Hi all its been a very long time since i was in here last, about 2 years i think.

I have looked every where for an answer to this question, which im sure must be something all guitarists think about, yet no one seems to talk about
correct me if im wrong

I have been playing guitar for many years and rate myself as a supreme god(that means im ok but not great)

ive played a fair few gigs with my band and watched millions more of other guys. what I really admire in a guitarist (aside from being a kick-ass player)
is an ability to do stuff onstage.
eg: i saw a band not to long ago who played a forty five min set an i dont think any of them moved once. just stood there like statues and it was boring.
sayin that it was punk so it would have been boring anyway but i still could have enjoyed watching the guitarist do interesting things.
MY QUESTION:
What interesting things can i do?

ill start you off with all the ones i can think off

obviously, playing behind the head or with the teeth
or with one hand, or with one hand while making gestures with the other
having your left hand playing over the top of the neck
or holding the guitar like it was your dick
putting your foot on a monitor
!!! headbanging !!!
windmill (either holding the guitar out and swingin your arm round, or headbangin in circles so as your hair swings round - both called windmills as far as i know)
jumping
stupid stuff like hoping on one foot while sticking the other leg forwards to make you look like a duck?????
two guitarists back to back leaning against each other or facing each other hotel california style.

hendrix does a cool little thing where he slides up to about 16 or 17, then hooks his thumb over the neck and slides back down depressing the string with the back of his hand, really damn fast so as his arm ends up flying up in the air. this is damn cool to watch if you get it right but fucking painfull to practise

Pete townshend does something amazing too, at the end of a song, he kinda kneels down, unhooks the strap, holds the guitar at the curve on the underside with his right hand, and with his left hand he throws it up in the air by the neck right by the cutaways. as it leaves his left, he pulls back with his right sending the thing flying up and spining fast. he then starts a little run and slides on his knees and catches it!
i damn neer knocked myself out trying that.

n e way those are all the ones i can think of, im not sure if i described some of them too well, but tell me your moves or whatever.

Ps: sorry about the length, im not sure id bother to read all of this but... Damn im just making it longer

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the bassist in one of the bands i play in does that, he just stands there like an erect penis, stage antics arent really a necessity(sp) but it sure adds to some dynamics for a show, its all just image really, but yeah thats quite a list of moves, i cant really think of anything else except maybe a backflip off the speaker or drumset, mind you thats can look pretty dumb if you fuck up, just remember its not a circus, its a gig (ohh and dont forget the funny faces)

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Dont make yourself look like a fool. Become better than a "supreme god" at guitar then worry about what dumbshit you can do onstage. Until then headbanging is just fine

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You should probably not worry about it first of all. If you dont know what to do then you probably dont have much experience or you just care too much about what people think of you onstage. It's got to come natural to move around and headband and whatever. You cant just put on an act for the whole show you actually need to feel the music that your playing.

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ive been playing for about 8 yrs, and have done over one hundred gigs
some 800+ people, so i think im quite experienced. the reason i dont know what to do is ive only recently decided singin isnt my cup of tea - cant get thoses lower growls and my tune isnt perfect. plus it stops me playing rythms so well. and...
in my youth i was a miny-mosher and have completely messed up my neck.
i think c1,c2,andc3,(sections of the vertabrey) are out. anyway the result of this is if i thrash my neck about for more than 2 mins, i end up not being able to move my head for a week.
my headbanging days are over :-(
i pull lots of funny faces all ripped strait from 80's cheese metal - waggling tounges it time to a trill is one of my favourites
im not to fussed about people thinking i look stupid, ive had lots of hurtful critism from my singing (indirectly - second hand info from honest mates, very drunk people, and of course snotty kids who think it makes themselves look cool to put others down) it all kinda washes away after awhile.

i just want to give the fans who arnt guitarist something to enjoy
and its kind of a running competition between me and the singer about who can steel the limelight.
and lets be honest, most of the attention goes towards the singer.
also i get more enjoyment from moving around doing things.
standing stock still is kinda boring.

and i dig what your saying about it coming naturally, but like improvising a solo, it helps if you know scales and techniques, you can then just blank your mind and these things just happen

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Get your neck fixed and mosh.

A great stage antic would be just to get real shit equipment and trash everthing and then poor blood all over everyone and kill them all

only jokin, just do wat comes into your head and try and show off your playing, thats if your good mind you

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Don't be what your not. Just do whatever the music makes you feel.

Be you. Drink Dr. Pepper.

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On the thread question:

you should check out Cephalic Carnage live.

When I saw them, that one guitarist was a fucking insane bastard. He was actually jumping and bouncing around as if he were moshing but he was playing goddamn guitar at the same time.

That was so wasted.

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Yeah, they are insane live, huh?

You guys wanna check out a real show?

Nashville Pussy

They are great live. They put on a very entertaining show. It's redneck rock though but the lyrics to their songs are hilarious. You can't help but start enjoying it. The lead player is a chick who is a very good player and one of her acts is that she does this killer lead while deep throating a full bottle of bud. At the end of the show, she was doing this feedback loop and then started to break her strings while doing the feedback.

The bass player, also a chick, was playing like she was doing the limbo. Her back was parallel to the stage so that her hair was touching the stage floor.

That was the first time I've even listened to them. I'm not a fan but that was one of the best shows I have ever seen and enjoyed. It rocked.

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you can't force good stage stuff like that, it'll be obviously forced. only a bunch of chicks that name their band nashville pussy can pull off deep throating bottles and crap, you know?

if it doesn't come naturally, get more into it. get drunk before the show. my buddies always get the crowds into it, and their secret is to get totally wasted before hand.

Depends on the style of music, I guess. War paint is a good option (I know that's not an activity as such).

Playing with your teeth would be retarded. My friend used to play with his teeth and my other friend pissed on his guitar(dont worry it was an ibanez 7 string piece of shit the the kid used for Corn on the Cob) and the kid ended up playing with his teeth again and got some sort of disease. I have no idea where the story went but....

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During a concert by The Who, the only movement the bassist made was taking a step back when Pete Townshend slid across the stage. Townshend may have had some of the best stage antics but I still consider John Entwistle to be the better musician, even if he did just stand there.

A cool thing Ive done on stage before is spinning the guitar around your head. If you try this its a must to have a wireless and straplocks. If there is a song where the guitar part stops for about 3 secs swing your ax around your head. Gets the crowds attention and just looks really fucking cool.

ohh dont get me wrong hes a great bassist, but we are playing a high school show, the kids arent even into metal, well most of em, so if we just stand there and play they are gonna get bored, besides highschool kids couldnt care less about talent... well most of em

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Has anyone saw the iron maiden DVD, Rock in rio?
Janick Geres is Charismaticly fucking amazing in it (spinning the guitar round his neck, throwing it and catching it..), ever since he joined maiden i cursed him, called him an "Adrian Smith wannbe" Seing him in that DVD shut me up.

just forget the 'amazing' stage antics. too flashy. just do w/e comes natural to you.

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