Pre-Show Ritual Quotes

Before every show, I eat half a rotisserie chicken.

Getting ready: the show girl scratches her breast and shakes out her feathers.

I sing 'Nessun Dorma' when I warm up backstage.

When I was doing 'A Raisin in the Sun' with Sean Combs, we began in bed, and he would give me 10 kisses and an 11th for luck before the play began.

I will have a playlist ready that I'll play out to the audience before I walk on stage, and I'll listen to that same playlist in the room, so by the time I walk on stage, I'm in the same frame of mind the audience is.

Before every show, I have to put perfume on. I know the crowd's not necessarily going to smell me, but when I smell good, I feel like I can dominate the room.

The more I go onstage, the more quiet I am before, because I intend to go onstage and slaughter.

Before every show, we get into a circle, hold hands, and someone makes a speech. Most bands are too cool for that.

I throw up before every show. I'm thinking about just making it part of the act.

Sometimes we pee on each other before we go on stage.

When I play on stage, I have to drink a glass of water.

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!'

Playing a show before thousands of people is a highly unnatural state and when I get on the mat to do an hour of yoga before the show, I come out physically relaxed.

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.

I like to spend time alone before I go on stage.

If I'm playing country, I gotta have my country hat and my cowboy boots. I gotta have a voice, and the third thing, I gotta have I guess a little music to keep me in the right mind, a little pre-show something to get ya going. Lots of AC/DC, or I'll sit on youtube and find all kinds of stuff before we take the stage to get pumped up.

It's so important to me to take care of my voice. I do a lot of vocal warms-ups right before I go on.

I always have to poop right before I do a concert. I don't feel nervous, but I think that must be my body reacting.

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

My wife will tell you that if you feel my hands before I walk on for a performance, you could chill a bottle of wine.

Before the show, we see all these radio people, and most of them say, 'Garth, you're a lot calmer than I thought you were gonna be.' But when the members of the band give one another that handshake, and the lights go out, and the crowd goes up, then you're sliding into the elevator, man, your heart is just going bopbopbopbopbop.

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

I warm up at home. I hit the stage, I'm ready, whether it's rehearsal or anything.

I find that putting my make-up on and playing with different looks is really relaxing for me before the show. It kind of helps me make that transition from 'mommy' to 'performer,' or star or whatever you want to call it!