Interpreting Compliments

There is no doubt that it is a wonderful feeling to get off the stage and have a smiling face greeting you with a nice compliment like “Great show” or “You guys really killed it out there tonight”? The problem with this is, what do those words actually mean? Did you really have a “great show” or “kill it” or did you just have an alright performance which satisfied half attentive drunks and a small circle of personal friends and supporters.

The advice that is actually going to benefit you isn’t the kind words and generic stage compliments given by friends and fans… it’s the cold hard truths told to you by strangers or industry people. A few months back I watched a half dozen people compliment a new band that had played their first ‘real’ show to a decent crowd (100-125 people) in a legitimate live music venue (200-250 capacity). Everyone who spoke to the band as they walked off the stage had nothing but kind words to say and by the time I approached the guitarist at the bar the band was all smiles, that’s until he looked at me and said “So what did you think of our set?”.

At this point I had a split second to decide generic “you did well compliment” or the cold hard honest truth. After hearing the band told “awesome set”, “great job”, etc. I knew it was my duty that evening to give them some honest insight.

Now don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the band musically. Like others pointed out they were talented musicians who wrote good songs but what no one else either noticed (or was too scared to say) was how terribly boring the band was to watch live. Despite their great songs I was bored stiff two songs in by a terribly unenthusiastic front man and lack of musical performance or showmanship from any band members (less a bassist who apparently was the only “free range” band member in the group. But his movement only made the remaining members look even more like calves waiting to be made into tender veal).

As I gave their guitarist an honest assessment of their show, pointing out both their strong points (songwriting/musicianship) as well as their areas for improvement (live show/engaging the crowd) their guitarist, despite being a bit standoffish by my honestly, thanked me for my sincere input.

Maybe I’m being over-confident in the value of my opinion but I couldn’t help feel that had I not given my honest opinion that band might still be walking around all puffy-chested with a sense of inflated ego thinking that show was ‘great’ when in reality it was ‘good’ at best. Although I have yet to see this band perform again since that eve, I hope the next time they take the stage they have taken the words of advice to heart and used it to enhance their live show and considering how new they are they have tons of time and potential to make that a reality.

Very few live performances will ever happen that you can’t find some area to improve your show. Video taping live performances and analyzing them later will almost certainly open your eyes to this (as most musicians are their own worst critics in hindsight). The bottom line is that you shouldn’t be scared of a bad review or constructive criticism, so don’t be hesitant to ask an honest opinion of someone you trust instead of putting too much weight into “great show” comment and a pat on the back.

-Josh