The Stones, Beyoncé, Springsteen, U2, Joan Jett, and Eric Church are just a few names in a list of universally recognized amazing live performers. It's not about whether they're our favorite artists but acknowledging that each can own a crowd of any size in any venue.

The challenge we face as independent artists is we don't have access to massive stages with scores of colored lights, video screens, sets, lifts, props, and other big-time concert gear to recreate a big atmosphere in a small club. However, all of these bands played bars and could kill it in a 100-capacity venue with a tiny stage to this day.

It's all about the things we can control. The things we do have access to, like our ability to engage with each audience member personally. Here are five things elite live performers do that you can do on any budget or stage.

MAXIMIZE YOUR SETLIST

The most crucial thing in your live show is the music. Let's assume that your band is well-rehearsed and plays the songs at a high level. Now what? How do you present these songs to have the most significant impact? First, you must order your set properly.

Create a journey with peaks and valleys—moments of high intensity and close intimacy.

Generally, you'll want to start on a comfortable middle ground, build it up, bring it down, build it up again, bring it way down, and then finally, build to an energy that has everyone screaming for an encore. Create a few specific places to talk with your audience, and you've made a set that has them getting to know you, rocking out with you, sitting quietly and listening to you, and standing on the tables in full party mode, all in 45 minutes.

2. WORK ANGLES

Angles are simply different points in the room. Angle 1 is the audience in front of stage left. Angle 2 is in front of stage center, and angle 3 is in front of stage right. You need to engage all of these angles multiple times per song. Let's plot out what a front person might do for an uptempo track.

Starting with the song intro, stand at the stage center and groove with the music.

For verse 1, grab the mic, walk to angle one, and sing.

For the chorus, walk back to center stage and engage with angle two.

For verse 2, walk to stage right for the audience at angle three.

Then, go back to the center for chorus 2.

For the bridge, stay at the center, but the first two lines face angle one, and the second two lines face angle three.

Bring your lead guitarist up near the front of the stage with you for the big solo section.

For the final chorus, come right down to the lip of the stage and maybe slap some hands with the people up front.

In 1 song, you've acknowledged everyone attending your show. You've kept the audience's eyes on the stage because that's where the action is.

3. HAVE A BETTER STAGE PLOT

It is common to put the drummer in the back and line guitars and bass across the very front of the stage. Not only is this poor use of your stage with all that wasted space on either side of the drum kit, but it isn't apparent to the audience. They don't know whom to watch.

Use the stage from front to back, not just side to side. Of course, needs will vary for each band. For example, you can't put your lead singing keyboardist in the back, but let's take a typical situation where the front person either doesn't play or plays guitar. Try having your stage look something like this.

All immobile players (drummers, keyboardists, pedal steel players) can be in the back row. They're not moving left to right across the stage, and they're less interesting to watch for the average fan. If possible, stagger the following line so these players can be seen.

Next, provided the stage is deep enough, have your guitars and bass. These folks can move and be more entertaining to a larger part of the audience. Still, they're not the front person. They need to have the entire stage width to work across the front to the face of the band. This line of guitars and mobile players can also step forward for solos, step off to the side to clear the keyboard player for the piano intro, and the whole row can move to the lip when you want to put maximum pressure on the audience. The bottom line, this group creates a ton of movement without taking attention from the front person.

Nearest to the audience, responsible for the whole stage, is the front person. They need a lane to engage with the entire audience and the ability to conduct some of the movements of the rest of the band. Motion the guitarist up for a solo, call someone up to their mic for a backing vocal, etc. A front person is the face of the band, and the live performance buck stops with them.

4. MAKE EVERY SONG LOOK DIFFERENT

A live music producer once told me, "I should know what song you're playing in a video with the volume turned down." You spend so much time ensuring every song has its own sound, arrangement, catchy chorus, and distinct solos, but in live performance, the band looks basically the same for every number.

The first way to change it is to ensure your energy matches the music. For example, only move a little during your big ballad, and don't stand still during high-energy tunes.

Get creative. Move the guitarists and bassists around. Move them all to one side of the stage so the other side is just the keyboard player in the back and the singer up front when it's just keys and vocals. Move them all down front for your biggest song. Do whatever you must to make each song have a unique look that matches its particular sound.

5. SCRIPT YOUR TALKING POINTS

Nobody wants to hear, "We wrote this next song about..." That's just not interesting. So instead, your talking points should be universal and maybe even be a call to the merch table or email list sign-up.

I used to perform a Country song that I wrote about loving how country music can bring you back to specific times, places, and people in your life. However, that's different from how I introduced it. Wade Sutton and I worked up a bit that went something like this.

The band had just finished a substantial high-energy track on which I didn't play guitar. After burning the place down, I pick up my acoustic and start strumming softly. The cheering stops, and everyone starts listening. As I continue to strum, not at any particular time, I say,

"Good evening. We're so glad you chose to hang out with us tonight. We want to make a memory with you right now, so whenever you hear these songs, you think of how much fun we had together. So we want to make sure you get this next song completely free. So head over to the table and let us know where to send it.

We all have songs that remind us of where and who we were with. Maybe it was a 21st birthday, your first car… or what you did in the back seat of that first car. You put on the right Country songs, and they sound like that."

Then the band kicks into our song "They Sound Like That." I told them exactly what the song was about without saying, "This next song," and I directed them to my email list without saying, "We have an email list, and we hope you sign up."

This was very thought out, scripted, and done close to the same every night. I never delivered it like lines in a play, I gave myself some freedom to use my own voice, but I only went a couple of words off script.

Contrast this with another artist I know, who shall remain unnamed, who didn't want to script things out and, in a moment of excitement, when asking for emails, invited them to join our klan. As we stepped off the stage, I gave the artist a little tap and told him that offering our fans to join the klan might be sending the wrong message. Seriously, script things out. Use your voice, but by all means, plan what you will say to avoid getting caught up in the moment and saying something that can be taken incorrectly.

This article isn't intended to lock down every detail of your specific live show but to give you some ideas and get you thinking like a performer. You don't have to choreograph every single stage move, but equally, don't go up there and just wing it. Find the middle ground that's comfortable for you. Someone who sees your gig tonight should have the same overall experience as someone who catches your gig next month. When you've released some new music, scrap your stage show and create a new one featuring the new songs.

Remember, fans don't say they heard the Stones last night. They say they saw the Stones. So give them something exciting to see and win them over.