To Drink, or not to drink ....

26.2

One pint before and a pint after. Sorry if that’s boring! 

Years ago it was different, but thankfully I can’t remember. 

Danny1969

I did a 14 hour festival stint on Saturday. 4 solos acts, a duo and 4 bands. Rigged PA at 10:30 in the morning, ran either FOH or monitors all day long plus played in 3 of the 4 bands. Finished pulling down and  loading the van by 12:30am  then left it there. Had first beer at 11:30 in the morning , did about 12 in the end but over such a long period of time it felt like just a couple of pints, just a mild beer buzz all day really and that's the key. I enjoy a pint but have no desire to get completely wasted.  

pintspiller

I used to drink to kill the nerves. It did the opposite to be honest. When I got back to gigging after a gap of over ten years and completely forgot a simple cover set after three pints(!).

I may take half pint before a gig if the venue offers, but otherwise just water.

Snags

Depends. I'm usually a one-man show, so if I screw up it really screws up. I'll normally have a pint of Guinnes on stage, as I've convinced myself it smoothes the throat out between songs, but won't have had more than one drink beforehand. Afterwards there's either no time, or you just need to blot out the horror

mike257

I honestly believe anyone who thinks they play "better" with a few drinks in them is deluded. 

If you're out playing with your mates and having a laugh in an unpaid environment, go for it, but if you're being paid to play then you should be in a fit state to do the job to the best of your abilities. I've never seen a musician's performance genuinely improve under the influence of anything. 

Fez

On the rare occasion when I don't need to drive to a gig I might have a pint before the start and maybe one at half time or at the end.
Normally I have to drive and am the PA carrier so no beer until I get home. Water on stage in a sport bottle or something with a lid/cap coke (Brown liquid not white powder) at break. 

Supportact

Danny1969 said:

I did a 14 hour festival stint on Saturday. 4 solos acts, a duo and 4 bands. Rigged PA at 10:30 in the morning, ran either FOH or monitors all day long plus played in 3 of the 4 bands. Finished pulling down and  loading the van by 12:30am  then left it there. Had first beer at 11:30 in the morning , did about 12 in the end but over such a long period of time it felt like just a couple of pints, just a mild beer buzz all day really and that's the key. I enjoy a pint but have no desire to get completely wasted.  

Similar here. Often I'm having to drive back from the gig in which case I won't drink, but if not then I tend to like Guinness or ale. If the beer is maybe 3.5/4% then over a few hours I can drink quite a lot of pints without getting messy or hungover.  Which is nice at a festival or all day gig. You have to know your doses though, I've seen people get it wrong before and not be at their best shall we say onstage.  

Danny1969

mike257 said:

I honestly believe anyone who thinks they play "better" with a few drinks in them is deluded. 

If you're out playing with your mates and having a laugh in an unpaid environment, go for it, but if you're being paid to play then you should be in a fit state to do the job to the best of your abilities. I've never seen a musician's performance genuinely improve under the influence of anything. 

I have

I was tracking a blues band at 2020 studios in 2012. This American guy and his band were in to do a live EP . He was meant to be a big deal on the blues harp, something I know little about and a great singer. As I was filling in the routing sheet and mic'ing up I was listening to him and wondering  what the fuss was about. It's 10 in the morning and he's just cracked his first beer but that wasn't unusual for the studio. Anyway 4 beers later and now he is something. The timing, the pitch, whole band sounds great. 

I mean the guy was an alcoholic obviously but in all honestly a lot of muso's I know are functioning alcoholics ...and do tend to be better after a couple of beers. 

Yorkie

Just back from the hols with a relevant example – I played at an outdoor gathering in Bilbao after drinking a couple of glasses of Basque cider (~one pint @ 6%, similar to our scrumpy) and played slow and sloppy for the first half hour. Never again. 

Bezzer

Never had more than one beer before a show even way back when. Can't remember the last time I've done it though, more than 20 years I suspect. Certainly NEVER done it in a studio session.

Always been of the mind that although it would help my sometimes crippling stage anxiety (still don't really know why I started this shit except maybe in the hope it would help over come that) I've always felt I should be doing the best I can for the audience / band.

I have, on occasion where driving not required, immediately got mullered afterwards ...

Kurtis

Danny1969 said:

mike257 said:

I honestly believe anyone who thinks they play "better" with a few drinks in them is deluded. 

If you're out playing with your mates and having a laugh in an unpaid environment, go for it, but if you're being paid to play then you should be in a fit state to do the job to the best of your abilities. I've never seen a musician's performance genuinely improve under the influence of anything. 

I have

I was tracking a blues band at 2020 studios in 2012. This American guy and his band were in to do a live EP . He was meant to be a big deal on the blues harp, something I know little about and a great singer. As I was filling in the routing sheet and mic'ing up I was listening to him and wondering  what the fuss was about. It's 10 in the morning and he's just cracked his first beer but that wasn't unusual for the studio. Anyway 4 beers later and now he is something. The timing, the pitch, whole band sounds great. 

I mean the guy was an alcoholic obviously but in all honestly a lot of muso's I know are functioning alcoholics ...and do tend to be better after a couple of beers. 

I think there's a big difference between some guy legless down the local, and someone like Jim morrisson on top form too.

ScreamingDave

I went away with my old band, about 25 years ago, to write and record songs in a farmhouse in Dorset (yeah, we thought we were Led Zeppelin).  We spent the whole time somewhere between a bit pissed and absolutely paralytic.  In one session, when I was nearer the paralytic end of the spectrum,  I announced I was going to have a shot at a guitar solo on the track and played an absolute blinder: a glorious guitar solo, totally out of what would normally be my comfort zone, a bit of whammy bar action ....

The trouble was, that when I sobered up, I couldn't remeber what I'd played.  It took me ages to work out that I was playing two frets down from where I though I was, and was effectively, I guess, playing in some weird an wonderful mode in the right key.  So sometimes, being a pisshead really does pay off

Reverend

I don't drink so it has never been a problem for me, however things I have seen in my time:

Singer in band I was TMing going on stage for first song and falling straight in to guitar stack and I had to catch the head.
Same singer high fiving someone in crowd - dislocated that persons shoulder.
waking up in hotel room with said singer covered in vomit
Bassist in my own band pissing in a pint glass and then drinking it. on stage. he played said with hand gaffa taped up after sawing off plastercast after breaking wrist whilst drunk.
Bassist downing pint of Guinness whilst playing root note intro to a song