Nervous at the gig

[atilla]

Think back to your first few gigs...how did you handle being nervous? What did you do to beat it?

[jackson1]

Re: Nervous at the gig

I decided no booze! You'll play sloppy and think you did great. Not the way to go.
The first shows we did was festival kinda shows. Lots of bands. We stayed around backstage while another band was playing their last songs. In cover of their noise, we screamed and sang and joked real loud and jumped around. It felt stupid, but the build up tension got screamed out and we could enter the stage more relaxed and focused. Kinda high feeling after the fooling around. It worked. That was back in 1988 i think [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[No Use]

Re: Nervous at the gig

yeah, i think the best thing to do is jump around a little to get it out of your system. Or when you get onstage, stretch yourself out, and try to feel loose. works for me anyways, haha.

[Inearthed]

Re: Nervous at the gig

Never had the pre-gig jitters and I done well over 30 gigs now with two different bands.

No matter the gig just settle down and realize that you're going to be playing the music you wrote or at least the music you enjoy playing but this time in front of other people. Don't be too worried about going crazy and having tons of stage presence, that comes with time. The first few gigs I mainly focused on my playing and did a little bit of headbanging here and there; but after about 2 more gigs I started looking out into the crowd more and more, headbanging more and more, and enjoying myself more and more. Also a small secret; very few people will pick up on messups or small errors unless they're musicians or they really know the songs.

For the first gig or whatever you'll probably be really nervous but in reality you're just filled with adrenaline. Keep your hands warmed up to avoid cramping up and stay relaxed. If you guys do a lot of onstage stuff (headbanging, jumping around, the contorting your body weirdly (Dillinger Escape Plan style), etc) then it might be wise to stretch a bit before getting on stage. Just center yourself and have a good time and you should be fine. If you start saying "DON'T GET NERVOUS DON'T GET NERVOUS" you'll get nervous, just take a deep breath and have a good time.

A couple of my friends listen to music on a CD player before performing or having a cigarette (if they smoke). Avoid playing high or drunk because nine times out of ten you'll think you're playing great but it sounds like crap.

[BennyD]

Re: Nervous at the gig

Sounds stupid...but my first gig back in highschool I was so nervous I wanted to vomit. I sat down in a quiet room, and meditated with my guitar in my lap.

^^

[Inearthed]

Re: Nervous at the gig

[ QUOTE ]
Sounds stupid...but my first gig back in highschool I was so nervous I wanted to vomit. I sat down in a quiet room, and meditated with my guitar in my lap.

[/ QUOTE ]

Exactly... Calming yourself is the best way to get over the jitters and have a much better performance.

[Alexi7]

Re: Nervous at the gig

for me my nervousness comes out of thinking about 'not' **** up, so what i tend to do is, play rough in the first few minutes, so that i make one mistake, after that i dont seem to care and the rest goes smoothly. weird, but it works.

[Newc]

Re: Nervous at the gig

"Breathe, stupid, BREATHE!" [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/poke.gif[/img]

Moving around on stage is not mandatory. You can stand perfectly still, stare at the guitar neck, and play your ass off. Iommi's done it that way for years, as well as Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Rhoads, EVH, Clapton, Beck, Yngwie, Blackmoore, Page, Slash, Collen, Downing, Tipton, Satch, Vai, and just about everyone else. Yeah they moved around some, but only at certain "reflex" parts. I tried doing the Judas Priest headbang-to-the-beat-while-playing and it never worked out right. I'd get maybe two pumps and lose my place in the song, so I stopped with the stage antics and focused on the playing.

Once you get comfy playing in front of people, try to keep your head; I have the faint memory of a gig (or was it a dream?) where I was playing my KV-3 I used to have and I laid it on the floor in front of me (stage was REALLY small, so I stepped down onto the floor) and was just stroking the strings, doing fills and such on it. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I zoned out and was basically fingering the neck like it was a hot twat [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
Believe me, I hope it was a dream - I'd hate to know I'd let go that much in public - no telling who I'd end up killing if I got too loose [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Newc

[atilla]

Re: Nervous at the gig

Thanks, everyone, for your advice!

[Shawn Lutz]

Re: Nervous at the gig

I was nervous for every gig I ever played...not so nervous that I was sick tho, just butterflies and jitter. You can't overcome it, you just deal with it. I never drank before a gig. The best thing to do is just be prepared, be tuned up, warm up for a good 1/2 hour to an hour and know the material. Start off with a song that isn't too technically demanding to play just to fall into a groove.

[Thor Von Clemson]

Re: Nervous at the gig

I used to go onstage really nervous and uptight. I had to find a way to calm myself down. I would try and find a quiet place to go sit and play my guitar (which also served as a good warm up) or I would listen to Sigur Ros or some similar band who's music was relaxing. Usually by the time I went onstage I was relaxed and ready to go. One thing to remember is you are onstage and they are not.. Take time to size up the crowd and simply do your best.

[Ace]

Re: Nervous at the gig

Yoga, or if you think that is gay, try stretching and moving around and stuff, like your going to enter a boxing match or something. I also shake my hands and fingers so that they are loose and have blood flowing to them. Don't get drunk, but if you drink regularly, go ahead and have a few sips of a good beer. No more than one whole one though. Unless you play in some sort of anti-everything grindcore band, where fuking up songs, flailing around like an electrocuted mongoose, and bringing across total cacophany is your thing. In that case, drink up!!

[No Use]

Re: Nervous at the gig

steve vai said he was so nervous two weeks before a show he puked and passed out. he was nervous in the beginning of his first gig, but at the end, he says he was doing the Steve Vai thing!

[JeffR23456]

Re: Nervous at the gig

It isnt nervousness, for me anyways, its excitement, i LOVE that feeling, its kinda nervous, but you know that in a few minutes you're gonna be on stage, playing your heart out while people listen. And just wait until you get a pit going and the crowd is almost roaring *remembers good times*

[jazzman]

Re: Nervous at the gig

Don't worry about being nervous, it'll go away after a couple tunes. You'll be more nervous if you think about it too much.