From: Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com>
To: LOOPERS DELIGHT (posting) <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Sent: Monday, January 9, 2012 2:35 PM
Subject: Nerves on Stage: was Liking/Disliking your own music
On 7/22/64 11:59 AM, David Gans wrote:
> On the other hand, I saw Van Morrison at the Greek Theater in Berkeley a few years ago, and it wasn't one of his better shws. I kept thinking that glaring at his drummer nonstop (when he wasn't singing) was not likely to result in an improvement to the groove.
If only for side one of Veedon Fleece, I will always love Van Morrison,
but he's notorious for being cantankerous.
It's interesting because towards the start of his solo career, it's said that he painted his sunglasses black
on the back side of the glass because he had such bad stage fright. This was a way that he could
put the audience away.
I think that judgement of self usually precedes judgement of others.
I have really strong stage fright myself, but I've been lucky to be pretty nearsighted.
I just try to grin at the blurred faces and even learned a trick from
I learned from a substitute
teacher:
If you are nervous or have stage fright, you just pick a person in the back row of the room
and you stare intently at their forehead. In this way you aren't even connecting with the person
but you give the illusion that you are intensely connecting with someone in the audience.
If my nerves are really getting to me at the start of a performance, I just randomly turn my gaze
to someone else's forehead periodically until I get enough 'into' the peformance that my
anxiety lessens and I become more present with the music.
This is one reason why I like to have a planned opening and a planned closing to my shows,
even if they are completely improvised in nature.
Doing this can help the performance during the times when you are most susceptible
to your nerves.
rick walker
