Riley Lynch - PRESHOW RITUALS

In this Preshow Rituals segment, the alternative artist, Riley Lynch, reveals what he does before taking the stage. You can check out the rituals below:

My preshow ritual starts early. I chug water like some kind of feral animal the moment I wake up. Usually, on days that I’m playing live, I start to feel the nerves way ahead of time. As a performer who deals with anxiety, I like to be as intentional as possible in dealing with it, especially on show days. When I wake up with that extra stress I strive to take the first 30 minutes to an hour of my day to move my body. I find that if I get active earlier in my day that I can help to calm myself down. If I am in a more restful place that morning, I will light incense and attempt to meditate. That’s a skill of mine that needs a whole lot of work.

In addition to moving my body/meditation, I make sure that I spend a little bit of my morning writing out my thoughts as well as communicating with my loved ones. On show days it has always been really beneficial for me to lean into my support and bounce both my personal feelings and thoughts about the show off of them. Once I’ve gotten myself to a more manageable state, I’ll take whatever time I need to continue to rehearse the songs before I get ready and head to the venue for soundcheck.

Once I put on some sort of platform shoe, and I’m currently rocking with some 5” raised boots to give you a visual, I go and meet up with my band so that we can make sure we’re happy with our sound for the show. Once we finish soundcheck we usually have a good chunk of time until we actually have to go on. Depending on how I’m feeling that day, I’ll usually end up either grabbing food with my band or spending some time alone in order to get my thoughts together. If I do end up grabbing dinner before a show I keep it light and usually meat-free. Singing on a full stomach is not a good feeling. Like I mentioned before, I have always been someone who gets a lot of anxiety before playing live. I always make sure to listen to my body and give myself the space I need to enjoy what I love to do most.

As show time FINALLY comes, I make sure to check in with my band and see if anyone needs any last-minute adjustments made to the set. We run over our game plan for the songs, introductions, and then wish each other luck before stepping out on stage to our intro. Being able to go up on stage and play with other musicians I admire is an indescribable feeling and every second in preparation leading up to that first note matters.

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