How do you get over a crappy show?? LONG post..sorry.

[guitarsjb]

That was mostly YOUR fault? We played last night. Our set started out KILLER..this new drummer and guitarist really bring us up a few notches as far as energy and attitude goes..we were tearing it UP!!..then...our bass player broke a string. Well, he doesn't bring a back up so he can just switch them out..he has to put on a new string. We've played a few shows without a bass player, I said, lets just go..I thought he would catch up about 1/2 way through the next song..NO...we had to wait for him to change the string. Now, I am NOT blaming what happened next on him, yet I do believe we lost our momentum. We stood there..and stood there..and stood around some more. Anyhow...on to the next song. Everything was going fine...I guess maybe I had to much time to think..hell I don't know. I was worried about my solo in this song anyhow..I am NOT a solo player, and it wasn't exactly worked out..so maybe I over thought everything..we get to the chorus before the solo..and I tear of into the solo EARLY!! Then notice my mistake..so I keep going (can't stop now..) but now I am aware of my stupidity..so I BOTCH the solo.. a 5 year old would have done better, no I am not kidding. Then I stumble out of what is supposed to be a solo..and fumble through the song the best I could. By now I am completely pissed at myself .
Next song, has this "acoustic" intro with chorus and delay..I play it. Not last night, I screwed it up too..I mean BADLY. Anyway we finally get past that nightmare and the rest of the song is fine..except the end. For once it was the other guitarist and drummer who screwed that up. The last couple of songs were OK,. but you could tell we knew we were sucking and we had no energy or enthusiasm..we were just trying to get off of the stage.
So how do you get past that? I've been beating myself up all day over it, and I know when I see the rest of the band on Tuesday I'm going to hear it from them too. I mean we ALL made our mistakes..but mine really stand out.
Thanks for letting me whine...

[stevieb91]

Do do occours...Let it go...The next gig is a new day..If it will make you feel better,burn the pick you were using and be sure to never wear the same socks to another show...

[guitarsjb]

Every show deserves a pic...this is before the meltdown LOL


Check out that stage!! it was awesome!! (Trying to think of the positive things..)

[hgsmith]

in 2 years, you'll forget about it. Think @ the next show and make it better than the last!!! rockon!!

[Twisteramps]

Shit happens. Remember that unless you stop playing during the song, it's pretty likely that nobody in the crowd is going to notice your screwups UNLESS they really follow your band - and if they do, it's likely they aren't going to quit enjoying your music just because some parts got goofed. Makes you look human and stuff.

One thing to consider for next time is to have a plan if anyone has a show-stopping problem, like a busted string and no backup. Your bass player needs to beg, borrow or buy a backup instrument.

I'm fortunate in that I bring a lot of guitars to a gig, so if I pop a string I'm back up within 30 seconds tops. The band just keeps going. But if I had an amp go down, it's drum or keyboard solo time! If the drummer busts a head - it's guitar solo or keyboard solo time!

Plan for problems and they usually won't come up. Kinda like you'll never have a flat tire as long as you have a spare aired up and a jack in the car, ya know?

Pete

[yard dawg]

That was mostly YOUR fault? We played last night. Our set started out KILLER..this new drummer and guitarist really bring us up a few notches as far as energy and attitude goes..we were tearing it UP!!..then...our bass player broke a string. Well, he doesn't bring a back up so he can just switch them out..he has to put on a new string. We've played a few shows without a bass player, I said, lets just go..I thought he would catch up about 1/2 way through the next song..NO...we had to wait for him to change the string. Now, I am NOT blaming what happened next on him, yet I do believe we lost our momentum. We stood there..and stood there..and stood around some more. Anyhow...on to the next song. Everything was going fine...I guess maybe I had to much time to think..hell I don't know. I was worried about my solo in this song anyhow..I am NOT a solo player, and it wasn't exactly worked out..so maybe I over thought everything..we get to the chorus before the solo..and I tear of into the solo EARLY!! Then notice my mistake..so I keep going (can't stop now..) but now I am aware of my stupidity..so I BOTCH the solo.. a 5 year old would have done better, no I am not kidding. Then I stumble out of what is supposed to be a solo..and fumble through the song the best I could. By now I am completely pissed at myself .
Next song, has this "acoustic" intro with chorus and delay..I play it. Not last night, I screwed it up too..I mean BADLY. Anyway we finally get past that nightmare and the rest of the song is fine..except the end. For once it was the other guitarist and drummer who screwed that up. The last couple of songs were OK,. but you could tell we knew we were sucking and we had no energy or enthusiasm..we were just trying to get off of the stage.
So how do you get past that? I've been beating myself up all day over it, and I know when I see the rest of the band on Tuesday I'm going to hear it from them too. I mean we ALL made our mistakes..but mine really stand out.
Thanks for letting me whine...

One Word... HOOKERS :ROTF:

[Shawn Lutz]

Jeri its no big deal really, everyone screws up or has a bad night...they are lyin their asses off if they say otherwise..its really no big deal although it seems like it right now. The only to really get over it is to play the next gig as best as you can. Your only as good as you last gig so if you have a bad one, you can redeem youself the next show.

Professionalism goes a long way...tell you bass player to bring a spare its easy to to get thrown off by those kind of things.

[straycat]

Admit your mistakes to your bandmates apologize for messing up.Don't say anything about them messing up too they know that already.Go thru the song and work hard to get it right.Always try to learn the solo, you never know when you may have to be the one to play it.
If your buds respond they messed up say thats OK lets get it right next time.
My old band had nights like that don't feel alone.

[Soap]

Unfortunately these things do happen, learn from it and move on.

In regards to your bass player not having a back up is just not smart.
Also, what is he doing to break a bass string? Its not like its common to be breaking bass strings. Is he unecessairly beating the crap out of it or playing it way to hard? Whatever it may or may not be, a bass string shouldn't be breaking.

You are just inviting unwanted worry on yourself by thinking about things you shouldn't be when performing causing you to make a mistake here and there. This is normal to a certain extent, but as you perform more and grow musically your confidence will build and such concerns and mishaps during performance will eventually diminish. You want out grow them altogether, heck, I have a rare live copy of Randy Rhoads playing mr crowley and he made several mistakes and it was noticable. It happens to us all, pros and amatuers alike.

[Cleveland Metal]

Ehh, Forget it and move on. Everyone else at the show certainly has... It isn't that bad in the scheme of things.

If I worried about every train wreck I've caused, I'd be nuts by now...

Shit happens, you'll do better next time.

You'll remember this mistake, fix it, and find something else to mess up just like I do.

Big hugs... Now, go practice.

[slayer32390]

wow im glad i dont have a band so i dont have to deal with any of these problems i keep hearing about from all the jcf'ers here lol. next time something that stops the show from happening start tapping! actually it could sound pretty cool if you and the other guitarist go back and forth for a while...just my .02 though youll do better next time Jeri!

[StukaJU87]

Forget about it Jeri. It happens to everyone at least once or twice. The upside is, only anal musicians in the audience may have caught the mistakes. Most other bar patrons are pretty much oblivious.

I have sat and watched absolute horrible bands, yet I am hearing comments like, "These guys rock" or "This sounds awesome".

Carry on. Talk about the flubs at a band meeting and work at what can be done next time to be more prepared.

[El_Kabong]

One night, way back when, we were playing a fairly large show on NYE. It was being shot on video. The drummer started paying the wrong song after the guitar intro. He was on acid. I stopped playing, turned around and started saying, 'haha, you fucked up", while he was laughing his head off. Ah, to be 17 again.

[Shotgun]

A friend of mine used to say 'you're only as good as your last performance.'

Shit happens. I've found that I usually don't get over something I screwed up until I get a chance to do something right: then the "something right" becomes the most recent (last) performance.

So, my two cents are, make amends to your buddies if and where you feel like you need to, and get on with life. After you kick ass at the next one, you'll forget all about this one...

Keith

p.s. I bet you kicked ass, and just don't realize 'cause you're obsessed with what went wrong.

[MikeStrat]

Just remember - you are your own worst critic. Trust me, I've had some bad show moments and I would walk off the stage feeling like shit and nobody even noticed. I used to run down the list of my mistakes and people would just tell us how much we rocked. 99.9% of the audience falls in the catagories of too drunk, too stoned, not paying any attention or just don't really care. I wouldn't give it another thought.