Nervous before gigs?

[JPJ]

I get nervous everytime, but not pukey nervous, just healthy "I'm human" nervous.

I have a little routine for pub gigs. I make sure when I strap my bass on that I'm facing away from the audience. I play a couple of notes with the volume off just to clear the forearms and then tell myself "right, when you turn around, your the bass player that these unlucky folks have come to see, now get a grip and get on with it" (or words to that effect, expletives deleted etc). Works for me everytime.

Funnily enough, on bigger gigs with intro tapes and a proper walk on from the wings type setup, I'm never nervous. I guess that I feel these gigs are less personal hence no anxiety?

[Dr.Dave]

[quote name='JPJ' post='364512' date='Dec 27 2008, 10:59 PM']Funnily enough, on bigger gigs with intro tapes and a proper walk on from the wings type setup, I'm never nervous. I guess that I feel these gigs are less personal hence no anxiety?[/quote]

I think you're spot on , it's less personal. I also like the air of confidence/competence at shows like this because you're surrounded by professionals doing their jobs - sound guys,techs etc. Some folk moan about them - I let them do their jobs so I can better get on with mine.

Compare a big gig to a pub. Just the band there , strange place , looks rough. 5 ft away from your face there's a pissed bloke and you can't tell if he's watching your technique or getting ready to lamp you..............

No comparison at all.

[Jase]

[quote name='Dr.Dave' post='364607' date='Dec 28 2008, 08:34 AM']I think you're spot on , it's less personal. I also like the air of confidence/competence at shows like this because you're surrounded by professionals doing their jobs - sound guys,techs etc. Some folk moan about them - I let them do their jobs so I can better get on with mine.

Compare a big gig to a pub. Just the band there , strange place , looks rough. 5 ft away from your face there's a pissed bloke and you can't tell if he's watching your technique or getting ready to lamp you..............

No comparison at all.[/quote]

Yep, intimate gig....the sweat is on! I think it's a good thing though, keeps you on your toes.

[Monz]

[quote name='Jase' post='364787' date='Dec 28 2008, 01:18 PM']Yep, intimate gig....the sweat is on! I think it's a good thing though, keeps you on your toes.[/quote]

95% of our gigs are just this... pub gigs

"Sweat is on" is right on the money, I perspire constantly through the gig (not a nice image i know) but it's a fact. I need to stop this happening somehow, and I know it's caused by nerves.

[Jase]

[quote name='Monz' post='364842' date='Dec 28 2008, 02:33 PM']95% of our gigs are just this... pub gigs

"Sweat is on" is right on the money, I perspire constantly through the gig (not a nice image i know) but it's a fact. I need to stop this happening somehow, and I know it's caused by nerves.[/quote]

I love sweating my butt off in a gig....not a bad image in my book Monz.....it's cos you're working too On the nerves subject...I don't think any of us should try and avoid these wild feelings...stomach, sweats, shakes, etc....they make for a real person playing I reckon. The only thing that's worth trying to avoid is cramping up. I had this a couple of times, not sure where it comes from...maybe trying too hard so I try to keep my hands relaxed as much as possible, Oh!...and warm, I wear gloves right up until I play these days and I also where them in the summer when unloading gear. Thinsulate 40gram

[ezbass]

Nothing is wrong with you, you're 16. I'm not nervous at all before a gig now, but I've been playing live for more than 36 years and I used to cr@p myself when I was younger. You get used to it, which isn't necessarily a good thing as nerves can keep you on your game. Providing it isn't debilitating channel those nerves into your performance.

[HeavyJay]

Thanks for all your advice, I've tried to put some of it into practice during the two gigs that we had this weekend.

The advice given by a number of people to tell yourself that you aren't nervous worked well, lots of calming breathing did the trick too.

I normally need a Guinness next to me to steady the nerves but on Friday I decided to try without and it went fine, I am free of substance dependency!

Cheers again everyone, I'm most grateful.

[johnnylager]

[quote name='Dr.Dave' post='364108' date='Dec 27 2008, 11:44 AM']I do get worried about being let down by another band member - or me letting them down.[/quote]
That's the fella. A pissed drummer or a singer falling asleep on a 10 minute train journey, ending up in Croydon and having to wait 55 minutes for a train home. At least it was bloody freezing and he wasn't allowed off the platform 'cos he didn't have a ticket. There is a God.

[westoneblah]

I've been gigging for 40+ years, and I can see that it affects us all differently. I know of concert performers who are physically sick before every show - but I'm lucky - I feel more and more like 'King of the World' as the start time gets nearer - and the bigger the gig, the stronger the feeling. I look out at the audience before we start, and my mind-game is 'This is my gaff, my stage - you're the visitors'. I never have more than 2 drinks - have you ever played when a member of the band is pissed? Terrible. But it's all about adrenalin, and this idea "[i]he even once sprinted around the building before going in...[/i] " helps dissipate the concentrated adrenalin in the bloodstream - so good idea!

The other mind-game trick is to remember what it's like to be in the audience. From the stage they're a huge mass - but in reality its just a whole lot of individuals. None of them knows what the other is thinking, and may not even know them at all - so it isn't really a mass - it's just like playing to lots and lots of isolated people who happen to be in the same place. If you get what I mean?

The final thing is not to worry about 'letting anyone down'. It's too late to change things, and there will ALWAYS be mistakes - so laugh about it. The audience will laugh with you, but they don't like angry frowns. Practice is over, this is about Performance - and that means just letting it happen - and enjoying it!

[The Funk]

[quote name='westoneblah' post='380277' date='Jan 14 2009, 02:22 PM']my mind-game is 'This is my gaff, my stage - you're the visitors'.[/quote]

[quote name='westoneblah' post='380277' date='Jan 14 2009, 02:22 PM']Practice is over, this is about Performance - and that means just letting it happen - and enjoying it![/quote]

Very good attitude and I wholeheartedly agree with your approach!

[bumfrog]

[quote name='westoneblah' post='380277' date='Jan 14 2009, 02:22 PM']The other mind-game trick is to remember what it's like to be in the audience. From the stage they're a huge mass - but in reality its just a whole lot of individuals. None of them knows what the other is thinking, and may not even know them at all - so it isn't really a mass - it's just like playing to lots and lots of isolated people who happen to be in the same place. If you get what I mean?

The final thing is not to worry about 'letting anyone down'. It's too late to change things, and there will ALWAYS be mistakes - so laugh about it. The audience will laugh with you, but they don't like angry frowns. Practice is over, this is about Performance - and that means just letting it happen - and enjoying it![/quote]

good points them. I've been in a band where we've had to stop a song because the guitarist arsed up, and instead of continuing, he just stopped. So, I just made a few comments down the mic about guitarists, the audience laughed and we started again. Plus it gave us a bit of fodder for the audience through the gig. I think it's if you cock up, and then all stand there like rabbits in headlights it looks awful from an audience point of view. An audience will actually be more endeared to you, and I am when I'm in the audience, if you appear more human on stage I think.

As for nerves, I go between riding them like an extreme sport, or feeling sick. Either way I just know it's going to happen so accept it because I know that the second I get off the stage the buzz will give me that high that nothing else can give you, so it's a reward to look forward to.

I'd also say, the bigger the gig, the easier it seems to get. Did a festival to a few thousand people last year and it was easier then the pub gig we did a week later!

[Mr. Foxen]

Here is a picture of the drummer going into the next bit several bars too early. Since we play so slow, we are all generally set up too look at eachother anyway so we can play things at the same time. Its the bit I usually cock up on, and I was doing really well this time. Apparently since most of our music is feedback anyway, the only reason anyone could tell was because we were all laughing in out bleak doomy set.

[Tech]

usually half a pint before we play, and a pint to be drunk throughout the course of the set is the way to go, never nervous!

but I am bricking it for an audition next month. 600 in a crowd - no worries. 1 judge in a chair -

[The Funk]

[quote name='Tech' post='380640' date='Jan 14 2009, 08:04 PM']usually half a pint before we play, and a pint to be drunk throughout the course of the set is the way to go, never nervous!

but I am bricking it for an audition next month. 600 in a crowd - no worries. 1 judge in a chair - [/quote]

What's the audition for?

[Mr_Nitro]

our guitarist gets REALLY wound up before a gig, (shaking and pacing the room ETC..) so he has taken to watching gardening programmes before we play! He says it bores him into a calm state!

I usually have a couple of beers before, and spend as much time as I can hanging out with our drummer. That way I know that the rhythm section are 'locked' and ready to rock! The only time I didn't do this, I was nervous, I was all over the place, and I got cramp in my right thumb..!! Its a weird one I know, but it seems to work for me!!

Be careful tho.. hanging round with drummers can cause drowsiness and nausea and diarrhoea.. if problem persists consult your GP.

[bass_ferret]

I never suffer from nerves but we are all different. Did my first paid gig when I was 15 and had a guiness before we went on. Worked for me ever since. I have even been known to have a J before we went on in some of the real shitholes we played.

You just have to learn to live with how you are as a performer. If you get nerves learn how to cope; if you dont get nerves you are lucky.

[funkle]

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='363937' date='Dec 26 2008, 10:28 PM']Get Barry Green's 'The Inner Game of Music'.

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inner-Game-Music-Barry-Green/dp/0330300172/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230330370&sr=8-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inner-Game-Music-B...0370&sr=8-1[/url]

You're talking yourself into being nervous. You just need to learn to talk yourself out of it![/quote]

+1!!!

Pete