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Administrators: TonyS (owner) , David M , Milli2 , panthersquall , Paul R

I Miss Being Terrified.

From panthersquall on 12/7/2011 7:51:46 PM

My Trusty Guitar Player Dave and I did another open mic tonight. I think this is like our 12th or something. I lost track after the 5th or 6th time out.

Tonight we did the Whistle Stop Grill and Bar in Safety Harbor. It's a nice little place, open air, but on chilly nights like tonight, they roll the plastic curtains down and turn the heat lamps on, so it's a comfortable temperature for a basically outdoor bar.

They have a good family crowd there, too, so it's not just the icky drunk people. This was our 3rd or 4th time playing there, so I was comfortable with it.

We played pretty good. I've gotten very good at playing through my mistakes and I don't even worry about them anymore, which cuts down on them even more - but tonight we played a new song and I went off the rails and couldn't recover and then did the unthinkable and just stopped. Fortunately, Dave stopped with me, and joked about having practiced that ending for all week, so it was totally no big deal at all.

We played a few more tunes and all was good. I got off the stage and when we went back to our seats I started thinking about our first open mic, which had been right there at the Whistle Stop. How terrified I was!!! I had to pee a million times starting 2 hours before we got on stage! But oh my goodness, when we got OFF the stage, I felt giddy with happiness and relief. I did it! Yay! And I didn't humiliate myself! Double Yay!!

My giddiness was in direct proportion to the terror I had felt beforehand. I was off floating on the moon somewhere...

And tonight, I was just only happy.

How weird is that? :-)

Open mics are very interesting experiences. Different every time.

4 Comments
	rendesvous1840 says: 12/7/2011 8:16:06 PM Yeah, I always thought part of the buzz came from the butterflies. But too many butterflies is tough to take. It sounds like you're at the point where you can really enjoy yourself, without all the potty breaks. Go with the flow, and enjoy yourself.
	panthersquall says: 12/7/2011 8:34:50 PM Thanks Paul. I'm still not completely and entirely comfortable up there, but I have made HUGE progress towards it!
	David M says: 12/8/2011 2:27:22 AM Glad you had a good time Laurie, sounds like your mate is a quick thinker to come out with that..!
	panthersquall says: 12/8/2011 4:04:30 AM Yeah David, he made us all laugh!
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