The pre-gig ritual

I had decided to jump straight into this post without referring to the title at all. I then decided this was stupid, since anyone reading this (the likelihood of which is zero) would be thrown completely off track and probably lose interest within seconds. Although, I believe the same has happened with this un-related intro.

So, here I am, sitting in an office, with the sun beaming outside (it's great this momentary sunshine, but the amount of people who have referred to the 'beautiful weather' and 'glorious sunshine' on Twitter and Facebook is ridiculous! Have that many people forgotten what the sun and warmth look and feel like?), a job which I feel fulfilled in (more on that later) and a pending gig this evening.

It's insane, because I've been gigging since the tender age of 14/15, yet I still get the butterflies at this point before a gig. What's more, I tell myself that, tonight of all nights, there is nothing to worry about! Understandable if I'd not gigged for a few months (4Hours 'return' gig last month very much unsettled me), or if a new song which we were not 100% comfortable with appeared in our set list. However, this will be our 4th gig within a month, our set list is unchanged for all 4 (except a slight re-arranging to the running order tonight), the equipment is all our own bar P.A. and drum kit so we've no issues there... but still I feel a slight airiness in my belly that screams 'nerves!' at me.

Our gig is slightly further afield than the previous 3, at the Purple Turtle in Reading. I've heard good things, and know of the chain of venues of which Camden Town holds one of the same name. It means a drive up the M4 - a journey which sod's law says tonight of all nights will be riddled with delays and accidents. However, our slot is at 9.30pm, so time is on our side. The band we are playing with, Tin Soldiers, are apparently quite a well established popular band, so the crown should be ok. Also, we've no pressure of bringing fans along, unlike so many pay-to-play venues... I could spend a day blogging about the hilarity of these so called 'promoters', however, I'll save that for another, not so sunny day.

So, why the nerves? I've come to the conclusion; because it's a ritual. Rituals so often emerge as doing 20 press ups then knocking back a can of Red Bull, or closing yourself in a room and singing the 1st 3 verses of 'American Pie', or clapping your hands twice, clicking your neck so it makes a horrid 'I'm snapping' sound then shaking your legs like an angry ant colony just partied in your pants. Mine, ends up being a nervous feeling, followed (in the last few years, at least) by a chow down of food and hanging around the venue, not paying much attention to the other bands playing but in fact wishing your slot would hurry up. Not much of a ritual, but it gets me through. I'm sure there are 100's of other artists and bands who go through a similar thing, and probably don't even class it as a ritual. However, just like the previous mentioned rituals (of which I have never participated in any, you'll be glad to know), if I didn't do it... it just wouldn't feel right.

So, to complete my blog for today, I refer back to my earlier mention of work. The long and short of it goes like this - my last 2weeks work have been solely based around re-building the 4Hours website. The remark which initially had began my whole blog was 'why I always link the 4Hours website from these blogs' - only this time, it's one of the final chances to see the old, not-so-good-at-loading-images website. As of next week, it will be reborn(however, it will be looking no different what-so-ever)!

Until next time...

Adam
4Hours
http://www.4HoursMusic.co.uk