Tips for first time performers

Iron1 said:
Nervousness comes because we're thinking about ourselves, not the audience. The audience, usually, paid good money/invested their time to see a professional music performance. So focus on giving them that and not on yourself and you'll be fine.

The best live acts in history seem to have one thing in common: they focus on "giving the fans their money's worth". Not, what will *I* look like/sound like/perform like. KISS never wrote the best music, but they put on some of the greatest shows in history because of that philosophy. Led Zeppelin stole half their music from poor and/or dead blues musicians, but also put on some of the greatest shows in history because of that philosophy. Megadeth, Yngwie Malmsteen and other very talented players notoriously have awful shows because they're focus is on themselves, not giving the fans their money's worth.

With that in mind, in the future, target playing gigs where you know people who dig what y'all play will show up, give them their money's worth and it won't take long before you're packing venues and getting gig invites left and right.

And get a singer. A man/woman who can not only compliment the music vocally, but work the crowd to give them their money's worth. Most non-musicians imprint on the singer cause they see singing as something they can relate to and secretly believe they can do as well, even if it's only in the car by themselves with no one to tell them they're tone deaf and so far out of key a locksmith from Juliard couldn't help 'em.

You got this brutha! Break a leg!
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This is a good post Mike, thanks.

We had talked about the idea of perhaps putting a vocal mic up, and asking for a volunteer, not sure if that's a great idea though.

The first guy we tried for vocals was great, his style just clicked with what we were doing and it was awesome. And then his wife told him no. Probably dodged a bullet there, cause what happens when his wife decides he can't be a part of it on the day of a gig? Not good.
 
BTW guys, Blinky may be feeling somewhat unsure of himself going into this event. based on our private conversation into the wee hours of East Coast almost 3:30 AM time. I listened to 4 songs of his, and one thing I don't think he has to worry about is his playing ability.

As he mentioned, his mindset is unsure about if playing live is within his make-up. If I may say so, I am pulling for him however it turns out. As I said to him before, LIFE is all about going for it. The good thing I see is that NO ONE besides him or his fellow players will ever know there are any mistakes. AND his material flat out COOKS. Blinky has some really cool vibe to his chops and music he has written.

Go for broke, Blinky.

Hope you don't mind me tooting your horn, Blinky but I still can't get this cool jam out of my head.

 
mcblink said:
The first guy we tried for vocals was great, his style just clicked with what we were doing and it was awesome. And then his wife told him no. Probably dodged a bullet there, cause what happens when his wife decides he can't be a part of it on the day of a gig? Not good.
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Did his wife object to him singing this one gig, or to being a part of the band?

She may be a little more lenient if she knows it isn't permanent and he is just getting you guys past this first gig.

Just a thought. I'm certainly not suggesting any meddling in someone else's marriage!
 
Thatbastarddon said:
@mcblink ….just have fun…we’re all humans…our bassist used to like climbing around on furniture…
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Dude. I've thought of doing that very thing myself!

In fact, at every gig I look around to see if there are decent tables for something like that, y'know, something that looks strong and stable enough. I'm wireless on all my guitars so it would actually work out.

So far, I haven't seen any suitable tables that are unoccupied where we've played. I do go out in front of the stage on a couple tunes, though.
 
Hey, I just thought of another possible idea that goes along with bdon saying to have fun.

Maybe you guys can all think of a number of your friends who might be into the same kind of music and invite/bring them along as part of your audience. This way, they are like allies in getting others to join them in enjoying the fun of seeing you guys play.
 
chilipeppermaniac said:
BTW guys, Blinky may be feeling somewhat unsure of himself going into this event. based on our private conversation into the wee hours of East Coast almost 3:30 AM time. I listened to 4 songs of his, and one thing I don't think he has to worry about is his playing ability.

As he mentioned, his mindset is unsure about if playing live is within his make-up. If I may say so, I am pulling for him however it turns out. As I said to him before, LIFE is all about going for it. The good thing I see is that NO ONE besides him or his fellow players will ever know there are any mistakes. AND his material flat out COOKS. Blinky has some really cool vibe to his chops and music he has written.

Go for broke, Blinky.

Hope you don't mind me tooting your horn, Blinky but I still can't get this cool jam out of my head.

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chilipeppermaniac said:
I told blinky that this one has a Jet City Woman vibe to it as I listen. That choppy riff and the slow building parts together and the chords is what does it for me.

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Ha! Glad you like em so much lol
Eaten Alive (HiTTR2 bear) didn't make the set list, but now that I think about it, I'm not sure we presented this one to the guys at all yet. LRT and I kinda talked about it and decided that it wasn't really the same style as the other stuff we were doing. But now that I think about it, it's already set up to put some vocals on, and easy to learn. Might be a good candidate for future sets if we need to fill some empty space. Plus, that one was a lot of fun to write/record. Was the first thing we laid down when the Scarlett 18i8 arrived a couple years back now.

smitty_p said:
Did his wife object to him singing this one gig, or to being a part of the band?

She may be a little more lenient if she knows it isn't permanent and he is just getting you guys past this first gig.

Just a thought. I'm certainly not suggesting any meddling in someone else's marriage!
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Apparently she didn't want him partaking in any musical projects anymore, I suspect due to the fact that he's got a heat-seeker in his shorts.
I don't really even know the dude, but I saw him do vocals in his past projects and he would have been great to have in our group. Unfortunately, just didn't work out.

Thatbastarddon said:
@mcblink ….just have fun…we’re all humans…our bassist used to like climbing around on furniture…
View attachment 88399
They’re going to have a good time if you do too…
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I want this to be as fun as I always imagined it would be. Maybe I need to develop a character that I can step into. A stage persona or an alter-ego. Escape my own insecurities for the period of time in which I'm on the stage, and then take him off and leave him there when I'm done.
chilipeppermaniac said:
Hey, I just thought of another possible idea that goes along with bdon saying to have fun.

Maybe you guys can all think of a number of your friends who might be into the same kind of music and invite/bring them along as part of your audience. This way, they are like allies in getting others to join them in enjoying the fun of seeing you guys play.
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Thought of this too, they could help with volume levels and stuff. Plus, I have at least a couple buddies that would enjoy inciting a bit of mayhem in the crowd lol
 
Jethro Rocker said:
Man for sure! I started taking 2 different pairs for stage plus a third for load in. I move around lots and got horrid blisters last year from the same pair of shoes. Kaka.

That is it right there. If it becomes too pre arranged it is like robotic IMO.
What's the venue? What's the crowd and event? Can I swear? Maybe not? Etc That's the stuff that is improvised.
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As long as you don't start wearing these to your gigs, you might not get another one..


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I have a good feeling about this year. Hope I'm not wrong.

Today I had my last physical therapy appointment, I feel more normal than I ever have since the crash, and I have been officially discharged.

I was contacted by a headhunter/recruiter about a career opportunity in my area that I'm moving forward with, and hopefully can secure a position with this company. It's a company that I could easily retire from. I'd like to get on there. Been trying off and on for years, timing was never quite right.

Got my first gig coming up with my current band.

My old band is clawing it's way out of the grave and has begun to become active again.

I have a lot of things to bitch about in life. But for today, I'm feeling pretty good.
 
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