EDIT: After writing this a disturbingly relevant YouTube popped up in my feed talking about the flip side of the ‘pre-show energy.’ Check out Adam Neely talking about ‘post show burnout’ (my term not his). Great piece!
Just finishing my final practice before heading out to the the Horse Creek Winery this evening for a three hour gig with a trio that I’ve never played with before. It’s currently about 5 hours to show time, and I’m starting to get the pre-show boost that happens every single time I get onstage with someone new. I guess some people would call it “jitters” but to me that has a negative connotation – I find the experience very pleasant myself. It’s an energy that comes with doing something new, something fresh – and I absolutely LOVE that feeling. Boredom, in my sphere, is definitely the enemy.
It’s been a crazy time around here lately in music. I’m finally starting to get some traction on the bass after SO long. It seems like every time I tried in the past to get gigs with any group I couldn’t get any traction with anything but the sax. Once folks learned that I was a horn player the bass never got a chance. All that changed a couple of weeks ago when I was invited to the Tifton Music Scene Facebook group. Apparently there’s a shortage of bassists in Tifton? I dunno, but for whatever reason I introduced myself there and have been fielding calls for gigs ever since.
I mention that because there’s a very specific thrill that comes with playing live with a group for the first time, and there have – thankfully – been a SLEW of first-time meetings here in the last few weeks. It’s hard to pin down in words, but the feeling that you get when you forego the rehearsals and hit the stage for a gig on meeting one is a unique one. Sort of a combination of uncertainty, stage fright, and euphoria all mixed together. You don’t know if you really like anyone you’re playing with, you don’t know if you will ‘click’ even if you DO like them, you don’t know exactly the caliber of muso you’ll be dealing with… you don’t know much of ANYTHING except the songs you’re going to play, and even that’s negotiable! It’s another level of anticipation over and above gigging with folks you’ve spent some time around. Strange, yeah?
Most likely the awesomeness I associate with this situation stems from the fact that – so far – I’ve NEVER had a bad experience with a throw-together band. I don’t know if I’m just lucky or if by nature throw-together units have a tendency to be musicians that are a little bit more “together” and maybe a little more capable than some others. Either way I always look forward to these “live first meetings.”
Don’t get me wrong, I would very much like to be able to put together a solid and consistent group that ACTUALLY rehearses from this growing pool of musos that I’m getting the privilege of meeting right now. It would be a different kind of rush to be able to put together a rock-solid unit and actually start getting some traction on the music scene in the Southeast, but it would be … different. GOOD, but different. For now, there’s nothing quite like the feeling of that “live first meeting.”
Wish me luck tonight!