live performance quotes

It’s always great to perform at home in the good ol‘ U.S.A.

One of the benefits of playing to small audiences in small clubs for a few years is that you’re allowed to fail.

Sitting on a bedroom floor crying is something that makes you feel really alone. If someone’s singing about that feeling, you feel bonded to that person. That’s the only way I can find an explanation for why 55,000 people would want to come see me sing.

Nothing feels better than going onstage and everybody is singing every word – and actually wanting to see you.

I’ve rarely seen video screens used well in a music concert.

It’s kind of exhilarating, walking through a crazy, insane mob. The most miraculous process is watching a song go from a tiny idea in the middle of the night to something that 55,000 people are singing back to you.

The most miraculous process is watching a song go from a tiny idea in the middle of the night to something that 55,000 people are singing back to you.

Performing is a thing in itself, a distinct skill, different from making recordings. And for those who can do it, it’s a way to make a living.

If this were all to go away tomorrow, all the big success, I would still be very happy going from bar to bar playing music for people.

Bob Dylan is like an alien on this earth, and I love him! I cried when I saw him play live because I was so close to him.

It’s terrifying to play your favorite band’s song in front of your favorite band.

I enjoy singing my songs in front of people.

My songs always sound a lot better in person than they do on the record.

I was a super once – an extra – in ‚Die Fledermaus,‘ and was seated within three feet of Placido Domingo. I had never heard a voice of that beauty so close up. It felt as if an electric shock were running through me.

People are already finding ways to make their music and play it in front of people and have a life in music, I guess, and I think that’s pretty much all you can ask.

I always say, you gotta play a dive bar like you play an arena, and you play an arena like you play a dive bar.

I think generally playing live is a crap idea. So much of stage work is the presentation of personality, and I’ve never been interested in that.

I don’t want people at my shows to come out and say, ‚I just saw a cool show.‘ I want them to say, ‚I had fun at the show.‘ I want it to be a collaborative thing and be part of the audience and have them be part of me. I try to interact with everyone there and have them be equal to me because they are.

I grew up listening to the Police, I grew up performing in bars, singing Police songs.

When I’m writing, I’m thinking about how the songs are going to play live. Fifty bars of rap don’t translate onstage. No matter how potent the music, you lose the crowd. They want a hook; they want to sing your stuff back to you.

You know, when Michael Jackson does the moonwalk, he’s showing off! When Prince or Hendrix do a guitar solo, it’s confidence! I would hate to be at a show and some nervous wreck is sweating up there and doesn’t feel like he deserves to be there.

Musicians are there in front of you, and the spectators sense their tension, which is not the case when you’re listening to a record. Your attention is more relaxed. The emotional aspect is more important in live music.

I learned how important it is to entertain people and give them a reason to come and watch you play.