Stagefright - Performance Anxiety

[R Neil]

Off topic I know but at the the 1968 farewell RAH concert Jack Bruce asked (I think) Pete Brown along in case things got 'interesting' with the famously volatile Mr Baker - they'd had numerous onstage fights, gear had been mysteriously damaged, knives waved around etc. Ginger Baker sat in the dressing room stony faced and ate a bucket of ice before downing the champagne...If he wasn't nervous others may have been.

Beware of Mr. Baker (2012) - IMDb

Also...I was in a hotel lobby a long time ago when GB walked by...'Ginger Baker!' came out of my mouth... he came over, put his face 6" from mine & hissed 'Yes, who the f*** are you ?'

He used the toilets in the lobby & patted me on the shoulder on the way back out...'only joking son'

Mr. Baker is a talented but volatile personality it seems. Sadly. Clapton has said he regrets agreeing to the 2005 NYC concert set. Baker behaved for the London ones, was back to abusive in NYC. Very sad.

THAT sort of behavior in a fellow performer would certainly induce nervousness before and during gigs.

Stumbling fingers still need love ...

[TH]

I got some great advice from Mick Goodrick, second hand from Gary Burton. Long story short, don't try to change how you feel, change how you feel about how you feel. Don't see it as a fear' to be overcome, but embrace it as your body ramping up your energy to later invest in your performance. Best wishes for your music!

PK

Nice. Paul, Mick had many stories about his anxiety, particularly as a young player touring heavily with The Boss. One night, after feeling overwhelmingly stifled by the weight of the crowd in a hall, he got through the evening and then after the show, asked Gary how he dealt with stage fright, how he broke out of that trapped feeling. The advice he was given would change him from that point on.
"Look out into the audience. See the person in the back row. Play to him. You're playing to him."
For what ever was carried by that advice, it worked.

David

[MarkRhodes]

Rule #1 and rule #2 and rule #3 : Be prepared.


Rule #5 There is no perfection. I'm not perfect, you're not perfect, nobody is. Mistakes happen, so what?

The first three rules call to mind something Jerry Seinfeld said in an interview about stage fright. "Security is knowing your lines."

I'm told Michael Caine said, "Rehearsal is the work. Performance is the relaxation."

And perhaps the oldest line I know about performing: "The art is hiding the art."

(Some nervousness is, like some attractions, "purely physical." It helps to take a few deep breaths, maybe recite a mantra that serves to center / settle you. If you hyperventilate before taking the stage, it will go bad even if you know your stuff. <<<< One way to deal with this is open with something you really, really, really have down. Usually being on stage for a minute or so makes some of the jitters pass. Never open with some "wild new sh*t".... ;o)

[jaco]

I always liked the way Stephen Stills dealt with this issue at Woodstock in front of 400,000 people..."Hey man, this is our second gig and we're scared shitless"....

[Donnie]

The First and Worst was when my Dad told me "We're going to sing next Sunday Morning in Church, just me and you." I was about nine years old, and knew three chords (C,F (kinda), and G), and I believe I had my eyes closed the whole time. After we were through, I propped my guitar in the corner and walked down to the pew we sat in. This little girl looked at me and smiled; I remember thinking "this guitar stuff works!" The last time I was nervous was in the Summer of 1974, the first time I played my first SERIOUS gig in a Soul group... I was 18 then.

[Thumpalumpacus]

One way to deal with this is open with something you really, really, really have down. Usually being on stage for a minute or so makes some of the jitters pass. Never open with some "wild new sh*t".... ;o)

I haven't had any real anxiety before a gig, even my first one (unpaid, opening a high-school drama show set in a coffeehouse with thirty minutes of solo 12-string acoustic). I still have always done this, what you're advising here. My first goal with the opening song is to get the crowd into it; the second and perhaps more important (debateable, admittedly) is to get myself into my own comfort-zone. I always start out with a song I have wired.

Not many songs can do both, in my oeuvre -- I don't have the depth of knowledge in my own field that y'all seem to have in yours, and focus more on originals too, which is a handicap. But I've got a few numbers that are energetic and catchy enough that I never let get rusty for this reason. First impressions stick, especially when the audience is free to step out for a cigarette after they've decided you aren't bringing it.

(By the way, that first gig, I was so nervous I broke not one, not two, but three strings on my twelver, including both Gs. Great experience, because the show must go on, and I soldiered through figuring it could only get better.)

[jaco]

I was invited to play Larry Coryell's Memorial here in Orlando this past Sunday by Tracey his wife. He wrote out an arrangement of "She's Leaving Home" that I've been playing for awhile. Anyway, there's around 200...300 people here at his Buddhist center. It wasn't just nerves you're dealing with but the emotional aspect as well...I had studied with him the past few years. Another guy went on first, played really well and then just lost it at the end, I mean broke down sobbing...knocked his guitar over trying to leave the stage...they called me next and I felt so bad for this guy, I went over and told him he did a great job. Then I got on stage and felt totally calm, except for the emotional aspect. I thought I was going to lose it at one point but somehow kept it together.. I played the piece probably the best I ever had. But I'd have to say all things considered...probably the toughest gig I've ever done...and the most rewarding.

[R Neil]

I was invited to play Larry Coryell's Memorial here in Orlando this past Sunday by Tracey his wife. He wrote out an arrangement of "She's Leaving Home" that I've been playing it for awhile. Anyway, there's around 200...300 people here at his Buddhist center. It wasn't just nerves you're dealing with but the emotional aspect as well...I had studied with him the past few years. Another guy went on first, played really well and then just lost it at the end, I mean broke down sobbing...knocked his guitar over trying to leave the stage...they called me next and I felt so bad for this guy, I went over and told him he did a great job. Then I got on stage and felt totally calm, except for the emotional aspect. I thought I was going to lose it at one point but somehow kept it together.. I played the piece probably the best I ever had. But I'd have to say all things considered...probably the toughest gig I've ever done...and the most rewarding.

I've both played guitar as an accompanist and sung at memorial services. It was a LOT easier my 20's. By late 40's got pretty hard to sing, but I still did a couple. I'd rather not perform as anything but accompanist these days, as the emotions ... even soloing on guitar ... would be dang difficult to play through. Singing ... I just hope no one asks that I couldn't turn down.

Those are the hardest gigs I've ever done. Doing a classical tenor vocal competition (normally a "naked" experience) is *nothing* compared to a funeral.

Stumbling fingers still need love ...

[Donnie]

I've both played guitar as an accompanist and sung at memorial services. It was a LOT easier my 20's. By late 40's got pretty hard to sing, but I still did a couple. I'd rather not perform as anything but accompanist these days, as the emotions ... even soloing on guitar ... would be dang difficult to play through. Singing ... I just hope no one asks that I couldn't turn down.

Those are the hardest gigs I've ever done. Doing a classical tenor vocal competition (normally a "naked" experience) is *nothing* compared to a funeral.

Stumbling fingers still need love ...

I agree with you about that setting... I was asked to sing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" by a friend for her friend's Husbands Funeral. I can't tell anyone, in that situation no, but playing in that setting is no easy task.

[R Neil]

I agree with you about that setting... I was asked to sing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" by a friend for her friend's Husbands Funeral. I can't tell anyone, in that situation no, but playing in that setting is no easy task.

Oh ... my. Somewhere Over the Rainbow at a friend's funeral ... oh ... wow.

Stumbling fingers still need love ...

[destinytot]

I agree with you about that setting... I was asked to sing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" by a friend for her friend's Husbands Funeral. I can't tell anyone, in that situation no, but playing in that setting is no easy task.

No reflection on the above, but I'm reminded of a Significant Event in my own past.

Some of my sister's friends (suddenly and unexpectedly) decided to sing at the graveside as our mother's coffin was being lowered; I swear she would (almost) have approved had I pushed them in, and that I (almost) wish I had.