Elevate Your Live Performances: Essential Tips for Musicians

Live performances are the beating heart of a musician’s journey, where artistry meets audience. Yet, stepping onto that stage can stir up a whirlwind of nerves and excitement. Fear not! In this guide, we’ll delve into the crucial do’s and don’ts of live performances, equipping you with strategies to captivate your audience and leave them craving more.

Craft Your Live Version

For the love of God, when you are performing live, please have a rendition of that song ready, AKA, WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR VOICE! People have come to hear YOU perform, not a studio recording. The only things that should be in the live audio recording are:

• Adlibs
• Stabs 
• Backing Vocals
• Any effects/extras (voicemail, sound effects, etc.)

Please make sure to remove the lead vocals for your performance track. I’m telling you, people will appreciate you so much more for it.

Engage with Your Audience

A lot of performers are quick to get straight into the song. Especially if it’s your first time performing in front of a crowd, you want things to end as quickly as possible, but I promise you, no one is judging you as hard as you are. You’ll be surprised how strangers support you even when expressing your nerves.

A couple of things you can do to interact with the crowd are:

• Explain the meaning of the song/why you wrote it
• Ask for participation during the song (join in with the performance)
• Ask questions (How are you guys feeling today?)
• Call-to-actions: “Come closer to the stage”

One thing that has worked for me is to tell jokes/be funny. If you can evoke emotions from the crowd, you’re in a better position to become memorable, which is the whole point! Try to interact with the people you’re performing in front of. 

Embrace the Space

Another tip when performing is to USE ALL THE SPACE ALLOCATED TO YOU! The only exceptions I would say for this are probably soul singers or artists that make music like Adele because your voice and music should be enough.

All other artists move about whilst performing. Even in terms of your body gestures, be expressive! Nobody wants to see a mannequin on stage. People will gravitate to you so much more! Eric Everweiss is the best example I’ve seen of this point. Watch his latest performance from M.O.E (Music Over Everything) below.

From my experience, I’ve learnt what you need to do to impact your live performance. So, confidently step onto that stage, armed with these essential tips, and leave your audience spellbound! And remember, the journey doesn’t end here, it’s a continuous evolution!

Please share your insights and experiences in the comments below, and let’s keep the conversation alive. Together, let’s raise the bar for live performances!