So you are in a rock band. You've been writing songs for years. You've been playing music even longer. Let's pretend that everyone in your band is very talented. Odds are strong that your singer sucks. If you are one of the exceptions, you may have some real potential to be a successful band. Don't let lack of talent stop you. I just noticed the other night that Green Jelly's ?3 Little Pigs? cracked the top 100 songs of 1993 on the Billboard pop charts. So this sort of shoots down the requirement for music virtuosity. So what are fans looking for?

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Fans Want Fun

This may sound oversimplified, but many bands overlook it. Fans want to have fun. They work all day. They want to go out and have a good time. That's why they came to the club in the first place. Are you prepared to give them a good time? How do you intend to do this? Practicing your music in a place other than your basement is not fun. (I call it practicing in front of people when bands don't do anything any differently at their show than they do in their practice space). This is 99% of the bands. Imagine your buddy who'll sit through your practice. He usually ends up falling asleep halfway through it. What makes him go nuts at your live show? Think about the difference.

What's In It For Me?

I'm selfish. So what! I ask ?what's in it for me?? all the time. Why shouldn't I? I'm all about me. I'm guessing you are all about you. Guess what! All your potential fans are asking ?What's In It For Me?? also. That's right.... all of them want something. So when you play a live show, you should be asking yourself ?What can I give these people??. When the show is over, you should be able to say ?This is what I've done for you?.

When you start reversing the ?What's In It For Me?? concept into ?What can I do for you?? you'll start becoming very generous. When you become generous you become successful. What if you passed out free shots to everyone in the bar courtesy of ?band name?? Is is expensive to do this? It can be. But not if you call up the local liquor distributor and tell him what you are doing. You may get an awesome deal.

If you focus on giving your fans as much as you possibly can, they'll return the favor. They'll come to your live shows and pay for the cover to get in (assuming you are entertaining).

Fans Want Something To Talk About

Pay attention after a show. You'll hear people talk about how one guy puked all over the place. You'll hear about how the singer knocked over this huge thing and it broke into pieces. You'll hear about how the drummer through semen all over the crowd. You won't hear the general buying public talking about how technically proficient your music was. Most of the time you won't hear any talk at all about the music.

How Important Is Music At A Live Show?

The depends on the band. If a live show was 100% about music and nothing else, wouldn't someone just listen to the cd? Why would they drive to a club, put up with the loud noise, pay to get in, etc? To me, the answer is simple. Live shows are not 100% about the music. By the nature of the beast, you can't usually hear anything in a live show anyway. Because of poor PA systems the sound you emit into a crowd is probably about 10-20% of the show. So if you have a live show coming up in 3 weeks what do you practice? What's the best way to spend your time? Most bands practice their music about a million times. That's great if you want to be a musician. Musicians work at music stores or factories their whole lives (nothing wrong with that). If you want to make money with your music and not have a real job you need to be an entertainer. You don't have to be a musician to be an entertainer. Some guys can stand there and talk and be entertaining. (Impressive, actually). They are called comedians. Think about this in your live show. If music is only 10-20% of a live show, you need to spend 80% or more on the other parts. This would be the visual part of the show.

If you are a young rock band, you may not remember a day when rock music was dangerous or bad. There were days when Church's would protest rock concerts. Nowadays, this same music is on Cadillac commercials. It's sad. There was a day when rock music was about breaking all the rules, ending up in jail, and laughing about it. Now it's about making sure that dad likes it. Your dad can shove it. We are making rock music. It's supposed to piss him off.

So even if you music is ?normal? by today's standards, you live show doesn't have to be. There is no rule that says you can't set your guitar down in the middle of a song and just start beating the crap out of your bass player. It's funny. Is that too harsh? Use Nerf swords and destroy each other. Why can't you fill water balloons with ranch dressing at throw it at the crowd? (You may be able to answer that question pretty easily, but at least I have you thinking.)

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the live rock show is not what it used to be. Any sort of live music is not what it used to be. Technology has changed. I can stay home all night and type stupid articles like this for the internet. I can watch a DVD or a VCR tape. I can play Nintendo or Xbox. Back in 1975, you didn't have any of these things. Of course you went out. You didn't even know what a real band looked like back then because there was no MTV. You just listened. A live concert was a big deal. Now it is not. I can download a live concert in about 3 mouse clicks nowadays.

Since the live concert just isn't what it used to be, you should be thinking of ways for you to compete with Star Wars on DVD. If you can't beat Star Wars, your fans won't be impressed. Good luck