Live Performance Anxiety
A very rambly and honest dive into my thought process and emotions before, during and after live gigs. And how performing live outweighs the temporary pre-nerves and jitters!
I feel like a lot of artists or even creatives like myself find themselves stuck in the house pretty much 24/7, apart from the occasional social interaction with a friend to talk about how we’re doing and the weather (If the British in me isn’t obvious by now) Recently I’ve found myself exploring a lot of new and exciting opportunities, where I’ve been practically out of the house every-single day this month, a lot of travelling, sight-seeing and socialising which has honestly made the experiences of starting out as an artist a hell of a lot more memorable and exciting, instead of the same routine with my gap year each day.
Emotions
Included in those opportunities has been performing live, which is quite a funny but conflicting experience for me of two complete opposite feelings. The dreaded nerves and anxiety at the start before walking on stage, and constant ‘’what if I sound like shit’’ ‘’what if they hate me’’ ‘’what if I’m not good enough’’(s) making a ‘wonderful’ appearance, mixed with my stomach dropping so far down I feel like I’m going to pee myself right then and there. But then the waves of bliss, calm and ‘’being in the zone’ ’washing over me, once I’m up there performing is incredible. It’s as if someone clicks their fingers and I’m in a peaceful trance.
The White Lion Pub
Thankfully the 26th of March at The White Lion Pub in Sawbridgeworth was such an enjoyable and down-to-earth place to perform, I completely felt at ease whilst I was there. Chris and Neil, were particularly very kind towards me and made me feel extremely welcomed. All of the audience / bystanders there were absolutely wonderful and extremely supportive and lovely too. After I came off of stage, I was buzzing from head to toe with confidence and beaming with pride. Lockdown version of me would be in disbelief hearing some of the things I’ve been up to recently, but that’s for another blog post!
Love of Music
After my live performance it truly made me realise this is why I love what I do. It allows people to have a wonderful time but also simultaneously connecting an audience to you on such an emotional level through frequency, sound and vibrations blows my mind sometimes with how actually awesome that is! Music helps so many people in so many different ways. It allows people to feel like they have a voice, but can also touch people’s hearts and even lives. Not only that, it’s such a wonderful way to meet new faces too, and start up some pretty interesting conversations.
Reflection
A note to self, but also to my readers is to always take a chance with anything life throws you. Regrets are the worst thing to hang over you and hold you back in life. Taking a chance whether there’s a good or bad outcome is always worth it in the end, you learn and you grow!
Here’s a few clips from the pub gig I did recently, but also a very relevant song attached by the lovely Florence + The Machine
Love and Light
Tabitha x
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Great stuff! 🙂