What do you drink during a gig?

[dalley]

damn I'm a drunk

doing the original band thing for many years, I never really drank during a gig because the sets only lasted ~45 min or so.

These days, with my cover band, I'm good for 10-12 Miller Lite's and perhaps a couple of shots of Jager if someone buys them (and they usually do). This is over a 4 hour period. Now the scary thing is that I think I am so used to drinking during gigs now it does not affect my playing. I even sing lead on a few tunes as well. We play up the "party band" thing and our crowds tend to buy lots of alcohol. The bar owners love us because of this ...

if you do drink, just be careful driving home

[DrDrill]

Nothing if i'm driving.

If i'm not driving (which isn't often) 4 or 5 beers.

If i'm playing at local party night with my mates however......

...that's when we do the AC/DC set

[Uncle Mike]

Let me give you a clue about playing in the southern United States outside in the summer. ( i.e. Mississippi)

You get to the stage which has no shade. The temp is 102 that is like 38 Celsius. No wind. 100% humidity(sticky hot). Your shirt is soaked before you even get on the stage. The air is so hot your lungs hurt after a the first song. My GK heads get wrapped in towels(to catch the condensation) then a plastic bag full of ice is placed on top of each of them. Behind them is a portable fan blowing the air over the ice and down into the amps. This is the only way I have found to keep them running while we play gigs like this. Otherwise the thermal cuts them off.

The last thing I would do is drink something with alcohol and stand out in this heat.

[ThunderSix66]

Originally Posted by dalley

if you do drink, just be careful driving home

you mean, be careful and don't drive yourself home. had more than one friend die because of that

[Matt Call]

WATER!

[God of Rapture]

About 2-3 beers before the show. Then drink a beer or two during.

[bass349]

Water.. unless it's a terrible gig and it doesn't matter how bad i sound.

I found a long time ago that my playing goes to **** when i drink. My time is affected and my abilty to improvise and react to the music around me is severely compromised. So, unless it's a terrible gig where these things don't really matter (and luckilly for me this is very rarely!) then i stick to the water, as do the rest of my six piece band.

[sedan_dad]

1 maybe 2 during setup and into the first set ,then it's soda water and lemon the rest of the night.

[Johnny Crab]

1 hour before gig:Poweraide, whey protein, Amino Fuel, & handful of assorted vitamins.
During gig: water & Poweraide until last hour
During gig(last hour): Plain coke and/or coffee.

Why? AFTER loadout, I drive 94 miles home....

Exception?
Every so often, someone sends up one of those sweet liquor shots. No problem with that small amount....as long as it ain't tequila or something brain-numbing/DUI-inspiring.

[nubs]

coffee (all day everyday) all the way to the show, water and diet pepsi when i play......i lost a few decent gigs because i drank in excess for a few years, and with that some credibility as a player in the area as well...for me it was play music or drink i couldn't do both or ever drink in moderation.....i been sober now a number of years and my playing shows it.

[Pini]

I tend to drink an energy drink or a cappuccino pre-gig and water during.

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Water only. On occasion, maybe a coke or something. No alcohol.

[davedamage]

ha. wow. you guys have entirely too much restraint.
i own a bar and about half of my gigs are here, amongst many friends and fellow musicians. i honestly play better after drinking in a live setting. practicing i normally only have a few but even 12 years into it, i still get nervous as all hell when you put a few hundred people if front of me. and here is where mr. jameson comes in. we normally have 4 bands, we play 3rd or 4th and i am SAUCED by that time. usually most of a bottle of jameson and quite a few shots equal parts jim, jack, and wild turkey. if i haven't had enough to drink i play fine, but i just kinda stand around looking weirded out. after about 10 stiff drinks, look out. hitting people with headstocks, losing glasses, etc, etc. but that's just me. if you've heard my band, you'd see why. i have this down to a science these days, but you can only do so much when you spend all day every day around liquor.

[stuonbass]

I like a glass of ale each time we break. No more than 4 or 5 a night. One night on a fill in gig, the guitar player kept buying me jaeger shots. That and my usual beer quota had me quite tipsy at the end of the night!

[Johnny Crab]

Originally Posted by davedamage

ha. wow. you guys have entirely too much restraint.

That was now, not then.
Back then, it was beer from soundcheck to the end of set 2.
Set 3 was orange juice, water, and plain cokes until I got home.
Then it was 2 aspirin and a glass of water.

[RoMeRz]

When I was playing I would buy one of those 2 litre bottles of water and have about 3/4 of it drank before I even went on stage. The last 1/2 would be drank while playing.

Made the gig generally better than when I drank fizzy juice or alcohol. Just was more awake and 'with it'

[RayO5421]

i'll usually have an arizona iced green tea and water (the tea helps me with vocals (not to mention i love it!))

[roadkill2309]

One or two Guinness in a night, coupled with a tonne of water. Sometimes the audience-members buy us a round of something, but the whole band's pretty careful not to overdo it.

[travis0017]

4 beers at the venue/dinner with the band and two tall boys on stage (or whatever the special is if the club is not providing).

[SlavaF]

If it's free booze, usually about 4-5 beers and a couple shots of tequila before, and about a beer or 2 during the sets. Otherwise, slightly less. I'm planning on taking a liter bottle of water to my gigs this weekend, to keep the throat feeling aight.

I've never had any bad drunk episodes (yet), but I have seen some "memorable" ones