A lot of the times you'll go to an indie show and look on stage and wonder "why hasn't that guy/girl done anything for 20 minutes?" While this statement said aloud may get you stares--as indie music fans generally don't like talking, let alone movement, at their shows--you may have fully pointed out the largest, pinkest elephant in the indie music scene: the unnecessary band member.
The origin of the unnecessary band member can be traced to indie music's roots; that is, the fact that at one point or another, the band's roadie/manager/girlfriend got tired of watching from behind the off-stage and wished to join in on the fun or else they would quit/leave/break-up with the band. The tracing of the foundations of this phenomena strangely parallels the popularization of this instrument.
The epitome, and paradoxically the exception to the rule, of unnecessary indie band members is Joel Gion, who you may remember as the guy on the cover of the movie Dig, a documentary about The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Joel pretty much stood on stage and caught Anton Newcombe whenever he passed out in the middle of an angry diatribe or coked-out guitar solo, so, although the euphemism is often reserved for the drummer, one could say Joel was literally and metaphorically the backbone of the band. He also had cool shades and could dance really well, which elevated his status from unofficial band manager to full-time band member.
Other examples of this are: the cute girl that hits the xylophone for 3 whole-notes every fourth song; the extended family of backup singers in strange garb who are off-key and being paid in beer; the guy who runs around stage and throws out merch; hip-hop "posses"; the skanking guy from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones; DJ's there to add some crazy "scratch effects"; Cello players; anyone that has to physically be on stage to press the spacebar on their macbook; Sid Vicious.
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