Hey musicians - when's the last time you've been TRULY nervous?

[Bryan316]

This goes out to all the seasoned stage veterans.

I've got a gig this Friday. It's on my favorite stage to play, I've got an awesome new bass rig that I finally get to use, and we've got a killer set of songs to play, with the cinder block resting on the gas pedal. We're geeked and we're ready to have fun.

But I'm truly nervous as hell! It's sinking in finally, just how important this show is for us, to not suck, to draw a good crowd, and to prove ourselves worthy to open up for EPICA in September. I'm sitting here thinking far too much about it! I shouldn't be this nervous! I'm never this anxious about a gig, hell even 5 minutes before we put our gear on stage I'm usually not even stressing out this bad. I'm more stressed about getting to the venue on time with all gear undamaged and all band members accounted for. But now I'm really, really freakin' out.

How do you guys drown it out? What do you guys do to stay decompressed before the big gig? I know some of you guys here have played the greatest stage in America, Glenn's ProgPower, some of you have been to Wacken Open Air, some of you have played phenomenal shows in front of thousands of people with other amazing bands.

So what was the last gig that had your stomachs churning? How did you remind yourself that the upcoming gig is just like any other? How do you keep the perspective small and undaunting? I'd imagine even the mighty Tom Englund had to be slightly paranoid, especially like a gig they did last year which was HUUUUGE and incredibly important, with all they planned and included behind everyone's backs keeping so many little awesome marriage proposal secrets! That had to be nerve-wracking to pull off perfectly.

 

[Perpet]

The best cure for nervousness is being prepared! Sounds like you are but the only shows I stress about are the ones where unrehearsed songs get added last minute. Good luck!! I'm sure you'll do fine

 

[Bryan316]

No, everything we're playing is quite rehearsed. But a dropped drumstick throwing off the beat, a blown preamp tube, a bad cable, a broken string, a sore throat (which I've had for three weeks now), a tongue-twisted lyric.... those things happen. I hate them, and we seem to roll through them with as much grace as one can on stage, but ya never know... I dunno why I'm so paranoid about THIS gig. It's my favorite stage! I always have a good time there! It's almost standard procedure for us! The cover song we're gonna do is one of our favorites! We're gonna tear faces off! We're SOOPASTAWS! This is Spartaaaaa! A cake walk! An afternoon nap! A birthday party!

Why am I so nervous?

 

[urinalcakemix]

I had nerves when I played at Giants Stadium for the first time, I had some nerves the first time I had to do a drum solo in front of a packed house at school. At this point, I love the rush of performing, and I LOVE All eyes on me, that I don't get nervous, as much as I get PUMPED and EXCITED to take the stage. I imagine when i see the crowd when we open up for Lynyrd Skynyrd in June, I may get some nerves, but I know I'll be fine, and it'll be a great time. I'll also realize that most people there will be too drunk to realize when I fuck up, or they WILL be drunk enough at some point, where they won't remember me messing up at all.

Play it cool, thats the best thing to do before a gig, don't let it rush your tempos, thats the biggest thing to overcome.

 

[LunaTEKKE]

OK, I'm definitely NOT a seasoned stage veteran, but I've been trying to dust off the old keyboard skills this year...and I just finished reading "The Inner Game of Music" (a takeoff of "The Inner Game of Tennis").

One of the suggestions I liked on dealing with nerves was to really try and lose yourself in the music -- what you love about the music and what you want the music to convey to the audience.

Another example in the book was a student who was really overcome by nerves while performing in a recital -- until she started focusing on the bald spot on the top of her teacher's head. Whatever works, I guess.

Good luck - and have fun!

 

[Bryan316]

Well for me, right now, it's more an issue of things blowing up, or arriving late or missing gear, not really the performance. Once I'm on the stage, all bets are off! But I'm hella worried that something from now to Carnage Time, something will self-destruct.

Case in point: one of my wireless transmitters' cables is fritzing out on me, and I'm calling everywhere around Detroit to find a replacement. NOTHING. I'm hauling butt across the city to two stores that I called that might have it, so we'll see what happens. Otherwise, I'll plan on bringing a good normal cable, and just refrain from running across the bar or spinning madly in a circle.

Also, we still dunno what time we go on. It's hard to convince people to show up at the beginning of the night, when we might go on last. I dunno. Whatever, roll with the punches, and knock socks off, I suppose.

 

[lady_space]

From planning a wedding, I can relate. Just have a back-up plan, know that *something* is bound to go wrong, and that everything will turn out just fine anyway.

 

[Bryan316]

Backups... sheesh. I still want my guitarists to build a list of fuses for each piece of electronic equipment in their rigs. We bring backup cables just in case our wireless systems fail, but we still don't have replacement fuses.

My drummer brings a drum head for each of his drums. We each have two guitars at every gig. My guitarists have bought better gear to simplify their rigs over the years, and now run everything MIDI from one floor controller. But we still worry that things can break or go crazy. Cuz Murphy's Law is still valid and proved daily...

 

[shreddy]

I've been pretty calm for all my shows, regardless of audience size. However this last show was a bit weird for me, I've been sick for over a week, I didnt drink anything booze before the show. I'm on stage with a stage light about 1 foot away from my head, midway through the second song of the set I actualy felt light headed like I was going to pass out. At this point in the song I was slightly nervous that I was going to fall over from being sick, I collected myself and started chugging the water after that song and I was made it through the set.

Still after the show I was completely spent and felt like shit.

 

[RiffDaemon]

Last time I was truly nervous was when I had to play "The Carnival of Venice", a very popular trumpet solo piece, in front of a packed church for a senior recital. I had the usual nerves when it was time to get up and play. However, when I got to the edge of the stage to play, I noticed that I was actually on a narrow square that jutted out from the stage; and all I could think was, "Omg, I'm going to fall off this damned thing!" Anyway, I started playing, and I realized that I was playing some really technical stuff that most of these people had never heard before - that got me REALLY nervous to the point where I felt dehydrated and nauseous. So I took a step back from the music stand during a few measures of rest to take a breather when my right foot damn near went off the stage! Now not only was I sick from being nervous, I'm embarassed as Hell, too. Wrapping this up, I overcame it by thinking about the music, that I should just calm the Hell down and kick this audience's ass by showing them a thing or two about what a trumpet can really do. Magically, it worked; and the audience loved it.

Hopefully, I won't get similarly nervous when/if I play a power metal gig in Athens in the future, haha

 

[Pellaz]

Power metal? In Athens? I'm sure there's probably a law against it.
"If your music doesn't sound like R.E.M., B-52s or Pylon, Get Out!"

 

[RiffDaemon]

So true .. so true

 

[sh0kr0k]

Bryan, you know my stage history. And you also know how nervous I get before I have to emcee a show. My remedy = fake it! My old choir prof used to say something like, "putting on a good show is 90% confidence, 10% talent. If you lack either - fake it until you feel it!" Worked everytime. Could you ever tell I was nervous as bloody f%$# on stage? Well, maybe YOU could because you know me so well, but plenty people have told me they couldn't tell.

I know what you are going through. Having worked closely with so many bands, I know how important this is for you. I'm also faced with a gigantic freakout night on stage at this year's Texas Madfest. This is by far my biggest event, and then some! My hands are shaking right now just thinking about it! Hosting my shows got easier and I wouldn't be nervous anymore. I thought I had overcome the anxiety. But looking forward to Madfest, I don't know how I'm going to cope! I sure hope my advice holds up! Especially since I can't do a shot beforehand

I feel your pain... but an audience can smell fear. If you're good at rehearsed material - do that! I'm terrible with that because if I lose my place I come completely unraveled and can't get it back together. Thank you 10th Grade Speech Class! :Smug: I'd rather wing it because my brain is better at "knowing what I want to say" vs "trying to remember what I had rehearsed"

Anyhow, good luck this weekend!! I-Rock is the best venue on the planet and I've seen you totally rock it before!! You'll do just fine!! BTW, you have competition - Dendura will be doing a trial show for an Epica slot too! .... wait, are you REALLY required to do a trial show there? I thought that was only for bands who hadn't played there yet. Did management change or did they forget me and my rockin' Justdefy shows that quickly?

I now return you to your regularly scheduled forum browse. [/novel]

 

[Taliwakker]

About to play an extended sweep solo in a song and Frank Gambale is sitting about 10 meters away from you....watching.....

 

[Kenneth R.]

I haven't been truly nervous since high school gigs... But definitely take that advice dude (which I'm sure you're already on top of): have a PLAN B at all times just in case, and then kick some serious ass.

 

[Rick Pierpont]

Hey dude,

I can see where you're coming from! That's why I only buy good stuff and still have backups. Oddly enough, all that stuff still didn't save my ass last November!

So here it is, Chris Salinas and I are on our way to Jaxx from my house (~105 miles) for the Odin's Court/Zero Hour show. My truck is packed to gills with all my stuff (plus the extras) and some of the other band's stuff and of course the singer from that night's headlining act. About 30 minutes from the venue my truck starts to overheat. I turned the heat up and opened the windows until I could pull over and start dumping some bottled water into the system. Get back on the road, things seem to be better. Nope, I was WAY wrong. The temperature rose all the way up started to come down a bit, went back up, and then dropped to 0. Now I knew I was in trouble. Needless to say, I pulled over. Yes, folks Rick blew a head gasket. I had alreayd been in contact with the rest of the carvan of vehicles containing OC and ZH. Luckily, Ron Kralik from Division (who was one of the openers) sent his wife to pick us up and saved the show! We got there and got things set up in plenty of time. Thanks GOd that didn't happen on the way to or from Worcester, Mass. since that is much further away. I'm sure that made you feel better.

Seriously though, it sounds like you've been dotting all your eyes and crossing your T's. There isn't much more you can do about it. Just go in there and have a great time. If anything goes wrong, I'm sure it can be quickly solved.

Just imagine if you had to fly someplace for a show. You can't take it all with you! I'm taking ONE guitar to BAR Fest and that's turning out to be enough of a hassle. I'll have a fresh set of strings (11s) on it and its been really behaving itself, so I'm not too worried. But I won't have my amp or any other familiar equipment.

Best of luck at your show!

 

[halcyonwayband@aol.com]

For me....I think the only show I've really been nervous for was the PP Pre Party a couple of years ago. That was our singer Sean's 2nd gig with us, we'd been rehearsing like crazy but we psyched ourselves out. Sean was kinda sick so he had a frog in his throat, but we made it through. But we've played with SYL and Helloween as well, and I wasn't nervous before those gigs.

 

[metropolisimages]

Just take a deep breath and let it out danielson!

 

[Perpet]

Equipment fails it happens. I remember a show we played at club in San Diego. It was so cold that night that the solder on my volume pot cracked and I lost volume about the third song. I actually soldered it back together with a lighter, elctrical tape, and a bottle cap. True story! It held for the rest of the set when I could fix it for real the next day. That's my true Macgyver story I can relate to how you feel though. I was always more nervous about the equipment then the performance.

 

[Bryan316]

Ahh... true advice, Tammy.

.... wait, are you REALLY required to do a trial show there? I thought that was only for bands who hadn't played there yet. Did management change or did they forget me and my rockin' Justdefy shows that quickly?

They want us to prove we can bring in a large audience = they want us to prove we can sell tickets for the Epica show and fill the house.

I've had plenty of people call me and say "Sorry I can't make it" and that's how it goes. I understand. But I'd prefer they ditch me on a boring small bar gig, than tell me now when this show tonight is quite important for us. But that's how it goes. I expect it, but I still don't like it.

Doesn't matter. I've torn up clubs with five people in attendance, I've torn up the I-Rock with 150 Dimebag fans going apeshit and 13 freaks jumping around with us on stage. The performance ain't nuthin', it's everything up until then. Once I'm about three lyric lines in, then I hit "The Zone", and it's all goooooood.

I've ordered another cable for my wireless transmitter, and it might get delivered today. Get home, test it, then pack up gear. After that, it's avoiding the engine overheating, avoiding construction on the highway, avoid getting drunk before the show, avoid the rain fritzing out our gear, avoid eating questionable food, and most certainly avoid accidents getting there! I can roll my truck on the freeway on the way HOME. Just let me get the gig done!