What I Learnt Gigging on European Cup Final night

What place has the final of the Champions league got in a blog about getting a playing gigs? You may well ask.

With the final in Rome some 2 hours away it reminds me of the significance of the one and only gig I've ever played on the same night as the final.

It was a couple of years ago with Liverpool having their re-match with A.C. Milan. We were playing a fairly well known venue in the North West (The Limelight in Crewe) and were to go on after the game had finished.

I'd been after a spot at this venue for many months and so when the offer finally came, we agreed to play on a Wednesday night. Normally, due to other commitments we only played at weekends and we'd have rain checked this one too because of the football too I guess.


It wasn't a great turn-out on the night. Those people in the place seemed to only be there to watch the match on flat screen TVs. The game ended in defeat for the local side and twenty minutes later we trudged onstage in front of an already depressed scattering of drunks who had stayed on beyond the final whistle.


This was one of the first gigs we'd played since losing our extrovert front man and it was also one which we videoed. The reason for the video was the creeping feeling that since our change in personnel we were failing to connect with crowds the way we once had.

Watching the lack lustre performance back later was the inspiration which ultimately led to the Rouse the Crowd Ebook .Without our front man and with a crowd in serious need of rousing, we went down like a sack of the proverbial.


The night led to acknowledgment that something had to be done about the visual side of the band. About the audience interaction. Looking back, any front person would have struggled with that crowd and on that night. But, much study of other bands, successful front men (and women) and performance research followed by us.

Mercifully the rest is history. I'm fairly sure thought, that without the Champions League final and the recording of our cringe-worthy performance that night we would have folded the way so many other bands do due to audience indifference.

Tonight though, my guitar stays in it's case until Friday and I'm watching the game instead.

9 ways to Alienate your gig crowds

Sometimes the best way to explain "How" to do something is to talk about how NOT to do it. So, at the risk of sounding sarcastic, here are some ideas for when you're onstage. These will help you avoid good crowd reactions whenever you play live.

1. Don't Practise your material
This will leave you free to look anxious and worried onstage and make sure you don't spend any time focused on putting on a "show" of some sort.

2. Leave Plenty of pregnant pauses in between numbers
Great for boring an audience and killing any mood your songs may have created

3. Look bored
This one will work best when all band members do it and generally it should encourage similar reactions from the crowd

4. Don't talk to the the crowd
Make sure you don't even say thanks after any applause or even "Hello" when you start

5. Adopt a fixed frown
Be cautious not to smile. Works well with 3 above.

6. Avoid any eye contact
The danger here is you can end up looking warm and approachable if you make eye contact. Keep your eyes on your fretboard (if playing guitar) for example. You'll probably need to if you adopt suggestion 1 above anyhow.

7. If you must talk to the crowd:
Don't do any preparation about what you're going to say. Just hope it will all come out OK. Ideally keep the content focused on you not them and try to ramble for as long/often as possible. Mumble as much as possible and ideally use heavy reverb when you talk.

8. Don't use a set list
The ensuing chaos, lack of "flow" is always good for poor audience interaction. This helps achieve number 2 above as well

9. Turn your back on the audience
Should be done from time to time for extended period for maximum results I shouldn't laugh really, my band was doing most of the above when we first started!


Please feel free to add your own suggestions via the Comments tab

Audience banter when you're gigging

Over the weekend I had a couple of emails from guitarists with widely different experience of playing gigs.

One was in his forties and had been playing in various bands since a teenager. Firstly in the hope of landing a record deal and then over time, as a married guy with family playing covers for a hobby as much as anything. The second emailer was still a young guy and had only played 2 gigs with what is his first ever band.

Both email were on the same topic. They described it as "feeling comfortable talking to audiences" and "getting the crowd to warm or respond to you".

The older guy had countless gigs under his belt but still struggled with what he called indifferent audiences.

Judging by the bands I work with and my own experience, getting your audiences really involved when you're playing (as opposed to them chatting amongst themselves with their backs to you let's say) happens best when the "foundations" are solid. By this, I mean, when everyone on the stage knows their parts inside out and when you have no other concerns about you're sound or look. As boring as it might sound, this often comes down to preparation. Enough time for a reasonable sound check for example, and reliable equipment. Nothing is make an audience uneasy than when they can tell a performer is nervous - even if it is about whether or not his mixer will last through the night..

So I told the 2 guitarists concerned to do their preparation fully. (After all, what is rehearsing if it's not preparing? )

Being prepared is a big deal as far as giving you confidence is concerned. Preparation can extend to the methods you use to connect with your crowds. There's no shame in having a few stock phrases, comments or questions you ask or use from gig to gig. These are a good fall-back if you dry up. Over time you'll find you'll add to these as you get ideas or watch other bands and (most satisfyingly) as things occur to you spontaneously on the night. Just make sure you remember them ad use them to try to engage some members of the crowd. No matter how briefly. Ask the occasional question, tell a fact or two about a forthcoming song. Start small and slowly to build your confidence.

I also suggested to the guitarists, that if crowd reactions really were a problem they could structure their set lists in ways specifically designed to encourage crowd interaction. Set lists are often drawn up for very different reasons...

audience banter at gigs

Gigging where you're unknown

We're playing a new venue for the first time next weekend and it's got me thinking again about how to try and swell audience numbers so that we're more likely to get asked back.

When we first started we'd invite a couple of die-hard friends/fans along via text messages and leave the rest of it to chance. Even getting friends along can get more difficult though the more often you get out gigging. Who wants to come along and see/hear pretty much the same thing night after night?

So over time we've adopted the following to give ourselves the best chance of a reasonable crowd:

1. Email alerts to registered subscribers to our band's website. (Try aweber.com out if you want to get into this).

We generally reserve any such emails for when we think we most need help with audience numbers - and those subscribers most local.

2. Small Flyers/cards at gigs prior to the one where we're trying to boost numbers.
This Bank Holiday Monday we're playing an outdoor gig and will scatter flyers around (having Okayed it with the venue manager 1st) with our contact details (for people to book us for private functions) AND also mention the new venue gig next weekend.

3. On Mic announcements
When we thank the crowd at the end of Monday's show we'll remind them about the gig next weekend.

4. Website Announcement
Depending on what sort of indications we get from people on Monday about coming to the gig the week after, we might make a further announcement about it on our website homepage.


5. Press Release
Next Tuesday is deadline day for the local paper in the area we're playing the "new" gig. A press release with a picture from bank Holiday Monday's performance and a suitable "local angle" to the story will further help alert people to the show.

Either way, in 2009 when venues are more careful about the money they spend on bands, we don't like to leave gig crowd numbers to chance any more...