The concert is one of those rituals that every musician awaits with a complex mix of eagerness and fear.
Indeed, few moments in your life can be both so exciting and go so wrong at any given moment.
When it’s good, there’s (almost) nothing better on earth; when it’s bad, you have a terrible urge to move to Laos and change your face.
But there are disasters that can be avoided with proper preparation: so here are our ten tips to make your next gig a real pleasure.
Don’t Skimp on Consumables
When I say consumables, I mean strings and picks for guitarists, drumheads for drummers, and so on.
Buying your string sets in packs of 5 or 10 might seem expensive, but the day you break your low E string during soundcheck on a Sunday afternoon in Corrèze, you’ll realize it’s the best investment of your life.
Don’t Drink Before…
Don’t drink alcohol, obviously!
Drink water, we wouldn’t want to be responsible for your death by dehydration during the second encore.
But alcohol before the concert is rarely a good idea: between the lyrics magically disappearing from your mind as you approach the mic, the burps that don’t always fall in rhythm, and the altered auditory perception (drunk musicians play louder and with more highs to compensate for the muffled sound they perceive due to the grams in their blood), a grenadine with water is highly recommended.
Never Leave Gear in the Car
Whether you came by car or van, it’s a means of transport and by no means a storage place for your gear.
You’ve all heard horrible stories of musicians who foolishly lose their gear when their van gets stolen, so don’t think it only happens to others.
Got an amp and a guitar extra?
They’ll be much safer in the dressing rooms or behind the drummer on stage, where no one will walk off with them…
Be Sure of Your Gear
There’s a universal rule of concerts, directly derived from the famous Murphy’s Law: anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and it will obviously happen at the worst possible moment.
Lamps usually blow during the second song, at the same time as strings break and the drum suddenly goes out of tune.
When it’s not your multi-effects pedal suddenly deciding to lose all its presets…
To minimize risks, only bring solid gear that has never given you unpleasant surprises.
When in doubt, bring as many spare parts as possible!
Prepare Merchandising
Musicians know this well: unless you’re part of the rare bands who’ve worked like slaves to get there, your concert won’t earn you much.
It can even cost you a lot between travel and accommodation, all in exchange for a few free drinks.
The only way not to come home broke is to bring merchandise to sell: CDs, vinyls, t-shirts, posters, everything is possible and original ideas are usually the best received.
Check the Gear Available on Site
“No problem, there’s a PA, drums, and amps on site!”: how many times have you heard this from the organizer only to end up with a mono hi-fi system as the PA, a 10-watt transistor amp, and a jazz drum kit without heads, not very useful for your thrash metal concert?
Ask for detailed info, and when in doubt, bring your own gear!
Arrive on Time
Nothing worse than missing soundcheck for silly timing reasons…
Check the route in advance, and bring a real GPS, not just the Maps app on your smartphone which will inevitably run out of battery as you near your destination – see tip number 4.
If Via Michelin says 3 hours of driving, plan for 4, and leave on time…
You’ll see, having time for soundcheck makes a huge difference at a concert.
Bring a Spare T-Shirt
If the concert is good, you’ll probably sweat like a beast. Maybe two.
So don’t force yourself into a third set wearing a t-shirt that smells like a sick muskrat, or worse, a night in a poorly heated hotel in a sopping t-shirt…
A t-shirt takes up no space in your gig bag, and you can’t imagine how happy you’ll be to find it.
Rehearse Beforehand
It seems so obvious, but it never hurts to remind you!
A good concert is a concert where you’re confident enough to give your best.
And no matter how great you are, it takes preparation!
When you’re not constantly thinking about the next part of the song or the note to hit for the backing vocals, you can focus on what really matters, which is…
Having Fun!
With all the constraints and things not to forget, you might almost forget that at the core, you’re here to enjoy yourself, and in doing so, make the people in front of you happy!
Everyone makes mistakes, don’t let them spoil the party.
Don’t torture yourself over a moment of hesitation or a string a bit too low, people will only remember the positive if that’s what you choose to focus on too.
Your turn to play!
