Get me another beer! BUUUURP!
Fugazi anyone? Great band.
Almost too PC for me though. Here come the PC police, wee u wee u
I’m outing myself here but same with country music (edit: to at least save myself a little, mostly listen “outlaw” country). I’m still shocked how often I haven’t heard the original/person/song writer of a song I know.
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I used to play in a band that backed a few different local artists. I’ve seen all the different types. The folks that are good at banter are terribly endearing or actually unique. They can work it to the point where they can even cover the flaws in their mediocre material with genuinely witty stories or observations.
The band themselves were a motley trio of lifelong backing players. We played on our own and when we started we were truly awful with our banter. Our solution were a couple simple rules, first, no self deprecation or inside jokes as no one else thinks any of that is funny. Second, script or pre plan your banter. It’s good to have options but while you get your footing, winging it just isn’t a great idea. We actually used to break our set down to mini sets so we knew when the chat would occur. Then most often it was a joke story about the song we just played or were about to play.
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You fat bastard! You fat…
That’s the pinnacle of my experience.
Alright. Alright. I’ll be done after this. But I have to say it…
…there is a reason when I bring the DJ setup/PA that I always “accidentally forget the microphone at home.”
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I agree, you’re either good at it or you’re not.
This isn’t a story about stage banter, per se, but a few years ago we played a gig opening for Atlas Genius outside at the Caesars Palace pool. The stage was set up facing the pool so all the audience was in the water. It was July and like 118 degrees outside. Atlas Genius played after the sun went behind the buildings, of course, but we were in direct sun for our set.
The entire set I noticed these two Kardashian-wannabe looking girls standing on the stairs into the pool, everyone had to go around them to get in. It was clear they wanted to be seen to be in the pool but couldn’t be bothered to go in and get their $1000 hairdos wet or hold their drinks up.
Last song, I “stage-dived” into the pool right in front of those girls, cannon-balled the shit out of them. They were soaked, did not look impressed.
It was satisfying in the moment, everyone else was pumped. And refreshing because we were fucking dying on stage in the heat.
Moral to the story: you can get away with a lot when you’re a performer. Things that you probably wouldn’t get away with normally, and a lot of times get applause for it. I always try to embrace that. Be in the moment, be outrageous. That’s what they came to see. Some jackass doing things they couldn’t, wouldn’t, or wish they could.
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Religion and politics are good openers for banter.
Throw in a bit of Covid for the finale
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The drummer from Don Cabellaro had a mic set up strictly so he could talk shit to the audience and make things uncomfortable.
Then he’d blow it all away with his belligerent drumming.
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I actually thought about this when posting. classic moment and thank god the mic picked up the audience yelling at him.
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Right?
That one girl talking back is the best.
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Banter on stage only allowed if your name is John Bramwell (I am Kloot). One of the best songwriters of his generation, but also a very, very funny guy.
Been to a lot of concerts from a young age, ranging from Lambchop to Helmet and from Roni Size to Green Jelly (dressed as a turd and a plunger), but John tops them all.
Maybe Dickie Barrett from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones is a good runner up.
No worries.
I’ll just leave it on your amp 
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Our band Nightsatan always did all the stage banter through a vocoder. Our drummer is a very funny guy and we always planned carefully to come up with great song titles and one liners. For example we changed one word from the Neil Diamond song and got this great evil sentence: ”Man, you’ll be a woman soon!”
We also used to have this big vintage led screen which did a part of our stage banter for us. At some point we got these tiny led screens too (shown in the picture).
When stage banter is good it can even surpass the actual music. There used to be a local band whose singer always told long and very funny stories between songs. People used to wait for the songs to end to just hear another story. Thinking back, the dude should’ve become a stand up comedian and forgotten music altogether. Putting out records by that band was the worst idea ever.
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I Saw Look Mom No Computer a couple of years ago. He told some funny stories between songs. It worked well. But i think that most of the audience where pretty into synths and stuff, so hearing him talking about projects and mishaps went well with the audience.
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Peter Kernell in Brest was a nice experience: first music festival in months because of covid, both the crowd and the band were just happy to be here, and exchange words for the sake of it. It was funny, improvised, in English so the crowd wasn’t understanding everything, but the band took care to shorten the banter if it wasn’t working.
Thing is everyone was happy to be here, and you could feel it with these side conversations.
I don’t like when a banter looks pre-made. When it’s ringing true, in the other hand, it can make the experience of a gig something unique.
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Generally not a fan. It is almost never funny and just cringeworthy because people feel they have to laugh. Most people should just forget it and get on with whatever they are up there for.
I once saw Jamie Xiu Xiu supporting swans. He did a real quiet almost acoustic set and it wasn’t going down well with a lot of the crowd. In between tracks he kept a bunch of birdsong recording going and just let there be these really deep, awkward semi-silences. It really added to the tension, giving a crowd hungry for noise nothing but birdsong and some really quiet singing and occasional awkward silence. One of the best gigs I’ve ever seen.
Stage banter is very overrated, unless you’re Ozzy Osbourne, then it’s fucking great.
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