The Show Goes On...
Getting prepared for a show can sometimes be a daunting task. You practice your songs, playing them over and over again. You think you've got it down, no, you know you've got it down and you're ready to take the stage.Unless you're a big act that everyones paying to see you never really know what kind of audience you'll be performing for. Most of the time the crowd is pretty good but there always seems to be one heckler in the crowd that's trying to impress his girlfriend or his drinking buddies. If he gets to out of hand the crowd will usually take care of it. I was introducing one of my songs one night in a bar. It was a short story about an experience while I was in the Army.Three young vets were standing by the bar listening intently when some bozo in the back trying to impress his girlfriend yelled "Why don't you just play!" All three of them and a few other patrons not so politely turned to him and told him to shut his mouth. It was an interesting way to start a show.
I've sat on a stage and completely forgot my song list. Talk about a show stopper. I played my usual set and was asked to play a little longer. I couldn't think of a single thing to play. When I did think of a song I couldn't remember the first line. All the other lines were rattling around in my head but the first line was hiding somewhere are I couldn't find it. I had to pull out my cell phone and go to my website to get the first line. I would have been embarrassed if anyone had noticed but they didn't. Once I found the first line everything fell back into place and the show went on.
One of the main things I've learned when performing is mistakes happen. You'll forget words or even entire lines. You'll hit the wrong cords and you'll have a tendency too play to fast or too slow. You're going to make mistakes and how you get through them will make or break your show. If you forget a line, mumble your way through it. If you play the wrong cord keep going and change the cord as soon as you can. Just don't stop playing. You know you made a mistake but, more times than not, the audience didn't even notice. Just keep going and you'll be fine.
