And now for something completely different... (groupies)

[RamboCS]

How many people play instruments? I'm sure there's at least some other guitarists on the board. Now, how many of said musicians play in a band? Maybe only a handful of the handful of musicians are in bands. Now the real clincher: how many of those bands play shows? Numbers may be real slim or even nonexistent at this point. What I'm leading into is how ****ing easy it is to get laid when you play a show, or at least how easy it should be. Here's a few tips that should be helpful when playing a gig and reaping the side benefits.
(Just to clarify, I assume if anyone else is playing gigs they are playing in bars and small clubs like I do, ones where you can mingle with the audience.)

- Talk to everyone you can, and I mean everyone. Unless you're a nervous wrecks at your gigs, you should be in a great mood. What's better than playing music to a live audience?
- You can use the stage to showcase how confident and ****ing badass you are. Unless of course you play emo ****.
- Don't diss the other bands on the bill. Bad -move, makes you look like an arrogant prick. Become friendly with everyone, it paves the way to future shows, support, getting plugged on stage, etc. No one needs enemies in the music business, it's hard enough.
- Showboat, be funny, be a completely exaggerated alter-ego of yourself.
- Have fun
- Great eye contact can be initiated during the ballads
- Surprise the crowd. At my last gig I actually called a friend out of the crowd and onto the stage. We pointed all around through the audience, and said things like "Someone we've never met before....someone completely random..." then just stopped on our friend and said "YOU, right there! Come on up stranger! Get up here Zach Smith!" We actually used his real name to call him up, a funny dynamic. We then improvised a 20 minute song off the top of our heads. That **** is INTERESTING, it's DRAMATIC.
- Don't play just to get tail, if you love the art the groupies will notice and come in droves.
- Do something unique. We had Fisher Price guitars on stage and played them while we set up.
- Interact with the audience. For example, at the end of one song, I said "Thank you, thank you...wait, no...YOUR WELCOME."
- Take your music seriously, act like your the best ****ing band ever, but never say that. Just carry yourself like you are.
- Write originals, and credit others. Don't play covers and say they're your songs.
- Don't get completely smashed before the gig. I'm a drug veteran, so I did coke before my last show, but don't rely on it to get through the night.

 

[MooseGod]

I happen to be one of the lonely musicians not in a band. I hate you, you bastard.

I'm seriously considering posting up on a street corner with my guitar and a tip jar until I can find people who will actually jam instead of saying "yeah, let's get a band together and play gigs at the local bars" and not ever following through.

 

[RamboCS]

Dude, let me tell you, panhandling is another great way to get tail. If you're good and can also sing, that's even better, but I understand that others (like myself) simply sing too loud when playing acoustic. I sing great into a mic on stage, but terrible when everything else is quiet. Anyways, here are some more random tips...

-Become a competent musician
-Find others that play instruments and regardless of their taste, jam with them. The subconscious competition is pretty much there all the time, so you'll get better just from playing with other people and trying to reach their level.
-Broaden your musical horizons. Some of my favorite bands: Iron Maiden, Meat Loaf, Moe., Kansas, Deep Purple, W.A.S.P., Tenacious D. I also love video game soundtracks (like Megaman and Contra and ****) as well as Film Scores and Classical.
-Write songs, remember them. Best time to write is when you're either stoned or on an emotional high of any sort: Anger, Frustration, Jealousy, Mournful, Happy, Pumped, Ecstatic, Playful...they all translate well.
-Write a ballad or two.
-Learn A LOT of covers, even if they're not full songs. Then when you see that hottie wearing a Blue Oyster Cult shirt (haha, like that would happen) you can play Don't Fear the Reaper. And when the smartass keeps yelling Freebird like a doucebag, go right into it and shut him up. Smoke on the Water is obvious enough.
-Play with heart.
-Selling tickets to your own show is a great opener. I've gotten girls saying "So whos playing?" as if they didn't know it was me.
-Make a music myspace, start showing off your original ****.
-Don't be afraid to take lessons, but realize it might be better to go down the path I did, and just teach yourself...it gives you a musical ear, great musical instincts and YOUR OWN DISTINCT STYLE.
-I'm gonna say that again...DEVELOP YOUR OWN DISTINCT STYLE. I recorded recently, check it out...

www.myspace.com/bridgetones

I'm the one shredding most of the time. Reaching Bassline is ALL ME. Anyways, my point is, a friend told me that he listened to the other song we have up, Earth, which features me trading off solos with a friend. I asked him if he could tell who was who, and he said "I can tell your style since I've heard you play for so long." And indeed, he is correct.
-Learn multiple instruments. I play guitar, bass, piano, and sing. I can play a steady beat on drums, and a mean rhythm on bongos or the body of an acoustic.
-Follow your dreams, and don't let anyones scathing or bitter remarks hold you down. Everyone will always compliment every guitarist that isn't in the room to you, maybe to subconsciously bring you down a notch for being a competent musician. Just ignore the naysayers.

 

[BCOMusic]

its sweet to see some other musicians on the board....

yea dude music goes hand in hand with chicks man, i go to music school right now to and study music, and soon enough my band is going to play gigs and im going to be knee deep in puzzy