Let me count how long it's been since I've even just played with someone - other than that one time when we were both bloody drunk five years ago... Ah, right - 15 years!
 
But my wife and I have our first formal rehearsal tomorrow. :\
 
When we talked about gigging, I thought: alright, the more people on stage, the better - I'll just stand behind amps and keys somewhere on the stage, turn the volume on my amp down, and act as a musical director, pulling the strings...
 
Because that's the only thing I'm sure of, in all humility - how it must sound.
 
So far, the future band members I've met could wipe the floor with me.
Back and forth. Really.  
 
All I have on them is that I'm bigger than they are and married with the singer. That's it.
 
The bass player is like the equivalent of John Paul Jones - multi-instrumentist, proficient in a wide variety of genres, a very capable engineer and producer, who's played professionally for years. And the sweetest guy ever. I'm sure he can play guitar better than I can... In his sleep.
 
Man, I feel like a fraud. I know we all do - my wife tells me she did for most of her career. Hans Zimmer still feels like a fraud. But I AM a fraud. lol
 
Plus, I'm not sure I've ever been on a stage sober - not after the music school Christmas concert disaster, anyway.
 
In Logic and Pro Tools, I know I am good. I am confident. It can be learned. Onstage? Forget it. I used to smash my guitars to take the focus off of me and hide my discomfort.
 
What's even more awesome is that the first live performance should be just the 2 of us. :/
No hiding for me, there...
 

Good luck, man.
That's why I don't perform live. In my studio, I have my comfort zone, and I'm fine.
If someone is watching, I grow 7 thumbs.
You've been waiting too long for this. Take a deep breath, and just freakin' do it. I have faith.

Relax and have fun I say. Don't focus on yourself but on the moment and the surroundings. Make yourself smile a big smile  It's all in the attitude. Tell yourself "This is going to be good !"
 
 I am very comfortable live. I play way better in front of an audience. I miss it

I can't do much of anything in front of a crowd except speak. When you really know your material it's not that hard. I used to have a great fear of speaking in public. My chosen career demanded that I be able to speak in front of people. To get over it, I got a part time job teaching at a local college. It worked, but it wasn't easy.
 
Playing music is a whole other story. Plink plink, scrape is about all that comes out of the guitar. I do however have a good friend that's just the opposite. He doesn't do much of anything unless he's on a stage, it's his home and comfort zone. He doesn't even play in front of his wife.
 
My strategy when under pressure is to break the event into small pieces that I can mentally deal with. So my advice to Rain is just learn the material as best you can and go for it. Don't think about the whole gig. Just focus on getting the first song done, then the first set, then the first gig. With practice you'll get used to it and get more comfortable.
 
Enjoy the ride man.

How cool must it be to play in a band where the other players are all so much better that you feel they could "wipe the stage" with you?   Look at this as a HUGE opportunity. The only way to really get better is to play with musicians who can teach you new things...and it looks like that's the exact situation you are entering into.
 
Put it this way Rain..... if you were as big of a fraud as you seem to think you are, the other players would have said something about your playing. I don't care how good your wife is, they would have said something about your playing if it was really that average.
 
Now, I have seen and heard the players that are employed as musicians with Cirque.....and if these guys are the ones you're talking about..... hell yeah, I'd be a bit intimidated to play with them as well...... but, depending on the music....with rehearsal time, you can handle it I'm sure.  I would not have any qualms about walking on stage with just about any of the country bands at the pro levels.... a few hours of rehearsal and I'd be ready to go.... The Cirque players...different story.... I'd be seriously intimidated. But they are 2 completely different styles and genre's of music. Most of the "pros" I've met have been really nice folks and very accommodating.
 
So..... about the rehearsal.... go, and be sober. Nothing will blow that opp like showing up intoxicated. Have fun and play some music.....enjoy the jam. Who knows what might come from that jam session/rehearsal.
 
Do keep us posted.

Good luck to you Krist!  it actually sounds fun to me!

Most people don't think they're as good as they are--except for a few who think they're better than everyone else.  Have fun and learn from them. 

During my 30 year performing career, I can honestly say that every band member I ever played with was a better musician that me. I hired every single one of them for that reason. It's a band and to me, everyone is there to support the others. Be a PLAYER for the band and everything will work out fine.
 
Randy

Rain
All I have on them is that I'm bigger than they are and married with the singer. That's it.

 
Sounds like enough to me. 
 
(You couldn't possibly be worse than Linda McCartney was!  )

craigb

Rain
All I have on them is that I'm bigger than they are and married with the singer. That's it.

 
Sounds like enough to me. 
 
(You couldn't possibly be worse than Linda McCartney was!  )

Wanna bet? :P
 
The weird thing is that, as a kid, I always wanted to be on that stage in front of an audience. Every chance I got I'd put something together - whether I was doing vocal impersonations or putting little plays together and forcing my friends to get involved or doing those silly lip synch things - I never could get enough.
 
I also sang in choirs and got picked up year after year to sing the lead in front of the whole school. That's on such an occasion, during the Christmas recital, that I felt the fist sign of growth and hormones - my voice broke right there on the stage.
 
I kept on playing live after that because that's what bands did, you know. Especially in a little town such as mine. But the minute I started writing my own stuff, the stage was no longer an option. That was what making music was all about for me - writing and recording, alone.