Pregig rituals?

[richtea]

Originally Posted by TF Ghost

Call my bookie and let him know I'll have his money in a couple hours...

thanks, coffee clean up time. I used to play with a singer that did this with his dealer.

[devilock76]

Nothing more than this (which is actually my pre-set ritual as it is repeated before every set). Bladder empty, glass full. Once that is done there is nothing more I do that is "ritual".

Ken

[Frankjohnson]

Originally Posted by James Judson

My ritual is check out the stage. Make sure all outlets are wired properly. Carry all that stuff in and set it where it goes. Get in the power cable box and run power everywhere we need it. Get in the speaker cable box and run speaker wires. Get in the signal cable box and cable up the rest of the PA. Then I set up my rig plug in and tune up. Then sound check (sometimes I for go this but I do make sure there is a signal coming into each channel). Then I'm bored until show time.

I have a ritual after the show too. Its exactly the same only different.

This is almost my ritual to the T

Add in - help drummer load in and set up - smooze with fans....make new friends...talk with staff - get names/specials to announce.....

[pasta4lnch]

the three S's

[atticpenny]

I see what the bar has on tap. (I'm a bass player. Loading in and setting up takes me all of about 5 mins!)

[gjbassist]

Make sure I'm the last one their so I don't have to help set up the PA!
Load in and set up my gear. Help run mic cables and set up mics. Tune my basses. Do a sound check. Order a beer and something to eat if the place has decent food. Hang out and chat with people until the gig starts.

[SeaBassSteve]

Originally Posted by Morning Beer

This is my biggest fear. I don't eat much the day of show because with my luck, I'll have have to run off stage and spend rest the set in the can...........Hmmmmm maybe I should buy a wireless?

I have done a number 1 mid set before. Toilet was attached to the stage so was easy with wireless

[SeaBassSteve]

Originally Posted by gjbassist

Make sure I'm the last one their so I don't have to help set up the PA!
Load in and set up my gear. Help run mic cables and set up mics. Tune my basses. Do a sound check. Order a beer and something to eat if the place has decent food. Hang out and chat with people until the gig starts.

I make sire I m first one there as I don't trust mu

[matt descending]

Tacos. Not that stuff they pass off for tacos at Taco Bell. Tacos from a Mexican restaraunt. Just a couple of the cheap rico kind, with the two small tortillas, asada steak, and some o that salsa. Then beer, Beer, BEER!

[Faderoktopus]

If it's an important gig I often jump up and down a lot and do a few push-ups right before the show, just to get the pulse up and the muscles warm. Otherwise I usually just noodle up and down the fretboard for a few minutes. I just quit smoking, so we'll see if my gigs go downhill since that ritual got canned.

[turbo chicken]

-30 min power nap and a bowel movement before leaving the house to load gear at drummers place
-Load up, ride to venue
-Load out
-drink glass of water
-use the restroom
-wash the crap out of my hands
-get another glass of water
-Tune up and run Major Triads and then Octaves to stretch the fingers.
-go out back put with my headphone and listen to some jazz or classical until sound check

apparently I don't talk at all during all of this ... per my band mates. Only communication is during load in/out and checking inventory.

[bassman07718]

Double shot of Southern Comfort, then take a piss, then go on.

[jaywa]

By pre-gig ritual I assume you mean after everything's been set up and soundchecked.

I don't have a real set routine but assuming I've got at least 30-45 minutes to kill before I go on, here are some of my do's and don'ts.

I DO:

- Change from my "work clothes" to my stage clothes; sometimes this is nothing more than throwing a nice collared shirt over my T-shirt and changing shoes, but at least it upscales things a little bit and helps me get into "show" mode. If it's been a hot set-up and there's not a shower available I'll wipe down with some of those Clorox Wipes (which I always carry with me), so I'm at least not stinking up the stage.
- Eat something.
- Spend a few minutes by myself outside (if the weather and the neighborhood are good)
- Drink a beer (only 1)... and tip whoever serves it to me.
- Re-check my tuning (it often changes from soundcheck, especially if a lot of people have come in and warmed up the room).
- Re-check all my cable connections, also make sure I have necessary miscellanea at hand such as batteries, picks, etc.
- Spend some time schmoozing the venue staff, learning their names, thanking them for having us, etc.
- Go potty.

I DON'T:

- Mingle or make a lot of small talk with audience members (unless they're people I know). That waits till break.
- Drink more than 1 beer.
- Drink any sort of hard liquor.
- Take a nap.
- Stand any more than I absolutely have to.
- Answer (or even check) my cellphone. When I'm "on", the cellphone is off (and off stage), and everyone who knows me knows this.

[Stan Laurel]

Since I play bass and keyboards and I own the PA, I do most of the setup myself. I usually allocate at least 2 hours. Hook everything up, check all speakers, monitors, mics and instruments. Tune up. Take a break for water or coffee (I don't drink) Then I (we) often have a prayer before we start.

[Stilettoprefer]

Stretch, set up the stage (heavy lifting with amps and whatnot) then get a bottle of water to have one stage and then go take a piss. After the potty break I tune my basses and wait for the other guys to set up.

I skipped the stretching part once and ended up pulling a muscle in my butt while on stage and was rendered motionless and hunched over for the rest of the gig:/ so yeah I stretch every time now. Oh and I MUST wear a purple V-neck on stage. If I don't something just feels off (and it matches my basses very nicely)

[Metalbasshippy]

I usually play some Pentatonic riffs or some minor scale runs to warm up, jam some funk/fusion with the drummer, do a full band sound-check, go and sit somewhere with my bandmates and talk, eat, drink some water, drink more water, use the washroom, grab some water for onstage, jump up and down, stretch my hands out, go onstage and rock out!!

[bassistjoe93]

I don't do much special before a gig. I try not to psych myself out. I usually show up, unload my equipment and help wherever I'm needed... BUT from time to time I also eat something really nasty before hand so I can rip one on the drummer about seven different times in the course of a set. I enjoy myself

[trevcda]

When we hit the hotel and check in, the TV goes on and stays on until check out. No matter what. I even have a card that says not to ever turn off the TV in english and spanish.

Never eat within six hours of a performance. If it's a single set show, I do a rather extensive stretching routine that starts with each finger, then to the hands, the arms, the torso, the legs and then reverses order all the way back to the fingers. Then vocal warm ups. Followed by fret board warm ups. This is usually when I'm working for somebody else. Less so for my own band when we're doing a multi set show. Always plenty of water before and during.

I used to have what I called the sound check cigarette back when a) I smoked regularly and b)you could actually smoke in the venue, when I was working FOH. It was such a ritual, that when the bands I usually worked with saw the first puff of smoke come from FOH, the noodling would stop because they knew I was ready for sound check. Now I have yell through the talk back mic several times to accomplish the same thing.

[jaywa]

For some reason I have never done the whole warm-up thing. Nor do I do the "cram on the parts you're not sure on" thing. I figure by the time I get to the stage and it's "go time" I had better know my stuff and it tends to make me overthink what I'm doing, resulting (ironically) in less confidence and more mistakes than when I just hit the stage cold.

[mantrabass]

Usually check out the venue, meet the other bands, small talk and basically prep my mindset and my instrument.