Preshow Rituals

my pre show ritual consists of showing up, drinking a couple of beers, check each instrument vigorously....




and then get kicked out for impersonating a band member and using their equipment, apparently they frown on that.....

Funniest post in the thread. Good one azrae 1l.

Now to answer the question, I should have gotten in here around post # 6 or so. A shot of Knob Creek and a beer with the others.
 
Set up drums, drum mics, keyboard and amp, PA system, vocal mics...............sound check............wash hands!! I always set up in clothes I will NOT wear while playing. I change clothes right before going on. Plenty of water prior and then beer and whatever else floats by.
 
No real rituals here...

I show up, set up, schmooz with the folks after sound check. Then I sit down and play music.

No alcoholic drinks...no worries, no drama.
 
After I setup my kit, I wash my hands. I just don't like playing drums with dirty hands.
It's even worse trying to play guitar or bass.

I've taken to carrying a small baby wipe container in my bag. Sometimes at festivals, or a bar with only one restroom, there isn't time to wash up when getting underway. Especially if there's some problem like the stage is too small and everyone's moving around, or the sound guy uses up all the time dialing things in.

Usually I just try to get enough time ahead to relax a few minutes before downbeat. I hate rushing to get things set up and going right into the first song.

One small thing I do if I have time that I picked up from a friend is going though my sticks to find one that has the best sound/feel on the ride cymbal. For all the "matching" companies do, every stick sounds and feels different.
 
Personally I have 5 steps once Ive set up and soundchecked that helps me perform better

- I find the nearest animal and stare at it for as many minutes as it has legs. A dog or cat is 4 minutes, spider is 8 minutes,etc. Thankfully I havent had a centipede or millipede yet
- I break out every epic dance move in my repertoire usually to some cheesey 80's music. I once did "The Sprinkler" for 7 minutes non-stop
- Get somone from the audience to twist my nipples and slap me in the face
- Cover part of the stage in vaseline or a cheaper option of butter. This makes it easier for me to jump off my kit and do a massive powerslide several times every show. My bandmates have now resorted to wearing golfing shoes or running spikes because of the amount of times they fall off stage. Amateurs.
- Watch my favourite clips of 'The Little Mermaid' on my PSP whilst reciting every single word to my bandmates. This proves to have a very calming effect until the punches start incoming.

You guys are all weird - who the hells drinks beer or washes their hands before a gig!!!!!

Ant :)
 
jonutarr you set up the drums and the PA? No help?
The reward for doing all that is you get to keep doing all that.
I bet you have no problems finding a gig, hopefully you get a bigger cut though.

Another +1 for washing hands.
Agree with Aoelin that washing hands before playing guitar is a must as well.
 
Jon, feel sorry for your pa, being set up all the time. Parents are always the scapegoats.

Don't feel to sorry for me, it's a reasonably small pa with a small powered mixer, 2 x 300w speakers and a 15" powered sub (that one is a bit heavy)
I set the powered mixer off to the left so I can control the mix on the fly, the band knows that I know what I'm doing (I record and mix the band in the studio also) so they don't bother me and I like the extra control, we ask the audience if they like the mix in between the song as they are where the mix engineer would be if we had one :)

jonutarr you set up the drums and the PA? No help?
The reward for doing all that is you get to keep doing all that.
I bet you have no problems finding a gig, hopefully you get a bigger cut though.

Yeh I pretty much do it all myself, the guitarist does the lighting and gets us the gigs he also does all the business and has 20yrs of connections in the area, we are a 4 piece and we divide the gig money 5 ways, the guitarist and I get 1.5 of the cut each and the other 2 get 1
I think that's fair and everyone is happy, it's hard to keep everyone happy in a band but I think we are good with the way things are
 
Pre-gig ritual?

2 cans of energy drink and picture in my head how i'm gunna perform that night.

As in, i think to myself 'ok, today i'll headbang more than last time' and I picture that in my head from an audience perspective.

Another thing i do between gigs and all the time, is be very cocky. Not actually going around and stating 'I'M AMAZING AT DRUMS' but again with the audience perspective thing, I make myself believe that others think i'm a good drummer in a good band. Whether that's true or not is a different matter but i'm in that state of mind literally all of the time so when i get on stage, it makes me want to prove it to myself and others that i am good. Whether i am or not.

It's just thoughts and images that i use to get myself in the mood.

If that made sense, i'll be surprised. :S
xoxo
 
I usually sacrifice a goat, pour the blood..... oh Preshow Rituals! ;-)

No rituals for me... Just relax and a little wrist stretching.
 
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