God I suck on stage........

[Pissy]

I have zero stage presence. I lock up. The weirdest shit happens before I go on stage. I constantly feel like I have to piss. (If it wasnt already taken my screen name would be Pissy) I cant look at the crowd, cant move around, I even get some vertigo.

Any ideas on how to cure this? It sucks because my band rules and I feel I take away being we are only a three piece. Playing live freaks me out.

Oh and we have a show in July with an expected audience of like 700+ people. Thats enough to possibly kill me. Is it possible to die from stage fright?

Spilling the beans in the jam room.

Whoa there tiger, that's my name and I'm keeping it.

Best advice I can give you is this:

Your worst fears will never ever be realized, whatever they are.  Your band on it's worst day can't suck more than many of the bands that you witness on a regular basis.  Even if they did, the worst that could happen is people will walk away, not boo you.

[eyeprod]

^^ good point.

Man, you guys make me happy that I don't have any fear on stage. I'm pretty confident, and mainly I play to win. I go there to slay. Even then, I have to be feeling it to really get into it. You know, I feel sort of stupid just striking a pose when I'm not even warmed up. But when it's a good night and I'm into it, then I might be all over the place. Full battle pose, interacting with my band mates, soloing up in someones face, making crazy faces, the whole bit. It's a blast! The hardest thing for me is looking at people when I'm singing.

Keep at it guys. Have fun

[EddieMullet]

I have the opposite problem, no stage fright whatsoever, however inevitably someone video tapes the thing and really exposes how dorky I look when I'm really rocking out and has loads of fun watching it and making fun of how stupid I looked.

As long as I had fun I don't give a shit how stupid I look on stage.

[Chovie D]

I have zero stage presence. I lock up. The weirdest shit happens before I go on stage. I constantly feel like I have to piss. (If it wasnt already taken my screen name would be Pissy) I cant look at the crowd, cant move around, I even get some vertigo.

Any ideas on how to cure this? It sucks because my band rules and I feel I take away being we are only a three piece. Playing live freaks me out.

Oh and we have a show in July with an expected audience of like 700+ people. Thats enough to possibly kill me. Is it possible to die from stage fright?

Spilling the beans in the jam room.

Whoa there tiger, that's my name and I'm keeping it.

Best advice I can give you is this:

Your worst fears will never ever be realized, whatever they are.  Your band on it's worst day can't suck more than many of the bands that you witness on a regular basis.  Even if they did, the worst that could happen is people will walk away, not boo you.

I dont know, Ive almost gotten beaten up twice after shows. once for making fun of peoples stupid  tattoos from the stage

"get him!"

[Lumpy]

Don't think of it (the adrenaline) as being "nervous" -- think of it as being "excited". (Little trick you can play on yourself)

I just stand there twiddling knobs, so I'm probably not a good one to give advice. People say to conduct band practice the way you will perform. If you stand around at band practice, it's probably hard to turn around and pull out all kinds of fancy moves during a show for the first time...

[VOLVO)))]

thats the one, thanks Sunno. oh yeah sunglasses, i used to do that. I wouldnt recommend it tho, its fucking hard to see in dark clubs and if you have long hair and headbang it tends to get tangled in the glasses. that DOES fucking work tho. no eye contact, or constant eye contact. I really think those are two routes as opposed to every once in a while looking up tentatively at the audience like a scared mouse. theres a million ways to go tho i guess.

Hey man, I got a problem with the site maybe you can pass this along to Sleestak, Sunno. When I type a long post into the entry screen, the last line isnt visible for some reason on the entry screen..anyone else notice this or is it just me? Its really hard to edit the last few lines of a long post for this reason which is why i didnt try an dfix my youtube link

rock

When you get real long on a post, just press the down arrow key and it'll move you down in the post field. If it isn't, screenshot what you're seeing, and I'll try my best to direct you.

[rayinreverse]

for me the biggest key is knowing that all my songs are completely muscle memory. there is no thinking about a song. it just plays itself.
there is no concentrating on where Im going next.

the only thing I have to worry about now is how good my "oh" face is when I hit that really high widdly dee note in the last bar of my shitty solo.

[Discö Rice]

for me the biggest key is knowing that all my songs are completely muscle memory. there is no thinking about a song. it just plays itself.
there is no concentrating on where Im going next.

the only thing I have to worry about now is how good my "oh" face is when I hit that really high widdly dee note in the last bar of my shitty solo.

Ha!

[tomz.]

People say to conduct band practice the way you will perform.

word...
It really does help.  Have to use your imagination at practice a bit, and not stare at each other, but it really helps...

[Chovie D]

breakin the rules....

[Mike_Sims]

just drop a couple MG's of Xanax before you get on stage dude, trust me, you won't give a shit what people think haha, actually, you probably wouldn't care about anything. But in all seriousness, I have a pretty bad but manageable anxiety disorder, but for some reason when I'm playing in front of people it kind of comforts me... A lot of the dudes on here are right, people are there (more or less) to listen to YOU. So don't sweat it! Get up there and create mayhem, play with your teeth and make all kinds of noise like Dave Chandler would.

[ROWDYBEER]

I'm going to try to rock the fuck out at our next show. I just hope I don't get vertigo, forget where I am in the song, and fall off the stage all while pissing myself. I wonder what a little Xanax would do for me. I'm not into poppin pills but that's what there for. Temporary relief from anxiety.
Anybody else pop a xanny or Valium before a show? It's been a long time I would probably have to try it out at practice and see if I can still play.

[justinhedrick]

my stage fright is pretty bad. i used to manage it years ago by getting wasted. didn't work very well because after about 5 or 6 beers i start not being able to differentiate between really close pitch variances (makes tuning VERY difficult).

so now i just drink 2 beers and take 2 with me on stage. as for stage presence, i honestly don't have any. we all really just stand there and attempt to rock.

the tip about playing a show just like you practice is pretty spot on. now that i think about it, all the stage moves (or lack thereof) that i have are things i do at practice.

[Chovie D]

I wouldnt recommend the xanax before a show, especially if yur gonna have a few beers. xanax is good when you have the hangover of the godz or are having a real anxiety attack. if you must try it, start with a half xanax.

Try drinking two beers and only two beers before you play instead.

Id also suggest not trying to do anything that doesnt come naturally to you, people can smell that a mile away, and it juts loks wrong somehow.
If your not the kinda guy that headbangs or "rocks out" dont try to be that kinda guy. Be yourself.
I watched your vid and you look fine up there, dont sweat it too much.
I know thats easy for me to say...but theres nothing  wrong with what your doin already that i can see.
riff sounded good too.

[neighbor664]

What is there to be afraid of?

[ROWDYBEER]

rocking and rolling too hard, vertigo, forgetting song, falling, pissing.

All real fears when sober. 

[Chovie D]

forgetting song is gonna happen.
as someone said , rehearsal till its muscle memeory is the only way to go. Look at it this way, at least your not the vocalist too. remembering all those lyrics was the biggest bitch of them all. occasionally, on guitar,  I would start thinking about doing my laundry or what I was gonna have for dinner, then I'd look down at my guitar, remember I was on stageb playing  a show and wonder where the hell I am at in the song. The thing to do if that hapens is feedback in the songs key until you recover. feedback is always cool.

falling over?  I gues Ive tripped over my own chord and fell off a table once but I would think that would be pretty unlikely.

vertigo? your not playing on the rooftop like the beatles are you? or the rock and roll cruise boat?
I once played on a revolving stage. holy crap that sucked ballz.

pissing? hmmmm...depends? empty bladder BEFORE show?

your gonna psych yourself out now...relax

[ROWDYBEER]

Now im just making fun of a serious subject. I guess its not so bad.
I wish you could play your set once and then play it again for real. Seems by the end of the set im really ready to play. Im way more relaxed and most of my fears are gone. Second time through is always better at practice.

rock and roll cruise ship would be awesome.

[Lumpy]

Maybe you need to warm up more, before your set?

Falling down, pissing yourself, vertigo  -- sounds like a fun and memorable set.

[Discö Rice]

Maybe you need to warm up more, before your set?

Falling down, pissing yourself, vertigo  -- sounds like a fun and memorable set.

^^^Fast track to rock Godhood there.

[ROWDYBEER]

So you think rock gods really werent all wasted and they just had stage fright? So really its sex, stage fright, and rock and roll?

God I wish I was doing this when I was younger.

[Discö Rice]

Whatever the reason, people love a clown.

[melkore]

I used to have stage fright when I started but now I just get the jitters before I play.  As soon as I hit the stage I turn on my stage-mode and I'm good to go.  Before that I'm a wreck trying to make sure my gear is going to sound right and everything is setup so I don't hit the wrong pedal.

Some shows are worse than others so if there's no one there I'll keep to the back and treat it like a practice but if there's a crowd i'm up front and harassing my guitarists.

[Instant Dan]

If it makes you feel better I still get nervous just even jamming with people. A shot or Xanax helps.

[Chovie D]

rock and roll cruise ship would be awesome.

careful what you wish for...