First performance stories.

A few years ago I was just getting into playing the ukulele. I thought that I was doing pretty well in the privacy of my own home, but I thought that I needed to get out and find other ukulele players to play with. So I started trying to organize some unorganized jam sessions at my local coffee shop. I put out fliers and tried to get the word around, but the first meeting was a bust. No one showed up, except for four or five people who just wanted to listen. So we just had a little sing along and it went fine.

So a couple of weeks later I tried it again. A few days before the jam was supposed to take place, a fellow called me up with some questions about it. He asked me about amplification, and I told him that I didn't have any amplification. Then he asked me about lighting. I told him that there were just lights at the coffee shop, nothing special. He asked me what we were going to play, and I told him anything he wanted. He said that he would be there, and I thought nothing more about it.

The Saturday night that the jam was scheduled for, I showed up ten minutes before it was supposed to start. When I walked in, the fellow that I had talked to was there and he had set up two large speakers, a mixer, microphones, lighting, and there were about thirty people sitting around at tables to watch the show, including the mayor. When I walked in and introduced myself, the fellow handed me a pile of music that was paperclipped together and told me that he kind of wished that we had practiced a little before hand. What happened was that he had been in a band before and thought that I was looking for someone to do a gig with me. He had gotten out a list of people who used to come to his band's performances and sent out invitations.

I looked at my wife in panic, I looked at the pile of songs that he had given me. They were all familiar and none looked particularly hard, so I thought, "what the heck." My wife got me two beers to get me primed, I plugged into the amps for the first time ever, and we went for it. It was the best time I think that I ever had doing a performance, and I was hooked.

So that is my first performance story. I hope to hear some of other people's. I was also hoping that beginners might find them fun, interesting, and maybe even a little inspiring.

I had been playing in my room for several years, and had never played in front of any more than a couple of friends. I got an invite to play at a uke festival in Germany. I practiced pretty diligently and found out that there is quite a distance from playing for yourself, even if you can do it pretty well, to playing for others. I also found, through a couple of open mike sessions, that even hearing yourself was quite different.

I went to the uke fest, did my set, and it was a fantastic experience. I asked the other musicians if playing live was always this much fun, and they said most of the time. But I still haven't done any more gigs.

Awesome story, thanks for sharing

I second Phil. I would have fallen completely apart under those circumstances. I hope others will share their stories. I haven't done one yet but not long ago i heard about an open mike night at a local pub and went down to listen. After a few days i realised it was probably going to be a while before I could get up to perform.

Last year I did my first solo vocal performance and then within the space of two months, I had done four so that was great but not the subject of this thread so you don't need any mroe details. Anyway, i'm hooked is all i can say.

My first public performance was an open mic in a local bar/restaurant. It was an easy audience with 1/2 the folks super supportive fellow players and the other 1/2 not really there for the music, just out drinking, eating and doing their own thing. The place was busy and with everything going on around you, you didn't quite feel like all eyes were on you (which was a good thing). Even with the stage, amps, lighting and stuff, it was fairly low key. I signed on the sheet and waited my turn. About 5 performers were ahead of me and several were professional gigging musicians. They were great and I was starting to think, "man, what did I get myself into?". I contemplated bailing. Then 2 folks got up just ahead of me, one struggled through 2 instrumental covers and the audience was polite, so I started to feel a little better. The next lady only got a few lines into her song and blanked out. I felt bad for her but it took the pressure off me. I knew my songs cold and while I was a little nervous, I knew I could do a passable job. My set was well-received and I made it through relatively blunder-free. A friend afterward did tell me that I had a habit of occasionally turning my head away from the mic while singing and I lost volume. It was a good learning experience and taught me that I should practice with a mic and amp.

My first public performance on ukulele was 3 years ago late August about three weeks after I started playing uke and joined The CC Strummers, a seniors group of about 50 players out of Culver City. We were invited to perform at the Culver City annual La Balloña Fiesta. I was a little nervous, but with so many others around me, at least I wouldn't stand out with my lack of experience. It was great fun and we've performed every year since, including this coming Aug. 28th, for which I will be playing bass uke.

The first solo performance I did, of sorts, was that New Years Eve at an annual party at a friend's house. She asked me to bring my uke and have a sing along. I have a terrible voice and I know it, but by then I was much more comfortable playing, and they were a group of my good friends, so I did it. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, but she hasn't asked me to do it again.

A friend who had moved away with work returned to live locally to me and invited me to a birthday bash at his house - he has tried in the past to 'make it' as a singer song-writer, and has toured with at least one band you might have heard of, so the invite included the instruction to bring a guitar. I didn't / don't know any of his friends, but they were going to be accomplished with their music to some degree.

I took a ukulele instead, figuring I had no chance of being a good enough guitar player in the anticipated exalted company, but I just might be not the worst ukulele player.

The plan worked, I was the only ukulele player, and the birthday boy had received a ukulele from his wife as his gift.

I drank, and spent some time listening and enjoying others, and when I got pushed forwards to the performance area (of the lounge) I swallowed and got on with my three most practiced songs.

The bass player joined in with some support, I got a few people singing the chorus of a song they knew, and my host's wife said she was amazed and pleased that two of my songs were two of her favourites.

As I made my excuses and left toward midnight, another guest thanked me for my playing and introduced himself - as a record producer, who had been late arriving that day as he had been recording with an orchestra at Abbey Road studios that morning.

Gulp!

So my moral if I have one, is that people will be nice - I don't have the self-confidence in my playing to take the nice things that were said as full, no-bull compliments, but they were lovely to receive all the same, and I'm looking forward to the next opportunity.

I always admired buskers. I mean, talk about just putting it all out there. So when I started, one of my goals was to busk. In San Juan there is a big festival that takes place in January right on the street that our condo sits. So the first day of the festival I went out to just sit outside on the sidewalk and watch people go by. It was early, and there weren't that many people, so I went up and got my ukulele, took it down there to the street and I was just playing songs, not really busking. My neighbor was sitting out there as well, and she was singing some of the songs with me and we were just having a good time. So a guy comes along with a guitar in a gig bag, and he sort of invites himself to join in with us. There was no doubt that he intended to busk. He took my case, which was leaning up against the wall, opened it up and puts it out in the street. We had a pretty good time, and he showed me a few songs that he liked to play. I think that after an hour we had probably collected five dollars, if that. So he invited me to go with him to a better location where there might be more traffic, but I didn't want to. I think that his plan was to divide the money, but I told him just to take it. Later on I was telling my wife, and she thought that I should have gone with him, so she talked me into going out looking for him. I couldn't find him, and I never did see him again.

Aw yes the first performance..........a potential roller coaster of emotions.

I had only been playing uke for a few months in a local uke jam when they announced "Newbie Night". This was an opportunity for people wno had never performed up on the stage to do so at this specific open mic session. I was approached by three other people to form an ensemble, safety in numbers I thought so I said yes. We were all new players and picked the very easy song "You Are My Sunshine". We all practiced it a lot and pulled it off very well. The applause was warm and loud and intoxicately addictive, I had to do this again.

A number of months later I did my first solo performance at the same uke jam at the open mic. There is no place or no one to hide behind when you are up there all by yourself. I knew the song cold and I was very confident as I started out. Then I heard my voice through the sound system, not as good as I was hoping and too loud so I backed away from the mic, now too quiet. I did this volume pogo act and started to become unraveled. I did one thing really right, even through some mistakes, I never stopped or slowed down. I plowed through that song at tempo. Best advice I had received prior to that performance was to get through it no matter what.

I left the stage feeling dissappointed because I knew I could have done much better but "I" heard every mistake I made. I was well received to good applause but I thought people were just trying to be nice. Fortunately someone tapped my performamce and forced me to watch it. It was good and none of the horrible volume issues or flubbed chord changes were noticable. Lesson number two is you hear your mistakes where most others do not. I joined two other uke players about one year ago and we perform regularly as an ensemble at our open mic. Anyone thinking of performing for the first time....... just get out there and do it.

DownUpDave said:

Aw yes the first performance..........a potential roller coaster of emotions.

I had only been playing uke for a few months in a local uke jam when they announced "Newbie Night". This was an opportunity for people wno had never performed up on the stage to do so at this specific open mic session. I was approached by three other people to form an ensemble, safety in numbers I thought so I said yes. We were all new players and picked the very easy song "You Are My Sunshine". We all practiced it a lot and pulled it off very well. The applause was warm and loud and intoxicately addictive, I had to do this again.

A number of months later I did my first solo performance at the same uke jam at the open mic. There is no place or no one to hide behind when you are up there all by yourself. I knew the song cold and I was very confident as I started out. Then I heard my voice through the sound system, not as good as I was hoping and too loud so I backed away from the mic, now too quiet. I did this volume pogo act and started to become unraveled. I did one thing really right, even through some mistakes, I never stopped or slowed down. I plowed through that song at tempo. Best advice I had received prior to that performance was to get through it no matter what.

I left the stage feeling dissappointed because I knew I could have done much better but "I" heard every mistake I made. I was well received to good applause but I thought people were just trying to be nice. Fortunately someone tapped my performamce and forced me to watch it. It was good and none of the horrible volume issues or flubbed chord changes were noticable. Lesson number two is you hear your mistakes where most others do not. I joined two other uke players about one year ago and we perform regularly as an ensemble at our open mic. Anyone thinking of performing for the first time....... just get out there and do it.

Click to expand...

I did it with 12 others (downupdave included), it was nice. No one could hear me. Make sure you pick a spot next to the loudest singer and strummer.

Rllink said:

I always admired buskers. I mean, talk about just putting it all out there. So when I started, one of my goals was to busk. In San Juan there is a big festival that takes place in January right on the street that our condo sits. So the first day of the festival I went out to just sit outside on the sidewalk and watch people go by. It was early, and there weren't that many people, so I went up and got my ukulele, took it down there to the street and I was just playing songs, not really busking. My neighbor was sitting out there as well, and she was singing some of the songs with me and we were just having a good time. So a guy comes along with a guitar in a gig bag, and he sort of invites himself to join in with us. There was no doubt that he intended to busk. He took my case, which was leaning up against the wall, opened it up and puts it out in the street. We had a pretty good time, and he showed me a few songs that he liked to play. I think that after an hour we had probably collected five dollars, if that. So he invited me to go with him to a better location where there might be more traffic, but I didn't want to. I think that his plan was to divide the money, but I told him just to take it. Later on I was telling my wife, and she thought that I should have gone with him, so she talked me into going out looking for him. I couldn't find him, and I never did see him again.

Click to expand...

Oh rlink, how could you pass up that oopportunity. Anyway the way you started is sort of how i hope to start. Just casual. no pressure.