A subject was touched upon in the "Eddie Showmaker Live Pic" thread that I thought might be interesting enough to discuss. That of... what we might do to enhance or improve our onstage appearance.

Both travlin' easy and Starkeeper suggested that touching up the gray or white might be a good idea. Makes sense to me, also. What do y'all think? What else might be worthwhile considering on this subject?

The Overall "STAGE PRESENCE" package has many branches....

1- How You look to the audience

2- How Your equipment looks to the audience

3- How You perform to the audience

4- How You sound to the audience

5- What you play for the audience

6- How You Shmooze the audience [off stage]

These are a few of the issues within this topic to think about. I'll be back with some thougths [goto run to a gig] but it will be interesting to read what people think so far on these questions.

L8tr.........

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 11-05-2003).]

I disagree to a degree. Some older people look a little strange with no gray. An example would have been Roy Orbison (no disrespect meant at all) with the face of a great-grandfather and jet black hair in his final years. Me - I'm in my upper 40's and my hair hasn't turned gray yet (a little weird - my younger brother has a lot of gray) but my beard is gray like a dalmation when I allow it: mostly white with lots of brown patches. That looks bizarre so I use Just For Men for beards. I think anything that looks natural and professional is okay, and I'm looking forward to some nice balanced gray to give me that "distinguished" look.

Originally posted by Dnj:
"STAGE PRESENCE"

1- How You look to the audience

2- How Your equipment looks to the audience

3- How You perform to the audience

4- How You sound to the audience

5- What you play for the audience

I agree with all five.
#6 for me is, "How am I feeling", do I have a happy party spirit in me, or am I just performing.

Your attitude goes out to your audience, if you're happy, they will see it, they will feel it.

Feeling good, John C.

Your #6 ....How you feel is not a luxury for us......

A prof you must be on stage no matter what.
Fight with your wife, Diareaha, got up on the wrong side of the bed? Oh well.. its time to Perform as a Professional...
You must maintain your cover thruout your performance and put all else aside until after the show...like they say in the Biz....
"The Show Must Go On"



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 11-05-2003).]

No hair color, no false teeth, no cosmetic surgery, no toupees ..... nothing that didn't come with the package for me.
I refuse to "doll up" with fake anythings. Say it loud .... "I'm bald and I'm proud!"
Old guys can buy sports cars if they need a boost ... let the hair go natural!

My hair has been black, blue, bright red, purple a combination of all of the above, green (an accident....though I went with it after the initial shock ) and is currently blonde. I have forgotton long since what my natural colour is

I can say without fear of contradiction that no matter what the colour of my hair it has not influenced my playing or musical ability one iota. It has always been as bad as my fashion sense

Best wishes to all (however you look!)
Tony

------------------
www.tonywmusic.co.uk

A lot of folks that are trying to be nice say "OH! That gray hair just makes you look distinguished." My response to that is "That gray hair makes you look extinguished." I try to keep my weight down (TRY), most of the jobs I wear a tux, but when it's too hot I eliminate the jacket if possible. If You look professional, act professional, and work professionally, you'll get the jobs. And, like I said before, AGE DESCRIMINATION EXISTS. If you look old, you're not likely to get hired. As Donny said "This is show biz."

Cheers,

Gary

The best image enhancement for most of us would be to hire a good looking female vocalist.

Gary's statement is correct. Unfortunately, age discrimination prevails not only in hiring, but also in social interaction... at least in our society. Ever since I heard a 20-something clerk refer to a Sr Citizen couple as "f---ing old people", I've paid attention to the lack of respect, or even distain, some young folks seem to have for seniors.

The most likely way to get respect from those 2 generations your junior, is to have grandkids. However, they're usually not the ones doing the hiring.

Just look at how far most of us go to get the sound as good as can be... equipment, lessons, practice, etc. If the total package is what we're selling, then the visual is just as important. And when someone is watching you perform, what exactly are they looking at? You... your face! That is, unless you have the chick singer, but many of us have been there and that's another story!

Some one shoulda told Bob Hope and George Burns that ..... Poor guys, wasted all that time trying to stay working.
C'mon ..... do you really think that hair color will make you act, sound or look any younger? Personally, I get a thrill when I "connect" with my younger crowds. makes the gap smaller without unnatural means. One of my best friends is older than my Dad....another is just a few years younger/ The numbers don't mean a thing.
Sure discrimination can rear it's ugly head in all walks of life, but if you really believe that you can pour youth and vitality out of a bottle ..... you're kidding yourself. Be who you are .... if it's worth anything, people will take notice.

[This message has been edited by Uncle Dave (edited 11-06-2003).]

The best thing you can wear on stage, is a big Bright SMILE!!!!

Audiences LOVE to see entertainers having fun and having a good time. If you can convey that without being insincere, you will be infectious.

Al

To quote the great philosopher Popeye... "I am what I am what I am ..."
I think presence and attitude ( positive and confident ), and the way one carries oneself is more important than whether I have a few grey hairs ( I do ).

I have kind of a "baby face", so much so that people are often very surprised when I introduce my little ones as "grandaughters". We sometimes get puzzled looks, and I muse sometimes that it appears as if people are mentally trying to do the math while they are looking at us. So the touch of grey does not bother me in the least. I look at it as "keepin me honest"..lol.
I recently watched a video of an aged Eric Clapton on stage ( I like Eric but am not a huge fan ), and all I felt was "respect" for someone who has gone through a lot but has progressed through all of it . His stage presence was fitting for where he is in life. I kinda cringe when I see Mick and the stones still jumping around the stage like kids, hoping that one of them doesn't twist an ankle or break a bone...

AJ

I tried the color for a while. It's too much trouble. As another great philospher, Ray Price, said "Take Me As I Am Or Let Me Go".
I think the dark hair looked fine at work, under the lights, but it looked a little phony in the daylight.
DonM

Hey, for that kind of money, I wouldn't have to think twice about acting like a kid. Come to think of it, I sometimes act like a kid and don't get a nickel for it!

Mick obviously didn't age gracefully, in fact, he always looked old. I've been fortunate in that most folks that I was 10 years younger than I really am, which has made a difference. I know lots of folks in this business that wish they could retire, some are already collecting Social Security, and some, like myself, get to retire three days after rigor-mortis sets in. My wife says it will be somewhat like "Weekend At Bernies" only I'll be the guy at the keyboard with midi files running back to back, a big smile and dead as a doornail. All the folks that don't think age descrimination exists in show biz should post this one again when they turn 65. Should be an interesting topic.

Cheers,

Gary

Gary's "Weekend at Bernie's" comment is cracking me up. I am still chuckling. Geez, what a picture.

As far as dress...here's the scoop from South Florida -- and it is kind of a class thing:
I have several regular working class clients whose members discarded all their ties when they retired here. Most of their functions are just shirt sleeve affairs. Dressing up for them is a jacket and open shirt. My philosophy in those "casual" situations is to also go casual, but usually with a shirt that has a little color and pizzazz.

The wealthier country and yacht club set always dress up. For those, I do the black jacket and colored tie thing. Colored jackets for holidays. Tuxes only for New Years and Anniversaries.

When I work with my girl singer, we usually coordinate colors...but don't try to look like Frick and Frack.
Eddie

I used to do vests..but to me that looks so dated now. A couple of my peers here still do vests and, to me, it just looks silly and more like they are service personnel rather than entertainers.

All my audiences are 50+, and a few have kidded me about my hair getting lighter, but the fact is the vast majority of men in my audiences are gray or graying or have well polished domes. I have no idea how old people think I am, but few believe I am over 60, even when I tell them. I believe my age and "maturing looks" work in my favor.

Jackets, Tuxes, Ties are so restrictive and hot on stage, I hate them...I gave up those looks years ago... Appearance is just a minut part of the show...you must be comfortable when you play & sing all night. fancy Tux vests, open collar dress shirts, Hawaian shirts in the summer is more my thing...If its a Black Tie affair then I go Black Tie Arggg! Looking good will not protect bad playing... but will compliment the total success of a good musicians show.