Creating a Band - Part IV - Image and Stage Preparations

OK, you've reached the first big moment in your band's career: it's time to start preparing for live performances. But don't start plotting out your world tour just yet, young grasshopper. Before the group books its first gig, you might want to take some time preparing for your future shows!

When your band steps foot on a stage for the very first time, it can be quite the overwhelming experience. It's quite normal for musicians to feel anxious and unsure of themselves, even when faced with a small audience. One thing that you and your band-mates should try to keep in mind is that there isn't much riding on your first show. It's extremely unlikely that an A&R representative will be standing in the crowd, or that your childhood music hero will be stopping through for a drink. Having said that, the first show does present the band with a great opportunity to establish a few early fans, and more importantly, it will give the group vital experience performing in front of strangers. This will be the very first time anyone outside of the band's inner-circle will be exposed to the group's music, so making a lasting impression should be something you take into consideration, at least to some minor degree.

Before the band books its first gig, you'll want to start the process of stage rehearsals. a stage rehearsal is different from your typical band practice or songwriting session in that the group will be performing the set the same as you would in a gig. Move your rehearsal space around to mimic an ideal stage layout, with everyone in the band facing the same direction. Next, set up one or two video cameras where your make-believe audience would be situated, as recording your stage rehearsals will prove vital later on. Last but not least, the band should run through the entirety of its longest set list, playing each and every song, with only brief pauses (never longer than fifteen seconds) between each song. It's absolutely essential that the band performs the set exactly how they would on stage, acting as if there is a real audience in front of them. Make sure the vocalist introduces the band at the beginning and end of the set as well, even in these stage rehearsals; you don't want anyone in your future audiences going home unsure of what your band was called.

Run through the set three times, recording each set on video. With this out of the way, the band should get together at someone's house, order up some pizza, and watch all three videos together as a group, taking notes throughout each taped show. During the first video, everyone should focus on themselves, taking notes on aspects of their performance that could be enhanced, and aspects of their performance that they enjoy. Even when they aren't actively participating in the music, they need to be watched! When this is done, the group should watch the next set, but this time, they should focus on everyone else, other than themselves, taking notes on any elements of the stage performances of their cohorts that they like or dislike. Lastly, the group should watch the third set, this time paying attention to anything and everything, and marking down whatever piques their interest or is noticeably unlikable.

When the videos are done, everyone should chat about their notes, finding elements of the performances that everyone mutually enjoyed and/ or disliked. Everyone should receive a copy of the videos as well, so they can review them at home. From that point forward, the group should continue performing stage rehearsals, but should attempt to incorporate those elements of their performance that they and their fellow musicians enjoy, while attempting to avoid any bad habits that were exposed while watching the videos together.

Stage rehearsals don't just help the band look good while performing, either. They also help the group work together cohesively from an on-stage perspective. While playing together in the studio, the band can face each other and exchange visual queues with one-another, but on stage, with everyone facing an audience, this is rather challenging. Stage rehearsals reduce the group's dependence on exchanging visual and physical queues, which amounts to a more fluid live performance in the end.

Another thing to consider while reviewing these videos and performing in stage rehearsals is the band's image. Having everyone dress the way they would on stage will grant your videos some decent insight into how the members of the band wish to present themselves on stage, and might help the group form some unity in your stage presentation. The group should put at least some effort into reviewing how everyone dresses on stage and what an audience might walk away from a show thinking about the group based on what they look like. It might sound superficial (and rather lame, actually), but keep in mind that your audience isn't buying music, they're buying a complete package. Music quality, performance quality, stage antics, physical appearance, and the band's reputation all contribute to how memorable an act will be, and they'll all boost the likeliness that people in the audience will go home and search the web for whatever traces of the band they can dig up. You don't want to be totalitarian, demanding that each member of the band present themselves a certain way, but at the same time, you don't want anyone in the group to take the stage without any due consideration into how they look. Long story short, everyone should attempt to "dress to impress," without going overboard with outrageous glam-rock costumes, of course. Well, unless that's what your band is going for!

Continue the group's stage rehearsals until everyone feels confident that they can play on stage with little or no mishaps. When this is done, your band will be tighter and more unified than ever before, and the time for thinking about gigging will finally be upon you! If you'd like, you might want to hold a miniature performance for friends and family, provided your rehearsal space can handle the volume of people. This might be a good way to earn some pre-stage audience experience, and it could be pretty fun as well.

Coming Up Next: In part five of the "Creating a Band" series, we'll prepare the group for establishing a fan base, so that people who leave your very first show have ways of finding the band online and tracking upcoming performances.