Erica Knox – PRESHOW RITUALS

In this Preshow Rituals segment, the pop artist, Erica Knox, reveals what she does before taking the stage. You can check out the rituals, after the break.

I’ve tried a lot of things before a show in order to feel my best on stage, but there are only some tried and true practices that I continue these days.

When I was on tour at the start of 2020, playing breweries and bars across Ontario, it was always super difficult to find a space to do vocal warmups, so I’d have to do them in the car an hour or 2 before the gig. The car acted as my personal dressing room, makeup space, and warmup zone – it was also a safe haven to get mentally prepared for the show. I tend to get very nervous before I play, so having some sort of pampering routine before I went on was always beneficial. I always want to look and feel my best on stage, because that confidence inevitably translates to a confident performance.

With touring breweries and bars, I was surrounded by a lot of really good craft beers and mixed drinks, but I’d, unfortunately, have to wait to try them until after my set. The first time I went to see ‘The 1975’ in concert was in 2014, and I vividly remember Matty Healy dancing around with a bottle of wine on stage, and I always wondered if I’d be capable of doing that during a performance. Short answer – absolutely not. Alcohol takes complete control over my voice, so I definitely can’t drink anything before a show. However, the post-show comedown goes well with a drink, it kinda keeps me riding the high.

Lastly, I can’t leave for a show without having a specific snack on me: almonds. I’ll always have a bag of almonds in my purse for a gig. I play a lot of 3-hour solo sets, and that’s a lot of work for your voice to be ON that entire time. The almonds come into play when my voice starts feeling fatigued, and ironically enough, the almonds dry out, and somehow reset my throat and voice, and give it a boost to finish the set. I don’t know why this works for me, but it does. It’s been a habit I’ve carried with me for probably 5 years now, and I’m not gonna stop it anytime soon.

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