Train For The Worst To Expect The Best

Hey, if you go to many concerts, you may have experienced some nightmares. I remember one where the wind chill was about zero, and the lights were swinging back and forth in the near-gale winds in the outdoor venue, and another indoors in the summer when the air conditioning went out. I've been to many where the sound system didn't show up until the second act, but we as openers did fine anyway, because we'd prepared for such a contingency. The first two shows, by veteran bands, went off as well, because they weren't about to let a little thing like heat or cold keep them from a paycheck, or make it so they might alienate some of their fans. Here are some ways you can prepare for the worst, and make it so you can do fine, in case the worst does happen.

PLAN FOR BAD WEATHER

If you practice in all sorts of weather, you should be able to play in all sorts of weather. Try taking your guitar with you out in the snow to practice for Christmas caroling, in a searing hot day with the rest of the band and rehearse for increasing amounts of time to get used to extremes of temperature, and this won't bother you if you get stuck playing some outdoor festival where the weather turns for the worst. If you aren't sure if it might rain, ask if there is some contingency for this, and make plans to postpone, move or cancel the show if it is outdoors in the wet to avoid electrocution of you or your fans, and make this clear with the people in charge of booking if this happens. The same can be true of studio time-if you power goes out, and they don't have battery backup, there should be some part of the contract that allows you to not take a penalty if you have to reschedule. The same should go if you have bad weather come up and other co-working musicians can't make it due to this problem-can you work around their absence, can you reschedule, and is that okay with everyone? If you think this whole problem out beforehand, you won't have the stress of dealing with it to bother with and interfere with your songwriting or your gig. On the other hand, if you do, you may end up with a big hit like "Smoke on the Water."

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