Practicing the day of the Gig

[jaco1]

I've heard Pat Metheny shows up at soundcheck and will play/practice for three hours or more before a gig. Martin Taylor has said he never touches the guitar the day of a gig. I guess it's really what works for you. But with traveling and all that entails, I think I would want to rest up. What do you guys think?

[Liarspoker]

I don't think that I could play cold. I like to play a few tunes about an hour or so before...

[AllanAllen]

When I play as well as Martin Taylor, I’ll consider how he maintains his skill. Until then I’ll practice as much as I can.

[paulkogut]

I ran across this on Ethan Iverson's blog

"Tootie Heath says that in the really old tradition, when a musician sits down to play a concert, it is very important for the musician not to have worked on music yet that day. The player’s mind should be fresh, and they should ask the ancestors for permission to create. Everyone in the circle should be on the same fresh page, ready to respond not just to all the other musicians in the circle but also to the primordial reason to play music.
This is a devotional attitude, an African attitude."
It really resonated with me, because I've always felt that this was the way to go, even from when I was getting my earliest stage experience in mid-80's college jam bands

It can be difficult to pull off in the real world, though. Gigging locally, it's likely you spent the day teaching, and on tour, there still might be a clinic, or at the very least you have to make sure the guitar survived the plane ride

I at least try not to improvise, and especially not on the tunes to be played on the gig. Maybe some warmups, scales/patterns, or working through a tricky head, but I want the actually creating of that night's music to be as organic and agenda-less as possible

PK

[pauln]

I don't practice the day of a performance, but I do plug into whichever amp I'm taking for about
ten minutes to make sure it sounds OK before packing it up (mine are all tube amps). Likewise, I
avoid listening to music that day; I show up with an empty, fresh, uncontaminated musical mind.

[JazzPadd]

On the day of a performance I only do a short gear check and a little warmup. Rarely practice; that’s for other days. But I know people who practice on the day, so I suppose whatever works.

[DonEsteban]

Practice on the day of the concert? In my experience, it depends on the circumstances.

If you arrive the day before, you have to "get around" the whole day before you go to the venue for sound check in the afternoon. Sure, the first few years you also like to run through the city like a tourist, but that quickly subsides. Besides, almost all cities look the same nowadays.

So what could be more obvious than to go to the venue and the dressing room early and practice there for a few hours.

If the concert day is arrival day, it looks completely different. After hours of driving, you'll be glad to find some rest and concentration. (And a hot shower!) There is only a short warm-up in the dressing room. (80% of my gigs where like that)

At gigs with FOH, however, our sound check almost always ended in playing a blues, if only because the sound engineer also needs the whole ensemble for the mix. It's kind of fun playing in an empty hall, a bit like singing in the bathroom... too much reverb... :-)

[Alter]

I do play. I just make sure my hands get some rest an hour or two before the gig. Perfection is when you have some time to chill before the show, whether local or a traveling gig.

Playing all day at home, and then doing a local gig at night is kind of a perfect day!

[Ukena]

A friend of a friend who toured with Miles many years ago tells a story of when Herbie Hancock joined the quintet. The first gig was in a place that was pretty large, and H.H. found a room somewhere that had a piano. He started warming up, and I guess the sound carried, because Miles searched him out. He burst in the room, allegedly, and asked "What the f*** are you doing?" The reply, "Warming up." was answered with the admonition that everyone warms up together, on stage.

[Marinero]

When playing saxophone/flute in the early days or Classical/Bossa/Jazz on the Classical Guitar, I never played the day of the gig. However, about 20 minutes before performing, I would blow scales on the horn(on stage) or would do warm-up exercises on the guitar(usually in an office). It was far easier to skip the warmup on the saxophone, however, it was essential for me to get my hands ready for the guitar or I would be assured a few blips during the first few pieces until they were warm. The second set was never a problem.
Marinero

[Alter]

I once met Herardo Nunez, the great flamenco player in a festival. He flew in town, got breakfast at around 8-9 in the morning, then got to his room and played guitar until the afternoon, where he had a duet concert with Badi Assad!

His room happened to be next to mine, so I spent most of the day listening!

[wintermoon]

The night before yes, day of, no. I like to be clear minded as others have mentioned.
and no band rehearsals day of either.

[Gilpy]

The easy stuff I don’t practice the day of the gig.
But there are always a few things that are pushing my technical limits, and I’ll spend some time on those so I can be more confident.

[SOLR]

Classical musicians soloists or in an orchestra certainly warm up the day of the show, some actually go though specific area of the score sometimes as a whole section (brass for ex.) Opera/ jazz singers also warm up with "vocalises". Ballet dancers, athletes warm up all day literally, albeit there's a more rigorous demand on the body. Practice per say is a different thing..

Story;
Walking back stage during intermission I see a famous ballet dancer I knew well, she's the only one not going thru her routine during the pause , she's just chatting with techs and having a good time, all the others are rehearsing/practicing their upcoming solos/variations...I ask her why is she not doing the same as the others (this girl could dance!) she answers "if I don't know what I am supposed to do by now it's not this practice that's going to change anything".... She looked the most comfortable on that stage, it was pure magic.

of course YMMV or "this tape will self destruct"....

S