What do you do on a bad day? (in order to play a big show)

john lamb
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Re: What do you do on a bad day? (in order to play a big sh

Postby john lamb » Sat Jun 04, 2011 5:59 pm

@ Yussef.... lol.... to paraphrase Rumsfeld, we go to the gig with the experience we have, not the experience we wish we had.

The only thing we can do in those situations is to listen and be in the moment. There is no way that you'll be able to nail Spain w/o learning the song first. But being connected and listening will allow you to do a better job than you otherwise would have!



reason and logic have little to do with human choices. by definition that is what emotions are. and you only need to take a drive around to see how much people don't think about what they do, particularly when controlling a few thousand pounds of metal at speed.

My definition of 'emotion' is that "emotion is what thinking feels like". Fear has been really well studied, and there is a logical and consistent process behind the decision. It has a purpose and is adaptive. I'm not saying that humans are logical in the computer sense. I'm saying that there is clear reasoning behind what we do, and there is. The strict definition of logical simply doesn't apply unless we are really really well trained. Instead, we guess via induction about how things work and make up story lines.

I go to church because I believe in God is utterly illogical, yet it is a reason. People who drive down the street at 90 miles an hour generally believe they are capable of steering the car w/o mishap. This isn't logical, but it is a reason. As I said, we do what the think will work. If you want to stop that person from speeding, you can either give them a different reason to slow down (i.e. police enforcement) or convince them of the danger.
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John Blackburn
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Re: What do you do on a bad day? (in order to play a big sh

Postby John Blackburn » Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:33 pm

Hey there guys,

I remind myself that it is ONLY DRUMMING / MUSIC!!!!
No matter how badly i think im playing / the band sounds / the gig sucks / my mood is off kilter. It doesnt really matter!!!!

Now I appreciate that maybe with bigger gigs comes more pressure / harder to adopt that attitude, but its helped me.

Completely dig the asking the rest of the band for support, but at the same time i dont do anything to bring anyone else down, you can kind of tune into the other band members energy if its there, or the audience.

Check out some NLP / Richard Bandler stuff, it all helps...
Take time to prepare mentally before ANY playing situation. Go for a walk, get out from the venue, dont just sit at the bar / green room whatever.

Hope some of that is useful.

JB
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langmick
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Re: What do you do on a bad day? (in order to play a big sh

Postby langmick » Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:58 pm

e lead the world in violent crime, domestic violence and a host of other not so good things


Seriously?

How about some of those fine countries in the middle east and Africa? Think the women there get treated nicely?

Spare me, keep to the subject at hand my friend.

We will never have the history of Japan, Germany and Russia...and let's just not count the Eastern Euros who have their own demons, now Iran, Afgahnistan and the rest.

Thanks. Jeesh.
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Rhythmatist
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Re: What do you do on a bad day? (in order to play a big sh

Postby Rhythmatist » Wed Jun 15, 2011 8:17 pm

My worst nights are usually Fridays...having been up all day working, but the catharsis of doing something I love (and being able to hit things with sticks) is usually enough to bring me near the consistency I have been able to achieve over all these years. I feel fortunate to have played with many musicians over the last 30 or so years that have been able to deliver good performances night in, night out. I never dwell on a sub-par performance any more. They will happen just the same as the occasional stellar performance where it all just comes together. It all comes out in the wash in the end.
Riddim
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Re: What do you do on a bad day? (in order to play a big sh

Postby Riddim » Thu Jun 16, 2011 5:31 pm

Try to get a nap in.

Warm up slowly.

Consider the likely outcomes if I don't.
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Mark P
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Re: What do you do on a bad day? (in order to play a big sh

Postby Mark P » Sun Jun 19, 2011 6:44 pm

I think the key to this came to me pretty early on...

If you can have a terrible gig where things are going wrong/breaking, you have a poor sound or other things on your mind, but people don't notice... To me, that's a good gig. Or, on the current tour I'm on, what the guys dub as "A nice, professional gig"...

You want to aim to be of the standard where the whole world could fall apart around your feet and people are still dancing and having a good time. We did a gig at the weekend to 35,000 fans for the artist I'm working for. Man, I SUCKED. After the show, the management came into the dressing room and congratulated us on "the best show of the tour". Even on an off day, we were good enough to make sure people loved the show.

It's always disheartening not having the show of your life, but inevitably, not every show will be. 9 times out of ten you may feel you could have done things better. So long as I'm fooling people into having fun, even when I'm not, I've done my job...

MP
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sturla
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Re: What do you do on a bad day? (in order to play a big sh

Postby sturla » Sun Jun 19, 2011 11:04 pm

Very interesting topic!

Agree with Mark P. I can't think of how many times I've done gigs which I have thought was crap and where I am not "feeling it", and suddenly having someone in the audience (or band members) positively commenting that it was good.

Sometimes I also think you have occasionally will have to bite the bullet and just "write it off" as a bad gig. But not without trying though. Hopefully these gigs will become more and more rare and that you can deliever more consistently even though it may be a hard night.

Even though I may feel like NOT playing, being dead tired or what have you - usually the energy of just playing drums will transpire energy and vibe and hopefully a positive outcome. Sometimes tiredness (for instance) can produce wonderful results, I find. Don't know why, but maybe there is kind of emergency generator which ticks in and you are just focusing on the bare essential stuff.
Quite mystical prosess really and as someone here said, music can be such a mind fuck.

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