Practice them songs till youâre sick of them and then just relax and be your normal self on the evening. Bring a prompt if you need. Iâd print out rather than look at a tiny phone but you wonât need to anyway. Itâll just be a âsecurity blanketâ.
I didnât happen if you donât share the footage 
Break a leg.
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Looking forward to seeing a vid Trond 
sounds great and Iâm sure it is going to go just great, youâll probably be buzzing when you finish canât wait to see or hear how it went.
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Thrilled for you mate. Theyâre gonna love you. Looking forward to your report, and of course, the vdeo.
All the best.
Cheers, Shane
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Thatâs awesome, Trond.
Great advice already given. My 2cs on memorising and using an aid.
I think it is obviously true that playing entirely from memory will allow best possible audience engagement. The other extreme, reading and singing the lyrics from an aid will be least engaging.
I performed my first couple using my song sheets. Do they provide a music stand, where I go they do. If not you could consider taking one if you have one. Like Brian suggested, Iâd suggest using an A4 printed sheet.
Then I was encouraged by folk here to memorise and perform without the aid. I managed it but found it added stress. I felt the added stress offset any gain in engagement I might have got from losing the songsheet. So I resumed having my songsheet.
Sometime later, I think after Covid, I found my ability to memorise (Iâd kept practicing that) had improved. Perhaps making my Songs From the Playroom (not the Wood) helped. So I had another go at playing without the sheet and found I was relaxed.
Moral of the story ⌠chart your own course, donât feel pressured by people on your choice about using an aid.
Break a leg !!
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Woohoo Trond!! 
Go for it buddy! 
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Good luck Trond. Sounds like it will be fun, would love to see some video of it.
Youâll do great. I havenât done a real life OM so no tips, I hope to do one at some stage so Iâd love to hear about your experience!
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Have a most excellent time, I hope it all goes really well. Please keep us informed ok.
Best
Rachel.
Thanks for all the great tips and the moral boost everyone.
Took a quick shot when practise on my planned opening song. It has a couple of flaws but i did not bother doing another shotâŚ
i will of course come back and tell about the experience 
Also try to get someone to record it as well.
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I would say
Thatâs exciting Trond! Youâll be great! and have fun!
I have no tips to add as I have zero experience with OM, in person or virtual
but also looking forward to hearing how it goes and seeing the vid
Wow Trond sounds amazing, I am sure you will smash it mate! Is one of the songs youâre going to perform going to be Immortality? As I think you would smash this one of the park 
Youâve made that your own mate, sounding great too me! Theyâll love it, perfect opener to catch their attention 
Trond that was really nice, played with lots of feeling, and different dynamics, play like that on the night and you will have them in the palm of your hand.
Great Trond! Make sure to enjoy it, donât think about anyone else, youâll be awesome
@KevinKevan
Thanks! I hope its going to be fun. Not so nervous as i was on my first OM on the community
@Avalon426 thanks a lot Jasmine 
@adi_mrok yep⌠going for immortality thanks for the supportâ:grin:
@nzmetal thanks Jeff!!
@philsmith thanks a lot Phil!
Really appreciate all houre support
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Never done an OM myself but well done for taking the plunge and good luck.
Hi Trond, I was late seeing your post. How did it go ?
Yeah, come one Trond, spill the beans?
I am so sorry everyone. I have had my plate full the last couple of weeks. So sorry i have not replyed @SgtColon and @eric.lennon
Anyway⌠i have done an open mic and i did not get it taped⌠
i forgot all about it, twice actually⌠(according to @brianlarsen it didnt happen if it was not taped but it really did )
For everyone that sitting on the fence on doing an open mic⌠just do it!!
I actually found it a lot less tense and i was not close to being as nervous as i was on openmic here on the forum.
I really dont know why it was like that, but it just felt pretty relaxing.
I met up early so i could speak to the sound guy and see if i could have a go with everything before it all started. And he was supercool about it and let me try out for a good 20 minutes. What happened then was that the household bands drummer came up and asked if he could join me on drums when i played. And that made everything smoother and it was a blast. So on my last run down the housebands guitarist threw himself into the mix without me knowing it. I was in the middle of the song at that moment. But i just kept on going,doing my little thing while he filled in with a small solo and a little bit of lead. That did not, strangely enough give me any problems at all. he just laid right there with me and did not really disturb me at all. So⌠all this sounds like everything were perfect⌠well⌠guitarwise it was ok. I kept it simple. Voice, well⌠not so much⌠It is something completly new to me using a mic. I heard myself sing. And that was crazy wierd at first. I also moved to much around the mic with my head so it became quite uneven at times⌠but it worked out ok in the end⌠so when me and the two other guys were done jamming and soundchecking i was just throwned straight out there to start up the openmic session.
At that time it was not superbusy, just a couple of guests and other musiciansâŚIt was a bit weird to open up the thing with the song i had allready played around with for 20 minutes. So that became a littlebit weird. But it worked out ok i guess⌠i have played a lot better and i have played a lot worse
But man o man how fun it was with a drummer and a lead guitarist. It was a shame i did not get to record it. Everything just happened so fast 
I opened up with Pearl jams immortality by the way.
After that one song i stepped down, and watched all the others and i was then supposed to play the last one. But suddenly i had to just step in for someone else that had to catch the bus!!??? so i forgot all about recording for the second time that evening
That was a fingerstyle song, pirate looks at forty⌠and i did that all by my self ⌠same issues with mic on that, not used to hear myself. But o my how good my guitar sounded through that sound system⌠soundwise that is⌠not my playing that was pretty coolâŚ
Not much to say about the performance, was a little more crowded now, but most just listened
With an half ear but one seasoned old guy who was brilliant acoustic player came over and shoock my hand and said i could be proud of that performance⌠so that was really coolâŚ
So what do i make of all that?
1- It was superfun.
2- be aware of singing in a mic is a whole different thing.
3- I could probably have done the songs backwards textwise, but i am happy i had a tablet there to help me out. I would have gotten into trouble if that tablet was not there. (Turns out that most others had tablets aswell )
4- Maybe i found it easier to play live than through zoom because you get an instant response, and did not have to think about everything coming through and so onâŚ
5- And playing with a band is awsome!!!
6-I will absolutly do it again
7- i dont have to be afraid that not using a pick while playing with others. With the right sound level dialed in its all good. In fact i found it that you could get out quite a lot of ÂŤattackÂť when things are amped up. Even just using fingers.
8- did not have a clue on how big my guitar could sound through a system like that. I am amazed how cool it sounded compared to unplugged in my livingroom. it was almost scary in the start. A huge difference from my usual sound when im home unamped and no effects. ( i see now why my yamaha is called an desk amp⌠this was a completly different thing)
I bet it is addictive to play around with that kind of sound and sound levelâŚ
So lastly i would like to thank everyone of you in this forum. I would not ever comed out and play for anyone If it wasnt for all youâre support and all the nice words from my first AVOYP and up til now⌠Thank you very much everyone!!
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So good man, so good. Iâm happy for you and glad it went well. It sounds like such a buzz. I hope to follow in your footsteps some time in 2024!
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