I hate when bands won't use the stage.
 

I'm talking it in small punk clubs nowadays so many bands will only set up on the floor and won't use the stage, even if only 20 people are there. I hate that trendy crap. I'm there because I want to hear and SEE the band and it's easier to see you if you are on stage. I guess it's some kind of point about not being better than the fans or whatever but it's stupid.

I like these shows a lot better. Especially at small venues. It's way more intimate when you can literally touch the crash symbol and piss the drummer off. Lightning Bolt does pretty much all of their shows like this, and if I'm not mistaken so does Punch. And going to shows at house venues is always fun because of this reason. The stage is cool, too.. If the artists share it.

It's sort of cool I guess but in my experience it just makes the band harder to see. There is a reason stages were invented after all.

It could be worse, there's always the extreme alternative...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1n7QV0ithF...s/s1600/ml.jpg

You probably wouldn't like the old days. I've seen a lot of footage with no stage. And that Doors show looked awesome.

It depends on how many people are in attendence, if there's only a small number then it can make for a more intimate gig. I'm pretty much used it here as some venues in my town don't have a stage. Besides there's nothing like being at a gig where you have to avoid stepping on the lead guitarist's effects pedals and spilling your drink on him when trying to get to the toilet.

floor is fine. It puts them on the level of the fans. which is better. I would rather be face to face with the band than below them.

Punk doesnt need a stage.

I've heard Animal Collective used to play like this for their Campfire Songs tour, and it sounds pretty neat to me. A punk show seems like it would be too rowdy for all this jazz, though.

like said... nobody would surive the old days. Punk rock in many places is too safe. Bouncers and barricades. I like the idea of the band on the floor instead of the stage...

Punk Rock is a hot topic these days.

I like it if there is a small audience.
It would be a different things if there is a couple of hundered people.

I never realised playing on the floor was a trend though... thanks for opening my eyes. /sarcasm.

More than 10 people is too many for this. People say you're face-to-face but that's only for the pushy ******* jocks in the front. Chicks and old stoners can't see anything but the back of some other ****er's head this way.

that's why you push your way to the front.

There's a reason why I didn't play football.

be on stage? what for?

stages are only good for peeking up female singers/bandmembers/backing vocalists' skirts

it's simple practicality for me. no political social psychological interpretation for me...

i want to see them so i want them on stage. where they play has nothing to do with them being equal or not equal with the fans. besides, if i'm watching them and paying for them, they better be damn better than me because i suck.

At the shows me and my friends does, there are about 35 regulars which seems fine.
Plus most of the girls are upfront moshing like crazy.
But I agree that it's not good for those who are less pushy.

I've never been to a show where the band plays on the floor, but I have to say, something wild like this would be awesome...

thank you

Never been to a concert... probably never will, but I have to say that playing on a stage would be the best option. Playing on the floor seems like it could create too much chaos and prevent the non-assertive people (such as myself) from seeing the band. Sorry about being courteous... I just don't feel like shoving people out of my way and ruining the show for them.

bands on the floor can be loads of fun if the scene is tight and mainly composed of like minded people/friends....look at alfred's post....seriously that looks like a sweaty blast....some of the most fun shows i've ever been to were basement/house shows...but then again we all knew each other and were there to have a good time

You're saying CBGB's didn't have a stage?

No.

CBGBs is not the end all of punk rock......for years there have been basement shows....you can still find them in every town you go to.....thats whats great about underground music.....its underground....its people booking their own shows at their own place on their own terms....and for the most part i feel it ends up being a great time

personally i would much rather see a band like....Drunkdriver on a floor with like minded people (who be the only type of person there)....yeah it would be rowdy....and people would get hurt and blood would flow....but thats part of the fun....nobody would get malicious......

on the other hand seeing a band with a bit more diverse following like say Supersuckers....still for the most part an underground band....in the fact that they don't get much media attention.....but still a very diverse crowd comes to their shows....i love seeing them live....but at times i hate the crowd....just annoying people and would hate even more in an intimate environment

Sorry for nosey but why haven't you ever been to a concert?

I'm poor and musicians that I enjoy don't really play near me. Also... loud noise can give me severe headaches, and I don't like being in large groups of people.

Exactly. Once upon a time there was no such thing as a stage and performers performed right at the same level as everyone else. Then one day someone got fed up with with not being seen by their audience and had the clever idea to build a platform so that everyone had a better view. Whoever that person was, they had come up with a really, really useful invention. Why shun it?

This. So much this.

For my 2p, if you're playing a gig and you have a stage to use (Which would usually denote that you're at least attempting to be either professional or reach a larger audience than "The ten people at the front"), you should be using it. Its there for a reason, it makes EVERYONES lives easier, from fans through band through sound guys (Yes, amazing as it sounds, some people expect to be able to hear the music at a show, rather than aimless noise, as happens in a lot of small gigs even WITH the benefit of a stages acoustic assistance), it sounds better because your gear is being lifted off the floor and won't reverberate as wildly, and your gear will feed back less.

But hey, if you want to ignore all that and sound like **** and have only the biggest burliest *******s at the show actually see you or have any fun, be my guest. I won't be going to your terrible pretentious elitist "We must do things this way otherwise people will think we are not truly into our music" show anyway, so whatever.

Theres also a great invention that the manchester Apollo stumbled upon almost by accident - Its a sloping floor. Place used to be an old cinema. They have a stage AND a sloping floor, so everyone in the ENTIRE AUDIENCE can *always* find a place from which they can see the whole stage, rather than being stuck with the tall dude at the front blocking everyones view. Now thats progress, and more venues should be doing it.

i think i misunderstood the op......

i have to agree....if you're playing at a a place with a stage for all means.....use it....but i still concur that small shows where the band has to play on the floor and everybody gets rowdy and has fun....is well fun :)

some of the best shows i've been to were in basements/vfw halls/tiny art spaces...all on the floor all great times

Yeah. My thread is I hate when bands won't use the stage not I hate when bands don't have a stage. House parties, subway tunnels, sidewalks, parades, I've come across great musical experiences at all these and love that kind of scene. Not to mention, some of the best 'concerts' I've ever seen were in bands' practice spaces and studios.

i'm hardly just assertive at shows, i'm aggressive

i mosh, i slam-dance, i even crowd-surf (even if some of the audience would drop me)

pushing to the front is a walk in the park

oh yeah some of the best shows ive watched are basement shows. that's different because they're made for an intimate audience so i still see the band.

I'm this way too... when I go to shows now I am not satisfied with being any less than 3 rows back.

:laughing:

Me too, except I won't accept anything short of the front row. I will even violate peoples' personal space. Like, I'll "accidentally" drop change at their feet, then get all up in their biznass to pick it up, until they scoot away from me. Then, I dive in for the front, acting like nothing happened.

No, but it is from the old days and put on a lot of punk acts in its early days.

I don't have anything against basement shows, i'd love to see one, but it seems like th band's performance could be inhibited with a lot of people moshing extremely close to them; that would suck.

I hate barricades as well though, i can def agree there.

BTW: The whole shovetothefront ethos, i leave that to my girlfriend. She goes hard in the paint.

Well, you don't need to worry about my elbow knocking your teeth out because I don't go to Phish concerts.

Ha! I'd say bring it, because I can be right scrappy when I need to be. The worst that's ever happened is someone hit me in the face with a can of PBR, and they took my elbow to the throat.

My image of Phish fans is completely blown.

I know what you mean, I thought they all drank High Life.

:laughing:

For the record, the PBR incident was at a show for Andrew Jackson Jihad, Lemuria, Bomb! The Music Industry, and The Queers.

But also for the record, on Phish lot you're more likely to see most people drinking Magic Hat with a lot of Sierra Nevada, Dogfish Head, Stone Brewing, and Rogue Brewing in the mix.