Garth Brooks Quotes

Backstage, I get sleepy, and want to curl up and snooze. I never get nervous, whatever the event. I feel quite detached until I walk on stage, and then some gear inside me clicks and off I go like a wind up doll.

All these years later, I have almost no memory of the shows themselves. It's a blur. I remember my jogging runs better - that was my way of getting my energy together. I used to try to get to the arena as late as possible; otherwise, I'd just be pacing around, waiting to go on.

I'm actually sometimes nervous right before a performance, but as soon as I'm on the stage I'm like, 'okay, we're gonna rock this baby.'

You want to have butterflies in your stomach, because if you don't, if you walk out onstage complacent, that's not a good thing.

No matter how many shows I've done, as soon as they say it's time to start, I get that nervous sensation and feel like I have to pee. So that's where my mind is. That and making it to the end of the runway and back as fast as I can.

I had gigged so much from the age of 11 to 20 that I got to a stage where I actually got less nervous the bigger the gig. But you need those butterflies: they make you feel alive.

I always have gotten nervous before every show. But the second I step onstage, it's all gone. It's sort of like an adrenaline rush for me.

When I'm about to go on stage, and I look out and just see the fans filled out in the arena, all pumped up and screaming - that gives me butterflies! I just love that feeling, and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, it's gonna be a great show!'

The adrenaline of performing on stage to a crowd - there's nothing like it.

There's some anxiety the 30 minutes before the show starts. But once you step on stage and face the people, everything goes away, and you have fun and enjoy the audience.

When I'm on stage, all is right with the world.

My nerves before a gig got worse; I had terrible bad nerves all the time. Once we started... I was fine.

There is nothing like the high of being on stage and reaping applause, especially for emotionally needy people like me!

I used to get so carried away while I was on stage that I'd be physically damaged by the end of a concert.

I tend to be very relaxed on stage, but the nerves have to come out somehow.

It's very intense to be in front of a live audience. It's just an amazing experience. It's dangerous. Everything out there is heightened. The bad stuff is extra-worse. The silences are extra-silent. The good stuff is amazing. It's electric when you walk out there. For 90 minutes, you're on this other planet.

You don't realize how much you miss it until you get back onstage and feel that buzz.

When I finished playing, I didn't think I would be able to replace the buzz you feel at kick-off, but when the light on top of the camera turns red, and you're about to go live to the nation, it is a very similar feeling.

There's something about the energy and the expectations that an audience projects at you. I get up on stage and work and work, and there's chaos all around me, then I'll shut my eyes, and boom! I slot into the zone. It's like the eye of the hurricane. Everything is easy, and I'm capable of doing things I didn't know I was.

When I perform live, I'm doing a lot, but I kind of black out. I don't think about it too much.

I tap my fingers and cheekbones before going on stage to calm down. But nerves are necessary; if you ever lose them, it's a bad sign.

I love that moment just before the curtain goes up, whether I'm sitting in the audience or standing backstage. It's full of expectation. It's a thrill that's unequaled anywhere.

Being out there in a high-pressure situation with a live audience and a live TV camera on you, it brings something out.

On stage, I'm always nervous, but there is so much adrenalin, too. It's strange because I have to turn my back on the audience, and my audience is the orchestra. I communicate my energy to them, and they communicate it to the audience behind me!

I have never been more physically tired than after that first song of my first concert.