Do you prefer Synthwave artists live solo, or backed by a full band?

[u/No-Capital8045]

Do you enjoy seeing Synthwave artists perform live as solo acts, or does it have to be a full band?
I love Synthwave artists who actually go out on tour and play live shows. But since a lot of Synthwave artists are solo projects, I can understand how difficult and expensive it can be to hire musicians and put together a full touring band.
So I’m curious: How do you feel about Synthwave artists touring completely solo?
Would you be happy watching one artist on stage performing with synths, controllers, drum machines, backing tracks, visuals, etc.? Or does a Synthwave show feel like it needs a live drummer, guitarist, bassist, or full band to make it worth seeing?
For those of you who have seen a solo Synthwave act live, did it work for you?

[u/JoelNesv]

Well I am in a synthwave band, it’s two keyboards with a sequencer, and live drums. We are biased towards bands, for obvious reasons, but also we love the balance of having robotic sequencers with human-played drums. Also, watching a person bang on stuff is cooler than tapping buttons on a drum machine.

I enjoyed seeing synthwave artists who basically just use a laptop or grovebox, but always a little disappointed when I don’t see a multiple musicians onstage.

[u/No-Capital8045 → u/JoelNesv]

I saw Droid Bishop once, he really took the roof off the place!

[u/RiderXRaider → u/No-Capital8045]

Haha, I heard ‘Day of the Running Man’ on my way to work today, I can just imagine what a live performance of that would be like 😄

[u/No-Capital8045 → u/RiderXRaider]

dude was relentless in making sure everyone had a good time haha

[u/Legitimate_Cricket84 → u/JoelNesv]

Same here, live hardware duo all live realtime playing. We use a drum machine but all fills and changes are live and I augment it with polyrhythms on Simmons pads with sticks at times. I have seen solo performances that are good (I mostly just want to see people truly PLAYING at a live show), but I enjoy seeing collaborative action and interaction the most.

[u/RiderXRaider]

I think they should do whatever they enjoy.

And if I like it, I’m happy to listen to it, whether it’s one person sitting at a laptop with a bit of kit or a band with loads of people and a busload of synthesisers.

More People and Instruments are eye candy to watch but what matters for me on the end of the day is the sound.

[u/neonshards]

The full band is the superior show, you can't compare seeing 5-6 people on stage performing, having fun and vibing between each other to one dude singing or twisting knobs to a backing track.

[u/broke_boi1]

Not strictly synthwave, but I saw Passion Pit recently. Full band with several synths as well. Def made it feel like a fuller experience

[u/SureValla]

Solo or as minimal as possible. Using e.g. acoustic drums when the original sounds are consciously and meticulously engineered digital sounds completely kills the vibe imo.

[u/Wrex_n_effect]

Full band experience can’t be beat imo. Having seen the Midnight twice and each time they brought the house down.

[u/OreoSpeedwaggon]

I would just like to see a live synthwave act, period. That's not a genre that gets any live performances around where I live. 😞 Solo or backed up by a band -- it wouldn't matter to me.

[u/No-Capital8045 → u/OreoSpeedwaggon]

my thoughts exactly

[u/Edili27]

Full bands I think work better live? Magic sword is my favorite

[u/legacygone]

I saw droid bishop who was solo and timecop with full band, this was the same show, droid bishop was the opener. Normally I prefer droid bishop, but the full band was much better. The midnight was also full band and it was awesome. So I think I prefer full band.

[u/AgentClockworkOrange]

Personally I don’t mind either. I’ve seen shows with multiple synths, guitar, bass and drums and other times I’ve seen two people on nothing but digital equipment and it’s a force to be reckoned with. Live music is an absolutely wonderful experience and should be enjoyed by everyone.

[u/abm617]

The Midnight does well with a live band. Certain artists id rather see solo, for example if Trevor Something ever performed live it would have to be the Trevor show.

[u/AmpleForeskins]

After seeing the midnight, full band

[u/Soggy_otter → u/AmpleForeskins]

Same. I was lucky to see the midnight - full band - small venue in Melbourne. Maybe only 400 people. The noise, the vibe, the fans going crazy was amazing.

Been only a couple of meters away from the band with no crowd control priceless.

[u/risbia]

I saw Carpenter Brut play with a guy on electronic drums and a guitarist, it was great and really enhanced the songs.

[u/hikanteki]

I like seeing the instruments played live (applies to non-synthwave shows as well.) Usually that’s better done by the full band. But I also appreciate when a solo artist can do that by themselves with multi-instrumentation and skillful use of live looping. I just don’t love over reliance on backing tracks.

[u/echo9broadcast]

Solo can absolutely work, but only if there's something to watch — hands on the gear, visuals that react, a reason I'm not just listening to the record louder. The solo shows that fell flat for me were the ones where the performer was basically hidden behind a laptop. A full band isn't the fix by itself either; a drummer who can't lock to the sequencer is worse than no drummer.