How to Play Live

Prepare the equipment. Get all your gear in order and ready to take to the show. If you need your gear for something like practice, only leave out essential equipment, such as a parts of a drum kit. Do this well in advanced of your show time to limit the amount of mistakes taken.

Review the stage. Check the stage for room for instruments, practice and preparation rooms if necessary, restrooms, and also zones for tech places. These zones are for any tech people or "roadies" which may include band mates and yourself so that you are anyone else can fix or prep any equipment. Many times your equipment can and will fail, so with these zones they are out of the way and out of sight. Tech rooms are optional and are recommended for any show playing more than four musical numbers. You want to make sure you know where everything is, so there are no surprises later on.

Set up on stage. If you are able to, set up all of your gear on stage and near the sides, including any tech zones in the week's days before the event at the latest to see if everything can be placed effectively. If not, keep your drums in the same position and roll out any needed equipment onto the stage, this is only necessary if for example you are playing battle of the bands or a talent show.

Practice as needed. In your practice space you may think you sound perfect, but rarely does such an occasion happen on stage. You may need to practice with each other to see what needs adjusted. Have someone go out into the audience section and listen to a song and have them tell you what it sounds like.

Stay relaxed and focused. Gigging is a stressful experience towards you and your band mates, it would be beneficial for you to keep everything moving smoothly and not lose your temper including other members. Stay the same way during the event, if a mistake happens roll with it and act as if nothing happened.

Play certain material. When you're playing more than four pieces throw in a cover song or two that the crowd would enjoy, for example if you are a metal oriented band and play a five song set list, throw in a Pantera cover and maybe an end cover song to say goodnight. Always expect an encore and have two songs prepared.

Interact with the audience. Do something with the crowd that will entertain them when you have extra time, or a member is setting up. You could do a drum solo but many times people will come back to see the band if you said something funny or did something entertaining during the song transitions. Be aware that a certain vibe exists in each audience you play for. Bigger bands such as Slipknot, Of Mice and Men, Three Days Grace, etc have crowds that expect different things. With Slipknot, you may find DJ Sid Wilson urinating on Clown's empty beer kegs while on the other hand it's a totally different story with Of Mice and Men.

Wrap up the set. Play a song that was written by the band as a one-piece and maybe an end song or encore, however if you think you should play a cover for the last song then by all means do it. The reason why you're there is to entertain, if a cover entertains more than an original piece play it, it may give you another reason to play live again.