What Is the Most Important Thing to Convey on Stage?
Sunday, September 9, 2007 at 01:05PM The Joy of Performing
Last Saturday night, Eveline and I went to the Hollywood Bowl here in Los Angeles to see Hall & Oates (http://www.hallandoates.com/about.php). We are both big fans of their recordings of the eighties and listened to them a lot when we first got together. And that was twenty three years ago, so we were both wondering if we were going to be disappointed by their performance or their ability to perform, given that a few decades had gone by.
The Bowl was filled almost to capacity…eighteen thousand people and this was the second night that they had done it that weekend. The whole crowd was full of anticipation and not a little wine and / or weed. The Spinners came on first and did a serviceable job, but the crowd was there for H&O. As the stage darkened, the crowd started cheering and the band came on.
Right out of the box, they began with Man Eater. It was like zero to sixty in one second flat. And they never stopped after that til the second encore was over. Darryl Hall was singing great and so full of energy, while John Oates provided solid rhythm guitar and leading the background vocals that are such an integral part of their music. I was struck by how excited they both seemed to be by the music and the act of performing it. They were really having fun.
And what Hall communicated all evening was a remarkable joy in what he was doing. You could see it in the way he moved and in the way he sang. He loved doing this and he was doing it as best he could. And he is a remarkable singer. That he could sustain that level of energy and vocal control without frying his pipes was a testament to his talent and his commitment. And he was obviously physically in shape and rested for the gig. You can’t put out that kind of energy without being healthy.
Which means that after the Friday night performance at the bowl, he went home and rested. He didn’t party; he didn’t stay up til dawn; he didn’t drug himself into a stupor. He began preparing for the Saturday night gig the night before. That’s when you begin to prepare for a performance…the night before. I know that I’ve said that before, but it really is important to remember. But I digress.
The big deal for me (aside from truly remarkable singing) was the joy. I began to compare my performance with his (it’s what we always do, isn’t it?) and realized that I was going to make certain that I brought as much joy and commitment to my shows as he did to his.
Those of you who’ve seen my show, know that I always at least I believe that I try to do that. But seeing him reminded me to recommit to that. When we’re up there, in that spotlight, we need to communicate the joy of being there more than anything else. I don’t mean faking the joy, I mean truly taking joy from what we’re doing, as we are doing it.
And preparation is the way to do that. If you have practiced and practiced, and know the songs and roughly the order of the show, then you can relax about that part and just enjoy what you have prepared yourself for. And even tho you might feel some butterflies in your stomach when you start out (I still do after forty or fifty years), once you begin to play and find your way into the music, the joy will show up. Learn to tap into it and let it show. I am still smiling to think about Daryl Hall last night. Seeing pros going at it like that makes me want to practice more, write better songs and get up on a stage as soon as possible. And that’s inspiration.
Go see some live music performed by some pros. And pay attention to the joy that they bring to the endeavor. Trust me, you learn something. I do…everytime.
Reader Comments (7)
You said it all!
James,
This is why we keep coming back to your shows.
hey kids, thanks for the kind words and for coming back. you can get enormous joy out of playing your instrument, but it increases exponentially when you reach out to other people with it.
james
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