There’s nothing like hearing your favourite band rockin’ out live on stage. Though, while it may look fun for them, there’s actually a lot of work that goes into mastering that moment.
It’s why dozens of Saskatchewan-based bands gathered in Regina over weekend at The Sound Stage to get a special lesson on how to leave fans wanting more.
All the way from Nashville, Tennessee Tom Jackson knows the art of a great live performance.
“This is a process to learn how to be a better performer on stage,” said Jackson as he worked with Regina-based The Scott Richmond Band on stage. “We just put the band on stage and we tried some things and you could see the guy struggling with things that we’re trying to change.”
Dozens of hopeful artists watched in the audience hoping to one day make it big. No one can deny that Jackson’s sessions are tough.
“Stop! Don’t say a word. Stop!” Jackson yelled at members of The Scott Richmond Band who tried to alter their song routine and stage presence to the liking of Jackson and his two stage coaches
Again, not pleased with the band’s movement, Jackson yelled jokingly at lead singer Scott Richmond, “Do not move or else I’m going to kick you in the butt.”
It’s a moment of brutal honesty but of sincere humility for Richmond, who continued to nail each note of his song “Betting Man” even while being forced to sing it over and over again.
“They completely transformed the way we performed the song we worked on. So we were just trying to keep up,” said Richmond.
For Sask Music, the transformation is exactly the experience they want bands to receive and why they offered the sessions free of charge.
“Just to kind of have a performance coach that’s worked with big names like Taylor Swift and the band MAJIC! will kind of help progress their own career. And it doesn’t matter what stage they’re in right now as they’ll have these skills that will help amplify their own live show,” explained Kaelen Klypak, program manager with Sask Music.
Jackson knows the type of skills needed to have a great live show, but getting to all of them in a short time is tough.
“We’re working on technical skills, we’re working on musical skills, we’re working on arrangement. But we didn’t even get to verbal skills and visual. But there are all kinds of things that goes into making a show. It’s like building a house,” said Jackson.
There’s no doubt it takes time to build a perfect show and no band will be perfect after just one session.
But if there is one thing that bands should hope to take away from the weekend-long sessions, it’s the importance of creating a moment.
“We intentionally re-arrange a song to create moments. People go to experience moments. If you create a moment, then people will want to buy that moment,” explained Jackson.
As the band continued to work with the on-stage coaches, Jackson addressed the audience explaining the reasoning for each re-arrangement. Finally The Scott Richmond Band nailed an ending moment with a huge crescendo and evoked a round of applause.
“We often open shows with that song but that ending is so epic now!” said Richmond who wished he had even more time in his session.
Though, while the moment was quick on stage, the importance of it is now understood and is something Jackson said “is a process and will take practice.”
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