fun on stage

Since we've heard about some of everones bad experiences on stage.. howzabout some good ones? Of course I bring it up because I had an awesome one!!!!

A good friend runs a open mic night at a pretty dead bar so it usually winds up just being a few friends and I "practicing" in the bar (kinda cool actually) and every now and again a few people would show up. Well, last night there was about 15 people there that actually showed up to play! carrying in amps, a small travel practice drum kit.. 3 bass players.. 4 guitarists... this one kid Mike, god could this kid sing! His wife had a set of pipes on her too..

Needless to say it was a great night! The best part about the whole thing was it was people I've never seen before, or probably will again but having the chance to hang out and jam (well I might add) with new people was such a good time. I still have the high school, just got some, grin from last night. I think that's what I love most about playing is that you don't really have to know someone to have a good time and really put on a show for some people.... :cool:

Last weekend I went to a local bar to shoot pool (pool's my number one hobby after music). They had a band playing that wasn't bad at all. A bit into the night, the band took a break, and the singer was up and about talking to people. He happened to start talking to the owner of the bar, a friend of mine, who said that I couple play pretty good guitar and he should let me sit in a couple songs. The guy asked me if I wanted to and I kind of grinned and said no thanks. Well, 5 minutes later when they started playing again, the singer said, "We're excited to have a guest guitarist, Mr. Jared Wilson, playing with us" and pointed me out. Everybody looked at me, and so I went up and grabbed a guitar (what else could I do having been put on the spot like that?). After the first song (which I think was "Mustang Sally"), there was a massive applause, and I motioned to take off the guitar and said "Thanks", but the singer said, "Where are you going? That was great! Keep playing!". I ended up playing the rest of the night (like 2 hours), and everyone said I did great. It was so much fun.

My best gig was when we opened for Fugazi around 1996. Nothing really special happened that night, it's just the fact that we got to open for Fugazi....

Originally Posted by: JFRICKMy best gig was when we opened for Fugazi around 1996. Nothing really special happened that night, it's just the fact that we got to open for Fugazi....

South Carolina rules (sry saw your location)

I havent done any shows or anything but i plan on getting into it. Do most people mess up on the first time or does it usually just work out?

Originally Posted by: ckandes1South Carolina rules (sry saw your location)

I havent done any shows or anything but i plan on getting into it. Do most people mess up on the first time or does it usually just work out?

If your prepared, then everything should be alright. Also depends on how you handle stage fright. The first 2 songs we play are usually the easiest ones, gives us time to warm up and also gets the initial stage jitters out of the way. Just don't try too hard, let it flow, pretend it's another practice. Also, be sure to not speed everything up. Your band hits the stage, the adrenalin kicks in, and everything is usually played way faster than it's supposed to be played because of the adrenalin.

[font=trebuchet ms]There was a guy named Stanley in the town I grew up in who was a bit of a nutter, but he loved Rock'n'Roll. He was the kind of guy who becomes famous for being widely known, see?. It was an important kind of seal of approval if Stanley dug your band. And his ultimate accolade was to say he had jammed tambourine with you.

Our first big gig was the first dance of the year at the high school I had graduated from. I was nervous enough about that on it's own, but as we were setting up, I heard that Stanley was coming. But I was prepared.

He appeared out of the crowd at the front of the stage, just as we finished the first song of our second set. Our bass player was also our leader, and he wasn't cool about having Stanley get up on stage with us. He was under some pressure because our lead singer had crapped out on us, leaving him to handle the vocals. I kind of slid in between him and Stanley, and waved him on up. While Stanley was bouncing up the steps at the side of the stage, I went back to my rig and pulled a package out of my kit.

I meet Stanley at centre stage and gave him the package. It was a tambourine that I had painted and put sparkles on. He was gassed! We played a stretched version of Savoy Brown's "Louisiana Blues", while Stanley went nuts with his new tambourine.

He was raving about our band all over town for weeks![/font] :D

Originally Posted by: ckandes1I havent done any shows or anything but i plan on getting into it. Do most people mess up on the first time or does it usually just work out?

If you've prepared even halfway well it's no problem.