Playing live: rockstar rules

Some of these ideas may at first seem quite stuck-up, but the motivations behind them are pure business and practicality and have nothing to do with ego. A big part of this set of behaviours has to do with vision and planning.

 

If you want to go far, you want to be famous and sell lots of records. In order to do that, you need people to perceive you in a very specific way, and that is what a lot of the Rockstar Rules are all about. Your audience must perceive you as famous and just out of reach, no matter that you are not. This is achieved not by being arrogant and conceited, but by adopting one or two methods and thinking ahead a bit. Being well prepared pays more dividends than having good sound. It creates a perception, an aura that your audience will pick up on and interpret. The trick is to give them the right signals so that they become your biggest free adverts, your viral marketing campaign, brand ambassadors and supporters all rolled into one.

 

Rule 1: Never be hanging out in the venue when it opens and the audience begins to enter.

 

This is a simple one that covers a multitude of evils. For a start, the unspoken part of this is: make sure soundcheck is done before the doors open. There is nothing worse for an audience than having to witness soundcheck. It is boring. It is irritating. It is very unprofessional. The other good reason for this rule is also very practical. There is nothing more nervewracking than watching a crowd slowly trickle in. You are probably nervous enough as it is about your performance without worrying about the size of the crowd. Let the promoter, your manager, and the nightclub worry about that. You are there to deliver a live show and that is where your focus should be. You need to find a place where you can all go after soundcheck to relax, do a last minute check of the set list, get into your gigging gear and generally focus your minds on the coming show. You want to come back to the venue with half an hour or 45 minutes to spare so that you can make sure the instruments are all set and that you are ready to take the stage at the appointed hour. Lastly, it means that when the crowd does see you, it is as a band about to hit the stage in full playing gear, focused and keen.

 

Rule 2: Play your set to the agreed length with continuity and passion.

 

As a new band, the worst thing you can ever do is overstay your welcome. Just because a crowd that doesn’t know you – and is there to see someone else – loved you for six songs, does not mean they will love you for ten. Get on stage, do your thing and get the hell off. It is always better to leave a crowd baying for more and keen to see you again than for them to be waiting impatiently for you to leave the stage. If you play longer than you agreed, you will also annoy the other bands, the promoter and the management. Be nice. You are still learning, so act with humility and know your place. But remember that you are there to make friends with an audience as well. Therefore, even if there are only ten people in the crowd, hit that set like you are playing Wembley Arena. Do not take long breaks between songs to talk rubbish. Let your music talk. Play a tight, short and polished set. Make sure you repeat the band name at the beginning, middle and end of the set, clearly and LOUDLY! Sure, you can’t help strings breaking, but long pauses between songs are embarrassing, avoidable and look ridiculous. Make sure you are so well rehearsed as to be able to play your set with only the shortest of breaks between songs.

 

Rule 3: This is work – conduct yourself accordingly.

 

Yes, music is your passion, and yes, there are girls and booze and all your mates around you. But you are here to do a job. Keep focused and do that. Do not get drunk, do not try and pick up girls before the gigs, do not hang out with your mates. Keep tight with your band, stay focused and deliver the goods. The party comes after. If you want to continue gigging, you need the other bands and the promoters and club owners to think of you as reliable, professional and competent. If you are all those things, you don’t even have to be any good. But if you are good as well as those things, you will walk a far easier route down this road. Yes, you may be brilliant, and maybe within six months these bands will be supporting you. That’s no reason to have an arrogant attitude. This is now, and you need to behave accordingly.

 

Rule 4: Do not stay in the venue getting out of hand after your show.

 

This is a tricky one. As a support band, you are obliged to stay and watch the headline act. You will learn from their show and they will see you as supportive guys who are prepared to go the whole way. If you don’t stay for their show, you create the perception that you are just in it for yourselves. But this rule also means that the party doesn’t start until the show is done. Spread the word that after the show the band is going to a bar or a house nearby, where the after-show party is going to happen. Invite the pretty girls or hot guys you have been eyeing out, making it clear that this is a band and friends thing, and that you are personally inviting them. It doesn’t matter who comes – do it. If you want to build a credible reputation for yourselves, you can’t have your bass player getting very drunk and drooling over every girl at the bar. It just isn’t cool. But if you have a place to go where everyone is a friend, or is invited,

you have a really great afterparty on your hands.

 

Originally published in David Chislett's One, Two, One, Two: A Step By Step Guide To The South African Music Industry. Download a free copy of the book at www.davidchislett.co.za.