Getting Up On The Stage

Ever since I can remember I have always been the performer of my family. It all started when I was eight years old and I was given Michael Jackson’s Bad album as a Christmas present. Within a week or so I had learned all of the words on the album and then after a few weeks I was dancing like him to all of his songs. At family get-togethers when my Dad or one of my uncles would get out the camcorder I would always end up singing and dancing to Smooth Criminal or whatever, with my leather jacket and one glove.

As I grew a bit older my tastes in music changed and I can remember watching Oasis play Live Forever on MTV. I had always wanted to play guitar and seeing this band looking totally cool from the way they dressed to the way they walked, I thought to myself this is what it’s all about. At the time I didn’t really think about singing or anything I just wanted to play guitar and perform in front of an audience. From that day on I hounded my parents until eventually they gave in, and bought me a cheap Hohner nylon stringed guitar, and a Noel Gallagher songbook. I learned all of the chords from the diagrams in the book but had a hard time at first as I was left handed and was learning to play right handed. As soon as I had mastered the likes of Wonderwall and Married With Children I started to write my own songs, using similar keys and chord structures.

During this time I was totally mesmerized with music and mystified by trying to figure out which instruments one needed to make what sounds. I taught some of my friends to play guitar and we would play together but it seemed to be only me who was ever taking things seriously. I didn’t really have any idea of different styles of music as everything was new to me I could only play songs by the likes of Oasis and The Beatles, to name a few. After meeting up with some college friends I starting listening to more and more diverse artists and I also started to trace music back from the modern day to the 60s and 70s, listening to rock and punk. Then going even further back to folk and blues. I also read books on the blues and on blues artists such as Robert Johnson. At this time I also discovered the internet, which to this day has been my most useful tool in finding out about music and the situations that created it.

There weren’t very many musicians in the area where I lived and my friends were all losing interest so I was stuck for the time being. I thought that I would need a band before I could perform and I couldn’t get a band together. I started to reply to the classified notices in the back pages of various guitar and music magazines but I didn’t really have any experience and I was too young so I didn’t get very far with them. My dreams of performing seemed to be very distant. I used to listen to songs on the radio, daydreaming that I was the one performing them.

But about two years ago everything changed. I was at a friend’s house (a friend with similar yet more varied musical tastes then myself) and he put on a CD with this guy singing who sounded really knowledgeable and experienced, like he’d lived everywhere and met everybody. He was singing on his own and playing an acoustic guitar. I immediately thought, “Wait a minute! This could be me!” I asked my friend who it was and he told me it was a guy called Bob Dylan. I had heard of him before from reading the sleeve of my Guns ‘n’ Roses CD “Use Your Illusion II” He was the same guy who wrote my favorite track on that album, Knocking on Heaven’s Door. So I bought almost every album I could get my hands on and spoke about him to everyone I thought might know a bit more about him.

Shortly after that, I learned of jamming sessions at various bars in my area, known locally as “Busker’s Nights.” In the U.K.a musician who plays for spare change in the streets or in the subway is known as a busker, and on these nights anyone can get up on stage, and sing a few songs. So eventually I could fulfill my dream of performing. I turned up with my guitar one night at the ‘Duke of Cumberland’ bar and sat near the back. Two guys had just finished doing their set and I went up to ask them who I should see to get my turn on stage. One of them happened to be the man I was looking for and he told me that he’d give me a shout when it was my turn to play.

So by this time I was a bundle of nerves and I felt like running out of the exit and never returning. Instead I drank a few bottles of beer (legally, of course, because by this time I was eighteen which is the legal age here in the UK) and I tried to think of which songs I should play. I looked around at the crowd and although there were quite a few young people about, the average age seemed to between 35 and 40. So I decided to play a Dylan song, a Beatles’ song and one by Oasis, just to show the younger people that I liked modern music too.

After what seemed like forever, I was called to the stage. I picked up my guitar and walked up to the front. My legs were shaking and I felt a bit dizzy. I sat on a stool on the stage and looked out into the audience, which now looked much busier than it had seemed a few moments ago. The stage lights were almost blinding me. The guy running the show gave me the thumbs up and I proceeded to play a rather speeded up version of Like A Rolling Stone. While in-song, I found that if I shut my eyes I could pretend to be in my bedroom. During the last chorus I could hear people in the crowd singing along with me, which gave a bit more confidence. And while I finished the song at totally the wrong place (on the Dm, I think), which the people weren’t really expecting, I still received a long applause which made me smile throughout the rest of my set.

For my second song I played You’ve Got To Hide You Love Away by The Beatles. This proved to be a little bit harder than my first song as it has a bass run before the chorus going from the D note to the A note and then starting the chorus on the G chord and I messed it up at least once (well maybe twice). But taking things into consideration my second song didn’t go too bad at all. My vocals seemed a lot clearer on this song as I moved my head back from the microphone.

During my last song, Oasis’ She’s Electric, I could see camera flashes from the audience. This also gave me a bit more confidence and when I finally finished my set I received a really long applause. The guy running the show commented on how I did really well for my first performance.

When the crowd was clapping and cheering at the music I had made, I felt like I had found my calling. I didn’t want to let anyone else up on the stage – I wanted to play more songs! And once I had returned to my seat, people were coming up to me and saying, “That was good” or “You should come again.” I wanted to get back up on the stage. In fact, I was hoping that the guy in charge would shout me up for another set.

He never did that night, but week after week I went back and played another three songs and got the buzz of performing again. In the weeks that followed I learnt to open up a bit more in front of an audience and let myself go fully. Now I’m a regular there and at other clubs and bars as well. I get nervous still, but not to the point where I felt like running out the door. Doing it when you’re young makes it a bit easier (at least for me) because you don’t care as much if you were to make a mistake, but that doesn’t mean that if you’re over thirty you can’t give it a try.

I’ve been asked to give tips to people who were in the same situation I was before I started performing, please note that these are only my suggestions and some may not suit you.

Keep you mouth away from the microphone when singing loudly, because not only will your voice probably deafen most of the audience it will also sound a little distorted.

Keep plenty of picks handy because there is a good chance that you will drop at least one while playing.

Introduce each song as you go because most people like to know what song you’re going to play. It also gets you talking to the audience which I think calms you a bit.

Take a drink (water or whatever) up on the stage with you (if permitted – check first) because you’ll need it after a song or two.

Know your song well before you attempt to play it in front of an audience.

Judge beforehand what songs you think the audience will want to hear. For example, a crowd of 50-year-olds may not appreciate a Limp Bizkit track as much as you and your friends.

Make sure you instrument and vocal microphones are at the correct volume before you start.

And finally enjoy yourself because that’s what it’s all about. . . .

If you are interested in performing at a “Busker’s Night” check out more open mike tips from Alan Horvath’s article “Talent Showcases and Open Mic Nites“