Reading the audience during a performance, whats your views??

We change our set on the fly. We have about 10 originals and usually only time to play 6 or 7 of them (some songs are pushing the 6 minute mark) so sometimes we'll edit the set to suit the audience. If the crowd has just finished moshing and beating the sh** out of each other, we wouldn't play a song with over a minute of clean guitar and soft singing immediately after. Actually that particular song we stopped playing for a while since we noticed lots of people would walk out during it, and we noticed a better overall reaction after doing that.
 
I like a show type continuity too, not a call songs as you go set like Jay said. I've never been in a band that had that "show" attribute. That's the front guys job, get the crowd together, keep the band rolling, somehow. And that's a pretty tough job. I wouldn't want it. And don't get me wrong, my guy does want them to get up dancing, but at the same time he'll shun the crowds request.
Kinda odd.
He really shines in the important places consistantly, but falls short right when he has them sometimes. It's happened that way more than once, and really it's just bad song choice.

All the great bands have an entertainment aspect about them. A charisma. A strong personality that makes men wanna be like them and womens loins ache.
 
I like a show type continuity too, not a call songs as you go set like Jay said.

I'm not getting that most people make up the whole set on the fly, out of any of this. It's more that if the set list is falling flat, then most are willing to adapt to keep the vibe rolling. I'm down with that.

Midnight Oil used to have about 30 songs on a spinning wheel, spin the thing and play whatever came up. Interesting concept, but personally I'd prefer to have a workable set list (that hopefully flows nicely) written out beforehand.
 
Midnight Oil used to have about 30 songs on a spinning wheel, spin the thing and play whatever came up.

Great band! I got to see them live and they brought it! "Only The Strong" is one of my all time favorite songs.

"When I'm locked in my room I just want to SCREAM!"

Sorry, I just can't resist. Check out the Oils. And turn it UP!


Edit: My apologies for the hijack...
 
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I am really good at reading the crowd. I think behind the set we are a little bit more protected and we can look around more and gauge peoples reaction better than the guys up front. My band always plays on the fly and we don't have downtime either. I am really good at reading the crowd and the other players and I know our material really well so I usually call the songs out or sometimes just start them off on my own.

I know that if the guitar is out of tune that I can call a song with a fiddle intro so he gets a chance to tune and catch up without any downtime. I also like to call the songs because I don't like to play two 6/8 songs in a row or two straight ahead numbers in a row, so I mix it up. I'm also really good at reading the other guys in the band and I know if the lead singer needs bit of a rest I can call a song that one of the other guys sings. I also know what key all of our songs are in and I try my hardest not to call two songs in the same key back to back. It's an artform in itself. We have over 50 songs on our song list, and probably another 25 that we can pull out on top of that.

It is really important to get that read on the audience and anticipate what they want to hear. You can't do that with a fixed set list. You never know when 18 single ladies on a bachelor party are going to show up on a pub crawl (brown eyed girl), or 6 servicemen on shore leave are going to walk in(johnny come lately). You might have the crowd up dancing for three numbers in a row and they might need a break.
 
Great responses. I like the idea of giving individual attention. That would really help people feel a part of the gig but you'd need to make sure not to have people misinterpret the looks - be it "come hither" or "what the %^$& are you lookin' at!" :)

Conrad - dont get me started on Midnight Oil. The Oils were my favourite live band in the late 70s and 80s, daylight second.
 
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I try very very hard to see what's up with the audience, but to tell you the truth, I only really get to catch them in little snatches here and there, as most of my attention is either on my instrument or on the other players on stage. Nobody has ever seemed to mind it, except my wife who mentions I ought to smile more when I play.Having said that, I do pour my heart out into every performance, and I think that gets positive feedback all on its own.
 
I like playing a set straight through, BANG, BANG, BANG, without a lot of dead time between songs. Everyone has a set list and you play it down, then you get off.

Calling songs "on the fly" means dead time and you don't want that. I don't think a set should be approached as one song after another, but rather as a whole experience and what songs work together best to create that experience.

In other words it should be a "show" and not just a "set."

There are ways to make changes on the fly without any dead time. For instance, I'm usually the one who audibles in the band. If I can't catch someone else's eye in the band to go to a different song (while we are still playing the previous song), I will go to a song that has a set drums only intro. I'll do it the second the last song ends, and since the whole band know the intros (think the opening fill to Brick House, etc), they will follow along without me even having to say a word. However, most songs are at least three minutes long...if I see a crowd getting into one, I have at least 2 minutes to get everyone's attention. I'll often call the bass player over, then have him wander to the other band members so they all know what is coming next, before that song is over. Finally, if none of that works, I'll grab my mic and say, "Here's a song called "(INSERT TITLE HERE)", and the band will go right to it with less than a 2 second pause.

Every crowd is different, reacts to different things, and wants to hear different things. I can't tell you how many songs have bombed multiple times when we first started playing them, until they were almost out of our rotation, and then suddenly got everyone moving. Or how many songs we have that kill at 99% of our venues, but then bomb at 1%. Reacting to those things is the best way to keep a crowd.
 
I just pretend that I am jamming with my band in our practice space. I play more comfortably when I'm solely focusing on the drum set and band mates.
 
Yah, cause if this is the case, you're probably playing a show in Toronto or Vancouver ;-)



kiddin' (to a point)

Kiddin'? You know you're pretty much right on the money...

On the one hand, the indie rock band I play with really only plays on a bills with other bands, time is usually limited to a standard 45, our set is usually strictly adheared to with the exception of if anyone in the audience calls something out, in which case we'll oblige.

The other band who books more of the "evening" of entertainment will take a more "on the fly" approach. We have been playing with this approach and some of the concerns about doing this that came up here were repeated within the band. What we are working towards is 3 song mini-sets, within a set. Everyone knows that unless otherwise stated, we go into one song, it means we'll be going into the next 2 right after, trying to cut down on time between songs and in some cases, we've written little seguay's to keep the groove going even within these mini-sets.

We also use our crowd reading to determine when in an evening we'll play certian songs. If the place is hopping when we hit the stage, we go at 'em hard, if we start playing before a crowd really shows interest (or isn't drunk enough to get on the dance floor), we'll hold back on some of the more dance-able songs until we've got a good crowd going. For the most part, we'll play songs we actually want people to pay attention to (our originals) earlier in the night and save the covers for when the dance floor is happening.

As far as my personal interaction with the crowd, I love making eyes with anyone I can, (typically the girls dancing up front) and will do things like pointing a drumstick at someone who is really getting into it. As much as the stage can seperate the band from the audience, I like to try to do what I can to let people know I'm there having a good time with them, not just for them.
 
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