Planning out on-stage banter

[Rocker4Real]

To what extent do you think bands plan out what the singer, and others, are gonna say in between songs? Some bands are known for using the same material at almost every show on certain tours. What bands are most guilty of this? Do you think some of them write it out beforehand?

[Black Stuff]

PI$$

Without a doubt, all planned out since the late 70s. Also DLR in VH

[SterileEyes1]

Always considered this a main difference between a decent frontman and a great frontman/woman.

Most recent example was last month I saw four shows in a row on the Pantera/Lamb Of God tour.

Phil has some pretty standard stage banter every night but also plenty of off the cuff observations and quips. I don’t think anyone disputes he’s one of the greats.

Randy Blythe said the exact. same. things. every single show, including copious use of the word “motherfucker” and even the “motherfuckers” were in the exact same spots every night. Chained to the prompter, as they say in politics.

Fair to say most lead singers pre-plan. I like the ones who aren’t scared to wing it in front of an audience.

[MetalSludgeCEO]

Most of what I say is "off the cuff" spur of the moment... every single moment on stage.

Of course there are few general things to repeat, some general set-up... where the band started, "This song was recorded in" and "From this album", etc...

In short, I am 100% raw from the start, always have been.

$tEvil

[TooOldToCare]

I feel if everything is planned out (like Paul), it sounds planned out and artificial. Someone that can riff well (off the cuff) gets my respect. Not everyone can. At work, I'm a pretty decent off-the-cuff speaker. When I did vocals and rhythm guitar in a bar band, I sucked at that. Most people aren't paying attention in that setting, so it can be hit or miss if you're talking to anyone at all. That threw me off. I'm sure it's quite different when a crowd is paying to see you.

[Bono Nettencourt]

[Love_Industry]

PI$$

Without a doubt, all planned out since the late 70s. Also DLR in VH

Dickinson and Halford tend to say more or less the same thing every night too. Ozzy's "let's all go fucking crazy" and "we love you all" are probably not that planned but that's all he's capable to say while trying to remember the songs.

[Bono Nettencourt]

I feel if everything is planned out (like Paul), it sounds planned out and artificial. Someone that can riff well (off the cuff) gets my respect. Not everyone can. At work, I'm a pretty decent off-the-cuff speaker.

[TooOldToCare]

I feel if everything is planned out (like Paul), it sounds planned out and artificial. Someone that can riff well (off the cuff) gets my respect. Not everyone can. At work, I'm a pretty decent off-the-cuff speaker.

That's what I'm thinking 5 minutes into EVERY meeting.

[GoodJudge]

Years ago I read a punk zine article on some big-in-the-locsl-scene band whose setlist included the opening words or gist of every bit of between-song chat. I can't believe they're the only ones, of any size, ever to have done it.

[Psychobolia.com]

When I saw Kreator, Mille's banter seemed pretty damn calculated/rehearsed...same with Blackie Lawless...

I agree that Phil Anselmo is great in terms of just adapting his banter to the moment, the day, the show, whatever random thought is going through his mind... Same goes for Michael Starr (Steel Panther), he always has some witty bullshit to say about Paris or France.

[cowpins]

I wonder how many times Jack Blades has told me "and the other fine people of (instert name)" that he just got off of the phone with Uncle Ted and he said to tell everyone hello and to play some Damn Yankees.

[LitaStrauss]

Back in the day people used to think David Lee Roth would spontaneously come up with stuff. Then if you collected bootlegs, you'd figure out he was saying the same stuff every night, even down to saying somebody was flipping him off/throwing something at him ("don't flip me off, or I'll fuck your girlfriend") or some girl was sticking her tongue out at him ("don't stick your tongue out at me unless you plan to use it"). It was still great stuff at the time, but you'd also realize your city wasn't really the loudest the entire tour as he claimed it was. And now with YouTube, you can really just check out old shows and see how much was used in every city.

I saw both of the Marvelous 3's streaming shows last October, and Butch did almost exactly the same stage banter both nights. Even down to the things that were supposed to sound spontaneous. He pulled it off and as long as it sounds genuine, I guess I don't mind. I do appreciate those that can be truly spontaneous, because improv isn't easy. But not everybody can do that, as I've also seen some frontman try to be spontaneous and fail horribly. So if you need to write it down and plan it out, great. Just put on a good show.

[FreddyFender]

Phil has some pretty standard stage banter every night but also plenty of off the cuff observations and quips. I don’t think anyone disputes he’s one of the greats.

I saw Phil's second show as "Phil Anselmo & The Illegals" in Tulsa. The venue is 2k capacity but for whatever reason there were only 150-200 people in the place.

At one point between songs Phil motioned to the empty room and said, in his toughest sounding voice, "WELL.... LOOKS LIKE THIS WAS A PRETTY SHITTY FUCKIN IDEA"

[SterileEyes1]

Phil has some pretty standard stage banter every night but also plenty of off the cuff observations and quips. I don’t think anyone disputes he’s one of the greats.

I saw Phil's second show as "Phil Anselmo & The Illegals" in Tulsa. The venue is 2k capacity but for whatever reason there were only 150-200 people in the place.

At one point between songs Phil motioned to the empty room and said, in his toughest sounding voice, "WELL.... LOOKS LIKE THIS WAS A PRETTY SHITTY FUCKIN IDEA"

One of the greats!

[GoodJudge]

It was still great stuff at the time, but you'd also realize your city wasn't really the loudest the entire tour as he claimed it was.

Does anyone over the age of 16, or who's been to more than a handful of gigs, ever believe that? Really? I knew it was schtick before I ever saw a show, from Bruce's crowd talk in Running Free off Live After Death.

[BernieTaupson]

Most of what I say is "off the cuff" spur of the moment... every single moment on stage.

Of course there are few general things to repeat, some general set-up... where the band started, "This song was recorded in" and "From this album", etc...

In short, I am 100% raw from the start, always have been.

$tEvil

Yeah it shows.