I wasn't going to chime in here, since I've never played a gig, and probably never will, and I'm not a dancer unless I'm too drunk to remember.

But it did get me to thinking, of the people I enjoyed WATCHING, as well as listening to, some may have been pretty active and standing, and some were very subtle and sitting.

Like anything else, I think personal preference comes in to play here. I don't care for rock and roll antics on stage, unless it's Rick Reid (and may a very few others). But the reason I like watching Rick's antics is because it comes natural for him, and he's able to parlay his fun to the crowd. Not everyone could do this.

I think if you are "trying" to have a certain stage presence it won't work. If you can let your natural emotions come out, and they match the band's, it will work. I really think Christian nailed it earlier.

One of my favorite recent performances was by Cory McCauley, Mitch Reed, and Randy Vidrine at Festival Acadiens. All 3 were seated, and no antics. But they were obviously enjoying what they were doing, and were interacting naturally with each other. While they were playing I don't think they cared an audience was listening, and I think most who were there would agree that their subtle stage presence was powerful. If they had tried to do Rick Reid antics they would have just looked silly.

Wayne Toups is known for his roll and roll antics, but I've also seen him sit and play with heartfelt emotion, it works either way for him, but I would bet that if he was in a mood to sit and play traditional melodies, and someone asked him to get up and jump around and play Johnny Peut Pas Danser, it probably wouldn't work if his mood at that moment was to sit and play Bayou Teche.

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