Jonny Lang Quotes

Something that I think I figured out slowly was if you're playing a show and there's a chatter or there is, you know, a lot of noise - people talking or something - I was never the one whose instinct was to try to be louder than them.

From the first time you can look in the paper and you accept that you're the entertainment for some people that night, it becomes so much more enjoyable to play live.

I'd say it's harder to play with an acoustic guitar strapped over your shoulder for a few hundred people than it is to play in front of thousands with an entire bombastic band behind you.

There's a side to being in a band that some people embrace and some don't: the fact that you're performing and you care about how it comes across.

I have made stage adjustments which allow me to hear myself better onstage so that has made playing live much more enjoyable.

I feel like I am one of those artists that, thank god, can sing live.

The more guitars we have onstage the better, as I'm concerned.

You don't really know a song until you play it live.

It's a constant challenge to get your arrangement and musical expression across to a new audience, especially when you're playing live every night like we are.

It's tricky, performing the show live. Because when you're in a big auditorium, in front of 700 people, the natural tendency is to want to talk louder. You want to project.

I wrote 'Torches' before experiencing touring as a band. I really had no idea what they would sound like live, and that was something we had to figure out along the way.

Obviously, Iron Maiden is on a way bigger scale to British Lion, but as a musician playing live, it's just the adrenaline rush of playing in front of an audience that gives you that rush.

I think I'm better at live shows than I used to be because I'm way more comfortable with the uncomfortable pauses between songs. Now, rather than trying to talk or do a costume change, I'll use those moments for myself. I listen to what other people are playing, or just rest, or dance, even though I don't know how to.

With stand-up you've just got that one chance. Audiences can be quite fickle.

You get very comfortable doing the open mic circuit, turning up to the same places and playing to 20 people. In that situation, it won't matter if you aren't great on that night because no one will really remember who you are. Then suddenly you are doing rooms to 400 people and you have to up your game.

I feel like every time I go out, I want to do a good job. I want people to say that he's just as good at stand-up as he is in some of the movies I've seen him in, so I try to do the best every time I go out there.

The band's filter, but playing live is a lot of fun.

For me, doing a show, the excitement of singing live, and the possibility that you're not gonna be perfect - that's the thrill of it.

I've never, ever in my life enjoyed playing live the way I am now.

Some bands blow it before they even play. The most important moment of any show is when a band walks out with the red amp lights glowing, the flashlight that shows each performer the way to his spot on the stage. It's crucial not to blow it. It sets the tempo of the show; it affects everyone's perception of the band.

Onstage, there's no hiding; you either can or can't act. There's no second take.

I don't know how to do a show not in front of a live audience.

There's something interesting about playing live; you're in the moment, and I think it would be beneficial.

I feel, in a way, on a record, you can be more subtle. In the live setting, everything gets amplified. The dynamics are more extreme in concert.

There's no second chance on stage, and I was trained to make the most of my first chance.