Your "top tip" please.......

thebreeze · December 2015

Tomorrow evening I'm playing a gig for the first time in 30 years. Maybe 200 people, village hall. Gulp.

I thought it might be fun (or even useful

) to get a "top tip" from each of you?

TheMarlin · December 2015

Keep a careful eye on all your gear, and try to enjoy it.

Roland · December 2015

Warm up. Your body will naturally go tense in front of an audience, making it harder to play fluidly. Find a few minutes to run through some finger exercises.

not_the_dj · December 2015

Warm up, and drink plenty of water.

bigjon · December 2015

Place your feet wider apart than normal when you play - makes you look more confident.

djspecialist · December 2015

I did something similar a couple of weeks ago. (First gig in about 15 years, to an audience of about 100 people).

It went fine, we had a blast and the first thing we talked about when we came off stage was "when can we do it again?". I'm sure yours will be the same!

Don't sweat over mistakes (which you'll definitely make!) - nobody will notice. Enjoy yourself, and show that you're doing so - people will notice that.

Teetonetal · December 2015

Don't spend all night staring at your fretboard.

Gassage · December 2015

Wear spandex.

thomasross20 · December 2015

Take a baton to beat off the female hoarde

ICBM · December 2015

Raise your amp up off the floor if you're the guitar player - a chair is perfectly adequate if you don't have anything more professional. That lets you hear your own amp properly and reduces the tendency to set it too loud and too trebly, and it will project better into the room so you won't need it as loud anyway.

Keep it tight down (including removing the wheels, if it has them) if you're the bass player. That couples the cabinet to the floor and both fills the space better and improves the sound.

Doing that with both amps produces a more natural mix with the bottom octave of the guitar rolled off and the fundamentals of the bass reinforced without having to do anything with EQ either on the amp or the PA.

lloyd · December 2015

Listen to what the other people are doing and adjust accordingly

EricTheWeary · December 2015

Mine is always the same - know where the toilets are. Other than that think through what you will need and take it all. Some people like to get into gig mode with a change of shirt or what have you - look in the mirror and go I Rock rather than look in the mirror and go I Look Like a Junior Accountant With a Borrowed Guitar. And it's not a recital so enthusiasm is more important than accuracy (well, up to a point).
A hat and/or facial hair is a big help too. \m/

frankus · December 2015

Smile at the audience and breathe slowly

HAL9000 · December 2015

Keep one foot tapping. Simple but def helps with timing. Don't overplay. Enjoy.

steamabacus · December 2015

At the start at the gig, look at the audience and allow them to look at you (psychologically, it makes a huge difference) - you're there to be seen as well as heard.

99 times out of 100, if you make a mistake the audience will only notice if you tell them by how you react. Let it go, get on with it and enjoy youself. Even your own band won't notice half the time - unless you're the drummer, that is.

IanSavage · December 2015

Beer before wine, wine before coke.

Phil_aka_Pip · December 2015

Allow the instrument to acclimatise to the venue for an hour before tuning. Tune up just before you play, use a meter not your ears and mute the signal to the amp while tuning.

Rocker · December 2015

Good luck my friend. My tip is to have spare [cables] to hand in case one decides to sulk.

BenSirAmos · December 2015

Write a list of your gear - everything you need and spares, including stage clothes, mobile 'phone, water bottle, etc. Check it into the venue and, more importantly when you're walking on clouds after the gig, check you've packed everything back into your car, especially leads (and guitar and amp).