Stage Rules. We all have some, what are yours?

[Dave]

Raf's pic thread got me thinking.





What are your stage rules?


Mine:

No athletic shoes
No shorts
No baggy clothes
Don't wear own band's shirt



Usually when I see the above I think high school garage band and leave. If you're going through the trouble of schlepping gear, driving to a venue, etc at least take the effort to not be a total lazy bastard.

[sleewell]

everything traidmark does would be on my list

[Dave]

You know what band wears their own shirts on stage?


Five finger death punch

[Telephant]

You know what band wears their own shirts on stage?


Five finger death punch

I agree with all of this.

[sleewell]

yeah but they are awesome

[Dave]

everything traidmark does would be on my list

I will add:

Being Traidsmark








Anyway, these are all my stupid rules for my band that is just for fun. They are absolutely meaningless in every possible way since they have no bearing on anyone but myself.

[Dickarms]

No athletic shoes
No shorts
No baggy clothes
Don't wear own band's shirt

in addition, here are a few of mike's pissy rules for being in a band and playing live. they are not hard to follow, and contrary to how many of them there are, they do not detract from the awesome experience that is playing live.

-no sports jerseys (my keys player breaks that one a lot, pisses me off)
-move at least a little bit. show me some passion...anything
-find a happy medium with the banter. less is generally better.
-no self-loathing comments to the crowd, even in sarcasm
-acknowledge the bands before and after you in what little banter you engage in
-shirtless drummers handled on a case-by-case basis. i wish ours would shirt up sometimes.
-try to have SOME sort of cohesiveness in wardrobe. its pretty gay to completely coordinate, but try not to be totally jarring, like one dude in casual, one dude in formal etc. black fairly-form fitting pants and shirt can never really go wrong
-always have water and beer present.
-be confident. nervous ticks show and are more uncomfortable for the crowd than for you. (saw an all girl band where the singer kept picking her snatch wedgie. not as hot as it sounds)
-merch: how long have you been a band? are coozies with your amateurly-typographed band name really necessary or even cool yet?
-banners, etc: if you're paying for a banner, get a proper logo first. hint: if your font is in ms word, it is not good or worthy of turning into a logo. period.
-have fun
-dont be a douche (catch-all rule)
-be early
-stay as late as is feasible. shit comes up, but dont just leave right after your set all the damned time.

[JonVengeance]

Raf's pic thread got me thinking.





What are your stage rules?


Mine:

No athletic shoes
No shorts
No baggy clothes
Don't wear own band's shirt



Usually when I see the above I think high school garage band and leave. If you're going through the trouble of schlepping gear, driving to a venue, etc at least take the effort to not be a total lazy bastard.

I mostly agree with this, but I think classic athletic shoes are ok like Adidas sambas or classic new balances.

To this list I would add:
Camo print or anything hunting related
Sports jerseys
Work boots, like Wal-mart brahmas for example
Baseball caps, cowboy hats unless you are doing country
Ed hardy, tap out, affliction, etc shirts
Gold chains or other superfluous man jewelry
Tacky, bro style or urban style jeans

I'll probably think of more later

[Dave]

Oh yeah sambas, chucks, pumas, etc are all legit

[Dickarms]

yeah it is understood that it basically means no old man white shoes.

[Stratz]

1. Always wear at least 3 glittery and/or sparkly items.
2. Never take advice from people on internet forums.

[Dickarms]

oh, stratz. stratz, stratz stratz stratz stratz ......

[Stratz]

a simple thank you would suffice.

[nightflameauto]

My stage rules were always pretty simple:
- Don't be a dick to the venue/patrons or each other.
- Don't fuck with other people's gear unless asked to.
- Engage the drunks but don't over-indulge them.
- STFU and play.

The don't fuck with other people's gear thing is where I've had a huge problem with others. No fucker, my amp is not YOUR beer stand, even if it might be mine. Nor is it a convenient spot to lay a lit cigarrete when we get ready to start playing. Oh, and dear bass playing douchetard, putting your foot through the back head on the kick isn't metal, it's retarded. I don't care if it is the last song of the night, your paying for the new head. Also, clip your fucking strings. I get one more of them to the eye and you're going down.



Starting to remember precisely WHY I decided I'm done with the band thing. I have a select group of dudes I'll sub for, and a group of buds I'll play with about twice a year. Other than that, fuck off. No time for the drama and stupidity.

[Telephant]

No athletic shoes
No shorts
No baggy clothes
Don't wear own band's shirt

in addition, here are a few of mike's pissy rules for being in a band and playing live. they are not hard to follow, and contrary to how many of them there are, they do not detract from the awesome experience that is playing live.

-no sports jerseys (my keys player breaks that one a lot, pisses me off)
-move at least a little bit. show me some passion...anything
-find a happy medium with the banter. less is generally better.
-no self-loathing comments to the crowd, even in sarcasm
-acknowledge the bands before and after you in what little banter you engage in
-shirtless drummers handled on a case-by-case basis. i wish ours would shirt up sometimes.
-try to have SOME sort of cohesiveness in wardrobe. its pretty gay to completely coordinate, but try not to be totally jarring, like one dude in casual, one dude in formal etc. black fairly-form fitting pants and shirt can never really go wrong
-always have water and beer present.
-be confident. nervous ticks show and are more uncomfortable for the crowd than for you. (saw an all girl band where the singer kept picking her snatch wedgie. not as hot as it sounds)
-merch: how long have you been a band? are coozies with your amateurly-typographed band name really necessary or even cool yet?
-banners, etc: if you're paying for a banner, get a proper logo first. hint: if your font is in ms word, it is not good or worthy of turning into a logo. period.
-have fun
-dont be a douche (catch-all rule)
-be early
-stay as late as is feasible. shit comes up, but dont just leave right after your set all the damned time.

Agreed on all accounts.

[Dickarms]

Starting to remember precisely WHY I decided I'm done with the band thing. I have a select group of dudes I'll sub for, and a group of buds I'll play with about twice a year. Other than that, fuck off. No time for the drama and stupidity.

man, you sound like you played with some real fucktards. and bad enough to get YOU to stop? there should be counseling for shit like this

[atrox]

I just wear whatever i'm wearing that day. Dont think that much about it really.

[nightflameauto]

Starting to remember precisely WHY I decided I'm done with the band thing. I have a select group of dudes I'll sub for, and a group of buds I'll play with about twice a year. Other than that, fuck off. No time for the drama and stupidity.

man, you sound like you played with some real fucktards. and bad enough to get YOU to stop? there should be counseling for shit like this

My absolute favorite (worst) ever was the OTHER guitar player (self proclaimed lead specialist) jumping up and STANDING ON my combo amp during a solo, then tipping it over and falling off it backwards as he pulled the whammy up, then getting up pissed off at ME because, "you didn't secure your amp, fuckwad." Um, what? I wasn't aware the fucker needed to be bolted to the stage for your douche-antics. He bought me a new set of tubes after the scuffle ended. We weren't invited back to the venue. Turns out they frown on a band breaking down into full-fledged beatdown on each other mid song.

[Dickarms]

I just wear whatever i'm wearing that day. Dont think that much about it really.

but do you wear douchey shit during the day?
i do this too, but the reverse: i try not to wear shit during the day that i wouldnt wear on stage.

[Dickarms]

Starting to remember precisely WHY I decided I'm done with the band thing. I have a select group of dudes I'll sub for, and a group of buds I'll play with about twice a year. Other than that, fuck off. No time for the drama and stupidity.

man, you sound like you played with some real fucktards. and bad enough to get YOU to stop? there should be counseling for shit like this

My absolute favorite (worst) ever was the OTHER guitar player (self proclaimed lead specialist) jumping up and STANDING ON my combo amp during a solo, then tipping it over and falling off it backwards as he pulled the whammy up, then getting up pissed off at ME because, "you didn't secure your amp, fuckwad." Um, what? I wasn't aware the fucker needed to be bolted to the stage for your douche-antics. He bought me a new set of tubes after the scuffle ended. We weren't invited back to the venue. Turns out they frown on a band breaking down into full-fledged beatdown on each other mid song.

holy shit, brother! who the hell were you in a band with, and where?

[nightflameauto]

holy shit, brother! who the hell were you in a band with, and where?

I'm not gonna name names, cause it's a long time in the past, but this particular band rolled around the southern Minnesota area during the very late eighties and beginning of the nineties. We lasted longer than we should have. Still trying to figure out how we survived another couple months after that incident. The drummer was a good dude and always seemed to find a way to convince everybody else to come back to the table. He probably had a future in politics if he played his cards right.

Ever hear of Fox Lake Ballroom? We were there a couple times. Probably our "biggest" shows, big being relative. Lots of shithole dives and garage gigs.

[Dickarms]

nothing wrong with those gigs, if the content is fun and original, they can be the best gigs ever.
but man, you should have moved.

[benjamin801]

You know what band wears their own shirts on stage?


Five finger death punch

I can't read this without picturing it in a photo macro - either the frog one or the one with the baby pumping his fist.

[GuitarBilly]

I think it all depends on the musical style. Shorts are fine for a metal band. Pantera, Sepultura, Machine Head etc all wear shorts on stage and its fine. Same with Camo.

Wearing your own band's shirt on stage is also an old school metal thing.

Anyway, I normally wear all-black on stage or a black shirt and dark jeans. It always works for me. I never cared so much about stage rules though, most of the bands I've played with were guys with common sense to begin with, so I never really had to say shit. I think that if one of your band mates is doing something is so outrageous you need to lay down the rules to him, he probably has bigger issues than just clothing.

[GAS KING]

no bare feet. period.