Endings

[Eric Barker]

I would put forth that endings are the most universally overlooked, and conversely important parts of a live performance. I've been in so many bands where the musicians just have this "whatever, I'm done playing now... next song" attitude, and it absolutely destroys the performance. Going from "sound" to "silence" is one of the hardest and most band-defining aspects of music, and whether the audience consciously thinks about it or not, they're going to judge the quality of the group by how it handles this problem. All endings should be done with purpose, conviction, and with all musicians on the same page.

Think about the purpose: if you're stopping suddenly at the end (or middle) of a phrase, should it be a surprise to the audience? Then play exactly as if you're going to continue playing, and then you don't, this will create a moment. Should it wind down and telegraph itself? Then make sure all band members are playing together and following the drummer.

Set and night enders are even more important. These endings also serve as signals to the audience. Set endings should almost all be long, in some ways the longer the better because it keeps the audience holding on. Sudden stop endings are very awkward for set closers.

Finally, I like endings because they're the one part of the song (especially a cover) that's not really defined, and no matter what band wrote the original, your band is free to put their own spin on it. I've played with bands where every song ended the same way, and it made us sound extremely creatively consitpated. So spend time on those endings!

 

[CowboyNQ]

Agree, the ending of a song is like the ending of a book or film. It can either leave the audience very satisfied, or kind of stuff up all the hard work that went into the beginning and the middle.

Also agree with you Eric that even playing covers, you can take a great deal of creative license here. We have re-worked the endings of a heap of the covers we do.