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Gig Preperation


Guest scott cs.

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Guest scott cs.

i'm pretty scared about playing my first gig as i've never had to play in front of complete strangers before. with this in mind, what is the best way to prepare for a gig? their must be some little secrets people can share.

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Know your set inside and out

Bring a spare lead / bass (if poss)

Know who's and what equipment you're using

Bring a swiss army knife-esqu object*

Warm water/ wine gume for l voice

Practice some funky well known riffs/funny jokes for technical hitches

Arrive in time for sound check

Don't take forever to sound check

that's all from the top of my head, when i'm giging i take a bag full of random stuff like spare t-shirts, leads, tuners, plugs, picks, water, wine gums... just incase anything happens

*I've used or lent my one at almost every gig whether it's to cut strings, fix the guitar cutting tape... probably my best purchase...

leatherman-micra.jpg

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I always try and imagine myself playing from the audience perspective - if your band is good you have nothing to worry about.

saying that, my first gig i was shitting it and just stood there like a retard, its all good from the first one.

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I just started playing live about a year ago, after home-recording for decades, and am still pretty nervous, but it DOES get a bit easier every time.

The best advice I got was from Eric Euan......If you make a mistake don't stop and say "Fuck it!".......the audience probably won't be as aware of it as you are!

Good luck!!

________________________________________________________________________

Kitchen Cynics.........................................shakin' all over..........................................

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Guest Savant

my prepration normally goes like this:

have a beer

plug in

have a beer

get a decent sound

have a beer

get food

and beer

write a set

drink a beer

etc etc

nah - relax - how often do you look at someone on stage and think "what a dick"? never (unless they really are a dick) so relax and have fun. rock out. the audience will appreciate it more if you're into it and having fun - think about how other bands look good if they're totally into it, and how they look crap if they're standing there, too scared to move!

:up:

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NEVER HAVE A WANK BEFORE - You'll lose your edge and girls can tell if your sacs are empty. They have a weird 6th sense for it and can tell you are useless to them

Save the ejaculation for some dumb slut's face afterwards.

On this note - if there's a bird you fancy, tell her about how nervous you are now and get the sympathy vote. Then, if you strut your stuff like a true rock god - you just got laid.

Remember - we all got in a band to get chicks, no matter what you tell yourself.

Craig

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My first gig with eric euan was supporting Karloff @ the lemon tree

I was totally shitting myself but

I knew what I was doing

I knew my bits and thats really it

if you know what you have to do just get on there do it and get off !

Stages are hot so take water on stage and a towel for sweaty moments

Spare; lead / picks / instrument

Be on time to sound check

dont piss about ! Its not a rehearsal

always treat the sound man / technical team / bar staff with respect

coz you want to be asked back and no mater how well you play if you act like tossers they wont want you back!

And thank them at the end of the night!

Be courteous to the other bands on the bill its so much easier to have friends and allies than rivals an enemies in this game

Thank the bands that played before you and plug the bands that play after you

its the least you can do considering you may be using some of there gear

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Guest Stripey
NEVER HAVE A WANK BEFORE - You'll lose your edge and girls can tell if your sacs are empty. They have a weird 6th sense for it and can tell you are useless to them

Save the ejaculation for some dumb slut's face afterwards.

On this note - if there's a bird you fancy' date=' tell her about how nervous you are now and get the sympathy vote. Then, if you strut your stuff like a true rock god - you just got laid.

Remember - we all got in a band to get chicks, no matter what you tell yourself.

Craig[/quote']

You are fucking retarded.

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I just started playing live about a year ago' date=' after home-recording for decades, and am still pretty nervous, but it DOES get a bit easier every time.

The best advice I got was from Eric Euan......If you make a mistake don't stop and say "Fuck it!".......the audience probably won't be as aware of it as you are!

Good luck!!

________________________________________________________________________

Kitchen Cynics.........................................shakin' all over..........................................[/quote']

Not that ee ever make mistakes!!!! ha ha ha !

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Woah, I'm quoted in that article... :O

Set up a mirror infront of where you practice so you can watch yourself performing, or even better, a video camera so you can watch back. If you know and are comfortable with the way you look then you'll be more comfortable being infront of everyone. If you look cool to you then you should look cool to everyone else too. Being onstage is very much about the visual as the music, if people only wanted to hear the music they'd buy the CD and stay at home...

Something I remember hearing some time AGES ago is that when you're addressing a group of people, whether it be as part of a band or for a speech, the place to 'look' from the stage is the top of the head of the person at the very BACK of the venue. There's nothing worse than standing at a gig to see the guitarists etc just looking at first couple of rows, you feel disconnected. If you're looking that little bit above everyone, with a few glances down to the front every now and again, you'll make everyone there think you're engaging them.

I've been pretty lucky being a drummer, you have a barrier as it were between you and the audience, you can just put your head down and just rock out. I have played guitar though and I actually found taking my glasses off was a big help - couldn't see the audience faces, could see if they were cheering or leering....!

At the end of the day it's all about being prepared - fail to prepare, prepare to fail. Know your set, know what you're playing, think about what you might wanna say inbetween songs. You are performing, same as someone in a play or hell, even in a film, come up with a performance. There was a programme on the telly about 10 years ago that followed Metallica for a few gigs and they showed James Hetfield doing almost exactly the same 'random' things at different gigs. See, the big boys do it too;)

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The aubl article is great.

Although I'm not sure aobut the bit that goes:

Dos Dedos had some technical problems in one of their gigs, and as soon as they realised what was happening, the guitarist started playing a little tune. Ross grabbed a megaphone and started yelling stuff through it. After a few minutes the drummer joined in with a simple drum beat. It was good, and the audience stayed to watch it instead of wandering off for a drink.

Makes it sound like we didn't just make it up on the spot...

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Guest stuartmaxwell

i klnow it sounds pretty obvious but i find that a towel is very necessary, i sweat like a bitch and it stings in my eyes, therefore playing most gigs with my eyes shut,

make sure you set your pedals up the same way everytime i.e. you know where they are like the back of your palms, so that when you sweat or daydream or ogle the beautiful women, at least you will know which pedal you hit

duck tape is a wonderful way of attaching leads to pedals as i have ended up booting them and dislodging leads

get pissed in the venue afterwards, dish out free cds, everyone likes free stuff

dont be a cock about money, lucky to get gigs in first place (hate it when your skint though)

i have just reread this, so patronising but i cant be arsed changing the tone

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