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Does Your Band Have Star?


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[size=4][font=Arial]Does Your Band Have Star?[/font]

[font=Arial]I have seen a few local club bands over the last couple of months. Many were very good musically, however none had a competent front person with the talent and ability to front the band and interact with the crowd without being pretentious. In other words a person that comes across as genuine and people are drawn to.[/font]

[font=Arial]You guys over 50 probably remember the days of the old hard rock bands where you basically stood up there as a band and played and that was ok. Now, everything is more show driven, even at the bar/pub level.[/font]

[font=Arial]I play bass and sing background vocals and while I would love to think I have the kind of talent to handle a crowd, I don't. This sort of talent is not easy to find and it's harder than most people think.[/font]

[font=Arial]What are your thoughts on the ability one must have to pull off fronting a band or general thoughts on the role of the [i]"Front Person"?[/i][/font]

[font=Arial]Blue[/font][/size]

Edited by blue
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If your front man is boring then you're boned!

1) the main person must show how passionate about the music he is singing / performing they are through body language & facial expression, failure to do this instantly puts me off. 'if you're not enjoying it then I'm probably not going to either'

2) communicate with the crowd, whether it be banter or telling a story that they can find engaging. Ignoring them and being able to get away with it is very hard to pull off well, unless you're a damn good singer.

3) Actually be a good singer ...

If someone is doing those things well then I'm usually enjoying the show, and would have to search for something to say they weren't a good front man.

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I know plenty of fine singers, IMO, and a few good front men, but to get one who can do both
is very rare, IMO.
Personally, I'll settle for the best singer, but there are one or two who can hold an audience.
The biggest 'star' I've come across recently is actually a drummer. He has real personality,
and the audience loves him. He is a superb player as well.

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Or front man is a borderline mentalist, so he does command attention, even if it's not the sort of attention we would necessarily like... :D



He does deflect attention away from the rest of us - a good thing as we're quite boring really.

Edited by discreet
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Absolutely. Our guitarist is handsome, witty, has a great singing voice and chops that guitarists come to watch. He has the "gift of the gab" and audience participation is a major part of our gigs. Bastard! But it does make even the crap gigs enjoyable

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[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1429206963' post='2749292']
Or front man is a borderline mentalist, so he does command attention, even if it's not the sort of attention we would necessarily like... :D



He does deflect attention away from the rest of us - a good thing as we're quite boring really.
[/quote]
You look worried there ;)

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The art of "fronting" seems largely to have passed the music scene by, sadly. I see no one in the clubs or larger venues that I would call an even adequate front man or woman. The ability to have total command of the crowd and the feel of the event is a priceless skill.

Back in the mid 70s, the band I was in (all good friends and my brother was the drummer) "fired" me as their bass player . . . because they wanted me to front the band. We were doing Queen, The Who, Trapeze, Uriah Heep, Zeppelin, Deep Purple, you name it. While I was singing and playing the bass, my fronting abilities were limited by the length of my cord. I gotta tell you, fronting is hard work -- especially for someone who was quite shy around people back then. But I was good. We used to rent out armories and large convention centers and throw our own concerts because the club scene hadn't kicked in yet. I was recruited from all over Florida and even the west coast to fill the front man slot in various emerging and yet uknown bands. But I wasn't interested. I was having too much fun playing for the folks in South Florida.

I have fond memories of looking out on the audience during a break and seeing all the local guitarists on Gary's side of the stage, who, during the show would be trying to figure out HOW he was doing WHAT he was doing; all the bass players in the area would be on Warren's side of the stage freaking out at his theatrics and playing ability; all the drummers near the sides of the stage watching my brother slay on the drums and them just freaking out at his ability to lay down such a powerful groove; and all the vocalists in the area . . . would be at the back of the hall telling people "aww, he sucks. What a no-talent waste up there. You should hear me sing that song!" lol Meanwhile, the front of the stage, where I was, would have literally hundreds of VERY attractive young ladies, many scantily dressed, dancing in front of me and trying to touch me. Aahh, life was good! But, life changes, and we change with it or whither and die.

Peace

Edited by dadofsix
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A mixed bag really. TBH, more often or not, me and Mr. Guitar ( latter days Mr.Drums) were given most compliments . I think the reason for myself ,is because ,due to a way to beat the nerves , I used to pull funny faces / do cheesy rock poses a la rudy Sarzo . The last singer in my last band was great when auditioned/rehearsals.
Trouble is , I wasn't impressed with him singing Fromm his lyric book at gigs .

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One of the most successful bands I was in had the most unassuming frontman.

It was mainly spoken word stuff, not singing most of the time (we were once described as The Fall meets Mogwai), but he had the ability to captivate a room and his 'tween-song musings and poetry often kept the whole venue silent.

Just to say that a frontman doesn't have to be a 'star' in the traditional sense.

Here he is (that's me in the background, in a brief hairless phase)

Edited by ahpook
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That's what I'm talking about: the force of the front man's personality controlling the show and the audience. I used my shyness as a tool. Showing vulnerability, playfulness, and wit, while nailing the vocals on some of the hardest songs on the radio at the time, proved irresistable to the young ladies.

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[quote name='dadofsix' timestamp='1429208721' post='2749325']
That's what I'm talking about: the force of the front man's personality controlling the show and the audience. I used my shyness as a tool. Showing vulnerability, playfulness, and wit, while nailing the vocals on some of the hardest songs on the radio at the time, proved irresistable to the young ladies.
[/quote]

Why, sir...I do declare....

:)

Edited by ahpook
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I think it depends on the type of band you are in. I share vocals with guitarist but its me that talks to the crowd. I can happily have banter with the crowd and get them clapping and singing along as we are a covers band. In an originals band this would come across as cheesy so sometimes quiet and moody work better.

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[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1429206807' post='2749289']
Luckily our singer has all three abilities that are mentioned in the post above. As much is it hurts to admit it that is - no good fuelling these singers egos too much.
[/quote]

Yes the better a front person they are. The more fragile their ego is.

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It will sound arrogant but i can be. I am a great front man. If you look at my profile pic. Thats lord sausage. Singer in a ridiculous comedy rock band. We do a flurry of gigs to great local acclaim then disappear for a couple of years. Then come back them f*** off again. I hold crowds of hundreds in the palm of my hand. Magnetic, electric dynamite. Problem is i'm a sh*t singer and only get away with it by being a ridiculous character in a bizarre band. That's why mainly i'm a bass player in normal bands.

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I used to play in a blues band where the singer used to wind me up - no real personality on stage, hardly any talking to the audience etc. We would just play through the set and go off stage.

However, I then had a mate come to see us who said he liked it - he said it had an air of "This is who we are, if you don't like it f**k off".

I saw his point, but it wasn't really my thing. I have since worked with a totally stage confident front man, who used to get the audience involved all night - he even tried a 10 minute stand up routine one night while we just stood there. When it died a death, he just turned to us, shrugged his shoulders and said "Worth a try.." and carried on with the gig which went down a storm. He gave it up a few years ago - damn shame!

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[quote name='Old_Ben' timestamp='1429206539' post='2749282']
If your front man is boring then you're boned!



2) communicate with the crowd, whether it be banter or telling a story that they can find engaging. Ignoring them and being able to get away with it is very hard to pull off well, unless you're a damn good singer.[/quote]


Telling stories might be tough. If your good I guess you can do it. I think story telling works better for people that are famous and people are generally interested in their lives. For a local bar band it could come off ass "cheesy" and pretentious.

Blue

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[IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/Dick%20Venom%20Live/13804_580280315321046_1921023088_n_zpsqgk588vu.jpg[/IMG]

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[quote name='blue' timestamp='1429213232' post='2749388']
I think you also have to consider the venue and size of the crowd. Fronting to 60 people in a small bar might be different than 2,000 at an outdoor festival.

Blue
[/quote]

Yes you are right. Strangely though I find the smaller crowds harder. To try and have banter with a handful of people stood at a bar is very hard where as asking 300+ people to sing a long is easy!

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Very lucky with one band to have 2 good frontspeople- both great singers and have a natural rapport with an audience.

Another outfit the singer thinks he has charisma and good repartee. He doesn't. Gets great gigs but if he gets on one boy can he kill it. 3 hour gigs with 5 minutes of 'banter' in between each one. If he's disciplined he's actually much more interesting.

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