Advice for first performance?

[Gbass75]

Now go have fun already and remember not to suck.

Yes! Turn the "suck" ALL THE WAY DOWN on your amplifier.

Then, you're good.

 

[AaronVonRock]

Have a couple of beers before you go on to loosen up. Things will work themselves out from there. Have fun.

 

[Gbass75]

Have a couple of beers before you go on to loosen up. Things will work themselves out from there. Have fun.

Just make sure you know your limits with the booze (see post #2).

 

[Papa Dangerous]

You have nothing to worry about. You are the bassist. Most people won't know you are up there

 

[jbossolo]

^ ROFL. But true. Similar experience coming here soon, music school recital with my two daughters (10 and 14) on vocals, my 8 y/o son on drums, yours truly botching up the bass, my teacher on guitar. We're playing "Dance with me tonight" by Olly Murs. Should be fun. Wife's on video detail. Have fun with it bro, that's what it's all about.

 

[FenderBassist]

I would say, focus on being tight with the drummer. I have found that you can create a solid foundation for each song that way, giving the guitarist(s) & vocalist(s) a little more freedom to do their "moving around" to engage the audience.

However, if it's really important to you to do the same....I can suggest watching this:

In this performance, I thought Kim Shattuck (who looks/sounds great at 50) did a very good job of playing the lines (replacing Kim Deal, who left the band) and moving as she felt to give a visual aspect without going overboard.

 

[Sid Fang]

Soon I'll be playing in front of people for the first time... Not including the band obviously. It's not really a gig as such, it's at our college and we're only doing 2 or 3 songs and some other groups are playing too.

I'm not having confidence issues or anything, I just don't really know what to actually do on stage. I don't want to stand there like a lemon but I certainly don't plan on manically jumping round headbanging! Any advice on this?

Congratulations, this is the point at which you get to start inventing yourself as a stage character. Assuming you're not being also called on for lead vocal duties, which imposes more constraints, your bassist character COULD be a sullen presence who just stands there "like a lemon", if that's what you want to develop. Or a character who manically jumps around headbanging - though keeping that up for full sets is exhausting and not to be taken lightly. But you probably want to start out somewhere between those extremes. Things to keep in mind:

• Audiences like to be acknowledged. Try not to spend all your time looking at your instrument and your drummer. Look out at the audience from time to time and acknowledge them with a nod or a smile or projectile vomiting or something. On thing I learned to do when I was starting out at public performance was to look out in the general direction of the audience, without actually making eye contact with anyone in particular - sudden eye contact with an attractive stranger has been known to make people miss notes.
• If you're playing dance music - and rock'n'roll counts as dance music - your implicit objective is to get people moving, and that's psychologically infectious. Don't do it it you don't feel it, but let yourself move to the groove when you feel one going. Just bouncing a bit on your feet and moving back and forth on stage is much much better than nothing.
• If you make a mistake, chances are the audience had no idea - how many of them have ever learned the bass parts to the songs you play? - don't grimace or hesitate. Own it, fix it on the next time through (or repeat it, just to prove you meant it) and move on.

Don't overthink this - get out there and have fun - but it is a craft, and has its elements to be learned.

 

[xUptheIronsx]

If you focus on making mistakes, you WILL make mistakes!

Just get up there and do what you do, Don't plan on doing anything other than going where the music and the moment take you.

DO plan on:
1. getting to the gig on time, with ALL of your gear in good working order
2. playing the part correct
3. listening to the other players
4. making sure your sound is balanced well

I have been playing for 25+ years...more gigs than I can remember - and I still never plan on doing anything other than the 4 things mentioned above. After that, each gig is different, Sometimes I stay in my area and chill, sometimes I end up in the pit with my bass....that is all icing on the cake after the initial 4 things...

 

[zortation]

For your sake----get some one to photograph and/or videotape the gig. You'll thank yourself in the years to come!

Definitely.

 

[Quackhead]

Don't overthink it. And if you make a mistake, just relax, keep going and get back on track as soon as you can.

 

[Gaolee]

Three or four songs? You are going to be pissed and disappointed that it is over so fast. You are going to have a complete blast, and the more fun you are having, the more fun the audience will have. Then be prepared to be hooked badly. The only thing I can think of that compares to paying in front of an audience is road racing a motorcycle. Both are completely addictive.

 

[chadhargis]

Best advice I can give you...never break the groove. If you hit a wrong note, and you more than likely will, just keep on grooving. No one will notice a few wrong notes, but they will notice if the groove is interrupted. There have been impromptu songs I've had tossed at me that I was not familiar with and I've muted the strings and plucked along. Just a dead "thud", but it grooved until I figured out the song.

 

[StuartV]

Forget the audience and pay attention to your bandmates. Even if you don't feel like you need their attention for anything, one of them may develop a need for your attention. It could be "let's go around and do the second verse again". Or it could be "hey, your amp head is about to fall off your cab." You never know.

I hate when I'm on a gig on drums and something happens where I need to communicate something to another band member - maybe just with a look, or maybe by mouthing some words or whatever - and I can't get anybody to even glance my way.

 

[MrAwesomes]

Apart from the first 20 seconds or so, it was actually really good I didn't move all that much but I didn't feel like I needed to. Just tonnes of eye contact to make up for the guitarists' constant fretboard staring.

As for the very beginning... All the amps were set up ready as there a lot of different bands going on and off, and there were a bunch of leads tangled up on top of the bass amp. Before I'd even walked within 4 meters of it the lead guitarist thought it'd be funny to start playing immediately, thinking that the two bar intro would be enough. The other guitarist plugged in in time, the drummer was already set but all I had was a bunch of tangled leads. I picked one at random and started playing... Nothing.
I don't think anyone noticed except the drummer (laughing his ass off) so I just quickly swapped the lead over and it was all awesome after that

 

[jlepre]

Don't do this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixA8cA_fVJc

 

[huckleberry1]

don't change your technique & be overly self-conscious, trust your instincts...

 

[shaft311]

Glad to hear it went well!

 

[D Bopp]

You have nothing to worry about. You are the bassist. Most people won't know you are up there

Funny, but it is true. I have to remind myself a lot of times that no one really cares about me up on stage since I am not the guitar player or lead singer. Once you come to that realization, playing in front of tons of people seems much easier.

 

[mellowinman]

Be the ball, Danny.

 

[KingRazor]

Three or four songs? You are going to be pissed and disappointed that it is over so fast. You are going to have a complete blast, and the more fun you are having, the more fun the audience will have. Then be prepared to be hooked badly. The only thing I can think of that compares to paying in front of an audience is road racing a motorcycle. Both are completely addictive.

Heh, my first time on stage we only played one song.