Hi all,
What are approaches y'all take to fill the dead time between songs?
Thanks,
Mick
is there a reason for the dead time in question?
i play restaurant gigs a lot where they just want constant sound coming from me and the speakers. ideally they don't want ANY stop between songs, but that's just not natural for a performer. songs end. so i keep it brief and let the last chord ring out or something. i always say the name of the song and artist after a song. it's just my style. it connects me with the audience as a person and not a machine, and many people do go "ohhh yeah that's ___ band" and appreciate that. then i start the next song.
when solo, i either have a set list prepared with a general flow of songs (slow, fast, different keys, etc) that i can skip around if needed, or i use my "smart list" arranged by top songs, genre, fast vs slow, etc and just choose from there to adapt to the room that night. if i need time to choose a song, i'll loop something at the end while i choose the next song, then finish the song, say title/artist, wait a beat, then start the next one.
with a duo, during the last chorus or so of my partner's song, i'll choose my next song and be ready to go. sometimes i already know what i want to follow up with at the start of my partner's song. but i pretty much always know what i'm singing next before that song is done. for the most part, my partners also do that, but sometimes both of us either can't think of a song, or need to tune or something. at that point, i tend to play chords or a short 'whatever' slow chord progression just to keep sound coming out. sometimes we have to discuss something or take requests, and dead silence just won't do. it makes people look at the stage! so i play anything, then transition to the next song.
i don't think music should be a seamless sound like a crossfaded ipod playlist, but dead silence is not the best in most situations. make some sort of sound. in bands, i think you just have to start the next song quickly, or have something specific to say. people will understand short breaks for adjusting this or that, but you have to have something to say, or at least let them know what's going on. one thing i think to never do is have the drummer fill the void with "any ol drum beat" then when the next song is determined, stop and start the new song. that's too jarring. people might have started dancing or grooving, and then seconds later a different song is started. try to play the next song or match tempos or something.