what is your live band's arrangement?

[effetebomb]

I mean, what does your band look like live? How many people are in your band and what instruments are they playing? Where does everybody position themselves on stage? What are the gender dynamics of your band? Do you dress in any kind of specific or targeted way? Any media other than the music incorporated into your set? Do you move around alot?

For instance in my main band The Moon Knights we do something like this

BACKSTAGE
---------------------------------------------------------------Drummer--------------------------------------------------------------

-------Keytar/ Lead Singer------------------------------------Sax-----------------------------------Guitar/ Lead Singer

FRONTSTAGE

The keytar player is the only girl in our band (and my wife). We generally dress like our selves, with the possible exception that we all probably try for little more flair than usual (who doesn't?). For reasons of the three of them needing to be near a microphone and me needing to be near my drums, we don't really move around a lot, though the singers both have opportunities on the songs they don't sing. I also try to get up on top of the drumset while i'm playing, and on some songs i just stand up and play. We have recently incorporated back up dancers into our set, The Moonettes, who are generally our friend who is a girl and whomever else wants to get in on it. There are Moonette costumes. We have a pretty strict no banter aesthetic where every song is back to back, no breaks between songs to whatever extent that is possible.


EDITED so the representation would come across

[archlilim]

For my band the drummer is in the usual position. Then looking at the stage right to left it usually goes guitar (me), bass/singer (the only female in the band), trumpet, saxophone. We've played without our sax player a couple times in which case the trumpeter plays in the middle. We dress as ourselves. Our bassist usually prob dresses the most "up" but again that's just how she dresses--cross between punk and indie rock girl most of the time, I guess (I kinda hate labels, but yeah). Me and the drummer are kinda "70s" (as I've been told) by default as I have a beard and he has an afro, but we're really not and just wear regular t-shirt jeans. The sax and trumpet players def can't be labeled, which is a good thing.

Most important though is, musically as far as genre goes, we're pretty ambiguous, which keeps away from any image (other than, "you must do tons of drugs," which isn't true). The number one question after shows is, "what kinda music is that?"

[1,2,3, Pull Out!]

(Audience POV)

Bassist: front stage right
Keys: back stage right
Drummer: back stage center
Guitar/vox: front stage center
Guitar (me!): front stage right

Drummer looks like Dave Grohl when he's drumming,bassjust kind sways, keyboardist runs on the spot, singer has that I'm-about-to-pass-out stage dynamic (sometimes he actualy DOES pass out and I try to be as crazy as possible
while maintaining a good level of sexiness(in other words look like Omar Rodriguez Lopez in At the Drive-In mixed with Nick Zinner)

We put coloured strobe lights where we can, and we have a gigantic red flag with our band's name (ASTROZOMBIES) on it that the keyboardist waves when he's not playing the keys.

Basically very energetic and sweaty shows.

[effetebomb]

RE: astrozombies- does your drummer ever play live standing? i used to do that for my first two years, but i gave in and learned how to play sitting, and i am a better drummer for it. i liked the look of standing though, and i still play some of the older/ simpler songs standing.

RE: neon magus- nice noise-jazzgazey recordings there. Jazzgazer I think could be an apt genre title. No one looking "70s" in the pictures?




my other currently active band is me playing bass and themoonknights guitar player singing and drumming. no website

[Ghost Hip]

Admiral Apricot: Guitar/Vocals
Captain Dan Armstrong: Drums

We don't really care too much how we're set up. I'm usually more to the right (if you're looking at the stage) that way I can route the chord from my pedals to my amp so its out of my way. I like having him more right beside me than behind me. However some venues don't like this and aren't very flexible especially when they already have a "drum riser."

As far as looks: I usually wear my skinny black jeans that are optimum for moving around and either a coffee/faded yellow fiasko shirt or a self made shirt that says "God Save The Teen" and other sayings on it. Dan tends to wear on warmed occasions cargo shorts and a t shirt, in a more colorful fashion than myself. We're two totally different people and I really appreciate the fact we look like two totally different people on stage. I like contrast, and I like to think it also gives a sense of "if these two can like the same kind of music, maybe I can like it too."

As the only one who can move I move around quite a bit naturally. We played a gig at an art studio and they had those huge lights like they have for photo shoots on each side of the stage.... I was worried I was going to knock on of them down. If that gives you an idea. I take a great deal of influence from Craig Nicholls as far as stage craft. Which is ironic because he has asperger's syndrome. Check the quote in my signature, that explains the rest.

[archlilim]

RE: neon magus- nice noise-jazzgazey recordings there. Jazzgazer I think could be an apt genre title.

Thanks man. Jazzgaze--I like it. That's def a part. On stage we get this slow, wall-o-fuzz tribal thing going, but we'll also do some psyche freakouts and straight up drone and ambient spots too. I wouldn't call what we do genre hopping because there's nothing abrupt about it, but we play things that wouldn't be considered apart of the same genre. I mean it is all psychedelic based with tons of reverb, so there you go I guess.

No one looking "70s" in the pictures?

I know. Several people have said that to me, so i'm just like , we're just Vermonters. They weren't from around here natively so it was prob a shallow assessment of musicians with unkempt beards and shaggy hair even though everyone pretty much has that going, so who knows.

[effetebomb]

However some venues don't like this and aren't very flexible especially when they already have a "drum riser."

I HATE playing on a riser. It makes any drummer look like a total tool. I think in a two person band placement isn't super important. I like facing away from the audience and being close to the drummer when playing bass. Unencumbered by singing duties I move around a good bit as well.

On the genre thing, my favorite genre titles are ones that are too specific to really be genre descriptions anymore (The Moon Knights were once described as guitar-powered, cacaphonic, bedroom, noise-pop by comics writer Warren Ellis) OR ones that are so vague they are practically meaningless (like "pop" or "rock")

[1,2,3, Pull Out!]

[quote="effetebomb"]RE: astrozombies- does your drummer ever play live standing? i used to do that for my first two years, but i gave in and learned how to play sitting, and i am a better drummer for it. i liked the look of standing though, and i still play some of the older/ simpler songs standing.

No he does not stand, I wish he would though, it looks soo much cooler, although he still looks pretty bad ass, maybe I'll teach myself to play standing...

[jrmy]

Well, so far we've only played out this way once, so it could still change... but there's only two of us, so it probably won't need to...

Stage left: me, bass, pedals, amp, click track monitor, background vox
Stage right: Bill, synths, Kaoss pad, Roland Octapad, Alesis mini-mixer running the iPod of backing tracks

In terms of stage attire, we usually dress in the coolest (black) t-shirts we can find in our closets (for him it's probably some hipster sneaker-head style thing, for me it's probably my My Bloody Valentine t-shirt), decent jeans, and decent shoes (for him it's some crazy limited edition Nike Dunks, for me it's probably my 28-hole Docs because I'm stuck in 1996, fashion-wise).

Bill can't move around a whole lot since he's either singing or playing his synths. I try to make up for that and move for the both of us. I have been told that I dance like I 'm having an epileptic fit on stage... I've also been told by drummers who used to be in the band that they couldn't watch me move while we played, because they'd key into my "dancing" and instantly go off-beat.

[Ghost Hip]

Bill can't move around a whole lot since he's either singing or playing his synths. I try to make up for that and move for the both of us. I have been told that I dance like I 'm having an epileptic fit on stage... I've also been told by drummers who used to be in the band that they couldn't watch me move while we played, because they'd key into my "dancing" and instantly go off-beat.

[1,2,3, Pull Out!]

Bill can't move around a whole lot since he's either singing or playing his synths. I try to make up for that and move for the both of us. I have been told that I dance like I 'm having an epileptic fit on stage... I've also been told by drummers who used to be in the band that they couldn't watch me move while we played, because they'd key into my "dancing" and instantly go off-beat.

x 10!!!! Too many musicians just stand there and look boring sometimes it looks cool but sometimes it`s just

[jrmy]

x 10!!!! Too many musicians just stand there and look boring sometimes it looks cool but sometimes it`s just

Heh. Yeah, I get kind of annoyed by the "stand there & look cool" thing, except in certain circumstances (I'd be shocked if Alan Sparhawk shook his stuff during a Low performance). Also, I just can't help myself. I know it's a bad night if I'm halfway through the set standing stock still.

[effetebomb]

No he does not stand, I wish he would though, it looks soo much cooler, although he still looks pretty bad ass, maybe I'll teach myself to play standing...

I just saw that picture on the front page of him standing. I dig that look. On the plus, he's probably doing a better job of playing sitting down. Famous bands with standing drummers: Jesus & Mary Chain, The Raveonettes (live, sometimes?), Times New Viking (always? just sometimes?).

Sounds like there are a wealth of alternate set-up bands here. Anyone rocking a bass/drum/guitar power trio, or trio + singer, or trio + guitar? You know, a more traditional rock setup.

[Ghost Hip]

My band used to be a power trio but our drummer left to do his own punk band so my bassist hopped on drums and we changed out name. We had it set up pretty much Nirvana style, bass on the left, drums in the back middle, me on the right. Our drummer pretty much dressed in whatever, a t shirt and jeans usually.....actually so did I back then.

We also crack jokes between songs, and sometimes its as dumb as blink 182 humor, but we love that sort of thing no matter how serious the next song is.

[1,2,3, Pull Out!]

No he does not stand, I wish he would though, it looks soo much cooler, although he still looks pretty bad ass, maybe I'll teach myself to play standing...

I just saw that picture on the front page of him standing. I dig that look. On the plus, he's probably doing a better job of playing sitting down. Famous bands with standing drummers: Jesus & Mary Chain, The Raveonettes (live, sometimes?), Times New Viking (always? just sometimes?).
also: We Are Wolves, allthough I don't know how famous they are over there.