Cheers mate. Think the nerves will be the worst but the 2 songs I’m doing I’m quietly confident about doing ok and my mate on guitar and vocals is amazing so just need to conquer the nerves !!
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Hello @Tank,
the well-known problem of ‘stage fright’.
I had opened a thread here in the forum, where you can find numerous opinions and answers:
https://forum.harmonica.com/search?q=Stage%20fright%20
Anyway, I wish you lots of fun and success! It will definitely be great!
Best Regards from Astrid 
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Thank you Astrid x will have a read through your post and take a few notes and also thanks for the encouragement 
I need a lot of that 
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Audiences are just there to have a good time, so try to provide one. You know the two songs. Think about the first half dozen notes of whatever solos you have in mind so you have a direction when the time comes. Finally, don’t rush, listen to where your mate is going, and leave some air in between what you play. Every great artist has (at least) one first performance. You can be a little nervous and still do great!
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Thanks mate , all advice is most appreciated…
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I get performance anxiety from time to time, too. The thing I always remember is that the audience is here to have a good time and they won’t care about the mistakes you make unless you draw attention to them. One tip I’ve learned is to imagine yourself in your happy place and go from there. My happy place is the stage that I’m performing on because I love to put on a show and entertain people. Your happy place might be different. Anyways have fun at the show and, as they say in theatre, break a leg.
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@Tank WOO HOO!!! THIS IS GREAT NEWS!!! Remember that however it goes, it’s a WIN because you WILL GROW so much from playing in front of people.
The SECRET to dealing with nerves is DEEP BREATHS. That’s it. Nice, slow deep breaths. Just focus on breathing. That will relax your body and fight the tension that the adrenaline might otherwise produce.
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Thank you so much Luke and everyone for the tips and encouragement. Getting a bit excited now 
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The worst advice I was offered (but I have to say, I did not ignore it) is to have a number of alcoholic beverages prior to your performance. Obviously, this is very bad and one should not rely on ‘Dutch courage’ when participating in these kind of undertakings.
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Well I did it and think it went really well considering it was my first time !! All the advice and tips and encouragement from you guys helped so much . Especially about the deep breaths, I knew which song I was coming on after and the breathing really calmed me down !!
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Hello @Tank,
for you and congratulations!
I want to tell you briefly how I (unconsciously) played in public for the first time last summer.
On a tour with my handbike I had the first C harp I had bought with me. I looked for a place without an audience at one of my city’s World Heritage Sites. Here I played a simple song that is known here, but it belongs to the so-called Steiger (mining 
). The song isn’t difficult, but I had never practiced it or anything. 1:30 minutes finished and there was applause from tourists who had gathered behind me. With a request for an encore, which I was happy to do.
It was unforgotten, on the one hand I would have liked to sink into the ground because of my shame and then I felt joy. 
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Thank you Astrid x and what a lovely story of your first performance . Bet you felt amazing when you heard the applause??? I know I did when I got the cheers and applause last night . The feedback after , I got from people I don’t even know was so positive
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Oh yes @Tank! Wunderful!
I played a certain note a bit wrong during the first play and encore! It was so hot that day and lips were glued to the harp!
I apologized for that. People (they came from a choir) said that it didn’t bother them because it was played very emotionally!
I learned from this that I shouldn’t be too strict with myself because other people pay attention to other things. 
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played in front of a zoom audience on Friday. First time I’ve played for anyone A bit nerve racking even though it was over zoom.
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I found focusing on the music that you are playing and what the others in the band/duo/trio are doing is helpful. you want to help make them sound as good as possible too. moving around a bit with the beat and don’t forget to smile. If you look like you are having a good time the audience will too. Getting nervous the first time is normal. We all do. Good luck and have fun.
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Woo hoo! CONGRATSD @Tank so glad YOU DID IT, and you implemented the breathing and re-confirmed that’s it helpful. AND you got POSITIVE FEEDBACK. Amazing. Hopefully the first of many, many times that you play in harmonica in front of a crowd.
@ralphwindsor I agree that having A NUMBER of alcoholic beverages is terrible advice. BUT, if you’re just sitting in on one or two songs, have 1 drink, or a half of a drink CAN help to take the edge off, LOL. But if I’m doing a 3-hour gig and have a beer before the first set, I’ll be falling asleep in the third! LOLOLOL.
@AstridHandbikebee63 what a COOL story! 
And the 2nd, and the 3rd, and the 21,946th … All depends. Strangely, I can go a few with no nerves and then all of a sudden something about one - someone in the crowd or someone in the band makes the nerves come back again. It’s an enigma. But the deep breathing is always the solution. Always gotta find a way to be IN the music - playing in tune, in time, and with all your emotion.
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Yeah , thanks again guys for all the tips encouragement and help.
I must confess that I did have a couple of drinks before hand 
but not over the top !! Was nervous before hand but the breathing and a lovely pep talk from a certain young lady before helped !! Once I hit my first note and got started I really seemed to relax and a sorta muscle memory took over !! Was really cool
Only did 2 songs but got them both almost spot on .
Now I’m addicted had a couple of jams with my pal since and we are up to about 7-8 songs we could perform. He says we may go for a full set of 10 the next time .
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congratulations on your first performance. May there be many more for you,
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Glad it went well. “Two drinks and one kind hearted woman” sounds like a song lyric . It got me thinking about being nervous.
It was not my first-first time playing. It was the first time playing a harp fest/blowout. I was a last minute invitation; and knew few local players. Experience didn’t matter - I was up against the local heroes.
There was a house band. I asked if I could bring my guitar player. Not well received until they were sure they wouldn’t have to pay him. So, I didn’t know sh*t about what to expect when I got there but I was nervous to a point of feeling ill.
The first band, the house band with harp player and no dynamics, did 20 minutes of generic blues. They back the next harp player. Adequate player, loud bass player , the band otherwise putting the audience to sleep. I’m panicking (and my guitar player isn’t there yet). The next guy plays 15 minutes acapella - no band. I’m next and wishing I could disappear.
My guitar player arrives during that set (telling me he really doesn’t want to play - great) and he sees that people are drinking and talking, not listening or dancing. He wants to play even less.
In ten minutes we recruited a bass player from the audience, a keyboard player who was running the sound system, and the house band drummer. Not exactly a rehearsed band. I give them the key, groove, and beats per minute, telling them, “Let’s get them dancing”. We hit the stage with Little Walter’s “You’re So Fine” followed by Jr. Wells’ “Hoodoo Man Blues”. You're So Fine....Kevin Greenwood # 2 of Gary's Top 20 Most Viewed - YouTube
The first song fear set in, I was physically stiff, and I don’t remember breathing the first three minutes. By the middle of the second song I was relaxed enough to enjoy the people dancing and calling out. Leaving the stage, knowing this makeshift band killed it, a mix of emotions, feeling like I wanted to throw up, and physically shaking most of the drive home. There are a lot of “first times” for musicians.
Next time will be a snap!
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Great story BnT !!! Plus love the idea of that song lyric
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