Rituals before you play live?

I wash my hands. It helps keep the strings, fretboard and the back of the neck clean.
I do the same. And if time is short (or there's a line into the bathroom) I use rubbing alcohol and wipe them off with a towel. I keep a small bottle of alcohol in my gig bag for cleaning my strings and guitars after each gig.

In the winter I would run my hands under hot water to loosen them up. That and a shot of Johnny Walker.
I do the same (minus the shot), usually as part of the hand-washing process. Back in the early '80s there were times on cold winter nights when I'd douse my left hand with alcohol and light it on fire, quickly shake it off to put out the flame, and then wipe it off with a towel. [Kids, don't try this at home.] I would do it at the beginning of the gig or end of a break, and would always have my back to the audience, trying to be subtle about the whole thing.

Years later, I had moved to California from New Mexico and was not in the music biz anymore. One evening I was having a beer with a coworker who had also lived in NM in the past, and I told her about lighting my hand on fire. She got a surprised look on her face and said "I saw you do that!" Although we had never met until 10 years after I'd quit gigging, she had happened to be at one of our shows in NM in the '80s. She didn't remember anything about the band, but she remembered seeing the guitarist light his hand on fire during a break.
 
Tune the guitar ;)
LOL! Pretty much that. Haven't been nervous for an audience since I can't remember. 5, 50, 500, it's all the same to me. I reckon the only anxiety I have is that my rig ain't working. Too many cases of catastrophic pedal board failure in the past. Every time I set up shop with my rig I must check it to see that everything is working. And each time I dread that something is not working right. Even when I go to a zumba or balance class at a new place it's not the people that give me anxiety. Once its showtime, it's showtime. It's that sometime will go wrong when I try to hook my phone to the stereo. Which actually happened last friday. Hooked my phone up with the jackplug, instead of the music playing over the stereo as it should it played over the phone speaker. WTF? It played over the jackplug in my car. In fact, when used the exact same cable I used in my car it did play normally as it should. But with the venue's cable? Nothing. Weird shit!
 
Show up later than everyone else and rush to setup, usually just in the nick of time. ;)

I loathe downtime between setup and when the gig actually starts. Some love to
schmooze and mill around before a show. That guy is not me.
 
At least 48 oz. of DD coffee and a mandatory band meeting that required shots of Sambuca lit on fire. Dip two fingers in the shot, raise the flaming fingers, blow out the shot, and down it. I believe this activity is called the "Statue of Liberty," and I can assure you all bartenders hate when you do this alone or in a group.

Lastly, I used to love riding my 4x12 road case into the gig like a surf/skateboard. I'd break a hip on the dismount nowadays.
 
Physically, it was dependent on if I were just singing or just playing guitar.

The constant was 2 double-tall vodka/soda/lime and then I'd usually put a bucket of Blue Moons by my amp.

Last 3 bands I was in I was singing, so I'd do vocal warm ups at the start of the day and then just do stupid shit like smoking a bunch of cigarettes and weed with barely drinking any water. Just watched some old live videos last night and I can't believe I even had a voice half those shows.

Guitar-wise, I'd just do a few of the exercises I learned from Petrucci's instructional vid from the 90's and Dimebag's trill thing where you just do hammer on/pull offs with each finger, chromatically up and down the neck.....if that makes sense.
 
Lastly, I used to love riding my 4x12 road case into the gig like a surf/skateboard. I'd break a hip on the dismount nowadays.

Got my buddy's band banned from a shithole divebar in fuckin' Lowell, Mass by riding my buddy's trapcase down a hallway and almost taking their door down. That trapcase weighed like 100lbs without the cymbals/stands inside of it.....I got that fucker up to speed going down that hall and by the time I jumped on it, there was about 400lbs heading straight for a large, metal security door. :D
 
I wish I had time to prepare before I play. I'm always the one making sure all the other band members didn't forget any of their gear and it's setup and working and they're not getting too drunk before we play.
 
In the winter I would run my hands under hot water to loosen them up. That and a shot of Johnny Walker.
Many years ago we did a show at a church retreat in the middle of the winter. The room we were playing in had no heaters though there was snow outside and we could see our breath inside.

I couldn't even feel the strings as I tried to play. It was miserable.

Would supplying space heaters have been asking too much!?
 
Many years ago we did a show at a church retreat in the middle of the winter. The room we were playing in had no heaters though there was snow outside and we could see our breath inside.

I couldn't even feel the strings as I tried to play. It was miserable.

Would supplying space heaters have been asking too much!?
Remebers me on old days when rehearsal was in a former paper factory hall.
In winter we stood around a gas heater, warming hands between every song.
It looked like these scenes from movies where homless gathering around a burning oil barrel.

But apart of this, I also wash my hands after stage is ready set up.
And on cold days I do a little stretching too.
Checking my picks (are they sharp or better new and are spare ones ready to get fast if the one in use is falling down accidentaly)
 
I spend about an hour pre-gig getting in the zone. I like to have some quiet time for meditation and visualizing difficult passages in the music, and also just becoming focused on the present. The entire band assembles in the green room at least 15 minutes before downbeat, and we goof off and have fun being around each other. I've almost entirely stopped drinking before or during shows. I like a good glass of wine, a nice beer, and great bourbons, but it really doesn't help my playing. So I save that for post-gig recreation. Most of my pre-gig rituals are very mundane; all I want to do is be ready to play at the top of my game, and that requires my full attention. My bandmates have their own pre-show routines, ranging from boring stuff like mine, to more classic rock and roll behavior like slamming a drink or two and primping in front of the mirror. No judgement here. Just saying I have my hands full wrangling the guitar, and to make it happen, I need intent and focus.
 
Most times I'm the one whos grabbing his bandmates out of their talk because we have to start the show :sweatsmile:
 
I don't think anybody has mentioned 'do-dads' yet. I have a necklace from my daughters that I wear to every gig.

My drive to the gig is sacred time for me (for vocal warm ups). I do the same recording every time (20 min). If it's a far drive, I'll do a second one (another 20 min).

My pre-gig actions are making sure the PA is set up, then troubleshoot why something on the drums isn't working...then show him how to plug in his kick trigger for the 200th time....then show him where the XLR goes for his in-ears for the 3000343th time. When that's complete, it's usually 30 seconds to show time, so I go wash my hands as my last preparation.
 
Tune the guitar(s)
Run through some scales until my fingers are warmed up
5 minutes before we start I go take a wiz (I'm getting old so this is important)
Wash my hands
Repeat the last 2 steps as needed
 
Have a checklist before leaving the house, take a clonazepam, tell the drummer not to speed things up, make sure nobody touches my sh*t
 
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