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Huge gig fast approaching

No need to be nervous. Some tiny kind of anxiety or nervousness are always good though.
It's the pre-game jitters. I used to get over-wound before playing any sports, getting onto the track on the motorcycle, and I still get the pre-game jitters before going on stage. Even if there's only going to be two people in the audience. Get that last nervous leak out of your system before going on. That's one last thing to think about. A drink of water, and then bomb's away! I have never been sky diving, but I would imagine the fear and loathing rush would be even more intense than stage fright.
 
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Unfortunately, and I know because I live in Houston, the crowds won't all be at their seats until 5 minutes before the feature act appears. That's just the way it works over here. Houstonians sit out the opening band for food,rest rooms, etc.. No disrespect just the crazy way this town works. So don't let the crowd let you down.
 
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+1 to those who have said bigger crowds are less nerve-wracking. When you have, like seven people in the room, you feel every single pair of eyes on you and worry about what each of them is thinking. When there are a thousand people, it's just a big anonymous mass and the stage is your own kingdom.
 
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and I am nervous as hell.

March 15th in Houston at a large conference center. My band is located in Ohio. Opening for a fairly well known act. Have 1.5 hours to jam as many songs in as possible. Expecting anywhere between 5000 to 7500 people.

Biggest crowd I have played is about 150 people.

set list is solid, can play it in my sleep but damn....pressure is building. No practice tonight. Me and my friend jackieD are just gonna chill tonight.
Hey man, just forget about it. The only thing that's different is you're gonna make more people happy than usual. Bigger room, bigger crowd. Same tunes, same feel, same groove. Have fun.
 
About 15 years ago, I went from playing gigs in front of a couple of hundred people to playing to opening for a well known national act and playing for 25,000. My current band usually plays for crowds ranging from 1,000 to 5,000. I find that I much less nervous playing in front of larger crowds. The stages are usually higher and there is something about seeing a large crowd that I like. For some reason I get very uncomfortable in a small venue where the audience is within a couple of feet me.
 
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I lived in a mid sized collage town years ago and in the summer we'ed have collage kids work for us. One was a Thespian Geek that got me involved in the big summer play as they needed more actors. I was older and got lured into it thinking I would play an outlaw in the Broadway play of Jessie James. Sounded like fun! Somehow the really attractive female director talked me into singing a song! Ya, (My years of playing on small stages in bands as the Bass Player helped). As it turns out my song was Acapella and all I got was a single harmonica note to key off of! Talk about freak out! I didn't think the show would be a big deal (in this case ignorance was my bliss!). We played two weeks 5 days straight each week in the biggest Theater in town. Yes it was over 250 people a night!!! But like mentioned being on that big stage with the band pit in front the audience was almost in the back ground and they looked more like a non threatening wall of smaller faces. Weird but true and so much better than up front and personal.
l think you will be fine with your tight group of fiends! And if it helps at all just think of me the amateur vocalist all by myself on that big stage!
They claimed the show was the best ever done with the greatest attendance!
You can do it too! Just remember not to fall off the stage! And good luck my friend! :bassist::hyper: Post photos!!!
 
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and I am nervous as hell.

March 15th in Houston at a large conference center. My band is located in Ohio. Opening for a fairly well known act. Have 1.5 hours to jam as many songs in as possible. Expecting anywhere between 5000 to 7500 people.

Biggest crowd I have played is about 150 people.

set list is solid, can play it in my sleep but damn....pressure is building. No practice tonight. Me and my friend jackieD are just gonna chill tonight.

A couple pics of the venue. Sound check in one hour. One pick from floor about 1/2 back and one from the stage.
 

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