Don Bell and Liquid Soul

Performance Rehearsal

Your band has lined up a gig, thankfully with plenty of notice and time to promote. You realize you have plenty of songs to choose from; more songs than you are going to be allotted time for. What do you do?

You should plan on making most of the rehearsals before your show “performance rehearsals”. Think of them like the rehearsals a cast of a play or musical put on. As you close in on your gig date, you should be getting closer and closer to playing like it’s the real deal.

For our example, let’s assume that band ABC has 4 weeks’ notice and typically practices twice a week.

• 4 weeks before the show:

Believe it or not, this is going to be the toughest week of the four leading up to your gig. Band ABC was writing music thinking they were going to have to play an hour for their show but landed a local music showcase gig that only requires a 30 minute set. Unfortunately, that means they won’t be able to play all of their songs. The tough part of this week is choosing which songs they are going to play.

The first rehearsal should be devoted to getting song durations down. A stopwatch is incredibly handy, as is a white board. Band ABC has their song names already written down on the white board so it’s just a matter of playing them and having someone write down how long each song is. They know that their normal set, start to finish, is almost an hour; now they know how long each song is so they can add up times to hit 30 minutes.

Band ABC is not using any type of click track or metronome for their drummer so they make a point to take the time and write a second time beside it that is roughly 10 percent shorter to account for gig adrenalin and nerves causing everyone to want to push the tempo. (They even lament the fact that they aren’t using a click track for this very reason.)

All the band members then make their own list of songs that makes 30 minutes of music. The fun part begins with the negotiation that it is going to take to pick the right songs that will knock the socks off the crowd as well as keep the musicians happy. This process may extend through to the next rehearsal but by the end of week 4 a set list needs to be figured out.

• 3 weeks before the show:

During the first rehearsal of week 3, the band runs the new 30 minute set then discusses where breaks need to be placed. The lead guitarist expresses a need to switch guitars so that break is added (and noted on the white board). The set also has a couple songs that seem to feed right into each other so that is also noted. They rehearse the breaks and the transitions from one song to the next.

The second rehearsal, before they start they make sure everyone remembers how they are doing the new transitions and make a point to rehearse them before running the set a couple times. The band members begin walking away feeling confident.

• 2 weeks before the show:

The second week should be devoted to working on stage presence. The “front man” of the group, typically the singer, needs to pretend there is a crowd and practice getting the crowd pumped up between songs, getting the crowd jamming during songs and making it seem like this is not the band’s first show. The guitarists and bass player need to make sure they are moving around and not standing in one spot playing their lines flawlessly but with little flair or facial expression.

The goal of week 2 is to make sure everyone can play their lines while truly “rocking out” like they intend to on stage. Many a band has sounded horrible during their live show due to extra moving around, whether it’s playing or tripping over cables.

Band ABC practices in a very nice rehearsal facility with great lighting that dims, (like hothouse studios), so during the 2^nd practice of the week they dim the lights, more like a night club would have, to make sure everything runs smoothly in a low light situation. If your practice studio doesn’t have dimmers on their lighting, bring in a couple of lamps from your homes, turn off the studio lights and work the set in low light that way.

• The week of the show:

Band ABC has practiced religiously for the past three weeks. They are confident and secure in their playing. They decide to only practice once this week. They run the set one last time with a couple of trusted friends there for a crowd and also to get feedback. They work out the one little quibble that their friends mention…the guitarist took longer than everyone thought switching instruments, they adjust and run the set again, except with better filler to mask the guitar change. They are happy and incredibly secure in their playing.

They make a point to pack up their gear that night so all they have to do the day of the show is show up at the gig. This lets them have one less thing to do the day of the show and keeps them fresh and ready to blow the crowd away with their set.

Your live set is fined tuned.

Hothouse Studios is more than a top notch rehearsal facility, we are a music career learning center and the Band Toolbox has over a 100 articles on various subjects relating to succeeding in your music career. Enter the Band Toolbox here.

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