Pre-Performance Routine Quotes

Before every show, I eat half a rotisserie chicken.

[Peter] Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" was my first go-to song in terms of getting into the zone and getting ready and then I quickly gravitated to rock and roll music in the mid-'60s with the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, The Beatles, Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Rolling Stones, Carlos Santana. So many of them are still around and still going strong. I go out to see them all the time.

I don't agree with superstitious routines, but there are a couple of things I'll always do before performing. I'll get together with the band and chill out, and then, just before I go on stage, I'll always check my flies.

Usually, before I salute the judge, I'm able to just grab the event, and I pray on it, and that really grounds me. For some reason, once I do that, I am able to think clearly, and I'm able to calm down right before I compete.

Sometimes I try to take a nap before shows. That clears my head.

Before shows, we rub elbows and growl. It started once when someone had a cold, and we didn't want to hug each other. So we started rubbing elbows. And we don't kiss. We just go, 'Grrrr!'

My preparation is always mediation and deep breathing. And the rubbing of my hands together just gets my energy going.

I'm not super superstitious, but if I listen to a song and then I do well, then that becomes my song for however long it works for.

Seeing people ahead of time and getting acquainted with the space you're playing in is important to getting comfortable in that place.

But I'm not superstitious. I don't really eat dinner before I go on stage, because digesting a lot of food kind of shuts you down. And I try not to get involved in emotional conversations with anyone beforehand either, so I've got a clear head.

I have to be careful what I eat before going onstage, to avoid an upset stomach.

I have to brush my teeth before I go on stage otherwise I don't feel smart enough.

I get superstitious. I always have to have some form of potato, either chips or mashed potato or roast potatoes on a show day.

I keep 10-pound dumbbells in my dressing room. It's nice to do before a show to get your muscles to wake up.

When you up performing, you gotta have your energy right, so I look after myself, and I take vitamins to give me that boost.

To get the adrenaline pumping between events - or to help me switch off, Jay Z, the Roots and Drake are on my playlist.

I don't really have any kind of rigorous or definite routine before I go onstage. I like to eat at least an hour or two before I go on. If I can't do that, I just wait until after. I try and drink lots of water before I go onstage.

What I normally do before going on stage is pray - normally we do a group prayer with the crew or whoever is around, like our security guard, our tour manager and whoever else is back there and wants to pray with us.