Rethinking Your Live Show
Most of you know that I work with bands and artists of all levels and genres; from Grammy winners to indie artists, making a go of it on their own. Most of the major artists I work with are always rethinking their live shows and how to make them better. It keeps it fresh for them and for their audiences.
One of the things they work on is to incorporate new and/or creative technology into their live shows. However, it still amazes me tha
t so many other acts are not using the technology available to make their shows better!
You may not be able to have huge video walls, lifts that take you through the audience, waterfalls, etc., but there’s still a lot you can do creatively. Small steps…in most cases improvement comes incrementally. You have to start somewhere.
Those of you familiar with my Live Music Methods know I talk about materials, tools and skills – the technique of performance: understanding the tools we have, how to use them, why and when we should use the stand, the stool, the mic…even the headset for some artists.
If you’ve seen me at a workshop, you know one of the first things I do is get the monitors out of the way so we can use more of the space. Monitors are often the barrier between us and the audience. They limit where we can go on the front of the stage to put pressure on the audience.
When rehearsing with artists, I recommend constantly that they use the new technology available to make their show better. Along with the other onstage tools, I also suggest using videos, because media is becoming so affordable.
You can get pretty creative on a small budget! In one of Daniel Lanois previous tours, he didn’t carry video screens with him on the road – he carried blow up balloons to project his images.
Very effective, clever and easy to transport! (I’ll be exploring this idea for singer/songwriters in my up-coming DVD series geared specifically to address the challenges of performance faced by singer/songwriters.)
What I want to talk to you about right now is getting the players up front free of cords and able to move anywhere onstage. I am amazed so many vocalists and guitar players don’t use wireless technology or in-ear monitors.
I guess I shouldn’t be amazed in most cases. A lot of it is because there is a lack of knowledge about how to use the entire stage. If artists onstage knew how to be as creative with their live show as they are with their music, wireless technology would be a must for those in the band who are mobile!
Yes, it’s an investment. But for bands wanting to go to the next level, it’s an investment you’ll need to make sooner or later.
The first thing you need to do is check out some of the technology available. Take a look at this video with Ryan Smith from Shure. He came by with some gear at one of my rehearsals and talked to one of the artists about their technology:
**Note – This segment is older, but you’ll get the point.