evolucian
Byron wrote
So in general if you make a mistake do you reckon it will go unnoticed?
Well... The one gig I did... I was starin at the crowd... not paying attention. I noticed through the song that the other guitarist was hitting a lot of wrong chords... I gave him a puzzled look and he shrugs his shoulders... the bassist staring at the floor as per usual... the last minute of the song is there and I'm wondering why the hell this sounds so shit... For the whole 6 minutes of the song, 5 minutes had been spent by me a semitone down during chord sequences and solos/breaks. OOOPS!! What do you do? Smile, slip a semitone up and thank god its a metal club thats so friggin dark u can hide your embarrassment pretty easily.
After the gig, a couple people come up to me and say, "Hey man, awesome gig! That one song was so jazzy it was killer. To pull that off you guys have to be pro's... want a beer?"
Moral: they don't give a toss. They are drunk. You go widdly widdly, they so drunk its super blurry and they reckon you broke the speed barrier twice. It doesn't matter. They are there to have fun. If your sound is clear and no evidence of muddiness... they'll enjoy it and so will you ?
Have fun
[deleted]
Others are turn their anger inwards and self destruct with anxiety
Happened to me. I was so angry one evening and didn't have an outlet for it. Played at a hotel and went COMPLETELY blank. And when you play solo there's not much to hide behind. Very bad experience that has led to me not playing for 5/6 years(classical that is). Hopfully I'll get those issues behind me, but not being in the right place is very counter productive. It has made me rethink playing and when I perform again it'll be music that is a medium for my emotions so that I don't get stuck again.
Keira-WitherKay
heheh yeah well the tough crowds are by far the jazz audience..... cos the standard they expect from even local acts is very high.... and the reality is that they are NOT drunk but listening to every nuance and your tone ....but hey if you do what you do well it's all good and they'll love you especially if you can give em some personalised interpretations of standards....... i would suspect the pure classical audience is much the same .... but anyway i love those gigs....... cos it means you actually being listened to......
evolucian
I think I'll poop in my pants playing to a jazz audience/classical audience... mostly cos they not drunk, lol.
But it sure does sound like an interesting challenge though... ooooooo
Byron
Hehe. Yeah , i guess being in a metal band i have the advantage of a wall of sound and distortion and the audience should be drunk ( but of course , there will be the occasions when we play first.)
lol ye jazz audiences .... eishhhh. I just want to provide a crowd with something to get them pumped and let off some steam. I don't really like technical metal playing at times. I know a lot of the guys are into the death-core thing at the moment and a lot of them prefer the technicality rather than a groove orientated feel.
I suppose i'm sorting out these anxiety issues as ive played for individuals at times and jam session you kind of feel a bit of pressure e.g you thought of a riff and you want to play it for these guys and make it sound cool so you are in a spotlight situation.
I'm a naturally anxious person but I think performing will do quite a lot of good for me although I gotta just get my mind in the game and relax a bit. Some of my band members who have performed before told me that a lot of the time there's spotlights shining at you and hides the audience . I found that quite comforting ?
killafo
I've played 4 gigs in my entire life....i know i'm so accomplished, ahhaha.
This is what i did for my first one.
1) Went over our songs by myself in my room, thinking about certain pauses in the songs, my solos, when to be loud when to build up the distortion, that sort of thing.
2) Got to the gig, had a few beers.
3) When we finally got on stage i put my mind set as if i were going to a glorified band practice.
I made 4 stuff ups. Spoke to the peeps later that night and they didn't even notice, because as we all know....even when you stuff up....the show must go on!!!
I got offered pillz, but rejected them cause i wanted the full experience.
4)Try and make eye contact, this helps alot
5)If you do 4) then you should know how to play most of the songs without looking at your instrument, ?.
6)Have a jol. Remember you own those peoples ears while you play your songs, think of them as your biaaatches(I mean that in the most non condescending way), then the attitude will come out.
Some far fetched ideas, but they work for some people...mainly me, ahhaha..... GL.
Riaan-Combrink
Yip, I think you've nailed it there.
Staying away from pills (and booze, if you can),very important.
One other - get there early enough to set up, test, etc. My enjoyment level at gigs vary wildly depending on whether I've had to rush to get done by kick-off while everybody waits. Which brings me to the next one - start on time! Always.
MIKA-the-better-one
NO nO, I thought you were supposed to mix pills and booze???
singemonkey
I'm about to play in front of an audience for the first time in literally years. It does worry me the apparent halving of my abilities brought on by nervousness (my fingers and wrist really stiffen up when I get amped - not useful for playing guitar) when you're not in the habit of gigging. I've improved a lot over the past year, but wonder how much of it will actually show ?
But there's a related issue I've been wondering about. How long do you guys take to really warm up? It takes me about 45 mins of playing before I really hit my stride and start playing my best. I know that the Stones guitarists spend a lot of time playing backstage before going on (or at least they used to).
Does anyone else benefit from an extended warm up (longer than 10-15mins)? I know from my one boxing match that the long period of warming up totally killed my anxiety (my opponent however pulled out at the last second - looking too confident can sometimes be a bad thing). Since most of the gigs I've played had no real backstage area, I've never had a chance to warm up for long periods of time (more like a bit of nervous noodling). Can an extended warm-up give you the rush of confidence you need?
[deleted]
singemonkey wrote
It takes me about 45 mins of playing before I really hit my stride and start playing my best.
Can an extended warm-up give you the rush of confidence you need?
Yar. It's a pain in the ass. And, it's usually 30 minutes or so in a relaxed environment like home, to boot. Take your guitar outside or into a back alley for a while and try to get relaxed with it, if there's nowhere else to go? I like that tipping point that often happens, where you realise as you're going on that there's absolutely nothing you can do to back out now...so you may as well just enjoy it. A lot of the stiffness tends to ebb away then. Still, in my personal experience, I've never once been beyond about 70% of my ability onstage. It just doesn't happen.
ezietsman
@Singemonkey
Where and when are you playing? Care to share so there can be some friendly faces (even tho you wouldn't know what we look like ?)
Keira-WitherKay
just believe in your abilities.... cos truly you would not have the gig if you were not good enough to do it...... so forget the nerves...... just do what you do......... thats why they hired you in the 1st place ........ and don't attempt to 'up" your game live.......... and remember if you couldn't crack a piece it in rehearsal room don't do it live....... you definitely won't crack it then....and you'll just embarress yourself........
a great musician once told me back in the dark old days when i was young that " a good musician live is not one who has more musical knowledge but just one that knows their playing weakness's and avoids them live onstage........ so logically if you play to your strengths ... that way you shine"
oh and forget the music when you live cos thats when you need to entertain the audience .............do that and the music takes care of itself......
yeah singe good luck with the gig
singemonkey
ezietsman wrote
@Singemonkey
Where and when are you playing? Care to share so there can be some friendly faces (even tho you wouldn't know what we look like ?)
Ha ha. Not so much a gig. Just a bunch of musical friends all getting together to share side-projects with friends and partners. Not exactly the most hostile audience I've ever faced, I'll admit, but enough to not want to make a cock-up at close range ?
Nothing too far beyond my comfort zone, I think. Besides a little Chet Atkinsey show-off solo on a cowboy song - lots of different techniques, a few vibrato dips and some hybrid picking thrown in for good measure. Still. I guess if I screw it up on the night, I can just laugh it off. The other songs are all just Travis picking, which I'm now pretty comfortable with.
I do want to try and find a quiet 25mins to warm up though.
Hopefully, as planned, I'll do some public stuff towards the end of the year and I'll let y'all know.
vic
singemonkey wrote
ezietsman wrote
@Singemonkey
Where and when are you playing? Care to share so there can be some friendly faces (even tho you wouldn't know what we look like ?)
Ha ha. Not so much a gig. Just a bunch of musical friends all getting together to share side-projects with friends and partners. Not exactly the most hostile audience I've ever faced, I'll admit, but enough to not want to make a cock-up at close range ?
Nothing too far beyond my comfort zone, I think. Besides a little Chet Atkinsey show-off solo on a cowboy song - lots of different techniques, a
few vibrato dips and some hybrid picking thrown in for good measure. Still. I guess if I screw it up on the night, I can just laugh it off. The other songs are all just Travis picking, which I'm now pretty comfortable with.
I do want to try and find a quiet 25mins
to warm up though.
Hopefully, as planned, I'll do some public stuff towards the end of the year and I'll let y'all know.
Don't tell me you're still nervous ! ? ? A sniff of coke has always worked for me....with some rum added ? Are you gonna use the Tokai and P90 LP with Bigsby..?
Good luck SM
singemonkey
vic wrote
Don't tell me you're still nervous ! ? ? A sniff of coke has always worked for me....with some rum added ? Are you gonna use the Tokai and P90 LP with Bigsby..?
Good luck SM
Hah. Unfortunately not. Still haven't got round to sorting out the Bigsby and setup on the Gibson (next month for sure :-[). It's not even at my house at the moment because the security here's not all it could be and it caused me a little concern leaving it home alone because I'm rather attached to it. Also I'm kind of going for an electric-as-acoustic thing here, and my Pacifica's the best for that. Wonderful twangy clean tones. I should find more than enough uses for both those guitars in the next few months though.
I've got a main project in mind that'll use the Gibson pretty much throughout, and a blues combo that I'm thinking of pursuing for which the Tokai will be absolutely perfect. Also plan on recording some old and new surf tunes with my old compadre, ensuring the Pacifica won't be neglected.
Hmm... I always noticed that the nervousness would disappear after a few gigs, but would reappear if I left a gap. But I'll just make sure I'm practised, warmed, and liquored up (ok, not too much on the last one. I know what a disaster that can be) ?
Squonk
After three "Live performances" and can now relate to Performance Anxiety.
The very first time was quite scarey: Open Mic at TJ's, seemed easy enough!
Bob mentioned the encouraging audience, the atmosphere, the small venue etc.
Then I heard Steve Newman was going to be on the bill, and then to top it off , a bunch of GFSA members were attending to give support!
Not much added tension?? ?
Had butterflies the whole week, Followed a lot of advice given in this thread. Very good advice!
Thursday arrived and I nearly threw in the towel, debated with myself the whole day, but eventually put all fear aside and next minute I walked through the doors with my guitar, no turning back now!!!
I was slotted in the second spot to perform, still hectically nervous, even hinting to some GFSA members if they would like to have the slot instead.
Good thing they never obliged, I would never have taken that first step.
Did my two songs, even though I was a bag of nerves, It was quite an adrenalin rush, so much so that my set went by so quickly, I couldn't really remember it! ?
Seemed like I had completed the Comrades Marathon:-[
The second time was not that much easier, but I could remember every note(especially the bad ones) of my performance.
The third time was last week. My intention was not to play but to rather sit back and enjoy, but there were so many slots open, I gave in and performed again, although completey unprepared and out of practice, I completely enjoyed it.
Still nervous, but the thrill of playing live seems to always subdue the nerves!
I would like to pass this on those who could be where I was, "Scared to death" about performing live, just take the first step, make the decision in your mind, your heart will catch up later!
Come down to TJ's (or similar club in your area) and get rid of the fear.
Read the advice in this thread, especially Rene's tips, it opened up the door I was struggling to open for years.
Hats off to all who gave support :applause:
Have a go, you never know!
Bob-Dubery
Squonk wrote
The third time was last week.
FOURTH time. You're forgetting X-Stock.
You've already done so many shows you can't remember them all.
singemonkey
Well, I did my thing the other week and I was not much pleased. With just a little extra tension my hand tightened up like a claw. Stuff that was absolutely easy going for me for the past year became a serious, fumbling embarrassment. It's all very well when you're used to playing live, but when the opportunities come only occasionally...
Either I'm going to need to hit up the beta-blockers for occasional shows, or I'm just going to have to strum folk chords. That seems about the shape of it.
As before, I got up an hour later and did something vastly more complicated that I'd practised far less - a two guitar instrumental with my old mate - and it went absolutely great. One or two tiny little mistakes. But it was fun. Engaging. If I can't find a way to reduce the physical effects of nerves on the first set, what am I to do?
I'm the kind of person that can get shakes for absolutely no reason quite frequently. So I suspect my situation is not typical. My hands really do become quite rigid when I'm nervous. So if I'm ever going to play live again regularly, I'm going to need a serious plan here. This kind of experience is far from encouraging - especially when the person before me performed a spell-binding rendition of Richard Thompson's Vincent Black Lightning, and the person after me took everyone back in time with a renaissance lute solo. ???
For now my solution is to simply practise more. But I wasn't exactly under-practised. It's all kind of pesky.
[deleted]
singemonkey wrote
Well, I did my thing the other week and I was not much pleased. With just a little extra tension my hand tightened up like a claw. Stuff that was absolutely easy going for me for the past year became a serious, fumbling embarrassment. It's all very well when you're used to playing live, but when the opportunities come only occasionally...
Either I'm going to need to hit up the beta-blockers for occasional shows, or I'm just going to have to strum folk chords. That seems about the shape of it.
As before, I got up an hour later and did something vastly more complicated that I'd practised far less - a two guitar instrumental with my old mate - and it went absolutely great. One or two tiny little mistakes. But it was fun. Engaging. If I can't find a way to reduce the physical effects of nerves on the first set, what am I to do?
I'm the kind of person that can get shakes for absolutely no reason quite frequently. So I suspect my situation is not typical. My hands really do become quite rigid when I'm nervous. So if I'm ever going to play live again regularly, I'm going to need a serious plan here. This kind of experience is far from encouraging - especially when the person before me performed a spell-binding rendition of Richard Thompson's Vincent Black Lightning, and the person after me took everyone back in time with a renaissance lute solo. ???
For now my solution is to simply practise more. But I wasn't exactly under-practised. It's all kind of pesky.
Conundrum, eh? What you appear to need is more game time, not more home practice (different kettle of ballgames). You may not get that many opportunities, but you gotta try dial into the more relaxed mindset you had when you played that second set - obviously if it was unplanned and you'd got the scary bit out of the way first, you were less intimidated by the whole affair. So just work on ditching the intimidation factor before you even play the first set. I also don't believe your 'condition' is that atypical, or that people who play more often don't still get butterflies and that surge of adrenalin that causes tunnel vision to descend. It's just a matter of relaxing faster, sooner, better?
singemonkey
As you say, this goes away if you're playing a couple of times a month or more. And I'm always fine in set 2. But I've clearly failed to find a way there in set 1. in occasional gigs (and it doesn't matter that I've played before. What matters is when I last played before.).
I just gotta play more again is what it all comes down to, I guess. At least it wasn't like everyone was there to see me play. I think that would have been a real downer. The evening was really excellent. Amazing even. And thanks to playing that last tune, I blew some of my funk away - which was good. It would have sucked to be the only person there who didn't enjoy it.
