The Gutter Daisies – PRESHOW RITUALS

In this Preshow Rituals segment, Mike Diggs, drummer of the post punk band, The Gutter Daisies, reveals what they do before taking the stage. You can check out the story, after the break.

We each have our own individual ways of preparing to take the stage comfortably and confidently. Doug will usually be hiding out somewhere doing his vocal warm-ups and sometimes I see Miles stretching or jumping up and down. Most of the venues we perform at have bars in them so I personally like to have a beer before I play (I love a good beer). In addition to our personal pre-show rituals though, our band has sort of developed a warm-up routine that we’ve been doing with each other for a while now. Actually, …we’ve had two warm-up routines and one is very different from the other. We’ll call them New Gutter Daisies and Old Gutter Daisies.

Old Gutter Daisies was quite exhilarating. We would stand in a little three-piece punk band circle, usually in a green room or backstage somewhere. One of us would extend an arm to another with a clenched fist and palm upwards. That other person would then slap the first person’s forearm as hard as they possibly could. I know, weird right? We’d actually go around the circle until each one of us had both of our forearms slapped. It was supposed to be a little adrenaline booster or something. What’s the best way to get pumped up for the gig? Inflict pain upon each other of course! Not going to lie it was kind of fun, but I can’t say that it wouldn’t have developed into full-on punching each other in the face one day had we not decided to transition into New Gutter Daisies.

New Gutter Daisies went in a very different direction. I can’t remember exactly who it was that submitted the request for a change in our system, but I want to say it was Doug. Our updated and current pre-show ritual starts out with us in a circle just like the last one (we call this daisy formation). Once we’re in daisy formation, the next part is simple; a few deep breaths and a shared cool/calming energy. We wanted to start doing something that would help chill the nerves out rather than rev them up. Something about this routine just puts me in a better headspace when I get on stage. It also prevents me from adding 20 beats per minute to all the songs in the set.

If I had to pick my favorite of the two, I’d say New Gutter Daisies all the way. The show itself gives us the adrenaline we need to entertain a crowd and deliver the best performance we possibly can. Our new way of preparing to play brings a nice balance to that energy. I don’t need to be beating the shit out of my band members and then playing blast beats in all of our songs. Although I think it would be fun to re-record some of our tunes with blast beats in them. We can warm up by kicking each other in the stomach.

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