Another great blog by Loren Weisman, that I wanted to give my thoughts to, read it, here.

I totally agree with Loren that in order to understand a band and musician more, you need to see them live. MP3’s and the internet maybe pretty cool, but if you want to give even more respect to the band & artist that you like, you need see them live. Just like with my own music, if you ever get a chance to see me live, I would try my very best to put on the best show as possible. No matter how many people showed up at my gig, I always gave them my best shot.

Communication in between songs is pretty important. I try my very best to talk to the crowd in between songs. What I would do is say the name of the song I’m about to play, then I would explain what it’s about a little bit. Sometimes I would joke around with the audience. Treating your fans like if they are your friends, your fans will keep their respect for you after the gig. They will want to follow you on your tour.

I’ve always treated the audience like if they were my friends. Hanging out with them after the gigs, maybe even taking pictures with them or even signing autographs if you’re lucky enough. I’ve had done both with people before, take photos with fans and sign autographs with people after shows. It may not happen all the time, but once in while, someone will ask me to take a pic or sign something.

When you are communicating with the fans, there are some do’s and don’ts. I already explained some of the things you do, but the things you don’t want to do when communicating with the crowd in between songs is tell long ten minutes stories like Loren said in the blog. I’ve seen musicians do this before. They go on and on and on, boring the audience to death when they want the band or acoustic guy to get to the next song. You also don’t want to be too negative or be offensive.

As far as the swearing and cussing goes, I’ve seen this a lot at band gigs and acoustic shows. It all depends on the audience. It’s mostly the young crowd that don’t mind the swearing, but when you’re at a family friendly event, swearing a lot could get you kicked off the stage. Swearing is okay with the rock & metal crowd, depending on the audience age range, but it must be done carefully. I know a lot of bands can’t help saying the F word a lot at some gigs. It also depends on the venue you are at if the swearing is alright, the bars & clubs, yes, but the outdoor family friendly events, no.

On a positive note, if you want your respect and more people to come to your shows, if you want people to stay throughout your entire performance, make the show fun and enjoyable like Loren said.

I try to make my gigs as fun and exciting, the best I can. You have to see it to believe it. I’m planning on getting back out there performing gigs again sometime in the future, once I have a new batch of originals to play out, and new covers too.

Kev

Edit to add: I actually don’t talk too much in between songs ’cause I’ll admit, I’m not a very talkative guy. I maybe kind of quiet talking to people, but when I’m on stage playing, I’m a very confident dude.