Nikki’s Wives – PRESHOW RITUALS

In this Preshow Rituals segment, the alternative pop band, Nikki’s Wives, shares what they do before taking the stage. You can check out the feature, after the break.

We only have one pre-show ritual, but like all good rituals, when you talk about them with people who aren’t in your club, it can seem a little weird. Not that the ritual itself is weird, it’s just hard sometimes to communicate why it makes us perform better. So, before I divulge this secret, there’s some background information that needs to be known so people don’t think we’re completely insane.

When it comes down to it, you could describe the three of us as having a “competitive” attitude towards music and performing. We like being good, we like being the best band on the bill, and when we’re not, we’re very hard on ourselves. When you hang out with other musicians for an extended period of time, however, there’s a line you get claiming that all art has the same value – that your terrible song isn’t actually terrible, it’s just “different” from other people’s amazing songs, and it’s a perspective that we’ve never really bought into. We think there is such a thing as a good band and a bad band, and maybe your songs are just different in a worse way.

So before every show, we have a moment of silence. We say a few words in loving memory of “all the bands that we have laid to rest and all the bands that we have yet to bury”, and we remember the groups that have joined us on stage only to leave deflated, knowing that we were the best band because we worked the hardest. It’s not a ritual fuelled by negativity – we want people to put on their best show, and we always end up being great friends with everybody. The aspect of competition is just something that keeps us on our toes, and it drives us to deliver our best for the fans each night.

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