Approaching A Performance Vs Intrusion On Your Space
Tuesday, October 12, 2010 at 01:28PM I had an interesting experience at a show a while back and I keep thinking about it, so I want to share it with you.
Just like a golfer has his approach to the ball, I have my approach to a show. I believe I’ve mentioned this before, but bear with me.
I like to get to the venue around five or five thirty, unload everything; put all the equipment (pedal boards, ac, strings, picks, etc) on the stage, put my performing clothes and sundries in the dressing room; set up the cd’s; and then get out my guitar and just play for an hour or so.
I usually play in the dressing room in the dark, just sitting there and finding my way into the music.
Well, on this one particular evening, I was in my dressing room, in the dark, in my space and preparing for the show. There’s a knock at the door, and being the polite middle class boy I am, I said, “come in.”
A fellow musician was on there and instinctively I knew he was going to ask if he could play on my show…I could just feel it. While we are not close friends or even admirers of each others work, we are both in the same business and have shared stages throughout the years.
He was surprised that I was in the dark playing and I told him that’s what I needed to do before a show but he continued to talk to me. I then told him my sister, also a recording artist, was here and that she wouldn’t be joining me because she wanted this show to be about me, thinking that perhaps he would get the hint and let go back to my preparation.
No such luck. The next thing out of his mouth was, “can I do a couple of songs to promote a show I’m doing?”
Now believe me, if he had been a good friend of mine and an artist who’s work I revered, I would have still been reluctant to put him in the middle of one of my shows.
I always attempt to establish a space, a mood and a real connection with the audience as that is completely necessary for folks to feel that they’ve gotten their full measure from a solo performer. A band can overwhelm you with volume; with the inner dynamics of the band’s personalities, but a solo performer must connect on a very intimate and personal level and create that dynamic between each audient and himself.
To put someone else, unannounced, into the middle of a performance, changes the dynamic of the whole room. After that kind of interruption I must start all over again and reconnect. My shows have a plan and an arc and I do my best to deliver that arc; so that at the end, people feel like they’ve been on a journey or something.
Imagine if in the middle of making love, someone else comes into the room to do a few card tricks. How long will it take the lovers to find their way back to the intimate connection that they had before the interruption.
This is not something I ever ask of a fellow performer, though, on occasion I have accepted the invitation, but mostly I am happy to watch a fellow performer do their show without interruptions.
All during my first set, with him staring at me from the second row, all I thought about was whether I was going to let him into the show or not. And even though I did get a good response from the audience, during the entire first set, I never got the connection that I get almost every time. I was distracted by this intrusion. I decided to not exacerbate that condition by allowing a guest set.
As I said, I have been thinking about it for days and I realized that I should never have allowed ayone to come up to my dressing room and interrupt my approach to the show.
My being distracted was my fault. I should have just said, not now please, and not opened the door. And that’s the lesson for today.
Do whatever it takes to put you in the place that allows you to access every gift you possess. You have no responsibility to let someone with their own agenda interrupt that space you are trying to create. Be polite, but be firm.
Any artist worth his salt would never even think of contacting the artist who is in a room preparing for a show. Don’t do this to your fellow artists and don’t allow them to do it to you.
That being said, I did invite him up to sing a song with me at the end and I plugged his upcoming show, but I did not allow him to interrupt the show and the arc that I was trying to create and he told me that he appreciated my honesty.
Reader Comments (3)
Your pre-concert routine sounds amazing. I am totally with you that having even a little space to warm up and center yourself makes a big difference.
I would be interested to hear how you have prepped for shows in earlier years, where perhaps a dressing room or private space wasn't available. I'm on the front end of learning how to perform well and I mostly just play small clubs and cafes. Often there isn't anywhere to get away to be alone, which makes warming up a hard thing. What would you do or have you done before that has worked well in similar situations?
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