How to Spot a Miming Musician

The exciting news has just been announced that the AFL Grand Final is to be played in Brisbane this year - what a thrill for those locals who can nab themselves a ticket! It's a little too close to our baby due date for comfort, so we will be admiring the 'Gabba from our lounge room. Part of the spectacle of the Grand Final is the pre-game entertainment - usually a few Australian bands plus an overseas headliner. With overseas options off the table, I'm sure the booking agencies have been putting their local bands forward. I think a Powderfinger reunion would go down a treat, although I think at least one band member currently lives interstate. Have you ever been watching a live performance at a sporting event and wondering if the performers are actually playing and singing, or whether they're miming to a pre-recorded track? Here's some tips for spotting a mimed performance, and the reasons behind it.

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If performers are "caught" miming or lip-syncing a performance, usually the blame is put on the performer themselves. We might think, "Aren't they good enough to perform live? Surely it's not that hard!" We feel duped! Often the decision is actually made by the broadcasters and directors of the event, particularly if they feel like there's no room for anything to go wrong, despite the fact that the performers are usually keen to play live. 
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Sometimes there might be a hybrid, with the band playing along to a backing track, but the singer performing live. It's far easier to put a working microphone in front of one person than to record and entire band, especially when they have to load everything on and off the middle of a football field in a matter of minutes.

Britney Spears is a performer who is known to not sing a lot of her songs live, with the emphasis being put on her dance routines instead of the singing. If you were at a Britney concert, would you rather get the singing or the dancing? It's a tough choice for a performer to have to make!

If you're thinking that you might be watching a mimed performance instead of a live one, here's some things that might confirm your suspicions:

• Drum kits having no microphones. On a big stage, a drum kit will usually have around 8 microphones to capture the different parts of the drum kit. If you can't see any microphones, you're not hearing the real drum set.
• Instruments not plugged in to anything. This can be a tricky one, as a lot of guitarists use wireless equipment these days. However, if the jack socket (where the lead plugs in) is empty, the instrument is just for show!
• A performer stops playing an instrument but the instrument sound continues. I've seen quite a few performances that involve people playing the piano while singing, only to stand up from the piano halfway through the song. One problem - the piano part can still be heard! There's always the possibility of a second keyboard player on stage taking over, but often it means that the piano wasn't being played in the first place.
• Singers not adding any "ad libs". Singers will generally change things up a little bit on their live performances compared to their recorded performance. So, expect to hear some, "How's everyone feeling!?" or some extra "Hey!" if the microphone is actually live.

To complicate things, bands will sometimes pre-record their live backing track, so even if it sounds live, it might still be a recording! But even if it is pre-recorded, and you think it's obvious, it might be worth giving the performer some slack. It might not have been their decision in the first place!

Things I've been watching/listening to this week: MIMED PERFORMANCES EDITION

1. Bruno Mars Superbowl Halftime Show Feb. 2, 2014 - This is one of my favourite Superbowl halftime performances, but stay tuned for 8 minutes in when Red Hot Chili Peppers make an appearance - the guitars aren't plugged in to anything! People noticed... but they said they were disappointed they weren't allowed to actually play live.
2. Ben Folds - Learn To Live With What You Are - GMTV - Ben Folds hates miming, so when the producers of GMTV in the UK said he had to, he did the only thing he thought was appropriate. He got his roadie to 'drum', his drummer to 'sing' backing vocals, and Ben makes a big show of not playing the piano for the second half of the song. The roadie drummer steals the show though.
3. Love potion number 9, The Searchers - Bands in the 60s doing TV appearances are a goldmine for miming - no microphones (not even for the singer) and nothing plugged in. I even remember watching an Elvis clip once (Ed Sullivan Show maybe?) and his prop guitar didn't even have any strings!