yorolpal
Yup...I'm more (as you should be able to tell from my bucolic visage at the upper left) of a, here's what I'm fixin to do...ifn ya like it, super great...ifn ya don't, tough titty...but either way stand back cause here it comes.


And then it's Katie Bar The Door!!

Sounds like the way it should be 'Ol Pal! 

craigb
Something Dave just said reminded me that I definitely perform better once I stop thinking about it.  Whenever something distracts me (which isn't all that difficult - LOL!), I find that my "auto-pilot" works much better than when I'm focusing on the task too much.  I guess that's what they call "the flow."

This is just plain ... bizarre. Of everything I have ever directed on a stage, and almost all of them newer folks, never, EVER, have we had issues with nerves, except once. And she had never been on the stage. 
 
Points of interest:
 
1. We were very well rehearsed, including fun bits and pieces to help ease in and out of the moments cleanly!
 
2. Everyone knew the script really well, and who they were talking to. No one was "out on their own" putting hands out to an invisible audience!
 
3. Everyone was aware of where the lights were, and how close they should be to that spot, for example, to help facilitate the moment (... rock bands don't do lights, and that hurts ... because that means the lighting is totally fudged up, and wrong half the time!)
 
4. The audience has no idea what you are going to do!
 
5. The only necessity, specially in comedy, is that you have to "pause" sometimes in order to acknowledge the audience, and this is very tricky ... but we had rehearsed many of those moments and we never lost an inch in those moments ... the actors were ready for them!
 
6. There are things you can not prepare for ... like a Leko fell on the stage and almost killed the guitar player ... ooopppssss ... it's very likely difficult for anyone to continue at that point, and feel safe, and a professor would probably pull the plug. But, you and I are assuming that the Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, ELP, and everyone else, never had issues on the stage that were very tough, and required a bit more than we know ... like a small jam added to it, to make time for fixing something! This happened in the first MAGMA show in Portland, when the bass drum pedal broke in half and the drum was loose from its pedestal. Can we ask Christian not to drum so hard? ... Hahahaha!!!
 
Be it Rain, or anyone else, if you are concentrating on your feelings, you are not paying attention to the music next to you, in the earlier stages of the performance, and this can make it really hard to clean up, but a quiet warm up by the band just before the show on the dressing room, should help, so everyone is on the same dot!
 
Performing, and you might not be aware of this, is a GIFT ... and some of you are magnificent on it, and the real issue, might just be ... you're hearing something different in your head, than what you are doing ... and that needs to be cleared up with the band and put to bed and rest. 
 
Do you EVER wonder why a child loves the attention so many times when singing a song, and they go away smiling, and maybe being shy afterwards? Don't take that "shine" away from yourself. You need that "shine" so that what you do on the stage is magnified and makes it all be so much more complete and ready to show and go.
 
As they say ... break a leg ... but your nerves can be dealt with well, and you should really spend some time talking to a theater/film director to learn a bit more about stage craft and being able to do what you do.
 
YES, there are some people that have that until the last minute, but ... wow ... is that the same person? YES, it is. And this time it's your turn. SMILE and let it go, baby ... this is your time to shine.
 
Maybe if we give Rain some kind of facial makeup and false teeth, and longer ears, and what not ... he will forget all the nerves! And smile some more. Like he doesn't know what he is doing? You gotta be kidding me!
 
Ohh, by the way, for being a newbie and all that ... she stole the show and got an amazing ovation.

I am also an advocate for trying to perform sober and free of all chemicals (apart from the ones you generate yourself)
 
I well remember my first 'professional' gig with my first band, back in the summer of 1976, at a club in Liverpool ran by my uncle. On the Thursday before the Saturday of the gig, I made an appointment on my own to see our family GP (Doctor) Dr Reid, an elderly Scottish gentleman. I naively informed him of my upcoming performance, and asked him if he had something to 'calm my nerves' I recall him smiling benevolently, and he then proceeded to give the 16-year old me, the best advice a young man could ever be given entering the foothills of the 'live entertainment' industry. He said something along the lines of 'Young Mr Garry, our receptionist, Peggy, knows your Mother, and she tells me you make a rather acceptable 'racket', as I would call it, on your electric guitar. I can tell you with certainty, that if I give you something to alleviate your fear on Saturday, and your performance goes well, that you will want the same next time, and the time after, until one time when you dont come back to me, but someone offers you an alternative, and therein lies a slippery slope. Of course, if it doesnt go well, human nature being what it is, you will only want more next time, and so on. So my advice to you is, if you can find a way to get through Saturday with just a small dinner and plenty of water - you will find the whole experience much more enjoyable' He then proceeded to ruffle my hair (I had quite a mane then) and send my on my way, suitably chastened. 
 
Anyhow, I took his advice (I had no choice !) it went brilliantly well, and that 'programming' has lasted me a lifetime. Whenever I get the chance to play out, my whole ritual is to have no booze on the day, a bowl of fruit salad a couple of hours before stage time, and plenty of water. I find this whole 'laid bare' approach vital. However, as soon as the gig is finished, and the adreneline is flowing - all bets are off, but strictly just beer or JD...but effectively as the existential reward for the 'dry' performance. Now I am not saying this works for everyone, but I do have an addictive personality like many of us, and I occasionally wonder how things might have gone had I found a less altruistic and wise council than Dr Reid, almost 40 years ago to the day.
 
Peace Love and Understanding
 
Garry Kiosk

The Kiosk Project
I am also an advocate for trying to perform sober and free of all chemicals (apart from the ones you generate yourself)
...

 
 
The time to "experiment" and try things is on rehearsal, and this is the reason why I always recommend that a band rehearsing, needs once a week to let it go, and just go crazy and have fun, regardless of what you do. The upside is that you find new things, and this is specially important for a band doing original material. For a top ten or bar band, that's another story, but those fun exercises are good to help with the chemistry and how each other adjusts. Some folks are mean in these moments and wait for someone else to get going, but in the end, it's about all together and jump ... and even if they all go in different directions, that's OK, because the trick is to get it all in sync, one moment at a time.
 
Depending on the theater at hand, the chemicals, can be played with, but I, personally, do not recommend it, and neither do I recommend weed, although nowadays, that's a very relaxing and hip things to do. The main issue is, that while it is still you, in the end, the outside intervention by something, will inevitably hurt, because it brings out different emotions than the ones you need to concentrate on to do the work you do at this particular moment. Now, if your name was Grateful Dead, or early jam bands, it might not matter as much, but the process in those areas was not as "free form" as we think, as much as it was what was called then, in theater and film, a "guided" exercise, or experiment. It already had a beginning and an end defined so everyone would know where to end up more or less. 
 
You can compare this with CAN, and how they put together some music in "cut and paste" style, regardless of what was in it, and ended up with a massive album (Tago Mago) and their next album, was almost straight out of the stage live, with no cuts. And yes, and they admit it, there were goodies around, and Damo does not deny it, but he also says that it was a lot more than the drugs that allowed him to do what he did, and Malcom Mooney was also doing before. America's main "jam" bands, I think, were much more centered on a note or chord to get back to things, although it is hard to say within Miles Davis context, if this is true or not, and I think he intentionally changed that too, so he and others would not get bored.
 
For any stage presentation, it is important that it be defined well and helped to be better than it possibly can, to prevent boredom and repetition, and keep an excitement level up where it needs to be, or it all falls apart much quicker. I do not recommend any extra goodies at all, although it is hard to control someone showing up already with a few beers in their gut, or something else ... but you know it right away, from the start. Only once, did I close the rehearsal, and told the folks, that the next time, I would report it to the Professors and that meant that one student would be out of the program right away.
 
You ruin your own life, I like to say, but don't waste it when you have the chance to shine. Even if everyone else is getting ripped. keep your wits straight and move along. If the whole band is ripped, at least maintain your professional standard ... and if someone asks why you don't, tell them ... you want to get to the professional level, and you don't get there by getting stoned very often, before you fall apart and lose everything! If they don't listen, you are in the wrong band or show!

The Kiosk Project
...
 I give you something to alleviate your fear on Saturday, and your performance goes well, that you will want the same next time, and the time after, until one time when you dont come back to me, but someone offers you an alternative, and therein lies a slippery slope. Of course, if it doesnt go well, human nature being what it is, you will only want more next time, and so on. So my advice to you is, if you can find a way to get through Saturday with just a small dinner and plenty of water - you will find the whole experience much more enjoyable' He then proceeded to ruffle my hair (I had quite a mane then) and send my on my way, suitably chastened. 
...

 
Or as a psychic friend of mine used to say, you keep using different boxes to get by, and one day you have to find the box to get rid of all boxes ... and that can be very hard, and pretty much impossible all around, since you are so ingrained in a box!
 
Best just use "YOU", and if you do not see or understand things, get someone from theater/film to help a bit. They will spot 5 things before the first song is over! The most common one? You are so concentrated on the script, that you can't even look at the person you are talking to. In a band, this is easy ... you are looking so hard at the frets (for example) that you don't even know exactly what the others are doing ... you are simply not rehearsed enough, is the answer.

How did Pedro turn this topic into psychic's and boxing??? 

yorolpal
I spent a great deal of time on stages both big ( 50,000) and small (we once played to a bartender and one waitress) in my youth all the way through my late thirties. And I am at my most comfortable when I'm on stage and entertaining...hopefully...an audience. On stage I am a total extrovert. But off stage I am borderline agoraphobic. I hate crowds, parties, clubs, events, etc...and mostly never leave my house once I'm home from work. I love the solitude of working alone in my music studio. But I do miss being on stage. Very much. But I bet the stage does not miss me:-)

I can totally relate to this.  I've struggled with social phobia my whole life and I, too, hate clubs, crowds, parties, and etc...but for some weird reason, I don't get stage fright.  I'm scared to death to have to sit and talk with a total stranger, but I'll happily play my guitar in front of an audience.  I don't get it...but thank goodness.  I don't perform anymore, but I sure have some good memories.  

I think I've grown more comfortable with public playing over the years. One thing that has helped me is knowing my material inside and out, where I can actually play without much thought and knowing when I'm starting to get nervous.
The hardest thing to hide behind if you're nervous is a violin. Everything is so critical...so I would notice my bow starting to bounce and realize I'm building up tension in my bow arm. Probably similar to a guitarist playing fine pickings. If I noticed myself getting tense I seemed to be able to counter it by simply relaxing. All of this is happening in milliseconds. I know that if I don't relax it'll only get worse. Once relaxed I'm fine.

Thankfully, I never suffered from stage fright. I've seen it up close though, and can understand how terrifying it must be. I had a drummer who "locked up" when we opened for a big national act in front of around 14000 people. I was lead singer and rhythm guitarist standing at the front of the stage waiting on his count in. Turned around after a few seconds and he was in complete unblinking vapor lock. I had to yell his name 3 times to get his attention and when he finally looked at me I said "Just like at home Johnny...count it off". He was fine after that, but it was a pretty scary 20 seconds or so.
 
As for me, I couldn't wait to get out there. I knew we were well rehearsed, and that the audience had come to hear what we were doing. All we had to do what was what we did, and all would be good.

bitflipper
Maybe I live in a delusional bubble of my own creation, but I have never suffered from stagefright. Not during my very first performance in Kindergarten, nor doing a live radio broadcast, not on large stages in front of thousands. Not even after months or years off the stage.
 
I can, however, relate to the sensation of being a fraud who's in constant danger of being found out. That's pretty normal, I think, and has no relationship to one's talent, accomplishments or even self-confidence. You know your own limitations intimately and wonder how many in the audience can spot them.
 
Ironically, if you don't feel this way then you probably are a fraud with an inflated sense of your own brilliance.
 
My own self-medication, which I employ only in extreme situations, is coffee. Whether it's going into the studio to lay down a part for someone else or performing live, caffeine speeds up my brain and my fingers to the point where I find myself looking down at my own hands and being surprised by what they're doing. This only works because I am normally not a big caffeine consumer, so all it takes is one Starbucks Iced Coffee to wind me up. 
 
A less-dangerous technique is simply warming up before a gig. I sit down at the keyboard with headphones and start doing finger exercises, scales and a self-jam around some simple chord progression. It takes a good half-hour for the effect to kick in, but when it does it's even more effective than a double-espresso.

This describes my experiences "to a 'T'"! i don't always add caffeine, but when I do, it's typically not Starbucks!

I've always been comfortable in front of people, but every time I'm there I am always afraid someone will discover I'm a talentless fraud! And yet I am drawn to do it as often as allowed!