How to "Break a Leg"

Have you ever been to a concert that changed your life? Think about what made these events so special. Did you catch a guitar pic? Did you make memories with a friend? Even if you just enjoyed the live vocals and the loud bass, concerts are an amazing experience.

Now think about a concert that wasn't so hot. In July of 2017, I attended a Shawn Mendes concert. I had travelled all the way to Colorado for the show and was so pumped! As he came out on stage, I was totally buzzed. I was dancing, singing, and hollering, but as the night went on.. it got awkward. The crowd was so quiet. They weren't engaged, even though the pop sensation Shawn Mendes, who had sold out every seat of that arena was on stage, it was awkward. After you read this, you'll know exactly why it was so awkward.

The amazing experiences we talked about earlier do not come easy. There are so many factors to apply when putting together the perfect show. Before we dive into that, we need to know why a good concert is successful.

An article found on ABC news goes as followed:

Playing to crowds of 20,000, Jay-Z should net around $100,000 per performance, or more than $1,000 per minute onstage. That's $3.3 million or more for a summer of work, good pay even for Jay-Z, who has sold 30 million records. Musicians of every stripe will make a pile of money touring this summer.

With a more engaging concert comes a bigger audience, therefore more income. With that being said, I would say the most important factor is the audience engagement. So as a performer, how does one increase audience engagement? Picture this: you're near the stage, waving around a flag to represent your country or your sexuality and the artist on stage motions for you to give it to them so they can wave it around on stage. Are you engaged? One performer who has made this apart of his show is Mr. Harry Styles.

Every show he help up flags given to him by fans in the front row, this became a thing and people would spend more money on closer seats for the chance to get their flag on stage with Harry Styles. Taking things from fans can really increase the engagement. Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne were also really good at this. Collecting flowers, halloween costumes, posters, and even Louis Tomlinson took a cheese burger from the crowd and started taking bites on stage. People also crowd surf, throw guitar pics and drumsticks, and simply walk through the crowd and high five their fans.

This is so effective because it's changing the setup of the show. It's being real, natural and fun. Fans want to see the artists be real, and that's another important factor.

Besides having a great stage presence, the actual stage itself needs to look good! Take the 1975 for example. They are known for having breathtaking lights, sets, and transitions.

This will get the fans who cannot usually afford concerts into the arena, because they will be able to have an incredible experience from the very back row of the very upper bowl, where they don't have to spend a ton of money. Sometimes making the stage look good is a lot more than just lights, but thinking outside the box. Justin Bieber set out across the audience in a floating heart, drake's stage started levitating during his show and Katy Perry appeared on a shooting star over the crowd. Things like this will make your audience engaged, even the ones way at the back.

But a pretty stage and good interaction with the audience isn't what brings in the bank. If you don't know your stuff, you'll never make it through your set. Choreography, Presentation skills and LYRICS LYRICS LYRICS!!! I've seen countless artists forget lyrics, dance moves, and even have gotten caught lip-synching. The solution? Quite like anything else, PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!

Remember that Shawn Mendes concert I attended? His stage was pretty average, his stage setup was average, but he didn't have any conversation with the audience what so ever. He didn't acknowledge anyone in the crowd, collect anything or spice up his show. Although I hadn't ever attended a Shawn Mendes concert before, I could tell he performed the exact same set with the exact same script every day. Soon enough, he lost engagement with his audience and we were just there to watch him sing. I am attending another show in the summer, so we will see if there has been any improvement over the last few years.

By engaging your audience, having a beautiful stage setup and knowing your stuff, you can earn millions of dollars each summer just like Jay-Z. Well, you have to release multiple platinum albums first.. but you'll get there.