Stagefright - who suffers from it and how do you deal with it?

[rOB]

[quote name='LemonCello' timestamp='1330881665' post='1564294']
We go out of our way to support him, big up his drumming (which is actually very good), go over stuff he is concerned about etc.
[/quote]

Sounds like you are excellent band mates. Supporting each other is all part of being in a band IMO.

[mrtcat]

On occasion when we're playing somewhere really busy and I see few members of other local bands in the audience i get that nervous feeling as the place fills up before we go on. I love it tho. It's that kind of "I feel very alive" moment. I'm a fanatical kitesurfer and when you turn up at the beach with the wind howling a gale and big waves rolling in you get that same nervous feeling. It makes you respect the situation and keeps you sharp.

I know my nerves don't sound like a patch on yours but I guess they're what makes it addictive.

[4000]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1330879038' post='1564245']
There's a reasonably clear line between pre-gig nervousness and stage fright. Most of us are afflicted by the former and many are afflicted by the latter. In either case, some simple, established routines and mental exercises can help.

Positive visualisation and avoidance of external stress helps. One can develop one's own approach, but, for myself, the following helps:

* Early arrival and a quick scout round the venue to familarise myself with the general layout.

* Briefly occupy the 'stage area' before set-up and look out at the room, while thinking "I own this space". If the stage area is big enough, walk round it to 'establish my territory'.

* Get my rig set up as quickly as possible then get off the stage, leaving other band members to have their little stress-outs. Return only when they're done fussing.

* Soundcheck (if poss), then find a quiet place to run through the intro parts to each song in setlist order - once only. Put the bass in position then go for a stroll.

* Going on - I look at the audience and think "I'm not standing up in front of [i]you[/i]. You're sitting down in front of [i]me[/i]"

[color=#ffffff].[/color]
[/quote]

The problem is I pretty much do all this (although is it better to mark your territory by spraying? ). Then the set starts and I freeze. It's not that I can't play, my chops are pretty decent. It's more a red light fever kind of thing. I just go blank and basically become incredibly tense; I could barely move my fingers Friday. I don't think it helps that the past couple of gigs I've had to hit the instrument completely cold and I always like to warm up for a while first (pretty essential given current issues anyway). FWIW I'm the same with public speaking. Been on the courses, read the books, still absolutely useless.

I used to know a guy who could play darts to world standard down the pub, but stick him in a competition and he was useless. Similar issue.

[4000]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1330880254' post='1564260']
My self talk is appalling anyway and I am always aware of how I am playing but I don't really care what anyone else is thinking at any given moment. If I am not happy and someone says it was great, it doesn't make me feel any better. Likewise, If I think it was great and someone says it was sh*t, I'm inclined to dismiss them.
[/quote]

Oh absolutely +1. But it's more of a physical thing. It's more like my body simply going into shock. I was fine Friday until the first note. Must admit I used to always play much better when hammered (I have the tapes to prove it!)

[Dave Vader]

I don't suffer from stage fright, never have (not what you want to hear I know) but I put it down to having no pride, or shame, and not caring much whether it goes wrong or not (thankfully it very rarely does, which has probably helped with the NGAF attitude).

[BottomE]

It must be really tough to get up on stage if you suffer from a lot of anxiety. Like others have said more eloquently, get yourself a routine, know what you are doing, try and avoid all the band politics and embrace the situation.

I have a few aches and pains from a mis-spent youth and the only time they seem to go away completely is when i am on stage playing bass. Its a unique space. Where else can you get paid to stare at loads of lovely young specimens... oh and play some music?

[4000]

[quote name='mrtcat' timestamp='1330882867' post='1564311']
On occasion when we're playing somewhere really busy and I see few members of other local bands in the audience i get that nervous feeling as the place fills up before we go on. I love it tho. It's that kind of "I feel very alive" moment. I'm a fanatical kitesurfer and when you turn up at the beach with the wind howling a gale and big waves rolling in you get that same nervous feeling. It makes you respect the situation and keeps you sharp.

I know my nerves don't sound like a patch on yours but I guess they're what makes it addictive.
[/quote]

I'll add that I hate, hate, hate the sensation of adrenalin surge. The sensation is horrible. I'm your ultimate chill-out guy.

[Johngh]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1330875580' post='1564181']
I don`t get any stage fright as such, the only thing I get is a "hurry up and lets get on stage" feeling, rather like a kid waiting for Xmas Day, as I enjoy playing live so much.

Some may say that this may be a form of stage fright, I don`t know, only that I never get nervous about how many are in the audience, will I play ok, is my gear going to work properly etc, so to me, that`s an absence of stage fright.
[/quote]

This about sums up how I feel as well. However, if I'm soundchecking and I'm struggling to get a decent tone, then that gets my nerves more than anything else. To be honest, I normally set up, then go and find a chippy and stuff my face, then get back to the venue, get a pint and then go and play.
I just kind of have a set routine that I go through just before we play.

[Gust0o]

Skank has pretty much nailed my pre-gig preparation - but that's one for dealing with the nerves; do you do anything different if you're genuinely suffering with stagefright?

[mrtcat]

[quote name='4000' timestamp='1330884726' post='1564357']
I'll add that I hate, hate, hate the sensation of adrenalin surge. The sensation is horrible. I'm your ultimate chill-out guy.
[/quote]

Yeah there's clearly a fundamental difference. I'm like a cat on a hot tin roof most of the time and get bored soooooo easily. My wife despairs cos I have to be active all the time.

I know it may sound like hocus pocus but would you consider hypnotherapy or anything? I've never believed in it myself but it sounds like very little else has helped thus far.

[4000]

[quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1330884358' post='1564348']
It must be really tough to get up on stage if you suffer from a lot of anxiety. Like others have said more eloquently, get yourself a routine, know what you are doing, try and avoid all the band politics and embrace the situation.

I have a few aches and pains from a mis-spent youth and the only time they seem to go away completely is when i am on stage playing bass. Its a unique space. Where else can you get paid to stare at loads of lovely young specimens... oh and play some music?
[/quote]

I suffer from anxiety anyway TBH. It's just worse onstage. Don't get me wrong, I've played gigs where it isn't a huge issue, but it's currently debilitating.

[BigRedX]

My situation is completely reversed. Off-stage I'm very shy to the point of chronic introversion and probably a contributing factor to why I'm single.

On stage...
[IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/DickVenomTantra2.jpg[/IMG]

[garethfriend]

I have two outlets for my energy - mountain biking and music. By doing the bikes I learned a few things about managing fear which apply to music and life in general. For me it's all about the point of no return: I used to (rationally so) be scared of hitting jumps and drops on the bike and would tense up coming up to them and did have a few last minute bottle-outs where it was in fact too late to stop safely and got hurt. but that changes your perception - before I was afraid of the landing now it was a concern over leaving it too late to wuss out.

I did a race in the french alps a few years back on a track I had no prior knowledge of and during practice found that my brakes were too underpowered to go cautiously and check everything out that was coming at me so the result was basically a switch flipping in my brain - "your going to be well past your point of no return long before you realise that crest is actually a gap jump, hit everything flat out to be sure!". So I did, and I was fine, and I really enjoyed it.

What I have gotten from doing daft stuff like that over the years though is an ability to flip that switch almost at will, when I hit that the point of no return every doubt, every anxiety, every bit of tension just goes. It's baggage that on a bike can land you in hospital and in music results in a bad performance (for me).

In music for me the point of no return is the soundcheck, I'll be nervous about it before that because unlike on the bike I'll usually know about it at least the day before. As soon as I've set up and soundchecked that's it, I'd look like a right ninny pulling out now so I guess I'm playing this gig - and the switch flips.

Answer in short form: pre-gig nerves yes, actual stagefright (on stage) not a bit

I know this doesn't help most people as a technique because without the danger element there to force you to learn to manage fear you would be basically just doing what the self help books and things tell you anyway.

[Rumple]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1330886551' post='1564395']

On stage...

[/quote]

That's a great picture.

[icastle]

I think stage fright is just one of those things that wears off as time goes on.
I guess it's a bit like the nerves you felt on your first day at work after leaving school - once you were there for a couple of weeks you settled into a routine and thought nothing of it.

Same thing applies to playing in public - the more you do it the less it worries you.
I still remember the first live gig I ever played - I was so scared that all the audience could see was a headstock and a hand appearing from behind a concrete pillar.
Four years later and I was performing to audiences of well over 1000 and didn't even think about it.

[4000]

[quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1330888089' post='1564433']
That's a great picture.
[/quote]

That's me after 5 pints. But I have less hair.



I'll add that this is my previous band with a stand-in guitarist. The new thing (not my tunes, so far at least) is a stripped down acoustic affair.

Edited March 4, 2012 by 4000

[4000]

[quote name='LemonCello' timestamp='1330881665' post='1564294']
From my classical music days I knew a Glasgow GP who happened to also be a very good pianist. He used to prescribe himself Beta Blockers. A vice principal Violinist who had to have at least 5 large Vodkas before going on. You are not alone, there are many 'names' who suffer terribly with the heebeegeebee's. Many of these have developed interesting 'coping mechanisms' over the years. One famous soprano used to go on stage wanting a wee, which gave her something else to think about!

I've heard that hypnotism helps?

LC
[/quote]

Nice to know. I'll avoid the wee thing though; I have enough trouble as it is. I'll never forget John Frusciante having to go for a pee into a bottle behind his amps at the Leeds Festival some years back. that was funny.

I've heard that too. If it continues it's something I'll consider.

[Guest subaudio]

I get nervous before a gig, but nervous energy is useful stuff, I jump up and down a bit before I go on to work out the energy a bit and then concentrate on my breathing, breathing in slowly from the pit of your stomach and out again in the same way, repeat as needed, 10 times in and out works miracles, close your eyes too and centre yourself, all this works on stage too, you can do it as you play when you feel there's a bit coming and your stressing about it, the audience just see you "getting into it" let your shoulders drop and try to relax yourself physically as much as you can.

Hope this helps at all

[Rumple]

[quote name='4000' timestamp='1330891672' post='1564513']
That's me after 5 pints. But I have less hair.
[/quote]

After 5 pints I'd be playing up the dusty end oblivious to the rest of the band exiting stage left in disgust

[BigRedX]

[quote name='4000' timestamp='1330891672' post='1564513']
That's me after 5 pints. But I have less hair.
[/quote]

I might have had a half before I went on that night - but any effect the alcohol might have had is gone the moment I hit the stage.

I still get a bit nervous before I go on but I think that's more because I have little idea how to act amongst people I don't know and just want to get on to the fun part - playing on stage.

I can't imagine suffering from stage fright because it would kill the enjoyment I get out of playing and can offer no useful advice to you other than my sympathies...

[Jerry_B]

As someone once said to me: 'What are you worrying about? No-one looks at the bass player'...

[4000]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1330893584' post='1564554']
I can't imagine suffering from stage fright because it would kill the enjoyment I get out of playing and can offer no useful advice to you other than my sympathies...
[/quote]

Nail, head.

Thanks, I appreciate it. I'll work it out somehow......might help if/when my hand /arm are healed and I can actually start to practise again.

Edited March 4, 2012 by 4000

[thepurpleblob]

I don't get stage fright per se (I've been playing something-or-other on stage since I was ten, nearly forty years ago). However, I am fundamentally an anxious person. That means it doesn't take much to turn me into a gibbering wreck. I now have an almost OCD approach towards gigs to make sure everything is organised and I won't get stressed out. Stress prevents me playing basically.

My advice... be properly rehearsed and be properly organised. If you have to be a control freak and do the organisation yourself then so be it. Minimise the number of things to be worried about. This may not apply to your situation of course.

Edited March 4, 2012 by thepurpleblob

[4000]

You know what worries me the most? IIRC only one person in this thread (who now doesn't gig) has admitted to suffering from it. And here was I thinking it was pretty common and people just had better coping mechanisms then me!

[Rumple]

[quote name='4000' timestamp='1330969714' post='1565576']
You know what worries me the most? IIRC only one person in this thread (who now doesn't gig) has admitted to suffering from it. And here was I thinking it was pretty common and people just had better coping mechanisms then me!
[/quote]

As mentioned by others I think being nervous is something that most people would feel to some degree [u]but[/u] suffering from a debilitating stage fright isn't so common and also quite hard for people to understand, I remember being told once, "you'll be all right once you get up there and start the first tune" but that's when my brain trashes all memory and my fingers stop working.