M.E Live

[secretagent]

HEREis the live version of M.E.

We played over mark(prodigy)'s backing track.
Cheers mark ;D

It's quite a large file.

[spoonz]

Apart from that orrible digital thing and you picking your nose it was great Martin.
Lou sang it even better Live than the original version we did

[garycee]

I quite liked that.
A few things though...hope I don't sound too harsh here.
Really like her voice, very clear and quite powerful, sounds nice and better live I think.
Wasn't that keen on the main sound you used which was very flangey and quite piercing.
I didn't know you were a duo and I think it would look a lot lot better if you had another player on the other side to break things up and make it look better rather than just the two of you as (I don't know what the rest of the gig was like) you both looked bored to be honest.

Overall though, quite liked it. Well done.

[dlm21uk]

Nice one Martin. Good to see the video, rather than just hearing it. You did look a bit bored at times, but it is a slow song tp play I guess.

I was willing you to do a Numan stare at some stage, but you seemed to resist that one

;D

[Gavin]

Nice one. Sounds good. Shame about the chatting audience
There are ways to silence them you know.........

[TheProdigy]

Well, I've been studying tonight for an interview tomorrow. I had a break and checked out Duby and watched this.

Near brought a tear to my eye lol

Thanks for the upload, much appreciated.

[secretagent]

Gary/Dan,that wasn't bored,it was nerves,first live gig since march(3 rehearsals on a song that:1.i'd never played before.2Louise had only sung the song once before)

Col,i wasn't picking my nose,just wiping some fan juice off my face ;D

Mark,no thanks needed,you made it happen ;D

[secretagent]

gavin said:

There are ways to silence them you know.........

......Hints/Tips.Always appreciated gav ;D

[vortex]

As it seems to be coming together perhaps its time to work on stage presence. Its not like poor old Louise can walk off for a costume change during the instrumental portion. Perhaps she could only to return lowered from the gantry in a neon cage... no even Numans given that up

[lemonkid1]

For an under rehearsed song it sounded good to me you two ;D
Maybe a few more Synths up on stage with you and Louise can join in on keyboard duties (or pretend to) during the instrumental bits. Keep em coming. ;D

[dlm21uk]

Maybe a few more Synths up on stage with you and Louise can join in on keyboard duties (or pretend to) during the instrumental bits.

That sounds like a very good idea I once mimed a keyboard line for a friend doing a stage performance (cos he didn't want the audience to know that the backing track was on tape!). I have to say I quite enjoyed it ! My lines were on tape, so I got all the glory of being on stage without the nerves of fluffing my key strokes

[vortex]

OOH Danny if Dig ever found out ............................................

[Gavin]

secretagent said:

gavin said:

There are ways to silence them you know.........

......Hints/Tips.Always appreciated gav ;D

The problem with having just the 2 of you on stage is you're not very visually exciting. In my band we sometimes have 8 of us on stage so even if people dont like the song they can stare at the funny singer doing his "dance" or the guitarist who loves wandering into the audience because he uses a radio transmitter. So i think you should think about visuals. Heres some ideas off the top of my head:

1: Get a dancer,like that bloke Howard jones had.
2: Get Louise to wear very revealing clothes.
3:Use strobes behind facing the audience.
4:Get other members on stage even if they are miming and get them to wear bright outfits.
5: Have a gimmick like Bucks Fizz had with the old pulling the dress off.Mmmmm
6:Do some plate spinning whilst youre playing the keyboard.
7:When Lousie isnt singing get her to do some juggling.
8:Get a member of the audience up to sing on one of your songs.
9:Get the singer to tell jokes and pick on people in the audience like at a comedy club On second thoughts dont do that one.From experience its a fine line between being jokey,and starting a fist fight.
10:Swear a lot.

[lemonkid1]

Seriously though, bottom line, if you're looking and sounding good, then you shouldnt really need too many extra "bells and whistles" or gizmos to attract the crowds attention. ;D

[secretagent]

I think the nature of the music we play makes any dancing,even alot of movement unlikely

We have thought about the idea of an extra keyboard for louise.

Louise's son has been learning the bass and wants to do something with us.

Apart from that,lights would be an obvious diversion,but really expensive if your going to use decent ones

[vortex]

Yes well don't feel too gloomy. I remember seeing depeche mode in Sheffield before their big break and Dave Gahan spent the whole gig not moving, clutching the mike stand, staring at his toes.. Needless to say he learned to move.

additionaly I remember the touring principle and despite all the lights the thing that captivated me during the same song was the dude knocking 6 piles out of the synare!

On a ruthlessly simon cowellish note, the audience will not forgive you for making them feel your discomfort. Like a dying comedian, you feel sorry for them but want to shoot them.

Now the analogy is well overcooked for your performance but nontheless louise sounded great but looked awkward and in a venue like that with that length of instrumental she needs a prop.

I assume you want a break in the business so someone has to be the front man ..as hard as it is in a pub venue.

As a final thought if neither of you are ready for front man duties you might copy the early human league and give the dudes an arty slide show to accompany your songs.

As it is and I am a fan you sound better than you look

Shit I'm glad I live several thousand miles away otherwise I might expect a sound kicking! Am I banned Shaun?

[Dubsounds]

vortex said:

Am I banned Shaun?

Hardly! If anything you deserve a pat on the back for your honesty and constructive advice Joe.

This whole thread is a contradiction.

M.E. "live" appears to be Martin playing a fairly bland lead patch over someone else's entire backing tape while Louise shifted from foot to foot awkwardly and spent most of her time (from the camera POV) ducking behind the PA.

This isn't live and it isn't even Liquidscreamer! For that reason I left no comment.

[spoonz]

With only 1 instrument player. (Martin) it's hard to see how he can be any more "Live" than the way he did it really.

It was "Live" in the way that bands like Soft Cell were on Whistle Test where Mr Ball played half and half was pre recorded.
Almost Par for the course for a 2 piece like Screamer with the resources they have.

Not commenting is a reasonable point of view Guv but i don't follow the logic me old mucker

[Dubsounds]

I think you're missing my point.

There's nothing wrong with using backing tapes if you have to but the tapes (hopefully) are made by the people playing over the top of them right?

This backing was done by Mark Reeman who last I heard wasn't a member of Martin's band.

[secretagent]

vortex said:

As a final thought if neither of you are ready for front man duties you might copy the early human league and give the dudes an arty slide show to accompany your songs.

We performed a half live/half backing tape version of a song"how can they do this"which was written about the madrid train bombings.

This also had a long instrumental part and we disscussed playing footage of terroism etc.during the instrumental part.

But as this wasn't really our gig(we were supporting someone else)we didn't have much input regarding setting up.

We just squeezed in a corner and got on with it.

Louises's performance(overall)was the best i've seen from her.

She seems to be getting more confident/enjoying it more everytime.

I'm trying to put some more of the performance onto youtube so will let you know if i succeed ;D