5 things support acts should do
“Are you excited for <main act>” the lead singer of the support band mumbles while I’m at a gig recently. Well of course I’m excited for the main act that’s the whole reason I’m here!
And this happens way too often – support acts having little audience connection nor making the most of the opportunity in front of them, so as a regular audience member at a gig here’s 5 better things a support act can do instead:
1. Tell us your name.
At the start, at the end and at least twice in the middle.
Honestly I’m not necessarily heavily invested at the start so I’m probably not really listening so you’re gonna need to say it again. People also arrive part way through your act, as they gradually rock up for the main show, so lots of reminders are good.
If I like you, I’ll look you up, there and then and add you to my Spotify library, but I need to know your name to do that. I’m not going to go home and google this after the fact. I’ll be too hyped from the headliner. I want to do it in that 30 minutes between your set and the main act when I’m bored.
Introducing the band members is also a nice touch too!
2. Tell us the names of your songs
3. And a little something about them
Again, if I like you, I’ll listen. But I’m not listening to your entire back catologue to find the one or two tracks I desperately want to relisten to first. That track I want on my playlist, or the one I wanna add to my insta story. I need to instantly be able to find it. Yes, I’ll probably listen to more eventually, but right now I want to re-experience that track that hooked me in.
And a little story makes it more memorable and helps build that connection with your potential new audience. You can script these little sentences ahead of time too. Just a little something like “this one is called Arabella and it’s about a girl I thought I used to know”. We don’t need an essay, but these little details add to the experience of getting to know you as an artist.
4. Give us something to do
Listen to your EP, come watch your show next week – tell us how to engage with you next (and remind us).
Again, if people like you, they’ll be keen to explore your music further, but it’s easier if we have a set task – a next step! Do you want us at next month’s show? Do you want me to buy a copy of your latest EP? (On that note $5-$10 CD copies are a win here. I don’t even own a CD player but I’d drop $5-$10 without even thinking to help a new band I liked).
5. Thank the main act
Not only is that going to get you a good crowd reaction, it’s the right thing to do. I don’t care if they were a bunch of arseholes who only let you soundcheck for 5 minutes, just do it. Also, make sure you do this privately as well.
You want tour managers telling each other you were the best damn support act they’ve ever worked with and everyone should book you. And it’s these little things, like respecting the running times of the day, being tidy, and showing gratitude. Professionalism will take you much further than talent in those early days.
And as an added bonus, after the fact:
Engage engage engage.
Hopefully people will take photos and videos of your set and share them on their socials. If this happens engage, genuinely, with every one of those people. Thank them, if you can, reshare their content, ask them about the main act, and gently encourage them to engage with you further (example: “we’d love to see you at our show in March at this venue”) anything that helps keep you in their memory and build that long term fandom.
A story of this working…
Some of my favourite bands started out as support acts. You’ve all heard the Arctic Monkeys’ story too many times, but more recently, I had a similar journey with The Buoys. They supported a few bands I liked and after the first time I made the effort to get there early to see them. And very soon I knew they were called The Buoys, and I knew they had a random person playing with them one time as Hilary was playing with an Orchestra in Sydney and Zoe had a shitty boss called Linda.
I can barely name all the members of bands I’ve loved for years, but I can name every member of The Buoys and throw a few random facts in there too. I’m a fierce supporter of them on my blog, I only listen to their album on streaming but I bought some kind of copy of it (digital download, CD, I don’t even remember) just to support them and I buy tickets to every gig they play in my hometown. I also told my friends about them and they bought tickets to their U.K. tour and are now fans too. All because they were good AND they took the time to make an audience connection!!