What makes trying to break into Fort Knox better than trying to break into the music business?

To accomplish either means risking everything. Family, friends, possible imprisonment. Not to mention a life filled with moving from place to place and constantly staying one step ahead of your pursuers.

Sure, the rewards are epic, but after all the planning, sacrifice and luck it takes to get into Fort Knox, at least you're guaranteed some gold.

I've spent many of the recent years of my life working for and around performers. Three years as a music journalist for a major daily and 6 years working with bands in one capacity or another.

I've met, interviewed and simply hung out with, hundreds of bands, musicians and performers. I followed local acts as they signed record deals - for good or ill. I've run local band nights and huge national shows. I've traveled to dozens of cities for hundreds of shows in front of thousands of people.

In that time, I've learned some lessons that might help you or a band you love become the next U2.

First, Great or Different - Lesson #1

My mentor in this business had a philosophy. He believed that for an act to even think about making it, it had to possess certain qualities. He called his philosophy First, Great or Different.

To have one of these things was meaningless without being combined with one or both of the others. To simply think of an idea first makes no difference if it's simply a rehash of an existing (and most likely a more successful) idea.

If you are first, then you must be great. If you are great, then you must be different. If you have two of these things, my mentor said, you have a better than average chance of making it, but you'll work twice as hard as those lucky bastards that go three-for-three.

All three, and the level of your success is directly proportional to the amount of work you put forth. That sounds pretty pat. But a 1-1 return is rare in the rock n roll world.

So, the nugget of advice I offer with this lesson is to take the time to evaluate your position. Take an honest, objective look at what you've got. Can you say that your project is First, Great or Different?

If so, then go about making yourself known with the confidence that you have a leg up on the competition.

If not, don't despair. Anything can be tweaked to fit the bill.

OK, So What Does All This Mean?

Of the hundreds of bands I've seen, only three have stood out as First, Great or Different. That's right, only three.

So, now the answers to the question on your mind:

They were entertaining in live performance.

A band must craft their live show with the same attention to detail and committment to which they show their recorded material. A slammin' live show is essential to the success of the modern band. A band that gets the crowd excited, laughing and dancing is a band that sells twice as many CDs as the other acts on the bill.

Plus, acts that excite the crowd also can get them to drinking. A big take on the bar during your band's set is a sure ticket to an invite back.

A live performance is a new experience every time. If you blow a girl away with your concert, she will come again and bring her friends. More girls means more guys and more guys means more drinks flowing.

Take the live performance seriously. Think about the things you look for when you see a concert. Granted, if you're a caped goth act, you might not be high-energy, but that audience expects certain things from a show and will turn on you if you half-ass it.

Remember this: whatever it is you are doing, it's a forgone conclusion someone else has already thought of it, Take some chances, go for that second or third idea. Constantly re-work your show. Tape your performances and analyze them for improvement. Don't be afraid to watch yourself. Learn to be objective, it could save your life.

Yes, this could mean choreography. Don't be afraid of polishing your show. If you're not, someone else is.

Vary up your sets. More songs means more flexibility in your set length. You don't want to miss out on a lucrative set position because you can't play 45 minutes. If you have 15 minutes or 20 minutes worth of songs, it can't hurt to learn a few covers in your genre (or even a few outside of it) to fill in that set time.

Their songs were well-crafted and arranged.

Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. If you're thinking two or three nights a week practicing the same set each time is hard work, remember this: the band down the hall or next door or playing that prime opening slot is rehearsing every spare moment they get.

Write, write, write. Practice makes perfect when it comes to songwriting. Of course, this all depends on your set up, but involve as many of the band members who are willing in your creative process.

Learn to identify which songs your audience likes and hone those babies to razor-sharp perfection. Strangely, in my experience, the songs that their audiences liked the most, my bands almost always counted among their least favorites. Ain't that always the way? If you can do this correctly, you can springboard those crowd faves into self-produced singles. It takes practice and a strong will to get good at reading your public's taste versus your own, but it's the bread of a rock and roll sandwich.

They all had one particular audience they catered to, but had the ability to turn any audience to their favor.

It's safe to say that each of these three bands catered to a specific audience. One was a Hootie and the Blowfish-style coffeehouse band, the next was a swing band with a rock edge and the third was a new-wave style band, in the vein of Simple Minds.

Once, the coffeehouse band was asked to open for a Led Zeppelin tribute band. When they arrived, the crowd was all denim vests and leather wrist bands. Not a friendly crowd to be sure.

The lead singer took one look and threw me a terrified glance.

"They're going to kill us, Steve."

They took the stage and cleverly took the initiative to throw in a Led Zeppelin riff as an intro to one of their songs. The crowd bought into it and reacted well to the first song. By the third song, they were hooked and, after it was over, there was a line 20 people long to buy CDs.

I'll admit. I was a little wary. I mean, I had faith in my boys and I knew that they were good, but even I was surprised at how completely the crowd turned around and embraced them.

Being able to read your audience and adapt is yet another trait of Great bands. Being "artistically flexible" is the hardest things for young bands to grasp.

Many of them look at being flexible as "selling out" or betraying some code. Those bands usually find themselves at a loss at fish-out-of-water type gigs and lose their cool (and possibly an invitation to return) because they refuse to budge when it comes to adaptation.

There are no guarantees in the music business. It's largely up to you how successful you are. Sometimes that means trying something new. Sometimes it means breaking destructive patterns and starting all over again. It always means making hard decisions and smart choices.

These tips and recollections are only the basics. Things every band should practice and live their lives by.

It's my goal to pass on as much of my experience to bands as I can. Take from it what you will. Pass it on.

Most importantly, let me know what you think. I welcome questions, comments, suggestions for topics or your own experiences.