Pre-show rituals/jitters/etc

phlemmy · Post by **phlemmy** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 11:30 am

do you guys do anything special prior to a gig? i don't do much other than make sure i eat at least 5+ hours prior to a gig. ever since i started playing in bands in 86, i seem to have a habit of vomiting about 2 hours prior to a show. it doesn't always happen over the last few years, but some of it depends on the gig. tonight is a big one for us as it's our first show since october when the line-up drastically changed and it's at one of the hottest new venues for rock around here (there aren't many). i just had dinner a little while ago, but i'm sure i'll be seeing it a 2nd time in the next few hours. haha i'll grab a whiskey sour when i get to the venue, that always helps.

as far warm up stuf, i've never been one to do anything. set up, tune up, sound check, let's go.

you?

tony_carey · Post by **tony_carey** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 12:58 pm

I worked out the other day that I have done around 3000 performances so far in my life. I don't get anything, no rituals, stage fright, apprehension, butterflies....nothing. It is just second nature now. My only ritual is when I get home (unless I'm touring). A glass of wine, whilst reading this forum & emailing some of my US friends.....like tonight for instance!

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 1:17 pm

I'd avoid the whiskey sour...

ozover50 · Post by **ozover50** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 1:45 pm

Haven't done a gig yet but I'm sure I'll be shakin' in my boots if and when I do. I'll save the grog for after!!

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 2:14 pm

I have to take a shower right before I leave the house for a gig, and I can't eat much, I hate to play on a full stomach. I also always have Cokes onstage. Those I think are my only quirks. I very rarely get nervous before a gig and actually if I do I usually play better.

admin · Post by **admin** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 2:24 pm

Glad to hear you are out of traction Bob and back at the "keyboard" so to speak.

bigbajo60 · Post by **bigbajo60** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 3:00 pm

Like Bob, I prefer that "fresh out of the shower" feeling when heading out for a gig.

As for food, well... I think it's safe to say that, post-gig, about 80% of the musos in this town end up at the one sit-down Mexican restaurant that's open 24 hours a day.

Just gotta remember not to eat too many jalapeno slices or else the old acid reflux kicks in!(urp!)

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 4:19 pm

I don't eat much after either, I think I'm on an adrenylin high when I play usually and lose my appetite.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 6:01 pm

my problem is not stage fright ... it is stage boredom ... when you play a grungey bar that has insufficent air changes and bad music between sets and you have to keep playing those same songs over and over ... no wonder so many musicians have drug and alcohol problems ... then some jerk yells FREEBIRD!!! or you have to play Brickhouse, Love Shack, Funky Music White Boy, Johnny BeGoode, or similar **** ... playing music can be painful boredom ...

to get rid of stage fright just remember that the people watching you are probably drunk and don't know much about music ... or just remember they are all a bunch of wannbes ... they are wishing they could trade places with you ...

86kubicki · Post by **86kubicki** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 8:40 pm

Speaking of showers, my only real ritual was a post gig shower to wash away the stink of cigarette smoke picked up at the bar. Thankfully (since I'm not a smoker), bars and restaurants in my area have been smoke free for over a year and it's great!
I have to agree with Jeff - regardless of where your gig is, there's always going to be a guy yelling "FREEBIRD".

incubus2432 · Post by **incubus2432** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 2:35 am

I really don't have any rituals. My first gig was in front of 2500. I had been with the band for two weeks......so that time I had some jitters but since then it has been easy sailing. Even for our bigger recent gigs I was excited but not the least bit nervous. If I am hungry before a show then I eat. If I feel like taking advantage of the free (or cheap) booze at the bar we are playing then I do.....sometimes I just drink water.
I kinda stopped being so concerned about playing perfect at a gig several years ago.....and when I relaxed my playing took a huge leap forward (still not good, just better

). If we have a good gig sometimes I'll run through a few of the songs with difficult passages or parts that I forget often. That is about the extent of my "warm up".
Like has been said......I do almost always take a shower after a show to get the "bar stink" off of me.....BLAH !

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 3:31 am

I got one for you. I met a 16 YO female blues singer and guitar playing phenomenom about 5 years ago, I mean she was unbelievable for her age and playing blues at that. We started a band and our first gig was opening for Kenny Wayne Shepard at The Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, it holds about 2000-3000 people and was mobbed. I had just bought an SVT head with "new" (grrrr) tubes in it. I turned it on and left it on standby, later it was time to go on. I put the standby switch on and it blew a fuse. We were a three piece band, I played the whole set half originals and half covers with absolutely no bass sound, (it was in the moniters, but very softly) the drummer of course also got nothing. Right before the last song I asked the moniter guy to turn it up and it sounded like a bass amp right in front of me. Now that was a nerve wracking night, I have a CD of it and it sounds pretty good considering. The girl didn't even know it! I suggested to her that perhaps she ought to listen to the band a little more when we played. Gives me an idea for a new thread.

I also have to take the shower after the gig, especially when you could smoke in them, can't any more in Ma.

helterskelter · Post by **helterskelter** » Sat May 07, 2005 4:06 pm

I have to agree with the showers too, I have a strange ritual and I always have to have a chinese takeaway beforehand then a shower, then to the gig, dont drink anything alcoholic incase it makes me sick then a shower straight after the gig then clean my guitar. I just cant play if I dont have any sweet n sour in me hahaha, but its true its a routine, almost a habit

jps · Post by **jps** » Sat May 07, 2005 4:13 pm

Alan,
Are you related to Abigail Ayling?

helterskelter · Post by **helterskelter** » Sat May 07, 2005 4:21 pm

Im not Jeffrey