1:15 – 16:00
Before going on stage I was extremely nervous. I had never performed in front of an audience before so I wasn’t too sure of what to expect. We all did some exercises (box breathing, stretching and power poses) 10-15 minutes prior to the performance, which helped calm my nerves and make me less tense. Therefore, I was able to enjoy the performance more, rather than being terrified the entire time. I think it was helpful to have the performance in front of other students before the final evening performance as it gave us more of an idea of how things will run, and also if we need to make any last minute adjustments/improvements.
I think this was definitely one of my best performances. You can still see that I was nervous at the start, but as the set progressed I visibly become less tense and more calm. I managed to turn the keyboard onto the right settings/sounds at the right times and I didn’t mess up any chords!
As a band I think we nailed the timing of the songs. Unlike previous rehearsals, we didn’t have to start Valerie again (although this is mostly because we took out the Zutons intro). We knew that the timing and the structure of all of the songs was one of our weaker points, so we made sure to work on this as much as possible leading up to the final performance.
Personally, I am extremely proud of myself for not bottling it before, or even during the final performance. I managed to let my nerves subside and enjoy myself. I am also very very proud of us as a band for doing so well, as being the first act on can be very intimidating and scary.
Although it has improved massively from when I first started on the course, I think for future gigs I can continue to improve my confidence and stage presence, as I stood still majority of the time.
This was definitely our best performance. There was no noticeable mistakes and we all stayed relatively calm throughout. The singers were comfortable with the songs, which helped us as a band because we rely on singers for cues etc. within the songs.
We finished our set with Locked out of Heaven. We chose to finish the set with this as it is our strongest song and we felt as though the ending was most appropriate out of the three as it is a lot more upbeat, and would leave a good final impression on the audience.
Overall I think we worked very well as a band. Throughout the project we have communicated effectively and built bonds and friendships between us, so we all felt comfortable giving one another constructive feedback when/where needed, which helped us improve both personally as well as within the band. It has been a pleasure working with everyone involved with the project and I cannot wait for the next one!
