Terrible gig

[james condino]

I guess I'm the odd one out as I never drink on the gig and almost always try to get in at least a two hour trail run beforehand so I won't be too wound up & hyper!

 

[pcake]

I don't do well with early wake-ups because I am a night person by nature so insomnia kicks in when I know I have to be somewhere early.

are you me?

 

[LBS-bass]

are you me?

No but we have a lot in common, I bet

 

[mrcbass]

First, it probably wasn't as bad as you recall - we tend to be our own worst critic. I've bemoaned poor showings to band mates during tear down, and usually get "Really? I heard one clinker, but otherwise you sounded great." Sometimes, we're just not as important as we think we are.

Clearly you learned that alcohol is not a solution for being tired, so put that in your experience bag and move forward. All you can do is prepare your best and be as focused as you can be. And try to manage your time so that you're not putting yourself through this. Don't discount the power of rest: most of my worst life moments happened when I was sleep deprived.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

I played a gig like that back in May, and there was no sleep deprivation to be blamed for it. That day I just felt I was "off" in every way. My bandmates didn't notice so maybe it was in my head?

Anyway, it happens to all of us at times that life and music collide in a not so good way.

As long as you learned something from it, all you can do is move on, there'll be more gigs.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Just got home from playing my worst gig ever. Band was good, I sucked. Super sloppy, made mistakes I haven't made in years. Luckily only a couple dozen people heard my ******** playing.

Why was I bad?

I got 4 hours of sleep yesterday then worked a 12 hr night shift. Finished at 8am. Then commuted 3hrs home. Got a 2 hr nap then had to pack up, get to the gig, set up, sound check, dinner, play. Had a couple drinks. Terrible decision.

So tired, could hardly function. Literally forgot what song I was playing 1/2 way through a few times. Just awful.

I need to plan better, take care of myself better. Just be better. Lessons were learned. Now I'm going to sleep.

Well, I think all of us had those kind of gigs. Best advice? Don't beat yourself up. just lather, rinse, but don't repeat.

 

[J-Mags]

Sometimes the gigs where you feel like you're a bit off are the ones where you play your technical best. You're not getting those adrenaline bursts and speeding up. You're not taking anything for granted, so you're paying attention, etc.

 

[Gregc57]

Let it--> Go, and just move forward.

 

[micguy]

Sorry to hear this, but I can relate. One of the BLs I work with has taken to booking us for things that start in the morning. Yesterday I was up at 6 in order to do a 9:00 load in on one of the hottest days of the year so far.

I play church gigs. Some of our call times (set up, tuned up, ready to play) are at 6 AM. Sometimes we'll have a player or two who did a gig the night before. Not sure if the audience can tell, but most of the time, I can tell if someone in the band is not operating on all cylinders.