Recently I've got myself a bit worked up, which for me is most unusual. What's even more unusual is that I have been critical of a couple of live performances and more particularly the performers themselves which is something I almost never do. Generally all performers deserve the benefit of the doubt. It's damn hard to get up on stage and perform in any discipline. So why did I get so annoyed? In the words of the late Max Bygraves "Let me tell you a story."
On a recent Sunday afternoon my wife and I decided to go to one of our local hostelries to meet some friends and watch a band. Advertised to start from 4pm we arrived in good time. The band did not. At 4:30 two guys wandered in and began to set up. It turned out that the band were in fact a guitarist and singer. Not usually a problem but they had a third electronic member of the group. A drum machine which had not been programmed, it was just a start/stop triggered by a pedal. They played to their backing track for an hour and then packed up and went home. They weren't terrible. The singer was good and the guitarist could play. Some of the other patrons even sang along to Sweet Caroline at the finale, but I felt angry that I had been a bit short changed somehow.
Now I'll admit I'm not a big fan of artists using backing tracks. It's all a bit too close to Karaoke for me, but that wasn't what was annoying me. Having had a few soothing ales, a telling off from my wife and exchanged some ranty WhatsApp messages to some musical friends I calmed down, but the experience was still niggling me. Why was I so upset?
A week or so later we decided to watch a 'singing comedian' at another local pub. We took the time to research the guy on social media. He seemed to come highly recommended, boasting of performances in Europe and the US, as well as apparently writing material for the BBC. Hopes were high, but unfortunately they fell rapidly.
Comedy is subjective and what I find funny might well baffle the next man. Sadly this guy's routine baffled everyone. It wasn't just that he wasn't funny. His delivery was poor, rushed and at times incoherent. His songs might have been careful and amusing observations of life, but were ruined by the fact he couldn't play guitar or indeed sing. It was a slow motion car crash. He was expected to entertain for 90 minutes but bailed out after 25. The landlord unimpressed refused to pay him his expected fee.
I suddenly realised what it was that had been bugging me.
Whenever I have been on stage the one thing that I have always done before hand is rehearse like mad. Not just rehearse a bit but an awful lot. This is probably something I picked up from my Dad and his parents who were actors. Thinking back to my first gig at school, we played just two songs, six minutes of performance, but we spent months rehearsing.
At University the band I was in rehearsed religiously every Sunday for four hours. The same songs, at the same old warehouse studio in Liverpool, over and over again to make sure we got them right. As we pretty much lived together we would play and sing at home too. We spent hours honing and refining so the songs became second nature.
Even now with my band we rehearse every week, and we all practice at home.
What annoyed me was the way these artists seemed to be taking some kind of short cut. Not programming the backing track properly for example seems to me to be just lazy and it detracted from their otherwise good performance.
The comedian didn't seem to have rehearsed his material or delivery at all. It takes a lot of guts to get booked into venues and expect to get paid for a poor performance. To fail to prepare is to prepare to fail as they say.
I guess what it boils down to is a hint of jealousy. I wouldn't dream of performing anything unless I was really confident it would be of a good standard. Well at least in my mind anyway, others may disagree. The fact that these guys were getting away with so much less preparation was very frustrating.
That amount of courage, in some perverse way has to be admired. Now if anyone wants me I'll be practicing the solo to All My Loving. Again.
As the football manager Gordon Strachan often said, Good Luck is the meeting of opportunity with preparation. Gary Player, the golfer said, They call me a lucky player, the funny thing is, the more I practice the luckier I am! Performing unprepared is not brave it is an insult to all those who have paid to come and see you.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. It is very disrespectful to be poorly prepared for a gig. I think what upsets me the most is people are getting away with it!
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