Forget for a moment that there were a whole lot of people in the room who probably didn't hear a single bung note, loved your playing and your songs, and can't wait to part with their $$ to buy your record... But you know it, deep down- that was the worst you've ever played. Everything went wrong. Every song from beginning to end was absolute torture. Being in a band can really suck sometimes- not always, but on nights like this it's just terrible.
You finish the set and say thanks for coming, but how do you deal with the dissapointment in yourself? How do you face the people who want to tell you your songs changed their life? Do you owe them a response? How do you talk to a muso who feels so frustrated in themselves? What do you say to them?
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Everyone has their 'Off-days' bro...
Everyone has their 'Off-days' bro
Yeah man, they come and go- what I mean ...
Yeah man, they come and go- what I mean is that if you want people to think well of you as a musician/band, do you need to suck it up and fake a brave face- or risk being thought of as a prick? I mean I've read someone post about a Rubicon show about how conceited she thought they were after a show. Maybe it was just a bad night? Who's to know any better?
yeh man- like... everydays an off day ...
yeh man- like... everydays an off day for enema (at least- by everyone elses standards)
There u sed it...Rubicon. Be Quiet ...
There u sed it...Rubicon.
Be Quiet and Drive Lena O.....Drive far away, u old fool.
No really,shut up.U need to just dig ...
No really,shut up.U need to just dig yourself a big fat hole,
least i'm old enough to have a licence...
least i'm old enough to have a licence
I'm 19!,dang....I've had my full 4 2 ...
I'm 19!,dang....I've had my full 4 2 whole years....fool.
true- witness enaema- everyday is an ...
true- witness enaema- everyday is an off day for him- at least- by everyone elses standards
There are a few things to consider post ...
There are a few things to consider post gig scenario. If you fool the audience with a smile thats got 'I played a shit gig' written all over, that's more noticeable, than being honest, and looking more like you've played the stinkest game of rugby in your life. You can easily wind yourself, by beleieving that everything went wrong, and you can't actually see anything that went right. Only the audience will see this. At the same time, you won't be convinced by anyone who pays you the compliment, thinking they're 'just being nice'.
I've played gigs, where I've personally felt that I didnn't nail my performances. Sure, it's something that I focus more vividly on after a show, and you can easily create a blanket between your band cohorts, and friends, even people from the audience. Perhaps it gives an audience dampner when they see someone, so distraught after a gig that they truly expected something way better for themselves. What do you think the audience were expecting? Apart from all of this, what, or were there any positive, good things you did do right?
Well, in hindsight it's easy to have a ...
Well, in hindsight it's easy to have a more balanced view of the gig and see the positives for what they really are. But there in the moment, it's tough man. Real tough. Thank goodness it doesn't happen to often!
As far as expectations go, I think of myself as a realist- I expect a certain amount of errors, a certain amount of frustration, in a live situation. You just don't have control over every little thing when you're playing live. Still, every now and then a gig comes along where you might as well be playing with your trousers down- at least from your own perspective, anyway. The problem lies in how you carry that frustration. Where does it go? How do you process it?
We played a show one time that we all ...
We played a show one time that we all thought was absolute crap, it was asmall audience so when we finnished we apologised for being a bit off form and bought a round of drinks for the crowd, I don't know if it earned us respect or whether it may have come across as a suck up, but we went home that night feeling as though we'd at least provided something for the crowd, we got a lot of emails afterwards form people saying that they hadn't even noticed a bad performance.
You'll always be your own worst enemy when it comes to criticism, most of the time the punters won't even notice unless you tell them.
We also have played fucken awesome shows and been so stoked about the way it went that we've shouted a round as well.
Well, I guess that's kind of the ...
Well, I guess that's kind of the thing, really- I mean, I play for myself first, the enjoyment of the crowd second... So if I'm convinced I'm bumming out on stage then I can't really understand why anyone else would dig it. It is really hard to relate to someone who has had a great time watching you- what was there to like?
I guess your songs are still your songs, no matter how you play them. It just completely blows me away that people can see past a bad performance and enjoy the songs enough to tell you so after a gig- that the message has survived your expression of it. In that situation I actually feel quite uncomfortable.
Let Go Of The Ego What ever ...
Let Go Of The Ego
What ever happened....happened
how you feel about it is kinda worthless
write more songs
practise more
drown your self in the sound use
the feelings to create
something positive
or you could kill your self and make some one alot of money
[ http://www.orkid.org ]
RE Whatever happened, ...
RE Whatever happened, happened...
Well, I usually subscribe to that school of thought aswell, but sometimes it's impossible to ignore. Hey, I just want to know how everyone else deals with it, that's all- I'm ok. I thought this might be a useful thread for people who've had some bad experiences before.
The way I see it is that a gig is a gig. It is not your entire musical career, it is not every song you'll ever write, it's not every performance you'll ever have. It's one night. So if you blow it, how significant is it, really? Same if you can't feel happy about it afterwards- it will pass. The next gig will be, and usually is, much better!
How have you dealt with gigs that suck?
Like that gig we'z play'd with ...
Like that gig we'z play'd with 'OrKiD @ the Rangiora Town Hall......the sound was soooo shit!,But hell it was fun!....Body paint is such a bitch 2 get off eh...
i've played shows where the ...
i've played shows where the performance level was alot better than the ones that were shit. people always seemed to congradulate me at the end of a shit gig for a "wicked performance" and almost apologised to me when, my thought was, the show was a scorcher.
i wouldn't get too bummed out about it. you've got to take the good with the bad. if you can laugh at the bad you'll find you can accept peoples positive comments at the end of a plonker a lot more readily.
it's never really been that bad for ...
it's never really been that bad for me. sure, i've been implicated in shit gigs, but mostly it's about being determined to get thru it, determination to make it sound better, that the next song be better, that if none of that happens then you are determined to destroy what you had in mind originally and often out of that comes something quite wonderful and new.
i think i would get bored if every night we played it all went to plan and that the songs sounded exactly like they do on the EP and every thing was note perfect. we might as well be machines. performing your music in front of a crowd is like tightrope walking. sure, people are there to enjoy the music but aren't they also there to see the process? communication? nailing a song to the best version ever?
sometimes a bad set is a welcomed challenge. "Only got three songs left ... let's nail them." the contrast between 10 bad songs and three absolutely awesome nailed songs can make a gig legendary in a good way.
Evidently, you take a shite gig on the ...
Evidently, you take a shite gig on the chin. I normally deal with the situation STILL activiley talking to people after the gig, NOT necesarilly my friends. They are like default buttons, who will instantly praise your glorious talent, regardless of anything that you could have said, 'it was shit' to. Theres nothing worse than beating myself up, or bottling the fustration I have because things didn't turn out the way, I had either planned, or anticipated. It's not like groundhog day, where, and if you could, almost perfect what you really wanted to play.
However, like you said, you allow for these things to happen. The most important thing is dealing with it, and/or finding ways to avoid spitting your own blood.
you might feel it was a shit gig ...
you might feel it was a shit gig whenever you have played one.
but in the end if some-one comes up afterwards and says something positive about your performance...it wasn't a shit gig.
even though you feel crap about it...you've made someone feel 'something'....and isn't that what it's all about??
Well, it can be... A lot of bands play ...
Well, it can be... A lot of bands play only to please the crowd, all the while absolutely hating what they're actually doing. A lot of bands actually break up over it too, the crowd expects a certain song or style from them, so they feel trapped and look for an escape route.
So although I can understand your personal viewpoint, another viewpoint is that if I am enjoying what I'm doing, the crowd probably will too. Problem with that is a lot of bands come across as conceited when they seem to be focussing on their own performance too much... like it doesn't matter what's happening in the room around them.
Personally I haven't seen many local bands who are at opposite ends of this spectrum. It's a balancing act in the end, you do it for your enjoyment, and the enjoyment of the people.
Personally I never lose awareness of what's going on in the room, but I do place a lot of concentration on my performance- playing and singing- because I know I'm not a 'natural' and I feel like I need to focus on my performance to get my point across. And every now and then I come off stage a wreck because I've convinced myself I've failed.
... I guess if someone feels something, ...
... I guess if someone feels something, as opposed to nothing, then that's positive... but I want more than that- I want to get my message through, and for people to understand it...
yeah true but don't get to hung up on ...
yeah true but don't get to hung up on it though...some people will get it and some won't...it's the nature of things...you can never try and force people to 'get' your stuff.
Agreed- that's actually quite a keen ...
Agreed- that's actually quite a keen observation there mate... even after a perfect gig, there's no guarantee that the room is full of people who 'get it,' or worse- full of people who 'get it' and hate it! No point in stressing about delivering your music well, if for nothing other than pride in your craft.
Just had my worst gig in memory at ...
Just had my worst gig in memory at Palmerston Nth last Friday. Had a cold and tonsilitis and lost my voice after the 4th song and sucked completely thereafter. We did however have the redemption gig the night after in Wellington. The voice held out and we played much better.
The moral is having a shit gig is part of being in a band - just make sure you redeem yourself at the next gig!
Here here!...
Here here!
I know exactly where you're coming ...
I know exactly where you're coming from Foetus. I find it difficult to deal with a bad show well. It just burns me that a performance isn't what it could/can be, and I felt like I almost didn't belong with the other bands we were playing with. It bothers me to think that others might think, well, they're just crap,
why did they bother. We work hard to write/produce and play our own songs, that we like and have carved into a personal style, and I'd hate to think that they can't be delivered with the attention they deserve, and then the whole vicious cirlce of bum starts again. I just don't know where to go either?
What happens next. I can turn up to rehersal and hear one gat riff, and re-new all my faith again. I love music, and that's it's own reward. That will always carry me through a bad show/situation.
If that fails, Put on Superchunk's "why do you have to put a date on everything", after that, everything else is just nominal bullshit.
go home, knives on, cry, wank, spots, ...
go home, knives on, cry, wank, spots, cry, wank, spots, cry, wank, spots, bongs, billy's, cones, cry, wank and cry, wank and cry, knives off, go to sleep.
excellant, now what if the gig sucked??...
excellant, now what if the gig sucked??
wank harder and faster, and move on to ...
wank harder and faster, and move on to class A's, nothing like a couple of blue meanies under the eyelids and 15 tabs in the eye of your cock to wank and cry to.
word...
word