How much alcohol do you consume before going on stage ?

Rigsby

At a recent local pub venue gig, I noticed that the drummer and guitarist seemed to be a bit the worse for alcohol. I say "seemed" because I could be wrong, though I saw them drinking at the bar. It was either this, or they just could not play, so I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt on the latter.

Nothing wrong with a drink, I hear you say. I agree, except if it affects the band as a whole via your playing. These guys were missing beats and playing bum notes. I'm glad it was a free admission gig. I play in a band myself, so maybe I noticed it where others did not. I'm not above playing a bum note myself, but certainly not through alcohol.

The amount people can consume before it affects their playing varies. Personally, I'd only have one or two drinks before going on, as any more would affect my concentration. I know there are people who will say, it's only a bit of craic and fun, and dont take it so serious. To which my reply would be, if it's worth doing, then it's worth doing to the best of your ability, for your own sake as well as for the band and audience's.

Anyone got any views or opinions.

stingray75

usually none before a gig myself - it doesn't help - unless you're in tatters from the night before - where one during should take the edge off.

but others see that different...:rolleyes:

Rigsby

stingray75 wrote: »

but others see that different...:rolleyes:

True..... unfortunately.

davylee

for the people who say it's only a bit of crack and fun and why do you take it so serious say out of love and respect of music;)
I hardly ever drink before a gig - could probably count how many times ever.
Personally even 2 pints would affect my coordination and i my fingers would not do what i want them to.
But a lot of lads can get so nervous, they feel they need it
the drummer in our band nearly always has a few and it certainly doesn't help him
Some fellas think it helps them so what do you do

DrumSteve

i dont... not because it effects my playing. but if im playing for over an hour then ill end up dying for a piss halfway through.

Malice

I'd have at most 2 pints. Normally I wouldn't have anything alcoholic. Possibly a pint of water.

After the gig is a different story though .

Wurly

2 at the absolute most. Otherwise, i'd make an arse of the gig.

Rigsby

davylee wrote: »

for the people who say it's only a bit of crack and fun and why do you take it so serious say out of love and respect of music;)

That quote is patented :mad: I still have n't received my cheque. :pac:

DrumSteve wrote: »

ill end up dying for a piss halfway through.

Good p(o)int !! Never thought of that.

Savman

A big fat Zero. Any more is unprofessional.

Are you there to work or there to 'have a laff'? :rolleyes:

DerKaiser

Unpaid gig: 2 tops
Paid gig: None

Drinking on-stage looks horribly unprofessional too

Rigsby

Savman wrote: »

A big fat Zero. Any more is unprofessional.

Are you there to work or there to 'have a laff'? :rolleyes:

Trouble is, a few teenagers get a band together, they practice for a few weeks. They are probably not up to gigging standard but go ahead with it either out of impatience, to show off, and/or to "have a laff ". They dont consider themselves professional and have a few pints, (for the craic !! ) which only goes to further emphasise their lack of experience.

I realise this would not be the norm, but it happens.

thegrove54

im in a band and i dont let the lads drink before gettin on stage now after t wen yave pulled a few nice lookin birds by all means go on the slaughter but never before ya get up

Joffrey

Well maybe i'm a bit odd, but I can have 6,7,8 pints and play as good as if I were stone cold sober, I think it's cause our music, while more technical than a lot, is still well within my playing level, I wouldn't hit a bum note, and if anything helps the little improve bits we do.

eoin5

DerKaiser wrote: »

Unpaid gig: 2 tops
Paid gig: None

Drinking on-stage looks horribly unprofessional too

But slash does it and hes deadly

I've done it a few times and I just ended up angry with my performance. I've vowed never again. I get enough of a buzz from playing anyways.

irishthump

Personally I would'nt drink at all before a gig. As a drummer I don't think it's possible to play properly with alcohol onboard.
No doubt there will be some supermen out there who would disagree, but I've never seen drink improve ANYBODY'S performance onstage.

Afterwards, fire away. Just make sure you carry your share of the gear out before getting buckled!

irishthump

Joffrey wrote: »

Well maybe i'm a bit odd, but I can have 6,7,8 pints and play as good as if I were stone cold sober,

You would be surprised how a bellyfull of drink can effect your perceptions of how you played...

ie: you may have thought you played great, but in reality you were steaming pile of sh*te!
Seen it happen a-hundred-and-one times.

Joffrey

Well I do tend to record the gigs and have a fair few musicians in the crowd that would testify to it.

nomorebadtown

DerKaiser wrote: »

Drinking on-stage looks horribly unprofessional too

get a grip, you're playing rock n roll not performing open heart surgery:rolleyes:

mr.benn

Personally,and this is from a solo performers perspective,any more than 3 pints would get me nervous about forgetting things that i am usually completely solid at so i tend to have 1 maybe two sociable pints spaced over about 2hours before just to get comfy i suppose.Drinking destroyed a very wel paid cover band i was once in and as a result destroyed friendships too,just not worth it!!

joeduggan

thats your opinion , but is it the opinion of the rest of the band.????

joeduggan

i agree with any of you that said you shouldnt drink. before or durng. i used to play in a band and the guitarist would be out all day. he would come to the gig and play his heart out. and at the end of it he would wonder why the rest of the band were in bad form. he didnt cop on that it was a woeful gig because of him. he thought he was outstanding. kinda reminds me of dewey finn at the start of school of rock.

Rigsby

joeduggan wrote: »

i used to play in a band and the guitarist would be out all day. he would come to the gig and play his heart out. and at the end of it he would wonder why the rest of the band were in bad form. he didnt cop on that it was a woeful gig because of him. he thought he was outstanding.

In a case like this it is up to the band as a whole to convey to the person that they were n't outstanding, and that the gig did not go well because his playing was impaired by alcohol. A bad performance from one member affects the whole band. Yes, this will possibly cause friction within the band, but IMO it's better to be upfront about it, so everyone knows where they stand.

thegrove54

Joffrey wrote: »

Well I do tend to record the gigs and have a fair few musicians in the crowd that would testify to it.

Yeah but if your drunk their probally just saying that so you wont start anything its easier to get pissed off when drunk. Put up a link of some of ur drunk playing and let us see what your like playing drunk

Rigsby

thegrove54 wrote: »

Put up a link of some of ur drunk playing and let us see what your like playing drunk

Good idea. I'd be curious to see how "well" someone with six to eight pints consumed performs.

thegrove54

like if ya play good ill say it but if ur just yammerin on im gonna tell ya that yer ****e ive been palying guitar almost ten years now and drink never works at gigs at parties yes it does but never at gigs.

Rigsby

thegrove54 wrote: »

like if ya play good ill say it but if ur just yammerin on im gonna tell ya

Same here.... honest opinion guaranteed.

Joffrey

I'm not exactly computer savy, but i'll try get someone else to do it, I'm not bull****ting about my playing anyway, I remember being in a band playing bass and a drummer we were doing our first gig with told me to stop drinking, and the guitar player said "it's cool, it doesn't affect his playing at all" maybe if your playing music at the extreme limits of your ability then you shouldn't drink, but when playing within yourself, it's handy.

thegrove54

and wen playing bass ya can drink no offence to bassists but most original material wont have to hard of a bass line unless your playing death metal

Joffrey

Rigsby wrote: »

Good idea. I'd be curious to see how "well" someone with six to eight pints consumed performs.

Come to our next gig, think tank 1st aug

thegrove54

Joffrey wrote: »

Come to our next gig, think tank 1st aug

do you have any songs online?

Joffrey

Yeah, but there all fairly old, nothing more recent.

http://www.myspace.com/deadcelebrities1

Rigsby

thegrove54 wrote: »

and wen playing bass ya can drink no offence to bassists but most original material wont have to hard of a bass line unless your playing death metal

IMO the bassist is the member of the band (along with the drummer) who needs to stay sober. It's not so much the bass lines (i.e. the notes ) per se that will suffer, but the way they are played, i.e. the timing, that is affected by alcohol. In drink driving tests it was proved that after only two pints, a persons reaction time slowed down considerably. That's why I'm so curious to see/hear "Joffrey" playing drums with eight :eek: pints.

Joffrey

Don't play em

methodinsane

I don't know. I suppose I would have some drink; I don't notice much of a difference in nerves/adrenalin with one or 3 pints. I hate playing drunk though; despise it, I feel like I'm letting myself down (and I have more than once in the past).

I play guitar and sing and I'm more concerned about how long it takes me to warm up. Usually 5 songs and I'm really in the mood but that does vary. The uncontrollable adrenalin rush has died off and the blubbering idiot that I was has turned cool and shmooth. I play stuff like Michael Hedges and Jeff Buckley where you really need control of your fingers and voice and I find when I am totally relaxed and feeding off the audience then it goes well. I'm well out of practice but I played impromptu in a pub smoking area last Sunday and it was good I think. My voice was a bit rough cos I smoked too many cigs that day (stress!!!)

Each to their own I guess..

Rigsby

Joffrey wrote: »

Don't play em

Sorry !! My mistake.:o

crosstownk

I used to play with a bass player who didn't 'get it together' until he'd had a couple of whiskeys. Once he necked the nectar he played amazingly. He had two or three before the gig then abstained until the set was complete.

niallon

i'd usually tend to be having one before a gig, mainly due to the fact that I suffer from severe nerves depending on the venue. We were playing Dorans and I'd bring one on stage with me no problem because we were comfortable there and didn't feel the pressure. But then we played Temple Bar Music Centre and I wound up having three or four beforehand. Still played grand but I miss the fact that I didn't have the chance to experience the buzz from the gig with a sober mind.

rachel_123

i can't drink before a gig atall! im a singer, and any bit of drink in me causes me to not be able to sing ATALL!! its a pity tho - because it would calm the nerves a little.. oh well!

Patricide

Zero pints, under any circumstances, any gig...paid or unpaid.

talkaboutcold

i don't drink the two nights before a gig. well i dont get rotten anyway. it affects my motor skills and more importantly my vocals for about 3 days after. theres nothin worse than a bad backing vocalist. id have 1 max before i go on. 1 while im on but a big pint of water too.

joeduggan

dont really understand that grove. r u sayin bass players are talentless, or that songwriters cant write bass lines??????????

jarain

99% of the time nothing before or after. I play bass and I like to be able to feel where the music is going without booze affecting that. It's an important part of our band's dynamic that we feed off of each other and from experience I know I don't do that well with booze on.

The very very odd time I will have a bottle before going on I don't think it has any significant effect but for me it's as easy have none as have one.

davylee

thegrove54 wrote: »

Yeah but if your drunk their probally just saying that so you wont start anything its easier to get pissed off when drunk. Put up a link of some of ur drunk playing and let us see what your like playing drunk

Only thing with that is the clip would have to show him drinking the 7 or 8 pints too.

Rigsby

davylee wrote: »

Only thing with that is the clip would have to show him drinking the 7 or 8 pints too.

True. Never thought of that. Who would want to sit at a computer watching "joffrey" down eight pints. :rolleyes:

Crazy Diamond

As a three piece band we agree never to have any alcohol before playing a gig. We're all fairly fond of a few but only after the gig and this stems down from experience. We've all been in other bands and drank plenty before gigs and just ended up playing brutal shows because of bad coordination as a result of too much alcohol. We practice four times a week sober so why then drink before a gig when you've prepared for it sober? It would be a contradiction.
People are diferent but we find we play to the best of our ability without alcohol!!!


Cheeky plug ..... www.myspace.com/retrospree

mr.benn

joeduggan wrote: »

thats your opinion , but is it the opinion of the rest of the band.????

Well myself and the bassist thought so but it was pretty obvious that it did because the guitarists would be pissed and hitting bumb notes all over the shop.To be honest it didnt seem to bother the equally pissed crowds we played to but it caused confrontation beacuse its like drinking on the job and its just not on when you are trying to make a living yknow?

i57dwun4yb1pt8

Joffrey wrote: »

Well maybe i'm a bit odd, but I can have 6,7,8 pints and play as good as if I were stone cold sober, I think it's cause our music, while more technical than a lot, is still well within my playing level, I wouldn't hit a bum note, and if anything helps the little improve bits we do.

hah , that a load of crap
you might think you are playing well, but you probably sound like arse.

i hope to god its not drumming you do .

davylee

I wouldn't really agree with the whole drinking thing but i'd imagine if anyone can get away with it it would be a guitarist
if it was drums or bass who was pissed i'd say the effect would be immediate

Africa

Two MAXIMUM before a gig. Your always left waiting to play and a pint relaxes you a small bit. ONLY 2 though. Any more, your not allowed drink after! So its tough to get away with it

thegrove54

joeduggan wrote: »

dont really understand that grove. r u sayin bass players are talentless, or that songwriters cant write bass lines??????????

no man not saying that at all like my basist can learn songs in a heartbeat he had hysetiria by muse down the second time he tried it

obv theres talent needed in it but listenin to jofferies recordings i can see why it doesnt affect his playings its just the same thing repeated over and over in the song it bearlly changes

thegrove54

not saying hes **** now it sounds really good for that kinda genre but its very repative