Things a Cover Band Should Never Ever Do
Well, I had to post this after seeing this terribly horrible cover band last weekend. They violently violated many of the pet peeves i have with cover bands. There are just some common sense unwritten rules about what to do and not to do when on stage. Well..apparently some of these things need to be the written rule.. so I will take it upon myself to inform you all on the violations. . So here we go,
1. Do not holler into a mic. No matter what. For any reason what so ever. Just don't do it, and I wont have to break your legs!
2. If you are setting up your gear when there are people in the venue.. do NOT check your drum set for 15 minutes or strum your guitar for twenty. Have your gear just about show ready when you get there. Nobody wants to hear you check for that amount of time. Chances are people will leave before you even start. For a better experience arrange to have your gear set up prior to the venue opening, or before the evenings crowd shows up.
3. Under no circumstance should you wear your own merch during your performance. Why don't you just wear a shirt with your own face on it that says I THINK I'M HOT SH!T. It projects arrogance and nobody likes a bragger. Get over yourself and leave the merch on the merch table where it belongs.
4. Do not plan jokes or anecdotes to tell on stage!! 99% of the time it just sounds fake and planned. Unless you took acting classes and starred in a major flick.. just say what comes naturally to you while your up there, and dont talk to often. Nobody came to hear you talk about a funny thing that happened to you at the bar the other night. They came to hear music.. So just get to the point. (On another note in this topic.. do not announce who plays this song, what year they did it, and their dogs name who helped write the song.. again, nobody cares and you look foolish. Trust me)
5. If someone messes up, dont turn around and look at them or each other. Just keep on going, and dont stop. The more attention you attract to a mess up, the more the audience will notice. Most of the time if you just keep on truckin thru a foul up, the audience wont even give it a second thought. But they will if you go blabbing about it after the song is over. Keep quiet about your mistakes, and they'll generally go unnoticed!
6. Know your part, and stay consistent. Dont start adding a bunch of stuff in, just because your adrenaline is flowin during a packed crowd. The key to a good band is stickin with what you've been practicing in the basement. Adding a bunch of botched up harmonies or flighty notes is only going to make you look armature.
These are just the foul ups I saw last weekend. There are many more, and we'll get to those on another post. In the mean time.. I'm going to go see how much of my own merch I can put on at one time.
