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First Time Playing Live... What Have I done!!?


Ashweb

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I'm going to be playing live for the first time ever this weekend, and I'm sure I'll love it once I'm done - but right now I'm brickin very nervous about the whole thing.

I turned the big 5-0 last week and have organised a bit of a get together for family and friends to 'celebrate' lasting this long without too many bits falling off.  My bass tutor is in a band and she's bringing them along to play and very kindly offered if I'd like to sit in on some tracks.  Seemed a great idea at the time and I'm only doing three tracks from when I first got into music (Blockbuster and Ballroom Blitz by Sweet and 20th Century Boy by T-Rex), but as it gets closer three things keep springing to mind; 1- I've never played in a band before (only to tracks), 2- I've never played in front of a crowd and 3- The crowd will be made up entirely of family and friends.  What could possibly go wrong?

I've been on a heavy repeat system of practising and can now play them in my sleep (in fact, I think I may actually do that - certainly they are pretty much always bouncing round in my head) so hopefully I can just go with the flow - just need to get there and get it done, then I'll probably enjoy it a lot more.

I'll let you all know how it goes.  Wish me luck, I feel like I may need it! 🙂 

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Thanks for the comments - much appreciated.  I've had a play through with the guitar player (and a track in the background) which has been useful, but not with the full band.  Hopefully we can do a run through before the event after they've set up and sound checked, but it depends on how much time there is available.

We've worked out a way of springing this as most of my family and friends don't know I play bass as it's been something I've been doing / learning while working away; so I suppose it's a bit like a coming out party 🙂  I'd hate to be up front practising and people start to turn up...

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If you can play them in your sleep then you'll be fine. Nervous energy is a positive thing. 

Once it's over you might notice that some women, who had once been indifferent to your presence, will look at you in an entirely unwholesome way.

Edited by Shambo
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8 hours ago, Ashweb said:

1- I've never played in a band before (only to tracks), 2- I've never played in front of a crowd and 3- The crowd will be made up entirely of family and friends.  What could possibly go wrong?

Nothing can go wrong which won't be a source of laughs for years to come. Enjoy it and, rather than think of what can go wrong, focus instead that every single person there will be wishing you well and use that positive energy not just to play well, but perform to your best. You'll have a blast and it will all pass too soon so enjoy every second.

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I'm in a similar situation. Although with a rehearsing band. We've just arranged to play or first gig in about a months time in front of family and friends (about 40 people) I've only ever done one gig before about 30 years ago when I was 15. I stopped playing shortly after (not because of the gig lol) and only took up the bass again about 7 or 8 months ago, so I'm still very much an amateur. I remember being absolutely terrified at 15 going on, but half way through the first song I felt like a rock God! I'm hoping something similar will happen this time around. I'm already feeling nervous and it's a month away yet. The rest of the band are far more experienced, having gigged loads of times in previous bands in front of hundreds, and in some cases a couple of thousand people, so they can't wait to get out in public. I'm hoping I catch the same bug and the nerves go away. I suppose the first gig is always nerve racking no matter how practiced you are. 

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Best wishes for the gig.

Remember to have a laugh, it’ll be over quicker than you think, so try and enjoy the experience. Even the most experienced of pros get nervous before a gig.

Sounds like you’ll have an audience who will be rooting for you and won’t notice any mistakes, so relax, and a band who play together regularly so they’ll carry the weight. 

Great way of “coming out” as a bass player! 😎 

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 A coming out party. What a wonderful concept.

It'll be fine, it'll be fun. Once you start you'll be tied up with the mechanics of it all and it will pass in a flash.

You will be hooked, I promise you.

And you are starting young, I was 56 the first time I played in public. Gigging regularly now. :)

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7 hours ago, Ricky 4000 said:

It'll be interesting to hear if you have to throw up before you go on. 😀

Ignore Ricky, he's weird.....

You'll have a great time. Just avoid the temptation to have a couple 'just to loosen you up' or to ' settle the butterflies'. 😀

But once you've done your three, go and get bladdered, you'll have earned it!

Edited by Skinnyman
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Sounds like it's going to be ace.  Nerves are normal, but what's the worst that can happen?  You might play a bum note and if you do that probably no one will really notice and if they do they aren't going to judge you for it.  Just concentrate on keeping in time with the rest of the band and you'll be fine.

Have fun!

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Go for it.

You'll rock it - and you have a home crowd behind you. So even if you feel you didn't hit 100% perfection, it's not as if it's a load of critical a$$holes down the pub picking apart your playing.*

 

*Well, they could be... but if they are, you should reevaluate your friends!

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4 minutes ago, chris_b said:

Don't forget to record your performance. I wish I had my first gig on tape.

Note to self: find a band and get full gig number 1 in the diary asap.

 

+1

Popping your Bass-cherry in front of the family. Excellent idea👍 I hope it’s loads of fun for you.

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3 hours ago, Skinnyman said:

You'll have a great time. Just avoid the temptation to have a couple 'just to loosen you up' or to ' settle the butterflies'. 😀

Good advice ^^^^^.

The most nerve-racking gig I ever did was a big "family & friends" thing. I had one pint to settle the nerves, and I swear it was as-if my drink was spiked with LSD (looked like it on the video too 🤒)... we did 3 songs, one cover and two originals... went down really well to the partisan crowd, so we did the first song again as an encore (Hard To Handle - more like the Black Crowes version than Otis Redding's)... at this point I decided to do the age old trick of singing along into a switched off mic'... which I later discovered was in fact switched on... whoops. 😔

Don't let me put you off though! It was a great experience, everybody had fun, and it got us a good support slot with another band who were being showcased for a recording contract.

I'd still rather play to strangers though. 😬

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10 minutes ago, Ricky 4000 said:

The most nerve-racking gig I ever did was a big "family & friends" thing. I had one pint to settle the nerves, and I swear it was as-if my drink was spiked with LSD (looked like it on the video too 🤒)... we did 3 songs, one cover and two originals... went down really well to the partisan crowd, so we did the first song again as an encore (Hard To Handle - more like the Black Crowes version than Otis Redding's)... at this point I decided to do the age old trick of singing along into a switched off mic'... which I later discovered was in fact switched on... whoops.

Video, or it didn't happen ;)

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