Before I get to how it all started, there’s something you all should know. There is almost always a point in someone’s life when they feel weightless, when they feel a mix of adrenaline, nerves, and almost disbelief, when they feel chills of doing something exciting. Well, I’m going to tell you about my experience playing a festival with my band, Renegades.
It all started long before I ever stepped on stage. I honestly forgot who our point of contact was for the shows we had been getting. Our vocalist, Chase, had been talking with quite a few people trying to get things lined up, way before any of us knew what was going on. In January of 2018, we got the news that we would be playing Rocklahoma, a huge festival in (you guessed it) Oklahoma.
When the opportunity finally came, my first reaction wasn’t exactly confidence—it was borderline panic. Festivals are big. Festivals are loud. There’s no hiding behind dim lighting. It felt like stepping into something I hadn’t quite fully earned yet.
A couple days before our show with our trailer rented (ours was stolen a few months before this), van packed, and band members accounted for, we headed to Pryor, Oklahoma. We had about two days to just relax and hang out with each other when we got down there.
The day of the performance, everything felt heightened. Alot of moving parts and moving people. Thankfully, we had an in-ear monitor rig, so set up and tear down was easy; plus, my guitar rig was all digital so that was easy as well. I do vaguely remember drinking alot of water the hours before our set time. It was hot, hot, hot down there, so I’m glad I did!
Even with our in-ear monitor rig, the sound guy still gave us a monitor mix in our wedges for a backup and I remember that my wedge was so loud with my guitar that I could barely hear my click in my ears. I told him twice to turn it down, once before we played and once mid-set. He didn’t listen.
I remember the crowd getting more into the music after about the second song. The only people in the crowd that had heard of us before we’re the significant others of the members in the band. We we’re a brand new band and playing on this stage helped us gain a new following. It also helped that we had a really well put together EP that was released a couple months before the show.
When the final song completed, Chase told the crowd to meet him over by our merch table to shotgun a beer with whoever wanted to. One guy went over after the set and gave Chase a high ABV beer. It was quite funny. At this point, another person came up to the merch table to check out our t-shirts, and another to check out our CDs. By this time there was maybe 4-5 people in line wanting to look at our stuff. It was at this moment, I did something that I never thought I would do. Someone bought one of our CDs and asked us all to sign it for them, and then we all took a picture together.
I signed my first autograph.
I’ll be honest, there’s not a whole lot after I signed that autograph. The rest of the weekend was kind of a blur. I had a blast with my best friends playing music we wrote to new fans. That weekend was definitely one for the books. I’m glad to write about it and I’m glad you get to read about it.
Overall, that weekend made me a better musician. It gave me confidence, clarity, and a new sense of trust in myself. To be able to play music to a decent amount of people and not have any more fear. Yeah, I’ll make mistakes, but that’s part of the journey. That’s music.
To Chase, Josh, and Myles, thank you for everything.
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