I’m probably going to get slammed by musicians out there for saying this but I gotta get this off my chest anyway. I know unsigned and amateur musicians everywhere think that performing music in front of an audience may be a cool thing, it may be a blast, and you may think it’s the best thing going on in your life…but come on…really?
What is so special about bringing your instruments to some small shithole bar, cafe or a nightclub with a big stage? I’ve seen live music lots of times over the years and I’ve been noticing that a lot of musicians are looking pretty bored to death playing their instruments on stage. They claim that the shows they play are such a blast, but I don’t buy it. Most of the musicians and bands that I’ve seen in the past looks pretty bored, not really showing any excitement or fun.
What is so fun about it? Is it the drinking and the hard partying? The energy of the music? The fans that come out to support it? Or just simply for the love of music alone? I don’t find any fun and excitement in any of it really. Playing music in front of people is no different than playing music alone at home.
Yeah, it sure is nice to go to a live show or open mic to perform your original songs in front of an audience and getting good feedback from the public, but you can do that on the internet these days, anyways. I remember a reader in this blog saying that the reason most musicians perform is that we crave that we are in the center of your attention, an ego kind of thing.
The only thing on the musicians mind is being in the spotlight and the only thing they care about is promoting themselves. That’s why we play live shows. What is so rewarding and gifted about playing your music live? What is so special about it? It ain’t like you’ve been taken to the next level and been handed a trophy or anything.
Instead of concentrating on making music and songwriting, they’d rather waste time getting their name out there and shove themselves in people’s faces. I care about making the good music that I’m proud of instead of being obsessed with forcing people to listen to it and manipulating them to like it.
The reality is, most musicians that write their own songs think they need to get it out there by playing live shows when you don’t really need to. Just make the music for yourself, and who knows, your music will get out there on it’s own. They don’t really need to promote themselves to death. I don’t promote my stuff at all, well, except for this blog and other sites online.
The point of this blog post, is that you must worry about your own music, loving it, and not worry about how many people listen to it. You can either have tons of fans or no fans at all, just be happy to what you do. That’s what I find fun in music is writing songs for yourself. You have to admit sometimes that there is really nothing fun and cool about performing on stage. It is only cool that if you’re creating art out of your mind.
Kev
Edit to add: Btw, I’m not trying to be a selfish person in this post ’cause I’m not a selfish person like most musicians are, and I’m NOT putting down my supporters or anything as I appreciate the support, I’m just being a little honest that there isn’t anything special about performing live and I can tell you right now, that many musicians out there are being dishonest about it.
K'Brocking 
I agree with you for two reasons:
1. You are totally correct that alot of musicians (local and otherwise) look bored off their asses playing. Alot of these types are from the jamband genre of music. Their guitar strap length is way to short ( thus having the guitar WAY too high). Not cool. Look about as mangina un-rocknroll as you can get. I say KICK OUT THE JAMS OR GET OFF THE STAGE!
2. The other categories some of the great bands fall into. Brock, you fall into this category. The Beatles played live for the first half of the sixties. As the decade went on, their songs became more complex (mellotrons, orchestras, Ringo singing) and they found there was no way they could perform some of them live. That and the PA’s sucked back then and they couldn’t hear themselves onstage. I’ve noticed that over time your songs have gotten longer, darker, and more complex. This is the reason why I think you are heading more into being a studio musician, rather than playing live.
You, like the Beatles, are starting to write songs that are becoming increasingly difficult to perform live. Am I right?
I am Randy Poffo, and I have spoken!
Kev – You are so right about this. It seems like it is a chore. There are issues with those dreaded sound people. The other artists you are playing with don’t match up. What keeps music interesting is being able to shift in different directions. I find meeting music artists and interviewing more interesting then even seeing some of them perform on stage. I think it is networking for me and promotion on the computer of my music that makes me a different artist instead of the grind of booking gigs and then you wait to get paid fairly. Who wants to travel with all that gear if the piano is there that’s one thing but Brock is right because this there are other things within the music thing then playing for an audience that doesn’t appreciate what you bring to the table.
There is no vitality left in live rock ‘n’ roll. Everybody’s just going through the same old motions and fooling themselves into thinking it has any meaning or relevance.