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jenny Profile
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Purple fan

Registered: 09-2003
Posts: 292
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Pre-Show Jitters


OK, here's the story. As I may have mentioned before, I play bass in a Blues Brothers tribute band. I joined them this past May, and since then, we've played only one gig, at a benefit for a local biker who beat cancer and needed help with his medical bills.

Anwyays, we have a big gig coming up this Friday at a local bar, and it's being pretty well publicized and includes a costume party. It is also at the band's "regular" bar, where in the past they've played about one gig a month. A lot of my friends and family are going to be there as well.

So here's the thing - I'm unbelievably nervous about this gig! Before the biker gig, it had been over 5 years since I'd played in front of an audience. Does anyone have any tips or anything to help conquer nerves? Having a beer before the gig is out of the question, as I have some unrelated medical issues and the medication I'm taking prevents me from drinking. I know there must be lots of you out there with much more live experience than me. Help!
29/10/2003, 5:50 Link to this post Send Email to jenny
 
TheGeo Profile
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Purple fan

Registered: 09-2003
Posts: 357
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Re: Pre-Show Jitters


Jenny,

Try a herbal remedy called kava kava, available from health shops. Check with your doc that its ok with the meds you're on. It has a kind of mellowing affect and will help you to relax and enjoy yourself, without imparing your ability. Find a quiet area a few minutes before going on (the toilet is ideal). Have fun.

---
Some---body stole my Geo (tar). Took it from the top shelf of my bar.
29/10/2003, 11:30 Link to this post Send Email to TheGeo   Send PM to TheGeo
 
B3Burner Profile
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Dominant 7th #9

Registered: 10-2003
Posts: 2200
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Re: Pre-Show Jitters


Jenny,

This is tough, as people get jitters in very different intensity levels, and for very different reasons.

If it's nerves based on lack of confidence, that just comes with practice, and playing out more often.

My advice would be to (mentally) [did I spell that right?] turn the tables on nerves and get them to work for you instead of against you.

Rather than thinking to yourself, "whoah, I'm sooooo nervous because I haven't played in so long, and all my friends are out there, and if I mess up a part, they'll all notice", etc, etc, and all those other negative thoughts that we fill our heads with; instead, think of the nerves as your mind's way of reminding yourself how important music is to you, and that it merely is a sign of your RESPECT FOR your art, and NOT your FEAR OF your art.

If you went up there without any nerves at all, then that would mean that you don't give a flying leap about the gig, or your talent, or your bandmates, or any of the people who are there to see you. And obviously, you know that's not the case. A little nervousness merely is your body's way of letting you know that this is what you're good at, you're read to show the world, and "bring it on"!!

To be nervous is perfectly natural. It heightens your awareness, and allows you to approach your craft with greater accuracy and percission (damn!! and I can't spell).

I guess what I'm really trying to drive at in my (albiet circuitous and roundabout way), is command the jitters and use them as positive energy. Don't just blindly give into the notion that you have to let them command you.

---
John O'Flaherty
-------------------
"It's got a weight and a gravitast to it. It's a Hammond Organ! And...you can't just be kinda' pussy-footin' around with this thing....you got to control it."

-Jon Lord
31/10/2003, 5:19 Link to this post Send Email to B3Burner   Send PM to B3Burner
 
jenny Profile
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Purple fan

Registered: 09-2003
Posts: 292
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Re: Pre-Show Jitters


Thanks for the advice! The gig is tomorrow night, and I've really been working myself into a tizzy over it.

TheGeo - I checked with my doc, and unfortunately Kava is not an option for me right now. But I am going to spend a good deal of time meditating and centering myself tomorrow afternoon, so I hope that will calm me down a bit. If only I didn't have to work all day before the gig... emoticon

b3burner - you raised a lot of really good points. I think a lot of my problem comes from working myself up and making myself nervous before the show. As an aside, there was one incident I remember when I was appearing in the chorus of a loval theater production (dressed as a 'courtesan' and carrying a whip, no less!) On opening night, I was so nervouse that, after my first appearance on stage, I went straight to the back of the dressing room, sat heavily on the floor and proceeded to hyperventilate for a while. This caused a couple of other cast members, who had been performing for years, to get nervous as well, and, if they hadn't been able to get past it, might have caused the whole show to die quicker than you can say "Macbeth"

I have spent the last two days thinking about why I'm so nervous, and the thing I really need to remember is that I am in a Blues Brothers tribute band, and nobody really gives a hang about the bass player! The show is all about Jake and Elwood. The most basic fact is that the band members are my family - "Elwood" is my little brother, "Jake" is his best friend, who I've known since he was born, the guitarist was the best man at my wedding (and his wife was my maid of honor), and I've known the drummer so long we may as well be siblings. Plus, there's the fact that tomorrow is Halloween, and the patrons of the bar will be counting on us to give them a good time. I'm just going to go out there and do my best, trying to keep in mind that the average bar patron has no idea if I miss a note here or there - as long as they can keep dancing, they're just fine.

Thanks again everyone for the advice. I'll make another post after the gig to say how it went. In the meantime, check out our site - http://artists.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/B_Movie/ Hopefully we'll have some better pictures up there soon (the one of me on the homepage is absolutely dreadful!)

---
"If you epect the unexpected, doesn't the unexpected become expected?"
31/10/2003, 5:44 Link to this post Send Email to jenny
 
jenny Profile
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Purple fan

Registered: 09-2003
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Re: Pre-Show Jitters


Well, the gig went off without a hitch! I was really dreading a Friday night gig, having to work all day then rush to the show, but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise! I was so busy at work that I didn't have a chance to think about the gig, and after I got home, I was so busy getting myself ready, and getting my son ready to go trick-or-treating that night, that I didn't have a chance to get nervous!

The show started out a little shaky (as it turns out, because our guitarist was wearing dark sunglasses and couldn't see his guitar neck during the opener!), but by the third song, I was having a great time! I think it also helped that there was a pretty light crowd - nothing like I'd been led to expect. Another bar down the road was having its last night in business that night, and they were letting people smoke in the bar, so they had most of the business for that night. This was another blessing in disguise, as the show had a much more intimate feel, and the light crown lifted a lot of pressure. It also helped a lot that many of the people there were friends of ours.

There was one other thing that gave me an added boost. Right before the show, I was talking to some friends of our drummers' and found that one of them was my best friend's mother, who I hadn't seen in about 5 years! Through my childhood, she was like a second mother to me, and having her there made everything feel a lot better!

All in all, it was a really great experience - the most fun I've had in years! Hopefully the pictures from the gig will be up on our site soon - http://artists.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/B_Movie/

Thanks again for all of the advice! emoticon

---
"If you expect the unexpected, doesn't the unexpected become expected?"
3/11/2003, 4:53 Link to this post Send Email to jenny
 
Big J Profile
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Purple fan

Registered: 09-2003
Posts: 6083
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Re: Pre-Show Jitters


quote:

jenny wrote:

because our guitarist was wearing dark sunglasses and couldn't see his guitar neck during the opener!



LOL!

Glad to hear it went well.
3/11/2003, 10:14 Link to this post Send Email to Big J   Send PM to Big J
 
Nighthawk Profile
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Purple fan

Registered: 09-2003
Posts: 1421
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Re: Pre-Show Jitters


Let us know when you're touring! emoticon

Love the Blues Brothers!!
Image
3/11/2003, 19:41 Link to this post Send Email to Nighthawk
 
Space Trucker Profile
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Purple fan

Registered: 09-2003
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Re: Pre-Show Jitters


Is that Kava stuff Geo was talking about the same stuff the Fijian rugby team are on?
4/11/2003, 1:29 Link to this post Send Email to Space Trucker   Send PM to Space Trucker
 
jenny Profile
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Purple fan

Registered: 09-2003
Posts: 292
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Re: Pre-Show Jitters


quote:

Nighthawk wrote:

Let us know when you're touring! emoticon

Love the Blues Brothers!!



Touring? Don't I wish! Actually, we did get an e-mail through our website from a promoter who books American bands in Asia. Might've been fun, if we all didn't have families and young children here!

As it turns out, we are going to be branching out a bit fairly soon, beyond the local bars. We got an offer to play New Year's Eve at the local Indian casino. Unfortunately, it's not the main showroom. But it is in the newly expanded Bingo Hall, which holds about 1,400 people. They're having some kind of special bingo-blues party, I guess. Anyways, that's a real big foot in the door - they hire local bands to open for national acts sometimes in the main showroom. emoticon

---
"If you expect the unexpected, doesn't the unexpected become expected?"
4/11/2003, 3:22 Link to this post Send Email to jenny
 
Nighthawk Profile
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Purple fan

Registered: 09-2003
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Re: Pre-Show Jitters


Hope it goes well for you jenny! emoticon
4/11/2003, 15:50 Link to this post Send Email to Nighthawk
 


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