stage fright

Use a click track so he doesn't get ahead of himself.

 

Hmm, no tips - some people never stop getting butterflies before hitting the stage and during the whole show too. Just don’t worry about, and hopefully as time goes on you’ll feel at home on stage.

 

Usually the more you play the easier it gets. Other than that I find that being as prepared as possible helps; know your songs, know your gear, be early to gigs so you're not stressed out even before the start. If you can, check out the venue before the gig and visualize yourself playing. Help each other out during setup, talk to each other and crack a few jokes to take the mind off the serious thoughts. But don't make a big thing of it, it will improve with experience and confidence once you have played more shows.

And please don't fall into the trap of getting help from pills or drink, that's a dangerous route.

 

Try and arrange a light that faces him, so his view forwards is restricted. Many turns hate to see the audience, others prefer it. Not a lot you can do at a festival tough!

 

He has to realize that NO ONE in the audience is ACTUALLY critiquing his playing (besides other musicians); crowds are looking for drummers to supply the beat and make the song dance-able. As long as people are dancing, he is doing fine. If people are hanging around and not dancing, but not leaving the room, he is still doing fine. Make him realize this!

The real trick to live playing is to recover from your mistakes quickly. Do it quick enough and no one will even notice.

 

Ouch ... you must have some bad gigs. I understand he's nervous with that audience.

 

The more you play out, the calmer your nerves get.

But... I used to psyche myself out, pump myself up. Look in the mirror and say "you're gonna ROCK" or some cheesy thing like that. It helped my channel my nervous energy into my playing instead of being self conscious.

 

Screw up BIG a few times, & live through it to tell the tale & laugh about it later!

 

I'm jealous! I used to get anxious on stage a long time ago. I kinda miss that excited feeling. Harness it and use it!

 

Here's my dos centavos:

If you are no longer getting nervous before hitting the stage, to me that means you no longer care. The nerves imply that you still want to do a good job, impress people, and put on a good show.

The best thing I can say though is that by putting in the work before the gig, and going on stage knowing that you have the songs down 100% as a band, there is little to fear that is within your control.

Stuff will happen, mics wont work, voices will crack, a wrong chord will be played, lyrical mind blanks, cymbals stands will get knocked over, and some a-hole will yell "FREEBIRD". The only question is how will you deal with it. If you let it get to you, you can kill your whole set, however if you simply say "Well that sucked" and move on, most people wont even remember it after the next song.

Tell drummer guy/gal to relax. The audience is letting you know that they are rooting for you simply by being there. They are on your side, unless you give them a reason not to be.

I hope this helps in some way.

 

I played a lotta gigs, and this was another one...........

 

There is a book called "Yoga for Musicians". It has many good techniques for relaxing before, during, and after performing. I forget the author's name

 

I know a drummer (a really good one) that has been playing for over 3- years, and he spends the day of the gig in the toilet, every single time. Sometimes, it just doesn't go away.

 

Like everything else you will get over it. A little bit of nervosity is to be expected for a while and will disappear.

It shows that you are concerned with accomplishing your goal.

"Stage fright" happens many times in life: important job interview, important meeting with clients, asking someone for a date or even jumping out of an aircraft in combat gear.

Ok, maybe not all of us the last one.

 

Have someone take a picture of your drummer when he's on stage.

I showed a similar picture to my stage-frightened drummer and he realized he could barely be seen behind all of those cymbals. He got over his stage fright immediately.

 

I used to tell myself these two things:
1. The vast majority of the audience wishes they had anywhere near enough talent to play/sing.
2. Of those that do have the talent, only a few have the nerve to get onstage and do it in front of strangers.

Tell your drummer to try that.

 

I've been gigging for a long time...and I still get the jitters occasionally, but I've learned to turn it into "come on, lets do this", from "oh god, I don't want to do this".

If anything, its possibly a sign that he's eager to do well and impress his audience, which to my mind is better than having a slouch who thought he was the dogs gonads.

 

Done and seen a ton of mistakes on stage, but as a previous poster mentioned, the nerves are a good thing. Just have to channel them.

Just recently, I was in attendance at a phenomenal show with a well known headliner. 1/2 way through the 3rd song, the singer forgot the lyrics....he laughed and continued the show. Did anyone care? Heck no, he made it fun.