Have someone get lots of pictures. And don’t forget to look around and enjoy every minute.
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Playing my first show tomorrow night
- Thread starter GodPlayedBass
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- bass bass heroes first show live
Don’t worry about the gear, enjoy the ride. Practice was always my antidote to nervousness; if you know the songs what have you got to be nervous about?
Have a blast!
Have a blast!
Nobody will care in the slightest that your bass isn't a Fodera. If you can play, they'll love you. If you can't....it's a punk band - do whatever you do with energy, and you'll be fine.
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Many a member has gigged with lesser performing gear, especially fifty plus years ago.
Just prior toy first gig:
Me: I'm kinda nervous
Dad: someone will always like you and the band and someone will not. Of course it may be your mom that like you with the crap you guys play.
He was kidding at least somewhat about our choice of music.
Just prior toy first gig:
Me: I'm kinda nervous
Dad: someone will always like you and the band and someone will not. Of course it may be your mom that like you with the crap you guys play.
He was kidding at least somewhat about our choice of music.
- Jul 7, 2010
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- Endorsing Artist for: Duncan Pickups; Line6, Hipshot, GHS Strings, Somnium Guitars
Enjoy it! Remember if you make a mistake MOST people wont notice it especially if it's original stuff. Also DONT over think what you are doing just do it and make it look like you are having fun! (which you should do anyway)
Oh and it goes to 11!
Oh and it goes to 11!
Lots of great advice here already.
I played my first gig two weeks shy of my 55th birthday and was playing with a bunch of very experienced musicians. I felt like I was in WAY over my head, mostly because I was.
What I figured out right away was to harness the nerves. Feel the energy they bring out in you rather than the fear and your playing will almost feel effortless. If you can focus on that, you'll play well and have a blast!
Just stay focused enough on the music rather than listening to the cool stuff your bandmates are doing. In the beginning I sometimes found myself listening to them and would realize I didn't know where we were in the song.
It didn't take long to realize the key was being IN the moment and creating it rather than going outside of the moment and observing/appreciating it.
You'll be fine!
I played my first gig two weeks shy of my 55th birthday and was playing with a bunch of very experienced musicians. I felt like I was in WAY over my head, mostly because I was.
What I figured out right away was to harness the nerves. Feel the energy they bring out in you rather than the fear and your playing will almost feel effortless. If you can focus on that, you'll play well and have a blast!Just stay focused enough on the music rather than listening to the cool stuff your bandmates are doing. In the beginning I sometimes found myself listening to them and would realize I didn't know where we were in the song.
It didn't take long to realize the key was being IN the moment and creating it rather than going outside of the moment and observing/appreciating it.You'll be fine!
Check your tuning, remember you're there for a reason and not someone else.
My experience is once you make that first mistake that you think is earth-ending, than realize that the band played through it and the audience didn't notice, the jitters go away.
I rock my Squiers and Rumble 100 all the time, your attitude matters far more.
Rock it like you own it. Best of luck.
I am by all accounts a terrible bassist (only been playing for like 6 months) and I've played a few gigs and didn't get tomatoes thrown at me.
You'll do great amigo. You're nervous which means you care, but you've been practicing so you know the stuff. After the first song you'll be in the groove. Let us know how it goes!
You'll do great amigo. You're nervous which means you care, but you've been practicing so you know the stuff. After the first song you'll be in the groove. Let us know how it goes!
You’ll do fine..you might want to take a few minutes today to make sure you have your difficult transitions and licks down. Call it a quick review.
Keep in mind, this is a show for the benefit of the audience. Stay within yourself, what you’ve practiced. Try not to reinvent the wheel or win a Grammy the first night out.
Most of all, have fun. Best wishes.
Don't worry about gear. Don't worry about anything. You're not working your instrument, you're playing it. So play!
Yes, I totally forgot to say that - please check in afterward and tell us how it went.
Take some deep breaths before you go on. Not enough to hyperventilate
but enough to calm you down. Do it again between songs or even while playing if you start getting anxious.Then enjoy yourself. This is what you've been working for.
Stretch before you go on. This will help you stay loose when you are playing.
I played with a guy whose nerves got to him during gigs and his right forearm would tense up really tight. So take a minute and stretch your hands, forearms, upper back and legs.
I played with a guy whose nerves got to him during gigs and his right forearm would tense up really tight. So take a minute and stretch your hands, forearms, upper back and legs.
dave64o has given you good advice about the nerves. Many of the things you anticipate being a problem, won't be. Things you could never imagine being a problem, well... surprise. Use the energy to propel you, not hold you back. Fear is not a good or bad thing. It's what one does with it.
lol just know ya parts, my first band was the same thing, punk/metal..and i auditioned with a cheap Hondo p bass.
Don't stop playing. Wrong notes are 'passing tones' not mistakes. Smile and have fun.
Good luck and have fun! Mistakes happen to even the best of players, don’t try to be perfect. Sometimes you’re the only person who realizes you made a mistake anyhow! It’s all good. Enjoy the experience and learn from it if things don’t go as planned in some parts.
Great! Have fun. I hope that this is just your beginning of a long “career” of playing out. As long as you enjoy it.
The stress of performing never fully goes away, and I have been playing out for almost 60 years (Yikes!). It eases overtime. You learn to live with it. It also helps to keep you on your toes. Music exists in time, the notes are fleeting. It is the overall performance that effects people and what they remember.
I was playing a run of Fiddler On the Roof a couple of years ago, and the first violinist, a very accomplished and experienced player, admitted to me that she was terrified every night even though she had played the show many, many times before. But she had the opening notes of the show all by herself playing a simple melody, one which everyone in the theater knew by heart and would instantly recognize a mistake. Of course, she nailed it every night. With original music and this being your first show, no one in the audience will know a priori what it is supposed to sound like. Even if you don’t play it exactly as you want to, they will just think, “Wow, what a cool arrangement!”
As others have said, nobody cares what equipment you play, except, perhaps, the nerdy bass player in the audience. And even then, he/she will likely be more interested in the music with a secondary interest in equipment.
Break a lick!
The stress of performing never fully goes away, and I have been playing out for almost 60 years (Yikes!). It eases overtime. You learn to live with it. It also helps to keep you on your toes. Music exists in time, the notes are fleeting. It is the overall performance that effects people and what they remember.
I was playing a run of Fiddler On the Roof a couple of years ago, and the first violinist, a very accomplished and experienced player, admitted to me that she was terrified every night even though she had played the show many, many times before. But she had the opening notes of the show all by herself playing a simple melody, one which everyone in the theater knew by heart and would instantly recognize a mistake. Of course, she nailed it every night. With original music and this being your first show, no one in the audience will know a priori what it is supposed to sound like. Even if you don’t play it exactly as you want to, they will just think, “Wow, what a cool arrangement!”
As others have said, nobody cares what equipment you play, except, perhaps, the nerdy bass player in the audience. And even then, he/she will likely be more interested in the music with a secondary interest in equipment.
Break a lick!
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