Drinking Before Playing?

[standupright]

depends on what i'm playing. if it's a blues gig, sure i'll lube up with a couple before we go on. jazz or classical? water only. especially if i am reading charts or in the case of classical, reading period. i can't have one beer before playing classical and be able to read/play professionally. that may sound like a lightweight, but i can kill a fifth of tequila and still stand up straight and have a normal conversation.

 

[EamusCatuli]

I like a few beers before playing, but I find that if I'm holding the beer I'm drinking (vs setting it down), my fingers get numb and I've got to warm my hands up before I play. By that point, they're sweaty from rubbing them on my pants to warm them up.

It's a vicious cycle.

 

[kommando84]

I feel like having one beer before playing (especially before singing) helps me loosen up, be less self-conscious, and generally appear more upbeat than if I go on there straight sober and overanalyzing my playing, singing, or appearance.

 

[crayzee]

When my band used to gig, I could never have anything before a gig. I'd get too loose. Fast-forward to today, I could probably have one before the gig and I'd be just fine.

 

[Jazzman]

I tried for many years to stick to the no substances before playing...but I found out that if I have a beer or two before, I am less up tight and tend to play better. It works for me but may not work for others. I wouldn't pass judgment on other players one way or the other as long as they can perform as required; sloppy drunk is a different story completely.

 

[Mystic Michael]

I do this. I don't get Jim Morrison, falling down, blasted out of my gourd but I like a few drinks before playing a gig--2 or 3 or 4 beers. I'll also have one or two between sets for maintenance.

Maintenance? You make it sound like changing the spark plugs. Or checking the tire air pressure. Or replacing the air filter.

Anyone else imbibe a little bit before playing?

Do you smash your head into a wall just before taking a college entrance exam? Do you stick your hands into a punch press just before playing a piano concerto? Do you bash your kneecaps with a hammer just before running a marathon?

MM

 

[standupright]

Maintenance? You make it sound like changing the spark plugs. Or checking the tire air pressure. Or replacing the air filter.



Do you smash your head into a wall just before taking a college entrance exam? Do you stick your hands into a punch press just before playing a piano concerto? Do you bash your kneecaps with a hammer just before running a marathon?

MM

you sound a little uptight.

 

[wildhorse]

Maintenance? You make it sound like changing the spark plugs. Or checking the tire air pressure. Or replacing the air filter.
MM

Maybe he's a quart low.

 

[MattAT]

I love beer. I love music. It just works. Some people are way too uptight about drinking at a gig.

 

[chaosMK]

I don't drink before playing, or much in general these days. Years on the scene with heavy drinking and partying... been there, done that. The healthy lifestyle is so much more rewarding.

However, if possible, I really like to dose a little bit of shrooms before playing- like at the beginning of setting up. Around 2/3 through the show an inkling comes on. During the more anxiety prone phase of a shroom adventure (eg, the first 1-2 hrs) I end up riding the natural post-show buzz and often everyone is telling us how they dug the show, etc. It's a nice trip.

Invalid Link Removed

 

[JazznFunk]

If I have anything to drink before a gig it's during load-in and soundcheck, WELL before we hit the stage, so it's out of my system. Once onstage I have coffee or tea and water the whole night. Alcohol makes me want to go to sleep and dulls my focus. My theory for many years has been that if I succeed or fail at something onstage I want it to be in a completely sober state. The excuse of 'I was drunk and that's why I screwed up' doesn't fly with me when applied to myself or my bandmates. If you drink and it affects the music, even if it's one drink, it's a problem once you step on that stage.

 

[morebass!]

I love a good buzz before I go onstage. Not too much, but just enough to get loose and have fun. I tend to be a little stiff when I play sober, I'm not very fun to watch. Having a few drinks helps me to get more relaxed and move around a lot more, and when I do it right I'm still able to play very well.
My ideal mix:
3-4 Beck's (the greatest beer ever made)
1 shot of Jager immediately before stage time.
Then I'll usually drink 1 or 2 more beers during the set, just nursing it between songs.

Perfect!

 

[pbd]

I'll drink some coffee before a gig but not too much. Never was much a drinker while playing. I always enjoy playing out and for some reason I don't get the gitters too bad.

One time while in the studio me and my buddy were in this diet pepsi kick (not sure why) but was back in the day of glass bottle 8 packs. We could free time at the studio he was working at early on Saturday mornings so we would go in there and jam and work on stuff. We drank a entire 8 pack between the two of us. My hands locked up from the cafiene buzz I was on. hmmm, maybe a couple of beers would have lossened that up? Oh well, too long ago to worry about now.


Todd

 

[morebass!]

When I started out in my teens and twenties I drank way too much...most of the time. Then, for a decade or two I got serious and quit drinking and playing - got so one beer would mess me up. Started drinking again and really like it. Now I have a few and sometimes a few more but not enough to hear things differently or drive poorly. Neither extreme works for me.

 

[PBass101]

However, if possible, I really like to dose a little bit of shrooms before playing- like at the beginning of setting up. Around 2/3 through the show an inkling comes on. During the more anxiety prone phase of a shroom adventure (eg, the first 1-2 hrs) I end up riding the natural post-show buzz and often everyone is telling us how they dug the show, etc. It's a nice trip.

Invalid Link Removed

 

[idoru]

I just finished a 7 week tour up in Darwin, the substance abuse capital of Australia. I've never drunk so much in my life, but much like the OP I kept within my limits for all but the last gig we played. I was doing so well, until people kept buying me shots...

[Edit] Incidentally, while on tour I cut my coffee intake down from 5-6 a day to one only (and sometimes none), and cut my sugar intake down to pretty much fructose only. I even started running again (I wake early!) before I picked up a nasty flu bug. Still put on a couple of kilos from beer though. *sigh* Detox time...

c-

 

[fender_funk_man]

If I'm getting payed to play music. I dont drink. I notice a big drop in my sense of rhythm after only a couple of beers. Though I dont feel it really.

 

[SLIV]

Look familiar?

 

[thump_dumpster]

if you can play after 4 beers then i commend you.... i have to be completely empty... cant play with so much as a sandwich in me....but i have to have a pack of cigs and half a case of mt dew every gig. lol, even smoke on stage during a slow song and do the whole "heavy lefting" thing as i call it.

 

[SLIV]

if you can play after 4 beers then i commend you.... i have to be completely empty... cant play with so much as a sandwich in me....but i have to have a pack of cigs and half a case of mt dew every gig. lol, even smoke on stage during a slow song and do the whole "heavy lefting" thing as i call it.

Trust me, I CAN'T. That's why I put myself in training...

My bandmates can play INCREDIBLY well REALLY drunk. I saw one of them yelling that he had to get his guitar and it was around his neck-- he proceeded to rip it, bigtime. It defies logic (and maybe even science?....) but I've seen it, sober, so I know it can be done.

Some bands play music and some bands play "energy". Both are good and in combination, YIKES!