this is bit of a variation on keyboard subjects ,but do any of you include other bits of business apart from playing and singing to your audience,ie ,audience participation,i have a few ideas for getting older audiences involved for a bit of fun,after all playing to an audience is good,,,, but entertaining ,well this is a lot more difficult,well here goes i bought an old drum, old trumpet and cymbals,i get three people on stage and ask them if they play an instrument normally the answer is no ,and so i tell them that i m going to turn them into my backing group,i set the keyboard up so that i can use the multipads for drum rolls etc set the trumpet on main ,so when i get them to have a practice they mime and i play the sounds from the keyboard so it looks they are proffessional players,i mean can you imagine an old lady of about eighty playing eddie calvert,then i set up a march and while they are marching around the dance floor blowing trumpet,beating the drum crashing cymbals, i,m playing colonel bogey,the audience get involved the band gets involved and you get the credit,this is an idea i have put together and i want to try it out at our xmas party,i would like your views,and do you do anything similar,mike

Sounds like it would be fun to me mike. You're sure to add some laughter and a good time to the party with audience participation. Let us know how it turns out.

Best regards,
Mike

Audience participation is always a good thing, especially with the older crowds. In some of the nursing homes it's difficult to get them up to dance because of their various health problems, but you can always get them to do sing alongs, which in most instances, they all love to do. Sounds like you're on the right track Mike.

Good Luck,

Gary

Hi Mike (nardoni2002): I always make it a POINT to incorporate at LEAST one audience participation song in every one of my shows, no matter what the age of the audience. For my more formal show venues vs casual bar gigs, I'll usually begin by instructing the audience WHEN to come in and WHAT word(s) or phrase to sing (shout) and/or jesture. One FAVORITE (but not often heard) novelty tune I like to include (and which is wildly popular with my audiences of ALL ages) is: "Lydia the Tattooed Lady", music by Harold Arlen, and words by Yip Harburg. This song was performed by Groucho Marx in "At the Circus" (1939). Here's an MP3 version of the song performed by the Juggernault Jug Band, though I personally prefer doing it like Groucho's or Michael Feinstein's (Pure Imagination album) more frolicking 'camped up' versions.
http://www.turnstyle.org/CDbaby/index.php?q=m&m=/Folk/Juggernaut+Jug+Band/15_Lydia,_the_Tattooed_Lady.mp3

I first teach the audience the words of the chorus: "La la la la la la", and then instruct them WHEN to come in. The key is to keep it all all SIMPLE (yet Fun), so it's really EASY for them to take part.

Btw: If you care, I've included the lyrics & chords (see below).

Scott


"Lydia the Tattooed Lady"

C
Lydia, oh Lydia, say, have you met Lydia?
G
Lydia the tattooed lady
F C F C
She has eyes that folks adore so
F Dm F Dm
And a torso even more so
C
Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclo-pidia
F
Oh Lydia, the queen of tattoo
Dm
On her back is the Battle of Waterloo
F
Beside it the Wreck of the Hesperus, too
C F
And proudly above waves the red, white and blue
C G C
You can learn a lot from Lydia

C
(la la la, la la la)
C
(la la la, la la la)

Eb
When her robe is unfurled, she will show you the world
Bb
If you step up and tell her where
For a dime you can see Kankakee or Paree
Eb
Or Washington crossing the Delaware
Eb
(la la la, la la la)
C
(la la la, la la la)
C
Ah Lydia, oh Lydia, say, have you met Lydia?
G
Oh Lydia the tattooed lady
F C F C
When her muscles start relaxin'
F Dm F Dm
Up the hill comes Andrew Jackson
C
Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclo-pidia
F
Oh Lydia, the queen of them all
Dm
For two bits she will do a mazurka in jazz
F
With a view of Niagara that nobody has
C F
And on a clear day, you can see Alcatraz
C G C
You can learn a lot from Lydia
C
(la la la, la la la)
Eb
(la la la, la la la)
Eb
Come along and see Buffalo Bill with his lasso
Bb
Just a little classic by Mendel Picasso
Here is Captain Spaulding exploring the Amazon
Eb
Here's Godiva but with her pajamas on
Eb
(la la la, la la la)
Eb
(la la la, la la la)
Eb
Here is Grover Whelan unveilin' the Tri-lon
Bb
Over on the west coast we have Treasure Isle-on
Here's Nijinski a-doin' the rumba
Eb
Here's her social security numbah
Eb
(la la la, la la la)
C
(la la la, la la la)
C
Ah Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclo-pidia
F
Oh Lydia, the champ of them all
Dm
She once swept an admiral clear off his feet
F
The ships on her hips made his heart skip a beat
C F
And now the old boy's in command of the fleet
C G C
For he went and married Lydia
C
I said Lydia
He said Lydia
They said Lydia
We said Lydia
La-la!

Two of the ones I do are Mustang Sally (RIDE, SALLY, RIDE), and Land of a Thousand Dances (NA, na-na-na-na, etc.)
DonM
P.S. Also, New Orleans (Hey, hey, hey, hey hey).

The bars can't get enought of Brown Eyed Girl and Sweet Caroline either. Both have sing-a-long hooks.(that drive me batty)
So good! So good! So good !
(Who the hell started that one?)

Probably the same crazy that started the "SALT, SALT, SALT" when you're performing Jimmy Buffett's Mararettaville. What the hell, if it makes them happy, I'm happy.

Gary

I haven't found a group yet that doesn't chime in on Gigalo.

And Scott... Lydia can be a great participation tune...I tried learning it a while back and just could not remember all the lyrics. You can't bury your head in your book or laptop when you do that one.
Eddie

I think Jimmy himself, started the salt, salt, salt lines. he does all that goofy stuff at his concerts. Parrotheads eat it up.

Eddie: Hmmm Interesting, as imo, I feel the lyrics to "Lydia" is one of the easier songs to memorize because of the many 'offbeat' images it conjures up. One trick to song lyric memorization is to be able to attach memorable 'visual images' to the lyrics.



I AGREE, but not for just this tune, but all songs you perform to any audience as well. Having your head (eyes) focussed on a lyric sheet or laptop is a sure fire way to kill the song's believability as well as affect the crediability of your performance. Only after you've memorized a song can you truly make the song 'your own'. - Scott