The Most Awkward I’ve Ever Felt Onstage

I never wanted to get off stage so quickly!

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In my former band, I once played a show in Arkansas in front of only two people other than the venue owner – a father and son. We were on tour with two other bands, and we were all down in front supporting each other during their set, which added a few more to the audience.

However, that significantly less than sold-out concert wasn’t the most awkward experience I’ve ever had onstage. Nor was it during my first show with that same band when I had the nosebleed (Read Overcoming Stage Fright).

My most awkward onstage experience happened on June 28, 2019, in Melrose, Florida, where Bread of Stone was playing a week-long youth camp. We were just two weeks away from playing a show where we would debut an Immersive 360-degree sound and visual experience, at a National Youth Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. An Immersive Sound experience is essentially stereo surround sound, but in a live concert setting. The technology had been used for years, for a few large plays, but no one had ever been able to make it work in a live concert setting. Until the year prior, when our lead singer, Ben, cracked the formula like some sort of audio genius. 

To create such an intricate experience, a few separate sound consoles are required to run it. With this camp being our last show before the Immersive debut, we wanted to test run it, using the additional audio consoles, but without the surround speakers and additional LED walls.

Some technical complications appeared during sound check, but we got everything working just fine. A few minutes before we were to take the stage in front of 600 plus youth and staff to kick-off the weekend, I had a feeling that I should test our backing tracks a final time. I had made sure my computer was working, but hadn’t hit ‘play.’ Not until we were formerly introduced.

I then pressed the spacebar on the MacBook Pro, which should have launched everything. But nothing happened! After ten ridiculously long minutes of trying to restart the entire system, we went on without any backing tracks. 

Normally, playing without tracks was fine, but our set list also had video content, lyrics and lighting sequences cued from the tracks. All or nothing, basically. In this case, it was nothing! 

We have a phenomenal lighting tech who does extremely well on the fly, but having no video content playing on three large onstage LED walls – other than some moving backgrounds put up last minute by our video tech – did no justice.

We went on, and our lead singer Ben gave a four-count, as we started playing “This Is Amazing Grace.” We could see all the students just staring at us like a herd of deer in headlights. But there were no lights of any kind. These kids weren’t the slightest engaged in worship. No one sang along, and I could feel the awkward tension all around the room reaching me behind the drums.

I never wanted to get off stage so quickly!

The next morning session, the camp schedule requested that we play an acoustic set. The reality was that we had lost a day and a half to connect with the students from the stage. 

That night, we worked out all the kinks, and we were able to open with our grand intro like we would have the night before. From there, we again played “This Is Amazing Grace.” This time everyone was engaged in worship, singing along with us and truly worshipping. You could see it all around the room! I learned a couple very valuable lessons that day. 

First, if at all possible, don’t stall! Those 10 minutes after being formally introduced followed by awkward silence and then more house music, let the air of anticipation out of the room. We have played numerous shows stripped down without backing tracks or our production and the work we have put into our personal stage presence has been enough to captivate and engage the audience. However, those awkward minutes really ended up hurting us by not being able to connect with the audience right away.

Secondly, a Bread of Stone show typically involves a lot of production. We travel with our own line array sound system, LED walls, expansive onstage lighting, cryos, cold-fire effect machines and more! However, in the midst of all the haze, flashy lights and visual effects, people aren’t distracted or unable to worship. This setting actually engages the audience, and they are now able to worship freely!

Here’s a message to all the church worship teams out there: I know every church is different. I grew up attending a church with no production apart from words on a projector screen. I remember it was cool when we started using various backgrounds instead of simple black text on a white screen. Our house lights were always on, and I never wanted to twirl my drumsticks or do anything showy, no matter how many times my Pastor’s wife asked me to twirl them.

We often ask churches who don’t understand the importance of investing in any sort of production – whether it’s a good wireless headset for the Pastor or stage lighting – “What about the single mom who might be in the congregation?”

You only have one hour to reach her. This is the only time all week that she doesn’t have the kids, where she can spend some time alone with God. If you have a good setting – maybe dimmed lights or stage lights on only during worship – she can now have the space to freely worship the Lord and maybe even cry without feeling like everyone can see her. 

The first lesson I learned from that youth camp will always stick with me. Production is not a distraction, but a useful tool to engage with and draw in your church congregation or your concert audience.

Are you interested in diving deeper into these areas for YOUR show? I’d love to get to know you and learn about your journey in music! Let’s schedule a FREE discovery call today!

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