How important is bants when playing live? Why can't singer/songwriters

Depends on the artist and the type of mood they're trying to create with the gig

Singers/songwriters who don't bant are disappointing. Bert Jansch was a god, but his introductions in the style of 'this is a 13th century song from England and that's about all I can tell you about it' were the worst part of his act.

I played a show recently and i feel one of my biggest mistake i had on stage was piss poor bants. Soo i'd have to say its important. If you're some gay metal core band. You need some inspirational bullshit to pump people (i think its cringy everytime). I do acoustic set by myself for fun. And i sing alot of folk versions of pop and old songs. And i always try to have some sarcastic bants to try to signal to the crowd that im not super serious.

I prefer bants but sometimes it's funny if the artist says 2 things in a show and never interacts with the crowd

When I saw Xiu Xiu, all Jamie said was "this is dedicated to Gargamel from the smurfs" and "where the fuck are my maracas" the entire show.

Nirvana Unplugged had good bants

i saw nmh in 2013 and jeff had zero interaction with the crowd

not that I really expected any but still makes for a disappointing show

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>>72596154
When I saw NMH live it was pretty much no interaction either. Julian I think may have said something a few times, and Scott tried to get the crowd to sing along a few times, but that was it. I think Jeff is just really shy and doesn't feel he's up to being charismatic. I remember a girl tried crowd surfing and Jeff's eyes were fixated on her in a death stare until the venue staff got her to stop. After the show I caught Jeff outside the venue and got him to sign some stuff. It was really awkward and he seemed nervous and reserved. I feel bad now that I made him feel that way, but at least I got one of my favorite albums signed.

>>72595142
it makes it more fun and memorable if the bants are good

>>72595142
Bants are fine but I remember seeing Dan Deacon live and he was doing some stupid shit like getting everyone low and a circle and just wasn't enjoyable. He did get real pissed at some dude moshing which was great.

If it's the first time at an open mic, just introduce yourself. The second or third time, do a quick bant at the intro. After that, you're a veteran and people expect it.

>>72595142
Depends if they're actually funny or not

only if its not premeditated

dont be a comedian

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Leo Kottke is really bad for this. I went to see him in Amsterdam, the acoustics were dreadful plus I was baked so I couldn't even decipher his echoed mumbling that took up half the gig. Was a pretty disappointing experience given that I had traveled so far for it.

>>72595197
Glad you got to see Bert Jansch live. I really should have, I live in Scotland so missed quite a lot of chances before he popped his clogs. I'm not making that mistake again with a musician I love.

EVERYBODY
ALL YOU FUCKIN' HILLBILLIES

if you don't have banter, there's going to be a lot of silence in between songs when you're tuning or getting ready
you could set the mood and keep the audience engaged, or you could have awkward silence that they'll fill, possibly in a disruptive way
also when a band doesn't say much/anything to the crowd, it seems like they don't give a shit and don't care about their audience
being personable endears the band to the audience

>>72596368
100% agree. i saw that tour he did with deerhunter and no age, and i fucking hated it. he would have everyone copy someone in the crowd, and it was horrible. it felt like something you would have preschoolers do.

>>72598250

big bands can get away with it, their presence is enough to keep the crowd cheering

agree it can be awkward and amateurish for small acts though

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>>72596136

>>72598313
i still think it makes big bands look like they don't give a shit if they don't at least give you a little something

Keep it minimal. Be courteous, a nice "Good evening" at the beginning, and maybe something like "we like it here, it's nice to be here" IF you can make it sound genuine. "Thank you" between songs is good enough. "Thank you and good night" at the end. I like it when bands thank venue staff etc, because I feel those guys and girls work really hard to make the show go off smoothly, yet get very little recognition and probably don't earn a lot.

I remember seeing the Mars Volta in London about 10 years back (Jesus Christ, that long...). Those crazy bastards played for almost THREE HOURS pretty much without breaking between the songs, no banter until the end when Cedric started thanking everyone "including the little men inside the amplifiers".
So, yeah...

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Cassie Ramone of the formerly-vivian-girls last year at an acoustic christmas set made everyone in the venue sit down on the floor

it was kind of weird, no one knew why, maybe shes was feeling anxiety or something

>>72598342
i guess, don't forget they also have multiple pre-prepared rigs so moving on to the next song is much faster

plus it's pretty hard to give bants to say an arena size crowd. that said I've seen jon mcclure walk off mid-set at wembley for a shit

>>72598342
hello "insert city name"!

>>72598369
>THREE HOURS
3 hours of MV sounds boring as fuck. i can't stand their pretentious latin prog shit

>>72598920
>they say the wrong city name

>>72598250
>if you don't have banter, there's going to be a lot of silence in between songs when you're tuning or getting ready
Go from song to song seamlessly, and tune well before you're on stage, problem solved.

bants are literally just saying "i dont take my music seriously so if its bad then its intentional"

>>72599216
not enjoying bants from classical musicians and quartets

why life

>>72596154
>not that I really expected any but still makes for a disappointing show
just watch tv next time, it's great, they talk all the time

>>72599807
Jeff here with the bantz

>>72599923
>did you film me

>>72598374
Was it a pretty quiet show? I've seen that a few times before, not that unusual.

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>>72600042
I guess maybe, but no one was really talking

BUT, after her, Colleen Green literally called out 2 hipstr fucktards who WERE talking loudly during her set, especially because it was a super super tiny venue

everyone clapped

>>72600076
I guess it's an atmosphere thing. Julie Byrne had everyone sit and it was extremely cozy and nice.

And good for Colleen, people who talk at shows should be shot.

>>72599080
entirely depends on your set. Some tracks don't work back to back, maybe some songs require different tunings, maybe you have to switch guitars, there's a lot of possibilities

michael gira's solo performances have top tier banter, and it works well to distract and engage the audience while he is re-tuning his instrument.

>>72596136
lol he lost the maracas as the show i saw too

>>72601246
Did you see them at Monty Hall? It was a great show overall but the opener was hilariously awful

Townes Van Zandts live album has a joke or something said between every song. It feels very natural and relaxed.

>>72602156
>It feels very natural and relaxed.
Just like jerking off, right?

ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?!

>>72602407
This one goes out to all the fine ladies!

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yes

this is why Take No Prisoners is the greatest live album of all time(and not just because of Lou defending Springsteen Senpai and roasting Robert Christgau on track 9)

>This is the first song on our new album.

This is something I worry about if I ever start playing shows (not that I think I'm good enough to do that, but I guess anythings possible).

I'm a complete sperg and have no ability to bant. Also a lot of my songs are in alternate tunings so there's be a lot of silences while I'm tuning that I wouldn't be able to fill. I can barely talk to a single person, I have no clue how I'd be able to talk to an entire audience.

>>72603636
>thanks for being here
>hope you're having a good night
>check my stuff out at x

Just say filler shit like that

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>this song is about you
>plays "your the one for me fatty"

I think there's something to be said for just plowing through all your songs nonstop, eg. Death Grips. Particularly if you're using mostly digital equipment. Banter would break the immersion of the show, if that makes any sense.

>ARE YOU ALIVE
>LET ME HEAR YOU, [city]
>ARE YOU ALIVE?
>HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE ALIVE?
guess which band this is

>>72604002
Daft Punk?

>>72604002
All bands?

>I fucking hate this town
>you're all disgusting
>you should go to hell
>if you like this music, you're an idiot

guess the band that said this

don't care about bants, I want rants
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FwV-jHNk1I

>>72605191
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8vOG47ZP3Y

>>72605190

Metallica

>>72605190

Bloodhound Gang?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILR5-JK8gvg

I like it when the band breaks up on stage

>artist is paranoid that other artists have arranged contracted hitmen to kill him
>does a 10 minute monologue which the crowd hates
>leaves the stage after only 3 songs

>>72596146
>that moment when they started playing Sweet Home Alabama and caught Kurt off guard

first time playing music in front of people

brings merch