I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that phrase at a show. Lead singer’s everywhere employing it, in hopes that the audience will connect with the song more if they know the title.
And if they know the title, they’ll google it when they get home and buy it 1000 times on iTunes.
However, most of the time the title never gets heard by the audience. You see, there’s a mental list in everyone’s minds of things they’re used to hearing from stage. Things like
“We’re the ____ and we’re from ____"
"Thanks to the other bands on the bill”
“Be sure to tip the bar tenders”
And you can always clearly hear “this next song is called”, but understand that the title of your song is totally out of the norm, and people can’t fill in the gaps with context clues.
Most likely to begin with, partly because of the mediocre sound system provided by the venue, the listeners actually only heard “is ext sun is call”, but our brains fill in the rest.
So when the name of the tune is “Rain For Puppy Dog Lovers”, everyone turns to their friend and asks what the singer just said. All they heard was noise. They’ve never heard those words strung together at a show before.
So if you’re saying a song title from stage, or anything else outside of what people are used to hearing at a show, speak clearly, speak a hair slower than usual. Tell the drummer to pipe down as he’s playing that beat behind the talking. Drop the mic a little lower so people can see your lips move too.
You’ll give yourself a better chance at connection.
