This was our rehearsal shedual and key dates leading up to the final performance, and what songs we all rehearsed during each date:
- 12th September – Rehearsal – The Chain
- 13th September – Rehearsal – The Chain + Work Song
- 19th September – Rehearsal – The Chain + Work Song + Don’t Let Go
- 20th September – Rehearsal – The Chain + Don’t Let Go + City of Streetlights
- 26th September – Rehearsal – City of Streetlights + Too Good at Goodbyes
- 27th September – Rehearsal – City of Streeghtlights + Too good at Goodbyes
- 3rd October – Rehearsal – City of Streetlights + Sweet Child o’ Mine
- 4th October – Rehearsal – Whole Set List
- 10th October – Mock Performance – Whole Performance
- 11th October – Rehearsal – Whole set list
- 17th October – The Performance – Whole Performance
To learn these songs I mainly used chord sheets off of the internet, with the help of a tutor, or just learnt them by ear.
With the overall ammount of practice that we put into it, we were very well prepared when it came to the actual performance. The main songs that we stuggled with and had to spend the most time on were The Chain, and City of streetlights. This is because the timing on The Chain was new for the singers as they were having to start on the second beat of a bar when their parts we coming up. City of streetlights was an awkward one as we were actually having to write parts to it as it is only a piano and vocal piece. We had plenty of time to fix any issues though and managed to get each song down to a very high standard.
During our practice sessions, we recorded a lot of videos of ourselves becaus this added a small ammount of pressure, similar to playing live, but also so that we could re-watch what we did and make any changes that we felt were necessary.
Another thing that we covered in our practice sessions was stage presence. We had to think of how we would introduce ourselves, what to talk about, how to keep the audience involeved and what to do while onstage. This was a fairly easy thing to do once we had done it in practice, but it was one of those things that neede to be done or we would have forgotten about it on the day so it was a realy good thing to practice doing.
Something that was practiced during the mock performance was communication on stage. We had to know how to communicate with each other during songs and do so swiftly. this wasnt just to each band member though, as we were also hving to signal whoever was using the mixing desk when we needed more or less sound coming through the stage monitors. This was really worth doing as it meant that not only did we look more professional, but it meant that each band would sound even better ont the night.
Something that we did not have to do, but the other bands will have had to do is practice switching instruments if you’re required to. This is something that performers forget about, so when it comes to the actual day they will be taking far too long to prepare for the next song. On the night instrument changes were swift and precise and each band looked very professional on stage.
Some of the rehearsal videos:
Aside from rehearsals, we also had a few band meetings to discuss in general how we could improve our performance, and what was happening currently about the organisational side of our event. We mainly discussed who was filling what role, what progress we had made, and how we can improve further. It was very beneficial to have these periodic meetings about once every week, and they allowed us to stay well organised, and to know exactly what was happening and when.
Band Meetings: