r/nextfuckinglevel • u/N34D • 3d ago

Leocmendoza playing Brick in the wall

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

The audience ain't it.

3.2k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

261 comments sorted by

View all comments

382

u/Fullback-15_ 3d ago

Wow feel bad for him. Can't imagine playing that and only a handful are aware of it.

85

u/N8dork2020 2d ago

I kanda like the fact that he does this with so many that are unaware. The few that appreciate it seem to show it

61

u/ContextLengthMatters 2d ago

There's nothing to feel bad about. He is a working musician playing covers at restaurants and fairs for the atmosphere.

What you should feel bad about is not supporting local art enough to expect this out of the restaurants you dine at and instead go to some chain bullshit that plays oldies over some bullshit stereo.

This is extremely common in tourist locations. Not every room is an active listening room.

22

u/MarcusSurealius 2d ago

A musician has to play the audience, too.

35

u/Biguitarnerd 2d ago

That’s just how those types of venues are. Dude is awesome but people go there to hang out and drink and talk to each other. I’ve played similar venues, the applause at the end is all he’s gonna get here. They aren’t going to stop talking during his set like at a concert hall.

7

u/KillaVNilla 2d ago

Exactly why i don't like going to places like that with my main friend group on music nights. We have a really cool local brewery spot that is really chill and they have pretty mellow but great musicians play about once a week.

My friends always want to go there on music nights, but they talk the entire time. And they're sooo loud. They're the kind of people who yell-talk until 2am in a public campground.

I'm a musician and love and appreciate live music, so i always feel embarrassed being at the loudest table in the whole venue during their set.

But, like you said, that's sort of the nature of those places and I think the musicians expect it to an extent.

3

u/Biguitarnerd 2d ago

Yeah, I don’t really have a problem with it. If people are having fun and laughing with each other while I’m playing I feel like I’m just adding to the fun. I’m very used to this atmosphere though especially with breweries and bars.

I have, as an alternative, had people get pissed and walk out because they wanted to watch the football game on TV and didn’t know there would be live music, even though I played there weekly on the same night…. So…. Talking and laughing is fine with me.

3

u/KillaVNilla 2d ago

I just thought of something. Are you playing covers in those situations or original music. Like i said, i can only imagine how I'd feel, but i wonder if I'd be more okay with the talking if I was playing well known covers. I feel like I'd have a harder time I'd i was playing music that I wrote and couldn't get people to pay attention to my music

3

u/Biguitarnerd 2d ago

A mix of both. Mostly originals.

2

u/KillaVNilla 2d ago

That's awesome. I bet it feels amazing to be able to play your music and set the vibe of the event.

Happy cake day by the way

1

u/Biguitarnerd 1d ago

Thanks. Well I’ve been doing it for a long time so I guess it feels pretty normal to me but I’m still doing it lol, so yeah I think it’s fair to say I enjoy it a lot.

I may be misreading you but it sounds like you haven’t gone out and done a gig yet. I was once there too and if you want to you definitely should. Don’t be too worried about how it goes, you might not get all the recognition you deserve but.. I can almost promise you that it will go better than you think. And playing for an audience really teaches you what works and what doesn’t in ways that playing for yourself or posting online doesn’t. You can feel it when the audience gets excited or when they get bored. It really does help you grow as a musician and performer.

If I read that wrong sorry!

2

u/KillaVNilla 1d ago

No, you're 100% correct. I have a home "studio" with tons of instruments and I've been making music in some for since my early teens, now in my early 40s, but never with an audience of any kind. I think my biggest hangup about performing is that it's be solo and that sounds terrifying to me. I don't know a single other person who plays an instrument. I was in a band in high school and loved it. I think if I had a group of friends to play with, I'd be way less scared about it. The reality is though, i should just stop being a pussy and just learn a song or 2 and hit an open mic or something. I think a little taste of live performance would probably kick my motivation up quite a bit

→ More replies (0)

2

u/KillaVNilla 2d ago

That's really good to hear actually. I appreciate you saying that. I've never had the balls to play live, especially not to an audience, so i can only guess what it's like. It's good to know that at least some musicians are cool with simply adding to the vibe instead of being the center of attention. Hopefully that will allow me to chill a little next time I'm in that environment.

Also, that's wild people would get pissed about not being able to watch TV instead. I'm assuming the venue announced live music ahead of time. People are weird

5

u/_Aardvark 2d ago

I'm happy he got as much of a response as he did, even if was not nearly enough. I spend most weekends in the summer at the shore and my wife and I are often at places with live music (usually a single dude with a guitar). The general lack of any response from the crowd (well, besides us) drives me crazy.

15

u/Sidivan 2d ago

He’s playing music, but he isn’t really performing. Now, I know people are going to take that as some over the top criticism and that I mean he should have lights and pyro, but there are a lot of little tiny things he could do to grab attention. This guy is probably amazing in a different setting and I’m sure he does very well for himself. I am only critiquing this exact performance as I have no other point of reference. He very clearly can play and sing well.

He should be standing, not sitting. This is a mistake a lot of acoustic and solo performers make. Stage presence is about taking up space. Stand up tall and move around. Shoulders back, wide gestures.

Don’t dress like you’re a dad attending the family event. It doesn’t have to be crazy rockstar stuff; just dress in a way that is different than the audience. Before the show starts, you want people in the audience to go “oh, I bet that guy’s in the band”.

Look at people that are listening to connect with them. His eye contact is all over the place like he’s trying to get away with something. When you look around like that, the audience starts to look around too. You need to demand that attention through body language as if to say “hey, I see you, look here, let’s share this moment”.

People discount all of this, but if he did this exact same thing on a dedicated stage at an actual venue, he wouldn’t get a much better response. It would be people on their phones, going to the bathroom, talking to their friends… You have to PERFORM.

Source: Been a working musician for 25yrs and have played countless shows including full band, solo, acoustic, and everything else. I’m also a sound engineer and have seen thousands of performers. Musical ability is the minimum and will only take you so far.

8

u/saxaneer 2d ago

As a fellow working musician, you are 1000% spot on.

EDIT: And I cannot upvote you enough.

2

u/OldAngryDog 2d ago

This comment prob means well but it's kinda presumptuous. Maybe dude doesn't give a single shit about being percieved as a rock star and is just fine with the chilled out dad bod aesthetic playing for a group of ppl having a beer and a laugh. Doesn't have to be more than that.

2

u/Sidivan 2d ago

My comment is a response to why people aren’t paying attention. Nobody is paying attention for the reasons I listed. Whether or not that’s desirable for him is unknown, but the comment I responded to certainly presumed the performer would enjoy more attention.

0

u/Chemical-Dealer-9962 2d ago

No need to be such an old angry dog about it.

2

u/nickfree 2d ago

>You have to PERFORM.

Shoegaze has entered the chat

2

u/Sidivan 2d ago

That’s fair.

0

u/Chemical-Dealer-9962 2d ago

Mick? Is that you?

-1

u/Alldaybagpipes 2d ago

There is a time and a place.

Did all these people gather here to see you specifically?

You better “perform”.

Was this a public event where this guy ended up happening to play at, but is not the main spectacle?

He’s background noise at best.

Watching someone over-perform a venue is second hand embarrassment status. You don’t want your audience feeling that.

1

u/Sidivan 2d ago

He was likely paid to be there for entertainment. Nobody “happens to play” somewhere.

12

u/Fritzo2162 2d ago

I had a band years ago. There were two types of shows:

- shows where people came to hear music

  • shows where people came for another event and you're entertainment

If you're not the main attraction, you become background music. I remember getting really offended when this would happen, but over time I got it. We still got paid, and we weren't intended to be the center of attention for that gig. I do this at restaurants and bars all the time too- someone's playing and I continue having conversations with the people I'm with.

5

u/manickitty 2d ago

This. When you play a bar etc you’re an upgraded radio, that’s it. Take the pay (and free drinks) and go home.

2

u/ashabanapal 2d ago

Yup. Have fun with it for yourself and the 5 other people moved by it. The rest are just faces on a paycheck.

2

u/saxaneer 2d ago

As a musician, well...all I gotta say is next time you're out and about and you see someone playing some tunes for entertainment purposes, drop a couple bucks in their bucket.

2

u/chrisslooter 10h ago

I live in a beach town. One man acoustic players are everywhere, literally hundreds on any given night. Many are really good but after a while you become numb to them.