Frontman coaching.

[Inearthed]

Re: Frontman coaching.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.. I'll see if I can work on this with him a little bit more. I'm going to encourage him to practice his stage lines before hand or whatever so he gets more familiar with them and feels a little bit more at ease.

I'll keep everyone updated.

[Zerberus]

Re: Frontman coaching.

First, film him onstage so he can SEE how boring he is...Then:

1. Get him to watch live videos of bands with good to great shows 24/7 for a week and see if he learns anything.. I´ts helped others in the past, and may even give him a few cool ideas.

2. Drag him to a few local concerts so he can see how boring he is in direct comparison [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Endrik]

Re: Frontman coaching.

maybe he scares? shy personality? or whatever. Everyone aren't born to be like DLR. That sucks, I personally hate to see bands who doesn't have a great frontman. Maybe he needs to go to the "stage performance boot camp" . Some are natural frontmans, some can learn how to be one, some can't just do it.
He must do some serious excersises:
1)Yelling something stupid in crowded place
2)Getting a job as a male stripper
3)Taking part of a porn movie
4)Making a speach in front of a huge crowd
5)Taking a part of some stupid reality TV show
etc.

[jgcable]

Re: Frontman coaching.

Here is my take on a frontman which is 100% different from my take on the instrument playing musicians. I would rather have a dynamic frontman with an average voice than a dolt boring sack with outstanding vocal chops. The person the crowd remembers the most is the frontman. He is the focal point of the band. The crowd also (for the most part) doesn't know crap about the difference between a great singer and a good average singer. What they do know the difference between is a boring sack of crap and a dynamic personality who makes it fun to be in the gig.

[GodOfRhythm]

Re: Frontman coaching.

Well, to be truthful, I've been looking for a band to frontman for a looong time! I like playing guitar, but I just get a huuuge kick out of yelling to a crowd and fucking being up there.

[Newc]

Re: Frontman coaching.

Be aware that the Frontman (whether it's a guitarist, drummer, bassist, or singer) is going to be the Star Of The Show, which if it's the singer who doesn't play is a bad thing for people who actually play an instrument, as we saw in the 80s [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

One thing you can do is just roll from one song into the next without stopping long enough for him to panic.

Another thing is for him to have good friends in the crowd that he can start a routine with (jokes, how's it going, etc etc) and then he'll eventually loosen up and play around with the rest of the crowd.

Sounds to me like he's definitely panicking, but before I got my panties in a wad and beat him down for it, I'd explore more profitable avenues, especially if he's a good singer and co-guitarist.

I saw Stryper back in 88/89, and Michael Sweet stared at the floor between songs as he mumbled into the mic! The WHOLE BAND stared at the floor between songs, and they were headlining arenas!

Give the guy something to focus on, even if it's just jumping right into the next song.

Also do some Van Halen - nothing inspires acting like DLR than acting like DLR [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[zeegler]

Re: Frontman coaching.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I've already encouraged him to watch bootleg videos of the great metal frontmen (90's Hetfield, etc.)

[/ QUOTE ]

i add Anselmo to that.

or just look at Slayer - The singer is not the frontman there - One of the guitar player is

[/ QUOTE ]

You are right about Phil, he was awesome on stage. I have to disagree with you about Slayer though. I have seen them 4 times over the last 19 years, and neither Kerry, nor Jeff ever say a word. Tom on the other hand chats quite a lot, and always seems friendly and happy to be there.

[jgcable]

Re: Frontman coaching.

Again.... IMHO, a frontman who is only singing and not playing is the focal part of the band. His "JOB" in the band is to sing and to entertain the crowd. If he is only doing 1 of these he is only doing 50% of his required job in the band. Let him know that in a nice way.
If you are 100% dead set on keeping him and he doesn't change his onstage habits, just make sure the spotlight is on the person in the band who is doing the talking. You will need to find another front man. Another option is to put him in behind a keyboard or give him a guitar to strap on and shift the focus to a more entertaining band member.

[atomic charvel guy]

Re: Frontman coaching.

if he's only singing, show him some clips of david lee roth, mick jagger, and chris robinson of the black crowes. they all have stage presence.

[Inearthed]

Re: Frontman coaching.

Well, I had a very long discussion on the phone last night with him and he seemed really receptive to what I said and agreed with what I was saying. He's going to get down and watch a lot of live show DVDs / Bootlegs and get some tips from there. We have some shows coming up so I'll update you guys with how it goes.

[Inearthed]

Re: Frontman coaching.

All right, we had our first show since the discussion and the guitarist / singer's stage presence / crowd interaction was amazing. He was dead on for the first four songs, took a little bit of a break for a song because he wasn't feeling too well and went right back into it. We even got our first real 'encore' which was great and he handled it like a pro no uhh's or umm's were present! So problem solved! Thanks again for your help folks.

[Endrik]

Re: Frontman coaching.

I'm glad to hear that everything worked out fine.
Keep on rockin'!

[VitaminG]

Re: Frontman coaching.

sweeet! That's great news. So how'd he like it, being the star? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Inearthed]

Re: Frontman coaching.

[ QUOTE ]
sweeet! That's great news. So how'd he like it, being the star? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

He actually said that he had probably the most 'fun' at any show he's ever played at (and he's been gigging out since he was 12), despite the fact that from a playing standpoint we were kinda sloppy (the drummer had an off night). There were a bunch of 'regulars' that come out to almost all of our shows and they said that we had the best show that we've done yet. So, that was a great thing to hear.