The Fine Line

Ah, here's the question to end all questions if you front a band: where do you rights as a singer - and the crowd's rights to be a part of the show - begin and end?

Singing in a band means you've got to connect with the audience. If not - if you don't excite them, get them happy, or crazy, or melancholy - you won't have the gig for very long. Normally, if you're dedicated to what you're doing, connecting to the audience is fairly simple. The crowd already had built-in memories for the songs, and most times we're talking about DECADES worth of music and memories. Being sincere gets you there, and it's a really great feeling connecting with people who - generally - you don't know.

...and that's where the problems begin.

Now, I normally enjoy it when people coming up to me in mid-song to sing along, or play tamborine, or just hang with the band. After all, if it wasn't for the client, I wouldn't be there. Still, there's something about trying to keep my personal space - aka the stage, my work area - relatively open. On stage, I move a lot, swing my arms, my mic stand, throw the tamborine in the air, etc. If nothing else, I don't want to hurt anyone with an inadvertent elbow to the kidney.

Most people understand this, and I do as well - so when I invite someone on stage, I know this person is in control of his or her faculties. However, when the hootch is calling the shots, people come up and start doing things that - well, aren't too smart. I've had people try to pull the mic out of my hands, bash into my mic stand (which, in turn, causes my mic to smash me in the mouth), start having a conversation with me - while I'm in the middle of singing a verse! - etc.

Does it ever get dangerous? Well, not life-threatening or anything like that, but when a person is completely incapacitated, and he or she is trying to walk around all the gear, cables, mic cords, etc. - yeah, I'd say that's an accident just waiting to happen.

So, you can see where that fine line between entertainers and entertainees sits. I guess this is one of the reasons I normally go out TO the crowd. I'm committed to tearing down that "I'm the band and you're forced to listen" wall between musician and listener, so when I'm out there with them they become a part of our music making.

And I always want the crowd to remember that. I'm no different than they are...but sometimes, I just need a little space to prove it.