Every concert is different in some way, and everything that occurs within the venue during the event adds to the overall experience. Different aspects of the experience can give the fan a certain view of the band(s) they see. The visual aspect, or the band’s physical performance, plays a large role in this process. I have gone to plenty of shows in my time, and from these different concerts, I garner information about stage presence and overall etiquette.
When I see bands live, the ones that I remember the most are the ones with the strongest stage presence and personality. In 2017, I went to a concert in Chicago where I saw a local act called Dysphoria. The vocalist had this huge knife that he’d wave around on stage, and it was really lame, but it was a fun sort of lame. It did not make me remember the music very well, but it did make me go to their merch booth afterwards and grab a CD.
That same night, the opening act that I was there to see, Exhorder, gave me the most memorable night of my life. Exhorder was a thrash metal band from New Orleans in the early 1990s before disbanding and recently reforming. Everyone in the band was around 40-50 years old, but they had the most on-stage energy I had ever witnessed. I’d been a fan of theirs for some time now, and that night, they sounded exactly how they did on their first record in 1990.
What these bands did was use their stage space to their advantage. No one wants to see a band that just stands around playing their instruments because they might as well stay home and listen to the CD instead.
This does not mean that every band member is required to move. One of the most classic examples is AC/DC – when Angus Young used the stage as his personal playground, no one noticed that Malcolm Young just stood to the side doing nothing but playing his instrument. Moving around stage is recommended for guitarists, bassists and vocalists.
For guitarists and bassists, I do not recommend flipping your instruments around since that usually ends in tragedy. Instead, stick to moving your feet as well as your fingers.
One common predicament is when there’s an instrumental break, meaning the vocalist has nothing to do for a while. During this moment, be the hype man. When I saw Archspire in 2019, the vocalist would hold up a plastic, light-us sign that read “APPLAUDE” when the guitarist was playing a solo. Another option, if you lack a prop, is to stand and headbang, order the crowd to form a pit, or even pose next to your bandmates and hype them up. Get creative!
For drummers, having stage presence is difficult since they can’t move around the stage at all. If I were a drummer, I would not be worried about having a stage presence. However, if you want to have one, try out some tricks with your drumsticks. I would recommend practicing them before going on stage and winging it.
Vocalists oftentimes find themselves talking about things the audience just doesn’t care about. Obviously, they’re not just going to sit down in silence if there’s a technical difficulty to be sorted out. No, they’re going to speak and keep the audience entertained. It’s easy to come up with things to talk about, but here are some things not to discuss with your audience.
First, don’t self-promote too much. Everyone knows you have a merch booth, and if they’re like me, they would have already scoped it out. Don’t mention the merch booth until your set is over.
Second, do not ever apologize for a slip-up. Sometimes, when a band has a new lineup or song to get used to, or when they just aren’t having the best night, the vocalist will apologize to the audience. Trust me, vocalist, nobody even knows what you’re talking about. No one notices slip-ups; they’re just there to have a good time. Apologizing for it is implying that it happened, and it lowers morale for the rest of your band, decreasing quality of stage presence.
Third, do not get mad at your audience. They are there to enjoy your set. If you really need an example of this, look to Axl Rose of Guns ‘n’ Roses. Treat your audience like gold, not like trash.
During the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, I recommend using your extreme increase of free time to practice your stage presence.
There are plenty of ways to increase – or decrease – your stage presence, and it’s always best to do what suits your band’s image and sound. For more help or questions, send me an email at themetalvoid@gmail.com.