I’ve stated before that I think the key to effective live performance is to break down the barrier between who’s the performer and who’s the audience.  I give the example of my friend, Skip Folse, who performed at a club here in Atlanta.

At one part of the evening he would start the “naked conga line.”  The club had two entrances and people would form a line in front of the stage, dance out one door into the parking lot, return through the other door, and when they reached the front of the stage the ladies would lift their tops and the men would turn and drop their trousers.  Skip performed with one hand on the keyboard and one hand holding a digital camera, which he used to snap a picture as the action happened.  He would meet the people on his break, find out their story, edit the pictures with ‘stars’ to cover the naughty parts, and upload them to his website before going to bed after the gig.  Everyone knew that if they were part of the naked conga line, they would be ‘famous’ by morning.

The Kaiser Chiefs did a similar thing with a new album release. Fans could go to their website and listen to 20 new songs by the Chiefs.  They could then pick their favorite 10 songs, arrange them in any order they wish, and design their custom album cover from pre-selected art.  Next they were given their own personalized web page to sell their version of the album.  For every copy they sold, they received £1 via PayPal.

Each of those were a twist on the normal roles we play. I encourage you to think outside the box this way and incorporate your own ideas into your music.