally the lead vocal mic is quite loud and the other mics, generally used for backing vocals not as loud. So the balance between the mics when talking is a bit shit unless you have a soundman who knows what's coming and adjusts for it. Or you learn to adjust for it yourselves by getting the singer to talk further off the mic and the rest of you right on the mics to try and balance it out.

Whoever is most confident is generally the best option. I used to be in a band where the drummer did all the talking between numbers. Nothing beats a good confident at talking lead vocalist as a front man though

EricTheWeary · April 2022

I remember going to see Fairport Convention and they all spoke to the crowd at some point. It is quite unusual for anyone other than the singer to do it, sometimes just because they are the only one with a mic, but whatever works really.

poopot · April 2022

There’s a line in our song “The Flame”

”just shut up and sing, give the people their show”

CaseOfAce · April 2022

Depends on the singer (and egos..!).

With our previous one I used to do a bit of on stage banter - but with the new one it just doesn't work.
Happy to let her do all the communication - and to be honest I feel now it's more professional if just one person does it - too much noise between band members between songs on stage can become amateurish.

Snags · April 2022

Yeah, but a small amount of chat is part of the show. I've been to gigs where the band just turned in song after song with absolutely no interaction, and whilst some of them were good gigs, I still felt a bit cheated.

Equally you don't want the folk club thing of a 30 minute talked into to a 5 minute song. Or for the singer to stop on every song so the crowd can sing it for them.

It's a balance, like, innit.

axisus · April 2022

Do what you want. There is literally no rule book.

RocknRollDave · April 2022

Whatever works for you, although in my experience if you have more than one person speaking, you end up with times when band members talk over each other, or where one person doesn’t know the other is planning to talk and they start the next song whilst the other is introducing it, or you end up bantering between you in private jokes that lose the audience completely.

Maybe whoever is singing lead is the one who introduces/ talks before a song? Worked for the Beatles, Queen etc.

ESBlonde · April 2022

In one big soul band I did most of the blabbing so on the set list I had artist/writer(s)/year of release etc in small print so I always had a fall back something to say. I also had some at lines for a Saturday night like “you blokes know it’s almost Sunday, time for the car wash…”Cue Car Wash. or “typical english weather I hate all this rain, in fact…” Cue I can’t stand the rain.
Also we evolved our own corny jokes where someone would deliver the joke and we would all shout out the punch line. Finally we rehearsed some songs that just seque into one another so we started one which always resulted in two others and no talking.
like any aspect of the performance some rehearsal and familiarity pays dividends.

EricTheWeary · April 2022

Snags said:

Yeah, but a small amount of chat is part of the show. I've been to gigs where the band just turned in song after song with absolutely no interaction, and whilst some of them were good gigs, I still felt a bit cheated.

Equally you don't want the folk club thing of a 30 minute talked into to a 5 minute song. Or for the singer to stop on every song so the crowd can sing it for them.

It's a balance, like, innit.

I was thinking about seeing (folk duo) Show of Hands a few years ago and there was as much talking as playing. But they told great stories so it was all good. Not sure you could do that at a wedding gig.

Snags · April 2022

I think for some artists, particularly in certain genre, the talking is a much a part of the show, because it's still a performance and an entertainment (Show of Hands, Martyn Joseph kind of stuff).

It's more the local level where someone rambles on in a monotone about a historic figure you've never heard of for good reason, before singing an ode to the man unjustly sacked for stealing paperclips.

Musicwolf · April 2022

This is going to sound callous, but…………….

I really can’t stand it when a singer introduces as song that they have written with a spiel about how they wrote this song when they were in a really bad place and this and that had happened and how this song was they’re way of coming to terms with it and blah, blah, blah. I’m sorry, but you’re confusing me with someone who gives a fuck. I’m paying to see you, so just sing the fucking song. If you want me to act as your Therapist then you can start by paying me £150 an hour.

Stuckfast · April 2022

Musicwolf said:

This is going to sound callous, but…………….

I really can’t stand it when a singer introduces as song that they have written with a spiel about how they wrote this song when they were in a really bad place and this and that had happened and how this song was they’re way of coming to terms with it and blah, blah, blah. I’m sorry, but you’re confusing me with someone who gives a fuck. I’m paying to see you, so just sing the fucking song. If you want me to act as your Therapist then you can start by paying me £150 an hour.

Yes this!! I've paid to be entertained by you. If you're going to talk between songs the talking needs to be entertaining (and it's great when it is).

mrkb · April 2022

Snags said:

I think for some artists, particularly in certain genre, the talking is a much a part of the show, because it's still a performance and an entertainment (Show of Hands, Martyn Joseph kind of stuff).

It's more the local level where someone rambles on in a monotone about a historic figure you've never heard of for good reason, before singing an ode to the man unjustly sacked for stealing paperclips.

To be fair that’s one of your better numbers!

Catalyst77 · April 2022

Well I don't do loads of talking for sure, but I do feel like a bit of a lemon sometimes standing there while the bassist introduces the song that I've written and am about to sing, just feels a bit weird, but didn't want to come across like a total diva by moaning about it!

TheBigDipper · April 2022

I've usually been in bands where the singer does the chat and that seems to meet peoples expectations the best - no-one in the audience gets confused. One band had multiple writers, and the singer would credit the writer and sometimes "hand over" the mic so they could say something. That seemed to work, too. Along the lines of "Dave wrote this one. What's it about, Dave?" and Dave would step up and say (at most) three sentences and count the band in.

CaseOfAce · April 2022

RocknRollDave said:

Whatever works for you, although in my experience if you have more than one person speaking, you end up with times when band members talk over each other, or where one person doesn’t know the other is planning to talk and they start the next song whilst the other is introducing it, or you end up bantering between you in private jokes that lose the audience completely.

Maybe whoever is singing lead is the one who introduces/ talks before a song? Worked for the Beatles, Queen etc.

Yep - pretty much spot on.
Weirdly though back in the 70s it was Brian May who used to do the between song banter for Queen. I don't know at which point Freddie took over but interesting to note the they were still figuring it out / power dynamic within the band.

26.2 · April 2022

Keep it to an absolute minimum is my rule. No ‘this is about…’ or anecdotes. Just play.

RocknRollDave · April 2022

Saw Foo Fighters once, song after song after song, bam bam bam, no time wasting. Little bit of chat here and there to make it personable and engaging, but two hours of music.

Saw Metallica…quite the opposite. They could have fitted another song in their set if they cut out the pointless chat. “Are you alive? Do you feel good to be alive?” etc etc etc Totally disrupts the flow of the set, plus it is boring, boring, boring.

Saw Andy Cairns of Therapy? do a solo acoustic show in a tiny venue. Lots of chat about the songs and the stories behind them. Hugely entertaining, engaging and heart-warming.

Saw Muse, perfectly polished show, but they couldn’t have said more than four words all night. Made it feel impersonal and you might as well have been watching a DVD.

Make of all that what you will.

EricTheWeary · April 2022

Snags said:

I think for some artists, particularly in certain genre, the talking is a much a part of the show, because it's still a performance and an entertainment (Show of Hands, Martyn Joseph kind of stuff).

It's more the local level where someone rambles on in a monotone about a historic figure you've never heard of for good reason, before singing an ode to the man unjustly sacked for stealing paperclips.

I saw folk legend Iain Campbell once. He must have been in his 70s and he rambled on for ages between each song about the Jacobite rebellion. Local legend on the Birmingham folk scene (and father of various members of UB40) but FFS it tried your patience.

Overall it’s good to have something to say to cover the embarrassing silence when the drum kit has fallen apart but unless you are good at the old talky talky keep it to a minimum I guess.

HAL9000 · April 2022

Don’t mind a bit of talk between songs but not too much. I’m there to listen to the music, not the singer’s life story. A little of banter can help to engage with the audience though.

One line of stage chat I remember was from Paul Jones (The Blues Band) between songs: At this point I’d like to introduce you to the band members, but that would take far too long so instead I’ll introduce the band members to you.

Catalyst77 · April 2022

I guess if you are famous people are probably more interested in hearing the backstory of songs, although of course for us normals most of the crowd are often our mates so it seems rude not to speak to them a bit

BenSirAmos · April 2022

The point of talking between songs is to increase the engagement with the audience and increase their enjoyment so whoever can engage best at each point is the person who is most engaging. But at all costs avoid in-jokes and any banter that doesn't contribute to engagement with the audience - that's just arrogant and boring

p90fool · April 2022

Unless you can di it like this guy, don't bother

PolarityMan · April 2022

Depends on the charisma of the frontman. Devin Townsend is hugely engaging for example and have seen him on acoustic shows where he chats a lot. I think you'd be missing out on some of the experience not to have that engagement at a DT show.

By contrast some inter-song banter from Mikael Åkerfeldt from Opeth about how he was inspired to talk more to the crowd by watching Devin Towsnend was cringy in the extreme and following up with a 20 min ramble about interesting rare vinyl that came out in 1972 was even worse...that guys a boring fuck and should just shut up and play the songs.

Either approach is fine as long as you have the ability to pull it off.

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