Greta topic!
As a bass player, I know that I often play too loud. The reasons for this are obvious. I can't hear the damned thing if I'm too close to the amp. The lows are lost in the stage racket of highs & mids from the guitars & cymbals. I often can't hear myself at all, & have to play from memory. Practice helps me a lot, so I do it a lot. I always check w/ppl to see if it's overbearing.
Choosing good material that you can actually pull off, if you're doing covers, is a must. By good, I don't mean that every person in the audience has to know the songs. They do have to grab ppl, though. Make them want to dance. If a song doesn't do that, I try to get the band to drop it. That is, at least, in a bar scene. Concert scenes are different, obviously. Often there is no dancing allowed. Use your complicated wierd stuff there to show it off, not in a bar.
Vocals must be as close to perfect as the band can get. The vocalist IS the band, in most ppl's opinion. Make sure that he or she can hear the vox, and that the rest of the band can, as well. This way no one misses the vocal cues, & harmonies line up better.
In one band I've played in for years, the singer often skips a verse or changes the arrangement on the fly. It's most disconcerting if you miss his cues, so you have to hear him, & follow his lead. We nearly always sound tight & seamless in spite of his lil problem. (I think it comes from the fact that when he speaks, he stutters...so I cut him slack, since he has such a nice deep voice that works so well in what we do.)
Remember that if your singer can't hit those high notes in a song, he can either use a harmony note, or you may have to change the key to accomodate his problem. Never make the vocalist stretch beyond thier natural ability...it hurts!
In original songs, try to insert a guitar tag-lick or something memorable for the audience to grab onto. Most of the guitarists I've worked with HATE to be told that, but if you can get them to cooperate, the song is always better received.
Make sure that your starts & stops are tight. Only way to do that is practice, & pay attention.
Don't fear the cheese. Ppl love to hear it. A hard core blues band I was in used to play "Knock Three Times" by Tony Orlando, just to break things up. I can't tell you how often ppl commented to me on it, in spite of the groans we got from some of the members onstage.
Keep the spaces between the songs to an absolute minimum...the more it rocks & flows, the better.
If someone's tone sucks, address it BEFORE you take it to the stage. (I've never been the shy one about that...
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I hope this helps, in some small way.
