First gig tonight, eek!

TinyFists

My new band has its first gig tonight. Never played guitar on stage before; in other bands I've always played bass. Nervous as hell! Just been out and spent £7 on batteries so no hopefully no pedal issues, at least. Just wanted to share my excitement although it's currently being overridden by the nerves!

Jam10

That's awesome man. Good luck!

dust

That is cool, good luck for tonight! I just recently started playing rhythm on stage with my band so I totally get the nerves thing. Have a beer first.....

TinyFists

Thanks!

Will be laying off the alcohol til afterwards I think - need a clear head and I'm a bit of a lightweight!

billyruff

Right on ..Have fun and play safe ...no wait thats for shagging...

All Those Yesterdays

Very cool, good luck, and keep us all posted.

By the way I've been doing it for years, and I still get nervous. It never goes away. Keeps it real!

ezyrydr

if you've never played out before here are a couple things that might help you feel more comfortable goin into it:

-expect it to sound different than practice. you'll be really surprised when you get up there at how different things will sound. you might have trouble hearing certain instruments or yourself or whatever but just be prepared for it and don't let it distract you too much.

-just pretend you're jammin with your band. ignore the fact the audience is there. showmanship will come eventually but again, for you first gig, don't let the crowd distract you. it'll come off more natural if you're clickin with the band instead of paying attention to how or if people are watching you.

-are you running your own sound or do you have a sound guy? if you're doin it yourself then have someone you trust out in the audience let you know if someone is too loud or not loud enough. it's one less thing you'll have in your head while you're playing.

-have fun. if you mess up just go with it, don't make a nasty face at the guy who screwed up...most of the time you and the guys in the band are the only ones who will notice a mistake, don't make it easy for the crowd to see your mistakes. realize that playing music is about having fun and who cares if you hit a wrong note here or there, hendrix hit wrong notes here and there.

-wear a cool shirt.

that is all

ladygooddiva

i wish you good good luck !!!
so how do you guys sounds ?
keep us updated !!!!!
and if something unexpected happen ..keep cool you play live...
.........

who's_pearljam?

ezyrydr wrote:

if you've never played out before here are a couple things that might help you feel more comfortable goin into it:

-expect it to sound different than practice. you'll be really surprised when you get up there at how different things will sound. you might have trouble hearing certain instruments or yourself or whatever but just be prepared for it and don't let it distract you too much.

-just pretend you're jammin with your band. ignore the fact the audience is there. showmanship will come eventually but again, for you first gig, don't let the crowd distract you. it'll come off more natural if you're clickin with the band instead of paying attention to how or if people are watching you.

-are you running your own sound or do you have a sound guy? if you're doin it yourself then have someone you trust out in the audience let you know if someone is too loud or not loud enough. it's one less thing you'll have in your head while you're playing.

-have fun. if you mess up just go with it, don't make a nasty face at the guy who screwed up...most of the time you and the guys in the band are the only ones who will notice a mistake, don't make it easy for the crowd to see your mistakes. realize that playing music is about having fun and who cares if you hit a wrong note here or there, hendrix hit wrong notes here and there.

-wear a cool shirt.

that is all

Pretty much what I was going to say but I would have forgotten about the shirt part! Nice!


Take some deep breaths before you go on and try to keep your head about you, especially for the first few minutes. You don't want to come out of the chute playing three times as fast as the rest of the band!
Try to listen to the drummer and bass and keep yourself focused and locked in.
Hendrix made LOTS of mistakes! Just keep on moving after a mistake. If you bungle a note, that note's gone. Don't try to chase it!

Enjoy the moment! I love live performing much more than studio stuff because I like the spontaneity and unexpected, I guess.

TinyFists

Thanks for your words of encouragement, all!

I have done it before (including in tonight's venue) but I have always played bass until now so it's a new experience to some extent and for some reason I feel more pressure! I think it's largely pedal failure fear (seen it happen to guitar players in both my other bands) hence the new batteries and lead-checking - at least I have done all I can to prevent it. Of course, the fear of major fuck-uppage by any of us is also there but I think the point about imagining it's a jam and trying to just relax and not focus too much on the audience is a good one when you're nervous. At least I'm not singing; that would be worse because more people are looking at you!

Someone we know is doing the sound so that should be ok although I never totally trust someone else to get it right!

Cool t-shirt already sorted! :-)

For now we are just doing some punked up covers - only been together a short while and this gig was pretty short notice!

Right, best be off! Thanks again and will let you know how it goes!

BinFrog

Have a blast!

dcfaithful

dust wrote:

That is cool, good luck for tonight! I just recently started playing rhythm on stage with my band so I totally get the nerves thing. Have a beer first.....

Maybe two if it won't affect your playing. Best of luck to you tonight, my friend. I'm sure you'll do great!

BinFrog

dcfaithful wrote:

Maybe two if it won't affect your playing. Best of luck to you tonight, my friend. I'm sure you'll do great!

When we play out and have a long set, I usually have 2 before we go on. I don't get a buzz, but it calms me down and I can focus.

ladygooddiva

punked covers sounds cool ..i see you from uk cool
so keep us ubdate ???
so you are playing in two bands?or two bands before ?
you played bass and now ?
sorry but sometimes i am blond...

xtremehardy388

TinyFists wrote:

My new band has its first gig tonight. Never played guitar on stage before; in other bands I've always played bass. Nervous as hell! Just been out and spent £7 on batteries so no hopefully no pedal issues, at least. Just wanted to share my excitement although it's currently being overridden by the nerves!

You'll be awesome. Use the emotion and nerves in your music. Goodluck with the batteries-many-a-times have I had pedals die because of batteries (TAKE THAT, DIGITECH!)

ianvomsaal

You should take the £7 you spent on batteries and put it into a 1-Spot adapter: http://www.visualsound.net/1spot.htm
Here's the UK version: http://www.lytpedalboards.com/products/1spot-9v-power Then you can get yourself a Multi-Plug
Daisy-Chain to link them all. It's far cheaper than batteries within a few gigs, and you won't have pedals die on you, or
even start loosing tone in the middle of the gig because your batteries are running lower in power than at the gigs start.

exhausted

ianvomsaal wrote:

You should take the £7 you spent on batteries and put it into a 1-Spot adapter: http://www.visualsound.net/1spot.htm
Here's the UK version: http://www.lytpedalboards.com/products/1spot-9v-power Then you can get yourself a Multi-Plug
Daisy-Chain to link them all. It's far cheaper than batteries within a few gigs, and you won't have pedals die on you, or
even start loosing tone in the middle of the gig because your batteries are running lower in power than at the gigs start.

"break a leg" works too.

lucylespian

One more piece of advice.........

warm up !!

I went on cold the other day, and it really showed. I was ready to start playing by the end of our set.

TinyFists

ladygooddiva wrote:

punked covers sounds cool ..i see you from uk cool
so keep us ubdate ???
so you are playing in two bands?or two bands before ?
you played bass and now ?
sorry but sometimes i am blond...

Two other bands before this that ever really did anything. I was on bass in those but have now returned to my first love - guitar.

The update: it was a triumph! We played really well with no equipment disasters and no mistakes (not that I heard, anyway)! My happy buzz was slightly spoiled by someone who came straight up to me afterwards and said 'yeah...you need to smile more'. Right. Other than him, everyone was really enthusiastic and I don't *think* they were only saying it to be nice. The other bands who played were really good too so a very enjoyable night was had by all!

Anon

Didn't get here early enough to wish you well, but it sounds like you rocked out. It's always good to get the first one out of the way. If all the person could find to criticize you for, was you didn't smile enough, you must have done a hell of a job.

Good stuff.

ladygooddiva

well that sounds so great ..congrates !!!!
so when is your next one ???
anything plannd yet?

p.s.
i play bass too but since long long time i didn t
and my first l.... are still drums..