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Update - Played my first show
- Thread starter GodPlayedBass
- Start date
Congrats on a successful performance!
If I may give you the most important advice that every new gigging musician needs to hear:
Always wear hearing protection at rehearsal. Every single time. It will make the music sound weaker in the moment, but you will lose 50% or more of your hearing before you're out of your 30's if you don't.
I was stunned the first time I saw video of Jimmy Page playing a Dan Electro in concert.
Excellent! Now just keep going.
There is no such thing as a perfect performance. With practice and experience there will come a time when the glaring mistakes, such as notes or rhythm, which you will notice and remember 100s of times more than anyone else, will become fewer, but there is so much more to music. There are dynamics, attack, articulation, slurs, melodic groupings, the breathing of the rhythm, rubato, and on and on.
The top pros rarely hit obvious clams, but they still do, they just recover from them better than most of us mere mortals. I once saw Yo Yo Ma playing Bach Cello Suite number 1 in G major. The Cello Suites are part of my daily practice, so I’m pretty familiar with them. He clearly played a wrong note in the Sarabande, but his recovery was so beautiful and musical I doubt there were more than a handful of people in the audience who noticed. I noticed, but I certainly didn’t care.
There is no such thing as a perfect performance. With practice and experience there will come a time when the glaring mistakes, such as notes or rhythm, which you will notice and remember 100s of times more than anyone else, will become fewer, but there is so much more to music. There are dynamics, attack, articulation, slurs, melodic groupings, the breathing of the rhythm, rubato, and on and on.
The top pros rarely hit obvious clams, but they still do, they just recover from them better than most of us mere mortals. I once saw Yo Yo Ma playing Bach Cello Suite number 1 in G major. The Cello Suites are part of my daily practice, so I’m pretty familiar with them. He clearly played a wrong note in the Sarabande, but his recovery was so beautiful and musical I doubt there were more than a handful of people in the audience who noticed. I noticed, but I certainly didn’t care.
I'll keep that in mind
Not always. I don't remember my first show. It was in the 1980s sometime.You always remember your first time.
Excellent! Way better than my first show...sound was so bad I could not hear anything I was playing, let's just say your sound guy was way better than mine...and keep going, it just keeps getting better!
Awesome, bro 
and thanks for the update!
And, btw, Squier fanboy here
and thanks for the update!And, btw, Squier fanboy here
Nice recap. Glad it went well. You’ll get over the nervousness with experience. It’ll happen. Keep at it!
I always tell people that you don't want to get over nervousness. You want to learn to harness it and channel it. There is a reason for the phrase "nervous energy". Once you learn to direct that energy you will absolutely be a better performer than you thought was possible.
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! So glad this went well. The next thousand or so gigs will not be so scary now. 
Congratulations!
I've always believed someone whose first gig goes well to have a bit of a leg up on those less fortunate. I've been on both sides (my first gig as a guitar player and first gig as a bass player). So, my opinion is based upon personal experience.
I'm very glad for you and look forward to that music video.
I've always believed someone whose first gig goes well to have a bit of a leg up on those less fortunate. I've been on both sides (my first gig as a guitar player and first gig as a bass player). So, my opinion is based upon personal experience.
I'm very glad for you and look forward to that music video.
Brings back memories…. May this be the first of many, many gigs for you!
Embrace the journey.
When I saw Rush live even the great Geddy Lee made some clams. It didn't detract from the show, of course, after all he's only human too. As another great, Victor Wooten, says it's not live music if there's not a few mistakes. Glad your gig went well, I think you made a lot of us smile reading about it. Thanks for sharing!
