How Do We Sabotage Our Live Performances

[Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com>]

The thread on stage fright got me to thinking about
ways that I unconsciously sabotage my public performances
or at least things to think about to insure a better performance.


One of my biggest ones is that I'm a techo-phile and I will frequently hit
the stage with a new piece of gear that I don't really undertand fully.

I keep doing it because there are some artistic advantages to doing this.
One is that the new sounds that surprise one (and even the technological
challenges of dealing with the consequences of equipment or routing 
meltdowns)
throw new challenges that frequently end up in interesting things,
still I do this over and over and keep having gigs with little to big 
meltdown experiences.

Another silly one for me is that I love to use dayglo stage chords 
(line, midi, ac, etc.)
and the fact of the matter is that frequently these chords are not as 
well made as the best
chords in the industry.   One way I get around it is to make sure that I 
test chords
BEFORE a gig.   Even cheap chords will work when they are new.  They 
also serve the advantage
of allowing me to see my somewhat complex signal flow on the stage under 
low light
situations,  but still..........I could use right now to completely 
replace all of my dayglo orange
mic chords and midi chords..........that could be up to a couple hundred 
dollars worth of
custom chords.

Lastly,  there are times when I want to show the audience all the things 
I can do musically....
....to show off my entire skill set.    This is a total mistake from my 
experience and frequently
leads to a show that is too ambitious (particularly in terms of time for 
set up).
I keep wanting to do it, though,  so I struggle with it.  It's really 
pure petty ego and I know it,
but I also have a tendency to forget things like that in the insecurity 
of a performance.

I've been told by many people that some of their favorite shows of mine 
were when my main
gear broke down and I suddenly had to rely only on my creativity, a few 
weird instruments
and a Line 6 DL-4.

the important thing is being present..............being 
musical...............doing things
that really delight oneself and finally, having fun doing it.

Everything gets good when we are able to do that, despite what equipment 
we take on stage.

Rick Walker