How to Be Prepared For A Live Performance

As a touring musician, you’re constantly in the midst of change. From venues and tech riders to equipment and travel arrangements, if you want to survive on the road, you’ll need to learn how to adapt quickly.

Being prepared for a live performance is one of the most important aspects of a show. Your audience expects you to be on top of your game, so don’t disappoint. Here are some tips that will help make sure your next live show is a success:

Tune Your Instrument

This may seem obvious, but tuning your guitar, bass, piano or drums before each performance is important. It may not seem like it at first, but being in tune with the rest of the band will make every song sound better.

Make Sure You Have All The Equipment You Need For A Successful Show

Before packing for your next show, check your tech rider and make sure you have everything you need for your live performance. A tech rider is a list that details all of the equipment you expect from a venue or promoter (i.e. instruments, microphones, amplifiers, etc.). Asking for what you need up front will ensure a smooth setup and soundcheck process at

We have been touring full time for over a year now, and have gotten to know the ins & outs of being on the road. We are asked a lot what it’s like touring and how to be prepared for a live performance. So we thought we would make a blog about life on the road and what it’s like to tour with your favorite electronic music bands.

We always tell people that touring is a lot harder than it looks. Most people think its all fun & games, but there is a lot of work that goes into traveling from city to city to put on an amazing show for you guys!

Touring is definitely one of the most rewarding things we’ve ever done! We love meeting new people and seeing new cities every night. It keeps life interesting, but it can also be very stressful at times.

There are many challenges when you are living out of suitcases and going from city to city every day/night. Some challenges are easy to overcome while others take more preparation. Here are some things we’ve learned along the way:

1. You will get tired; A LOT!

You and your band mates are in the middle of nowhere, you’re tired and hungry. You get to the venue in the nick of time after a long drive, lugging all your gear up some stairs, only to have your sound check interrupted by a roadie who doesn’t seem to care about anything but his own personal issues.

This is what most bands experience at one point or another. Sound checking can be frustrating, especially if you’re playing at a new venue with a new crew. It’s very important that you get your sound checked properly so that you and your band mates will sound great on stage, but sometimes it can be difficult to work with people who don’t seem like they know how to do their job properly.

We’ve been playing live shows for years now and we’ve encountered many different sound engineers, roadies and other people working at venues. Some are great at their jobs and make our lives easier and more enjoyable; others are not so great.

It’s easy to blame the venue for not providing us with the proper equipment or sound engineer, but in reality there’s only so much they can do if we’re not prepared for our show. In this blog post I’ll share some tips that will help you be more prepared for your next

We’re in the middle of a tour and we are constantly learning new things. I figured it would be fun to share some of our experiences with you all so that you can learn, too. Here is my first lesson: don’t ever assume anything.

When we started this tour, I kept thinking “we’ve done this before. We know how it goes. It’s going to be fine” and for the most part, we have been fine. But there have been plenty of times when I was wrong about something and was caught off guard because of an assumption I made. We learned from our mistakes though, and now we can pass on the knowledge to you!

I’m going to start off with a story from our last show in New York City (at Webster Hall). If you were at that show, you may have noticed that I had a malfunctioning microphone during the whole set. Despite the fact that my mic wasn’t working properly, I still tried to make it work by having my vocals turned up way too loud in the mix which resulted in me sounding like a squeaky chipmunk and also made my ears hurt because they couldn’t handle the volume coming through my headphones

You’ve prepared for this moment for months. You’re about to play at a local venue, and all of your friends are going to be there. You’re excited. It’s the night before the show, and you’re thinking about what you should do to prepare for the show. What should you do?

First, I would suggest eating a good meal before the show. I know that most people will have a drink or two before they play, but that won’t help you out at all. You need to eat something that will give you energy and keep you full of energy throughout the night. I usually eat a sandwich before every show, even if I don’t eat anything else that day. If you’re on tour, it’s okay to skip meals while on the road if you want to save money, but be sure to eat something before your show!

Second, get some rest. Most people don’t sleep well when they’re on tour because they’re constantly thinking about their shows and what they need to do next. Try not to think about it too much, just try to relax and get some sleep! It’s important for your voice as well as your performance!

Thirdly, warm up your voice! This is something that most musicians forget about until

It’s common to have a pre-show ritual, and it is important that the band members all know what they should be doing before the show begins. If you are running late, the rest of the band will be affected. Make sure you are fully prepared before the doors open or the show starts.

I’m not talking about your own personal rituals like drinking a cup of coffee or having a stiff drink, I’m talking about those things that need to be done as a group. For example, many bands do vocal warm ups before they go on stage. There are several different techniques used by singers to warm up their voices and prevent damage to their vocal chords. Some people do scales, some people hum into a toilet paper roll, some people sing into empty water bottles: every band has their own technique. Whatever it is that you do as a group, make sure that you all do it at least 30 minutes before show time and make sure everyone is on board with the plan.

Some bands have a prayer before they go on stage while others have a specific chant they yell before they hit the stage. Whatever you choose to do, make sure that everyone knows what it is and how to participate.

There are always going to be things that need to be set up

I’m sure that many of you have probably been to a live show and thought, “Why did they choose this band to open? They can’t play at all!” You likely have also seen a band that totally knocked your socks off and made you think, “Wow, I would love to see them again.”

As a touring musician, I have performed hundreds of shows with multiple bands. While each show is different, here are 10 things that will help you make the most out of your live performance.