Performing - What Went Right? What went Wrong?
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 10:47AM
The guests included the jazz singer, Mark Winkler (www.markwinklermusic.com), the jazz pianist Frank Zottoli (www.naxos.com/artistinfo/Frank_Zottoli/4765.htm) and the lovely Pattie Brooks (www.pattiebrooks.net/) as well as my bride, Mark’s partner and some close friends of Chris and Ben’s.
After the dinner, we retired to Chris’s studio and proceeded to perform for each other. It was such great fun sharing what we all do with each other. There’s so much talent in the world it is humbling.
As the evening progressed, Mark and I were talking about the biz and he mentioned teaching songwriting at UCLA, so I offered him this site as a resource and then he spoke of a student coming in and telling him that she had her first gig the previous evening.
Cool, he said, what did you learn?
She looked at him bewildered and repeated, what did I learn?
And that’s the theme for today. When you play a gig, any gig, and this applies to every time, what did you learn?
You address this by asking yourself, what went right? What went wrong? What could have been better? Where did you lose focus? Look at every aspect of it, and if you are lucky enough to have a recording of it, listen to it.
It doesn’t matter how painful or how much you feel like Narcissus in hell, listen to it, or better yet if it’s video, look at it. I know it is difficult, as I get many copies of my shows and I find it very uncomfortable to see how good I am NOT, as compared to how good I thought I was.
Ask yourself those questions and answer them truthfully. This will really help you understand what it is you have to do to put on a successful and entertaining show, because when you go up in that spotlight, that’s the tacit promise to the audience; that is the tacit expectation of the audience; and that is the responsibility of a performer.
It also helps to go and see other performers and then ask those same questions to yourself. What went right for them; what went wrong, etc?
It’s a never ending quest and the journey really is the goal.
Reader Comments (5)
Wow!It's strange to read about the evening I was part of so close to the fact-- But fun! But keeping along
the lines of what James so eloquently said--
Last night I went out to see a singer, and she was very talented-- and yet the evening didn't rise to the level it should have. The reasons were all things that could be fixed, but they should have been fixed before her CD release
party!
Here is where she fell short
1. Musicians weren't good enough. She was doing jazz and these guys were "casual" caliber level guys- not good enough for LA.
2. While she had a compelling story to tell. She hadn't put enough time in on how to present it. So
she tooks too many detours and merely was awkward at
times.
3. She was too nervous at first, and it took her half
the set to calm down.
4. Her arrangements weren't good enough.If you're going
to do old standards, you've got to approach them in a
new way-- if not--for the audience-- why not stay home and listen to Ella.
Here were her strengths
1. A fantastic voice when warmed up.
2. Compelling story.
3. Beautiful girl
So I felt frustrated-- like I wanted to rescue her. But as often happens, after the gig when I talked to
her-- I thought, wow...how did she get so far? She
was so spacy and untogether. When I bought her CD
on her own label it didn't even have a bar code on it.
But I learned a lot.
It's discouraging that people are so judgemental... this wasn't good enough,.. that wasn't good enough...no bar code... who the f%$k cares... and then to say that a good point is her beauty? What a crock. But I guess that's the reality of where people's minds are at. Some people record before they've played out. Does that mean she shouldn't play out and release her CD anyway? Can't you enjoy the show anyway? or does it have to be perfect? You bought the CD... that was her goal and she succeeded.
James, I think it's useful to give oneself an objective critique now and then and you have given sound advise but I don't think it's healthy to do it all the time. It can get frustrating and one can forget to be themselves and lose their authenticity which I find way more valuable than a good shtick.., if they are constantly monitoring how they are doing and what kind of image they are projecting. I thank anyone who has the courage to put it out there, perfect or not. If someone is fool enough to book a shoddy act or attend one it isn't just the performers fault. They have the right to live their dream. You can walk out if it hurts too much.
I appreciate your comment about the tacit promise to the audience; the tacit expectation of the audience; and the responsibility of a performer. I attended a show where there were several performers during the evening...one performer, in particular, seemed as though he really did not want to be there...he arrived late, performed a few songs, barely spoke, and then left early. I felt annoyed with him because it made me wonder why he even bothered to show up in the first place...his leaving opened the evening for more of your songs which is when you "stole the show"...I think you might recall the evening to which I am referring. Each of your shows that I have attended were special because of your sincere appreciation for the audience...James, thank you for doing what you do, the way
you do it...there is a standard...which you far exceed.
thank you all for your considered and thoughtful posts. Regarding the post from "me", I don't have a problem with anyone writing songs and making a CD, but if you are going to present yourself in a commercial venue, then you DO have a responsibility to prepare yourself enough to meet the bar that all professionals meet. If you don't want to do that, that's okay, just don't go on stage and play at a commercial venue; don't have a CD release party. Play open mics, enjoy yourself, learn at your pace, and don't expect a whole lot of hand holding from audiences. You earn their respect, you earn their love and you earn their money, you aren't entitled to it.
James,
THANK YOU!! It's an attitude I've seen again and again...the one that looks for the big reward by expending the least possible effort. If I go to see/hear a performer I expect that performer to do his/her best. Now sometimes the best is spectaularly wonderful, sometimes it's barely average, mostly it's somewhere in between, and that's part of being human and it's part of what makes live shows so interesting. But when a performer doesn't care enough to learn the material really well, to present it the best way possible, to pay attention to appearance and attitude (thus showing respect for the audience and signaling that this appearance is important to the performer) then why should anyone else care?
And then they wonder why they can't find a fan base....