ok, ive been in a couple of bands over the past few years and although we go down well with our friends and in a few pubs we need to develop stage presence.
walking around the stage, headbanging a bit, singing along and makin a few stupid faces.

has anyone got any tips to help me get have more stage presence)?

also, whats everyones opinion on the onstage image? some people say its all about the music but i dont believe that. when onstage people do care about how you look. if your dressed differently people are going to take more notice of you than if your in the standard band t-shirt and jeans.

Thanks
Chris

Okay Muntahunta really its all about what your appearance is trying to be. Great metal bands do alot of low stances, tons of headbanging, stage presence is about movement and getting noticed, if you just stand there no one will notice you unless your trying to be that way (Mikael Akerfelt) In 1 band i know the singer never wears shoes.. why we arn't sure but he always interacts with the fans talks to them u know.. lead singer kinda stuff. get your band into the music and the movement will come.. ALSO know the music don't be going on stage with a song uv played twice because then the movement wont come.. everyone will be soo into not screwing up they wont have a chance to get any stage presence. thats my 2cents anyone elce?

i agree with that, but weve been together around 2 years and we NEVER play songs we havent rehersed extensivly beforehand. even when were playing songs weve perfected (like the first song we wrote as a band.... can play it with my eyes shut on a trampoline while singing the alphabet).

Stage presence is usually a function of how relaxed you are all on stage. You have to look comfortable, as though you are enjoying walking around, visual clues like eye contact with each other, laughs on stage, and messing about will all reassure the audience that you are confident in what you are doing, and they'll go away saying "Wow, good band".

You are right to be concerned about your stage persona, I know many groups who have great musicians, but put them on a stage, and they freeze up. Still play well, musically sound, but the overall "show" is lifeless, because they spend 2 hours staring at the floor, or intently at their fretboards. Unfortunately, as most of the crowd are not musicians, they can't appreciate the difficulty of the music played, so they go away thinking "it was okay, but not that great".

The only way that I know to gain confidence on stage, is to do lots of gigs. Just like any other area of practice, you'll need to do as many gigs as you possibly can. In my experience, bad gigs are the best for confidence building, because if you can get through enough bad gigs, you'll be able to tackle anything. You'll all stop worrying about bum notes/amp crackles/poor audience reaction/etc, and just enjoy yourselves, each time you are up there.

Hang in there, work hard enough, and you'll improve. And the plus side is that in a couple of years, your core audience will grow, because they'll see the improvement in your group.