As cool as it looks

5:30pm: Leave work, walk to subway, ride train to Astoria, walk to apartment

6:15pm: Shower, dinner-standing-up, vocal warm up, drumming warm up, grab all the equipment you need

7:30pm: load the car and drive to venue

8:15pm: arrive at venue, mingle and waste time

And then 9:00pm rolls around and the place blows up. I am convinced, although I've never seen it, that a performer could shit on a plate and throw it across the room so long as he or she engaged the audience, played with honesty and bridged the gap by communicating and creating a bond. But with music, more specifically with drumming, the enjoyment is felt on a sub-human level. Rats in the walls stop and wait while their whiskers glisten with vibrations. The clothes are just the car body, plastic and somewhat unimportant compared to the engine beneath. The lyrics and melody and rhythm are candles on the cake. The real magic, the cool, is all subtext.

Honesty is probably a performers greatest source of strength. Like all balancing forces of nature, honesty makes you vulnerable. The key to remember is that even if they can't express it in words, the audience knows who and what you are beneath all the layers you try to cake on. By actively shedding the layers, you're only complementing them, assuring them that you don't think they're stupid. So be honest, smile and be sure to drink plenty of water. Performing on a stage is as cool as it looks.