Are folk clubs serving a purpose

Subject: RE: Are folk clubs serving a purpose
From: breezy
Date: 05 Oct 02 - 11:00 AM

if your playing to Jo Public it is a good idea to have quality control, or Jo moves elswhere and its getting him hooked that matters until he becomes addicted.
If your crap you'll soon find out, and there's no short-cut, you must practice, practice, and keep on practicing, listen to yourself, watch the reaction of others, is it your material or you?

Subject: RE: Are folk clubs serving a purpose
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 05 Oct 02 - 12:23 PM

Agree, breezy. Yet, how many do we see performing with their eyes shut (concentrating to remember lyrics, most probably). That means that a) they cannot use full body language in the delivery of the song (otherwise what use is a live performance), and b) the cannot see the punters' reaction. Just listening to the applause at the end is not enough to judge reception, as our personal "clapometers" tend to be calibrated to show a better result than the truth; we're only human.

A lot of folkies believe, wrongly, that to be esoteric and introverted in the performance shows commitment and true depth of feeling. B******s to that, they're deluding themselves and boring the rest of us.

So, all you introverted folkies, all together now, sing along with me: "I will communicate with my audience, watch their faces and adjust my performance". Repeat 1,000 times.

Subject: RE: Are folk clubs serving a purpose
From: My guru always said
Date: 05 Oct 02 - 01:30 PM

There has been an interesting discussion going on about whether to have your eyes open or closed while performing songs - it's here