How many have played in front of a live audience? Just wondering as we discuss music this is a big factor in many ways,......Some have part time, some everyday for a living, and yet some never at all,....the experience on stage is very reflective to responses and replies when you read them as the overall experiences we learn on stage is priceless and can never be passed on unless you actually have done it many many times in many many situations, what gear you use and why on stage makes a big difference also,...playing in your living room and playing in front of 50-100-1000's people with or with out a band is such a different ballgame,....you owe it to yourself to try it sometime any way you have to & you will certainly become a better musician for sure in so many ways, being Eye To Eye with hundreds of people watching you perform will be an experience you will never forget. ....

take care

and thoughts?

Played hundreds of super large concerts with big named groups and as opening act. Nightclubs Piano bars, dances and now a lot of seniors.
I love every one of the venues and have learned so much about presentation, grooming,stage presence and lots of things you would never
think of if you just play at home. One of the most important is always
have a backup for cords, tracks if you use them, mics. Never could afford
a backup keyboard but that would have been nice. But impractical at the
time. Hammond b3 twin leslies ect.
mel.....BY THE WAY YOU NEVER STOP LEARNING

Approaching 20,000 live jobs. Music, equipment and customers have changed dramatically.

The Adrenalin rush has not!

R.

mel,....certainly the show must go on,backup everything is never enough, kbs, wires & cables, and adapters of every kind, extra laptops, usb drives, mics, speakers, stands, mixers,and when all else fails be able to do your show using your smart phone also if needed,...lol...when the pressure is on to perform and you have paying crowds you better be ready to give them 150% every single time and be proud of it. What I am tryiong to get at is that we have two totally different experience factors here on SZ which is something to consider when "discussing music"...

Take care

90% of my jobs since 1958 were for played in front of a live audience. A few years with clubs then weddings, anniversaries, and parties.

My home playing was normally guitar. I tried my best to make my songs sound full like a piano.
John C.

There are also many great musicians who never played in front of an audience but their music has been heard by millions, they have been really successful in the back ground as studio musicians, arrangers, songwriters, producers, and on & on it goes,...

Most of my playing is a public performance, much like what others have said. Played this week for a large group of seniors. Got three requests, two of which I knew. I knew “Without A Song” and “Wandering Star”. Have heard, but didn’t know “Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me”. Promised to learn it. Another thought: how many musicians who play(ed) live were more or less in the background and not center stage? Did Freddie Green of the Basie band ever play a solo? But, yet, these folks are indispensable in terms of the group’s sound. A close friend, who directed a college jazz band for years, said that in building a band from scratch, his first choice would be the bass player, followed by the rhythm section. These would be selected before the lead trumpet player, who often gets the limelight, he said.

I tried when i wore a younger mans cloths, i joined a rockband... I find out making music on stage or playing for others made me so nervous that i needed a whole lot of beer and Bacardi to overcome that, or just fail miserably.. Untill the day of today i get nervous like a little boy when i want to even play some christmass songs for the kids at christmass eve..

Whats really strange, i have no problem talking in front of huge audiences, and i am talking about thousands of people, i even lead some funerals including my own daughters one. Witouth a single drop of sweat. But playing music in front of an audience somehow hits a nerve... i think it has to do with the fact that i fear/hate making mistakes, and know that i am not hundred procent in controll of my playing skills..

I even quit playing music for over a decade because of that.. when i picked it up again, i promissed myself to never play for an audience again, as it was not worth it for me.

In the 80s I played in bands that opened for major acts like INXS and Divinyls to up to 2000 people. But while that was fun playing to 10 people in a bar is just as satisfying. I guess I just like to play to live audiences.

Here is the song we used to open with for major acts.

50+ years of performing live in all types of settings. Some memorable and some not so much. I should write a book with the stories I've accumulated.
I'm still happy I never pursued it full time but got a teaching degree and now that the preforming end has slowed down for me I don't have the constant worry of getting the next gig.
Made some good fun money and bought and sold tons of equipment, met some good people and went places I never would of if it wasn't for the music. .
Playing live will teach you more and make you realize things that no amount of time in the practice room will.
I look back and do have some regrets but its been a hell-of-a ride.

Let me also add performing Live "FULL TIME for a living" vs just being a part time weekend warrior also makes a very BIG DIFFERENCE in your thought process in so many ways especially if your writing and performing all original songs regarding the business vs a home player who doesn't,.....this has been a great thread so far thank you all for your thoughts.

Since 1969 playing at Lounges, Restaurants, then larger events weddings, then Hotels, Conventions, etc.. I guess the largest single party I played was about 3000+...then also county fairs, with audiences 5000 plus...

I've only been performing live for about 9 or 10 years. I started just playing piano at cocktail hours mostly wallpaper music. I then bought a PSR3000, then started at senior facilities. Love playing piano only but nothing beats the satisfaction of playing for an old appreciate audience in senior centers.

My first live audience was in 1958 at a nite club in Barcelona, Spain, I was playing guitar and singing with a drummer, sax player, a bass player and another guitar player. I was scared to death, about 60 ppl in the place, and my Spanglish was very limited to say the least. The other guys thought I was great, and urged me to continue, which I did until last year.

I performed at nite clubs, bars, VFWs, animal clubs and American legions on weekends from about 1960 through 1985, then switched to the senior circuit 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Best job I ever had! I averaged 350 to 450 jobs a year, made a good living, paid off the house, bought several boats, took some great vacations with my wife, and established a small retirement account, because I knew retirement would eventually come.

The largest audience I performed for was about 1,200 drunken yacht owners in Ocean City, Maryland's Tuna Tournament. They loved the music, danced well beyond the time I was supposed to quit for the night, and invited me back for the next 8 years until the event ceased to exist under that ownership. Now, I play a couple hours a week in the office, just to maintain my sanity and dream of what once was. Bill said it all when he stated "It has been one Hell of a ride."

All the best,

Gary

Kind of like married people talk and understand differently than unmarried peopls....or.....folks who have kids see things differently than those who are childless.

I'll skim the surface here.

The first few years playing out (and I'm in my teens) I was so frightened being in front of an audience, I never looked up once (from my accordion) between songs. I'm not even sure I looked up through the windshield to drive home after a gig.

Years later, now, I can't wait to be on stage, talking, singing, playing. It's the only time I feel important enjoying my Andy Warhol's "15 minutes of fame." When not on stage, I'm just a nobody. But when you're performing it's the power you have in your hands, the control you have of people. The ability to make them laugh or cry or dance or sing, or just plain make them feel good.

So I guess I'm a latent control person, but luckily I use the control for good and not evil.

Well said my friend.

Never been musician as a professional, but has played out on various occasions.
Weddings, Birthday parties, Restaurants, Company parties, Saturday Night dance parties etc.
Highest number of audience at once was about 750 or so, but most often it could vary between 50 and 300.
Always live, never with midifiles or sequences. Edited stylesets to fit if we did play as duo or trio.
I was always nervous and trembling at hand during the first song or two, but after that fine.
We did it "our way" and it was a great pleasure to see the audience had much fun too.
Having participated in live playing was both great for learning and good experience. It also added a lot of happy memories.
Now I'm only playing at home, but we never know what's going to happen further down the road .....

DITTO

I was born to be on stage. I'm much more comfortable with strangers than I'd like to be, and when I'm in front of a large group, I see the entire gathering as one entity. I become more alive when I am in front of an audience, and in my heart, I believe that I truly have something that they want ... so I'm happy to share it with them. Being on stage is like an extension of my home, my office, my favorite chair, my happy place ... everything seems right with the world when I'm at the helm.

This doesn't mean that I don't get the occasional jitters. Preparation, and "fit" are key elements to my level of jitter vs. comfort. I sang the nation anthem for a Phillies/Mets game in 1984, and I went into training for weeks before. I modified my diet, cut out all foods that gave me phlegm, or made me feel bloated, started walking a few miles each day, so I was physically ready to project my voice the way I wanted to. Mentally, it was more of a challenge, because of the (almost) 2 second delay from the speakers to the pitcher's mound - that was one of the hardest things I've had to deal with as a vocalist.
With all that prep, and confidence - it was still 35,000 people - my Dad's entire branch of the company (Ford), and dozens of friends who were either at the game, or watching at home ... a little terrifying, to say the least. Still, I was ready, and that mound was exactly where I belonged, at that exact moment in time, so I sang my heart out, and was very proud to do so. It's one of my biggest thrills to this day.

The point of this story is not to brag, but rather, to say that even though that performance was for an audience of thousands, if was no more daunting, or important than some intimate coffee houses, or house parties I've played for 5-10 people. The stage is my home, and the audience is like my family. I'm happiest doing what I've been trained to do, whenever a willing crowd is listening. I believe that music should be shared, and I prefer face to face. Studio projects are fun, but they lack the audience interaction. Give me warm bodies, anyday! The expression of ones art is a personal thing, for sure, but I'll end with a quote from Victor Hugo: "...music expresses that which cannot be put into words, and that which cannot remain silent"
That sums it all up for me!

Likewise 50+ years singing and playing in all sorts of settings (rock band, solo guitar, weddings, light opera, radio, TV, etc.) I had settled into just doing a few seniors gigs, but last December i found a rock tribute band looking for a multi-instrumentalist, so now here i am at age 65 playing rock star
As to why, other than the experience of live performing --- i'm basically lazy and need motivation. If i didn't have gigs i'd never get around to practicing and learning new songs.

- Jimbo

Mark is the only one that gets what Im saying regarding the interaction between on stage experience and a home player posting on SZ in my original post although I appreciate all the historical summaries......
thank you all for sharing

I'll use this thread to reintroduce myself. Been a while since I have posted, I lost my password and was too lazy to get another one. Nigel helped me get up and running again. I played in bands from the mid seventies up until the nineties. Played in nursing homes for 9 years until health problems cropped up. I may return some day if I get straightened out. I don't miss playing in bars at this point and don't think I could go back to that. Funny how your perspective changes. Anyway, I have enjoyed the posts here for years and will jump in form time to time. I am not really a keyboard player BTW, mostly a bass player that plays rhythm guitar and I just use keyboard for recording and my own amusement.

I know exactly what you mean. I am really a guitarist but over the years I have also played bass and keyboard. Just play what is needed I guess.

Along with my other problems I injured my left wrist and can no longer play the bass for more than an hour at a time. On the bright side, perhaps I will spend more time on keyboard since the synth action is easy to play and doesn't seem to affect it.

Hi - Interesting topic ... I have been playing for audiences for a little over 40 years. For me, part-time, but for some of the years, fairly often. Since some have added estimates of # of gigs/events played, I thought about that ... probably about 1200-1500 gigs perhaps. More if I include the more informal parties, jam sessions and such. Yes, equipment, audiences, music tastes/requests, all have changed plenty over the years. A lot of my years were with a 6 piece band; in the recent ~20 years, I have done more and more solo, duo and trio gigs.

It might be fun (as a separate thread) to share photos of our rigs from 30-40 (or more, for some) years ago! :-) I have a few pics of my old rigs, that I took when I was in high school, then college, then after college-age, etc. etc. - and the rigs have changed a lot! :-)

Jim

Been playing in front of live audiences of all kinds since I was 14 - 15 years old ... played solo, and in duets, combos and bands in accordion competitions (that's right, chas ), and started a RnR band in High School ... played dances, weddings, private parties, with the same 5 guys for 26 years - mostly Friday, Saturday, and Sunday ... many weekend days in the summer I left family members partying poolside at my house as I went off to play a gig - but it NEVER seemed like a second 'job' ...
when I moved to RI, I didn't play 'professionally' for 7 years, then finally got the 'courage' to go out and try to get solo work and have worked pretty steadily since -nowhere near like the days in NY, but it's been enough ... still also do about 6 gigs a year with the guitar player in New Jersey ...

Taking you KB to the streets for a different audience ....

The common thread which I can relate to is just how many doors have been opened and how many opportunities were realized through playing music. Been playing accordion for over 55 years with starting performing as a father and son accordion duo when I was only 10 years old. What an opportunity that turned out to be. Put myself through college playing weekends first with a trio and then as a solo. After college, played full-time with a drummer covering top 40 (in the mid to late 70's). Packed bars (I'm talking 2-300 people a night) playing four nights a week plus private gigs on weekends.
After finally breaking into day-time field of study, continued playing weekends with a guitar player for over 20 years. Now, after retiring in 2014 I'm back playing solo two nights a week. Love playing in front of an audience especially seeing reaction of people who have never seen or heard an accordion player do the things I can do. Definitely have my niche in Italian/American/Latin familiar favorites easy listening and dance music. Thank God every day for this gift and love helping others make some great memories. Always say I'm not that good, but have been doing it a long time. Also, I'm not a musician, simply hang around with them... It's not perfection people are looking for, it's the beat and the "sound"!!! They want something they can feel.

_________________________
Jerry

Ketron SD40, Ketron MidJay Pro, MusicTech-50 Digital Accordion, G. Verdi Lite IV acoustic accordion+Limex Pro III Midi, Baldoni Midi (Psuedo)-Accord (Keytar), iPad-OnSong App, Shure Headset Digital Mic., Behringer X AIR XR12 Digital Mixer, Excelsior Symphony, Vintage C. Fidardo Professional Accordion, JBL Eon 615 powered speakers.

Jerry great memories...there are many accordion affectionatos on the SZ also....
glad your having fun in the trenches good luck to you and your music..

I did over 20 years ago, several times with a cover band of friends...almost 25 years ago
Nerveswrecking, Made me stop making music for years..
iT required atleast half a bottle of gin, to stop my hands Shaking
When i starten plating again almost a decade later, i promised myself never to return to that hell

Many of us have started out on the STOMACH STEINWAY. I played for 20 years before switching to organ then keyboards. Best learning inst. ever.
MEL

The size of the audience really isn't a factor..
I have played for over 10,000 people, a few times in Sea Isle City.. Outdoor music festival..

And upwards of 8,000 people several times in Wildwood.

The only folks that we can see are the people in front of us... not much different then the 100 people we play for at a senior event..

BTW: my first concert solo performance was at the age of 12.... on accordion.. I didn't know I was suppose to be nervous

Rarely if ever have I been nervous about anything I have done in life. I have been zeroed in to do my best at times.. Competitive
in sports and auto racing, bike racing etc.

That's a good way of looking at it!



I was so nervous at the high school talent show, when I heard my name called and went through the curtain opening to arrive on the stage I almost fainted. My presentation song was Frosini's "The Jolly Caballero." I played the introduction, was so frightened I forgot the whole middle part, and went right to the ending. Total performance time about 12 seconds!

I haven't played in front of a live audience in, let's see, about two hours now.
I have played in front of several semi-dead audiences too.
Don't have any fear, but starting the first song always inspires a few nerves until I finish it and nobody BOOOS.
I don't ever recall being fearful while playing on stage, but it took a long time to get comfortable singing because I never thought of myself as a singer. Only after doing it maybe 25 years I started accepting the fact that most people think I sing o.k. I still question their judgement, but accept it gratefully.

I suppose I'm the "Elephant in the Room" here... but I do use an Arranger Keyboard to create new, original songs. Performing is not even on my "bucket list"... LOL!

That said, I hope each of you "PRO Keyboard Artists" know how much I admire your talent and envy your vocal capabilities. One fellow here in particular comes to mind. (Take a bow, Mr. Mason!)

Thanks to each of you for allowing me to "hang around" and absorb some of your collective wisdom and experiences. You guys are my heroes! ----Dave Rice

One of the great accordion classics ...

You are very kind Dave! Thank you.