Last night, I saw the Secret Machines, a pseudo-ELO and Arcade Fire cross-pollination. The sound and lights were spectacular, as were their songwriting skills and energy level. But I don't want to talk about that. I want to talk about how amazingly great their set up was. Instead of playing on the stage in the back of the rectangular ballroom, they set up their stage in the middle of the floor. Oh, and it was circular.

Reasons why a circular stage is so much better than anything else:
1. You could see the band up close from wherever you were. EVERYONE was "5 rows away."
2. The band faces eachother, which helps them out and is fascinating for the audience to see how they interact with one another.
3. The sound was great because instead of speakers just pointing in one direction, they were pointing everywhere (i.e. 2 speaker sound vs. surround sound)
4. The audience could look at eachother which was neat-- the first row saw their doppelgangers half way around the circle.
5. You could see what the keyboardist was actually doing and it gave a new perspective on the drummer (viewing from behind.)
6. It was a great ice breaker for the crowd. Instead of "Uh, so how do you like the show?," guys could say "wow, isn't the stage awesome?"
7. If you left your spot to get a drink or go to the bathroom, you could get back there without pushing your way through anyone.


Anyways, if you're a gigging musician in a rock and (er, and have lots of money) please consider using a circular stage. The whole crowd was so ecstatic that nobody cared what the band sounded like.