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→Work Up to the Big Gig
== Work Up to the Big Gig ==
You don't want to work hard for months, book a big gig, and perform miserably, tarnishing your reputation and killing morale. Rather than practice and practice, make a demo, and try to book a big venue, ''work up to the big gig''. Play some open mics and small-scale venues to remove some pressure and develop experience at a comfortable pace. You can even try to play in other groups or sub in for gigs - this can help develop stage experience quickly. And for some people that's less intimidating - when you're playing someone else's material, you should feel less anxious about crowd reaction/judgment.
If you have a bad gig, don't let it kill morale - it's just a stumbling block. You know that you were already successful at a smaller level. What went wrong this time? Video or feedback from audience members can help distinguish what to work on at practice and concentrate on at the next gig. Also, was the source of your failure your nerves, a preparation or hardware failure, or some random environment factor? If the problem wasn't nerves and something that can be corrected, feel confident to keep pushing forward with your ambitions and the size/prominence of your gigs.
== Drugs and Alcohol ==