Performer Quotes

• I hate it when I see people texting at a show. And talking to each other. They're at a performance; they should respect the performer.

  

  Brett Gelman
  • People
  • Show
  • Performance

• The constant fear of a performer is to become what is reflected back at you.

  

  Linda Ronstadt
  • Fear
  • Performer
  • Reflected

• A.J. Styles is great - he's a great performer - so I'm not going to take anything away from him.

  

  Bobby Lashley
  • Great
  • Performer
  • Styles

• People tend to think that because I'm a performer and I don't go to a regular high school that I haven't personally been affected by bullies. But it's actually quite the contrary.

  

  Ariana Grande
  • People
  • School
  • High

• I was never a kid who dreamt of being a performer. I started singing the songs because nobody knew who I was or cared at all. If I wasn't going to sing them, nobody was going to sing them, so I had to step in and fill that role myself.

  

  Will Sheff Okkervil River
  • Singing
  • Role
  • Dreamt

• If you were a performer that only had an acoustic instrument, back in the day you couldn't hide behind your guitar pedals or the production or the vibe. There was performance and then there was the song, and that was all that you had.

  

  Will Sheff Okkervil River
  • Song
  • Guitar
  • Instrument

• Trying to be a first-rate reporter on the average American newspaper is like trying to play Bach's St Matthew Passion on a ukulele: The instrument is too crude for the work, for the audience and for the performer.

  

  Ben Bagdikian
  • Work
  • Newspaper
  • Reporter

• It started at one thirty on a cold Tuesday morning in January when Martin Turner, Street performer and, in his own words, apprentice gigolo, tripped over a body in front of the West Portico of St. Paul's at Covent Garden. Martin, who was none too sober himself, at first thought the body was that of one of the many celebrants who had chosen the Piazza as a convenient outdoor toilet and dormitory. Being a seasoned Londoner, Martin gave the body the "London once-over" - a quick glance to determine whether this was a drunk, a crazy or a human being in distress. The fact that it was entirely possible for someone to be all three simultaneously is why good-Samaritanism in London is considered an extreme sport - like BASE jumping or crocodile wrestling. Martin, noting the good quality coat and shoes, had just pegged the body as a drunk when he noticed that it was in fact missing its head.

  

  Ben Aaronovitch
  • Missing
  • Head
  • Wrestling

• 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.

  

  John William Cummings Ramones
  • Play
  • Bands
  • Performer

• I separate the performer from the private citizen because it works for me. That gives the surprise element to my show. It doesn't change my playing. But if in a business suit they would think I was crazy. It's like putting Marlene Dietrich in a housedress.

  

  Liberace
  • Business
  • Change
  • Housedress

• We are always full of the types of people who retire or die. But they are never saying 'This guy is really unbelievable; we're alive to witness an exceptional performer.' I think we should recognise that while we are still racing.

  

  Toto Wolff
  • Always
  • Witness
  • Exceptional

• I've never seen a performer create electricity with an audience like James Brown. He's got everybody in his hands and whatever he wants to do with them, he does it. It's amazing. I've always thought he was underrated.

  

  Michael Jackson
  • Audience
  • Electricity
  • James Brown

• I've always as a performer on stage tend to sort of throw myself into the character, whatever I've written about, so it depends on how I'm writing or what I'm writing about.

  

  Gavin Friday
  • Writing
  • Depends
  • Performer

• I think it's an essential fact for any performer or artist to fail as poignantly as they can succeed.

  

  Nick Cave The Birthday Party
  • Artist
  • Fact
  • Performer

• Most people don't think of actors and people like us that are performers and out in the world as introverts, but I like to know I can trust someone first.

  

  Eric Stonestreet
  • Trust
  • Actors
  • Introverts

• A place like Sound City, which was just a big, beautiful room where you would hit record and capture the sound of the performer - a place like that isn't necessarily in demand anymore.

  

  Dave Grohl Nirvana
  • Record
  • Performer
  • Sound City

• Who you are as a performer is one thing, but when you're making records, you're dealing with musicians' tastes, their goals, their wants, their needs, everyone's individual pride.

  

  Scott Weiland Stone Temple Pilots
  • Goals
  • Records
  • Performer

• She Beyonce is just an energetic performer and she loves drums. She loves edge.

  

  Bryce Wilson
  • Performer
  • Drums
  • Beyonce

• You can practice and rehearse as a group forever. The only way you can learn how to do it live is on stage. The only way you can learn to be a performer is to actually perform.

  

  Steve Clark Def Leppard
  • Forever
  • Practice
  • Learn

• In regards to live shows, space is very important to me. Space and context should complement the music in some way; you gain so much from it. It enhances the dialogue between audience and performer. I'm very much aware of this when choosing venues. I say no to 90% of booking offers. Somehow I feel the venue needs to make sense.

  

  Einar Selvik
  • Music
  • Space
  • Dialogue

• When you're a performer, of course you want an audience, but it's very, very different from courting fame.

  

  Cate Blanchett
  • Different
  • Audience
  • Fame

• It is still an open question, however, as to what extent exposure really injures a performer.

  

  Harry Houdini
  • Question
  • Performer
  • Injures

• I genuinely have never been in an audience where most people want that person to fail. I've never been in an audience like that, and I've never seen it as a performer. Only in my dreams, in which case they are always throwing tomatoes and going, "This is the most boring thing I've ever seen."

  

  Laurie Anderson
  • Audience
  • Dreams
  • Tomatoes

• I've blown myself up as a revolutionary and conscious artist. As a philanthropist and a performer.

  

  Raheem DeVaughn
  • Conscious
  • Revolutionary
  • Philanthropist

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