The concert is one of those rituals that every musician awaits with a complex mixture of impatience and terror. Indeed, there are few moments in your life. Both be so exciting and have so much fun all the time. When it’s good. There is (almost) nothing better on earth. When it isn’t. You have a terrible urge to move to Laos and have your face changed. 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.

1 – Don’t skimp on consumables

When I say consumable, I mean strings and picks for guitarists, skins for drummers, and so on. Buying your sets of strings by 5 or 10 may seem expensive. But the day you blow your low E in the balance on a Sunday afternoon in Cores. You will understand how it is the best investment of your life.

2 – Do not drink before …

Don’t drink alcohol of course! Drink water, we wouldn’t want to be responsible for your death from dehydration during the second booster. But alcohol before the concert is rarely a good idea. Between the words that magically come out of your head as you approach the microphone. The burps that do not always fall in rhythm. And the modification of your auditory perception (alcoholic musicians play louder and with more treble. To compensate for the muffled sound they perceive by force of grams in the blood). A grenadine with water is strongly recommended.

3 – Never leave any gear in the car

Whether you have come by car or van. It is a means of travel and not a storage place for your gear. You’ve all heard horror tales of musicians stupidly losing their gear by getting stung in the truck. So don’t tell yourself it only happens to others. Do you have an extra amp and guitar? They will be very good in the boxes, or behind the drummer on stage, where no one will leave with …

4 – be sure of your gear

There is a universal concert rule. Directly derived from Murphy’s famous law: anything that can screw up will screw up. And it will obviously screw up when it bothers you the most. The tubes usually burn out at the end of the second song. At the same time as the strings fart and the drums go out of tune. When it’s not your multi-effects that suddenly decides to lose all of its presets … To limit the risks, only bring solid gear that has never given you any unpleasant surprises. When in doubt, plan as many duplicates as possible!

5 – Prepare merchandising

The musicians know it well: unless you are one of the few groups who worked like convicts to get there

your concert will not bring you much. It can even get you expensive between the road and the accommodation, all in exchange for a few free drinks. The only way not to get naked financially is to come with merchandising to sell. CDs, vinyl, t-shirts, posters, anything is possible and original ideas are generally best received.

6 – Check the equipment available on site

“No problem, there’s a PA, drums, and amps on site! »: How many times have you heard this sentence from the organizer. Finally, find yourself there with a mono hi-fi system as a sound system. 10-watt transistor amp and a jazz drum without skins of little use for your thrash metal concert? Ask for specific information, and if in doubt bring your own gear!

7 – Arrive on time

Nothing worse than having to do without scales for stupid reasons of timing … Look at the route in advance. And get yourself a real GPS. And not the Maps application on your smartphone which will necessarily. At runs out of batteries as you approach the point of arrival – see tip number 4. If Via Michelin tells you to drive 3 hours, plan 4, and leave on time… You will see, do a balance while having time , it changes a lot of things at the concert.

8 – Provide a spare t-shirt

If the gig is good, you will probably be sweating like hell. Or even two. So don’t impose yourself the third half in a t-shirt. Smells like sick nutria, or worse, a night in a poorly heated hotel in a soaked t shit … A t-shirt does not take up space in your gigbag. And you don’t imagine how happy you will be to find it.

9 – Repeat before

it seems so obvious, but it never hurts to remember it! A good gig is a gig where you are confident enough to perform at your best. And you may be awesome, it’s getting ready! When you’re not always thinking about the next part of the song. The note to find for the backing vocals, you can concentrate on the essentials. which is …

10 – Have fun!

by dint of constraints and things to keep in mind, you could almost forget that at the base. You are there to please yourself. Thereby please the people in front of you. Everyone bakes bread. Don’t let them spoil the party. Don’t torture your brain for a moment of float or a chord a little too low. The people will only hold back the positive if that’s what you choose to hold back. It’s your turn.

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