Crap rehearsal = great gig?

Andy

Honorary Member
Well, that's the saying, but is it true? Is it merely coincidental?

Earlier this week, the band suffered the worst rehearsal I can remember. Various members arriving with "life baggage", succession of stupid mistakes, general malaise, & a group not really looking forward to the weekend gig (mainly venue related).

Fast forward to last night - we turn up at the venue. A newly refurbished pub of some size. Our first time there, & we're faced with a temporary stage setup that's about twice the size of an average drum riser. Woeful electrical outlets, really low ceiling such that we can't erect the lighting trusses, etc, etc. We're already on a downward trajectory.

Sound check went really well - no tech issues, & kit was sounding glorious. Upshot is, we had a fantastic gig. Packed venue, band played flawlessly with great energy from the first note, audience was bouncing.

Last night seemed more than just anecdotal, it bordered on proof. So, is there something about an adversity mindset that provides that extra "something"? I'm calling yes! Thoughts :)
 
My old band played at a small music festival in Crosby a while ago, tiny venue, a child sized drum kit stuffed into the corner, the "backstage area" was out front in the street by a portable toilet. Things weren't looking good and the general feelings were "this isn't going to be great, let's just go have some fun and we'll put this in the book marked learning curves"

Gig turned out to be great, crowd loved it, little kit sounded ace, and it turned out to be one of our favourites of the year. The lack of pressure and resulting attitude just made us all relax and enjoy.

I'm not convinced this post is entirely relevant..
 
Well, that's the saying, but is it true? Is it merely coincidental?

Earlier this week, the band suffered the worst rehearsal I can remember. Various members arriving with "life baggage", succession of stupid mistakes, general malaise, & a group not really looking forward to the weekend gig (mainly venue related).

Fast forward to last night - we turn up at the venue. A newly refurbished pub of some size. Our first time there, & we're faced with a temporary stage setup that's about twice the size of an average drum riser. Woeful electrical outlets, really low ceiling such that we can't erect the lighting trusses, etc, etc. We're already on a downward trajectory.

Sound check went really well - no tech issues, & kit was sounding glorious. Upshot is, we had a fantastic gig. Packed venue, band played flawlessly with great energy from the first note, audience was bouncing.

Last night seemed more than just anecdotal, it bordered on proof. So, is there something about an adversity mindset that provides that extra "something"? I'm calling yes! Thoughts :)

Yup. I tend to find that and our lot actually joke about it.

I think it's perhaps in tandem with reduced expectations.

The worst gigs I find are those you REALLY look forward to. Everyone's promised you that it'll be a great venue, and a decent audience etc. You book an overnight stay because you'll be hitting the tiles after. Gig invariably turns out to be rubbish :)
 
Yep. Crap dress = great opening night. I learned that in theatre.

I think it has something to do with conquering nerves, as well as overcoming adversity. The nerves come from "What if X, Y, Z, and 3 go wrong? OMGWTFBBQ!!1!!!1!!" The adversity comes when all that stuff DOES go wrong in the dress rehearsal. You overcome it. Then when you hit the stage for opening night, you can relax a little bit* and enjoy performing.

That's how I see it, anyway. Glad you had a great gig! :-D

* But not too much, or everything will go wrong again.
 
I feel you, brother. A couple of years ago we played at the Hard Rock Cafe here and gig went off almost flawlessly despite the drama of the previous weeks. Bass player bringing baggage, not playing well at all, we called him on it, he got defensive and combative, so we had no choice but to fire him. Rather than put the gig off, we played anyway. We had all kinds of debates on playing without a bassist, trying to find and hire a new one in short order, postpone, blah blah blah. We agreed that gig minus bass wasn't too terribly heartbreaking, rhythm guitarist turned up his lows, I tuned my bass drums a little higher to carry some low end tone, and we rocked it pretty well considering we didn't even get to practice the week beforehand because of conflicting schedules. Crowd loved us, venue loved us, and all was well.
 
Yes, I too have found that both with theatre work and now with bands.

I've always suffered from an excess of nerves that turn me to jelly. If I believe it's going to be a crap gig - "Oh crap, we're crap, let's just get through this and then pack up without making eye contact with anyone" - I have no expectations of myself, that dispels nerves and I generally play better.

I had the same experience when I passed my driving test. Just as I pulled away from the test centre, 2 minutes in, I touched the kerb with my front wheel and thought "Oh, that's that then. Fail" - no expectations, nerves gone.
 
I will say, some of the most memorable gigs are where things went horrible wrong, yet the band played through it anyway and responded with a great performance.
 
I've noticed this too. I guess when mistakes come out at rehearsal (the best time for them to happen) we tend to take mental note of it and make sure it doesn't happen at the gig. And live you have to cover up mistakes (e.g. following the singer if s/he goes into the wrong part) whereas at rehearsal if things break down you might start over which sticks out more in your mind as a f__k-up.
 
I tend to have the opposite. A fantastic rehearsal leading up to the gig, everyone in high spirits... And then we play a gig full of stupid little mistakes.
 
Nothing like a live stage to focus and sharpen a performance. Not to say it works all the time, but personally we've never had a practice that stacked up with the best live show. Personally I don't give 100% energy in practice, instead focus is on the details or problems with a song.
 
My take on it is that a crap rehearsal shortly before a gig - doesn't have to be the rehearsal immediately before - reminds everybody that they have to work at being as good as they can be. No coasting!
 
My take on it is that a crap rehearsal shortly before a gig - doesn't have to be the rehearsal immediately before - reminds everybody that they have to work at being as good as they can be. No coasting!
That's my take also. The shows we play after a bad rehearsal do seem to be especially good.
 
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