Playing live and nerves

[Richard_close2u]

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@Rossco01

If I’m playing something live for the first time then I’m definitely more nervous. No matter how many times you practice it alone, playing live affects your focus and sometimes you think too much about what could go wrong. Once I’ve played it a couple of times live it tends not to be an issue.

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Our Open Mic events are superlatively good. They are a treasure of our little corner of the interweb from so many perspectives.

HOWEVER.

We are seeing people make many repeat appearances. And part of the drawback of that is the desire (a wholly understandable and natural one) to always play a new song so as not to simply present something already performed to the same audience.

What that means is that not one of us, whether a seasoned Open Mic veteran or someone who has only played at a very small number, is getting the comfort that Jason describes. A feeling of nerves that are natural but knowable. Nerves that precede a live performance but which can be assuaged in the knowledge that the material is tried and tested and has been played to an audience on multiple occasions already.

We are neophiles and that will always bring the ‘first-time nerves’ which are slightly different to the performer nerves that come before ‘another show’.