>Airplanes by B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams

>Never Mind by Abstract Decision (Original)

>Tek It by Cafune

>Black Sheep by Metric featuring Brie Larson

Our set list was incredibly diverse, we made the decision to have it that way one rehearsal when we decided we'd try playing 'Black sheep', a much more alt rock sounding song, as opposed to airplanes and our original which are both HipHop tracks, and it sounded fantastic. We figured running with a more diverse sounding set would make 'Super Trouper' sound less out of place against those other two songs as well.

Overall, I'm very happy with the work I have done this year, I think this final project was a big success and I'm excited to see what comes next, and very grateful for everyone who's done this alongside me.

1. How to effectively choose an opener to our set.

   For choosing an effective opener to a set, the linked article talks about beginning with a bang, however we went with the advice noted in the article from famed luthier Les Paul of not worrying about our first song as I agree that the audience would take a couple songs to get in the groove of our band anyways. Our opening track 'Super Trouper' was the song the least of our band felt fit overall with our set list, we were still wanting to play it however, we felt that the super bright and soft tune of ABBA coming on after the likes of some of our other songs would throw the audience off a little bit, so we decided to put that in first.

2. Having an effective energy and flow to our set list as a whole i.e. the arc of our setlist.

   Then, with trying to have an effective flow from each song into the next, we decided that from 'Super Trouper' we would lead in from there with 'Airplanes' by B.o.B which felt like would lead nicely as the first song our vocalist Ed raps in, to our original song 'Never Mind' which is filled with more of the fantastic rap. We also thought the energy would ramp up nicely from a slightly more mellow feeling, in terms of mood, song like 'Airplanes' into a much cheerier, upbeat song like 'Never Mind' as well as the overall ramp in the energy of our songs from 'Super trouper' into 'Airplanes' into 'Never mind, taking a slight dip in the energy levels with 'Tek It' before going into our Most energetic song 'Black Sheep'.

3. Effectively choosing an ending song to our set.

   Choosing 'Black Sheep' as our ending song was a choice we made very shortly after our first full run through of it as a band. we wanted to end the show with a showstopper as my research says that you want to make a memorable end to the show and with our version of 'Black sheep we definitely thought we could do that.

Overall, we were very confident that the energy and flow, with the order of our chosen songs would lead to a successful and well received show.

1. Dressing for the Gig.

   It seemed to me that given that stage presence is all about the audience perceives you, the best I could do was think about how i could implement some of the key tips I found in ways that would boost my personal confidence on the stage, as stage fright is something I'm no stranger to. When it came to my outfit for the stage, thankfully I had a very wide variety of choices. Given how diverse our set list and in fact our own band members themselves are, we decided to simply leave each to their own when it came to our individual outfits on the night, and decided that what generally makes me comfortable is accessorising, and otherwise i would see closer to the gig if there was any clothes that i had felt good in recently or that had gotten me any compliments or the like. I figured a little confidence on my appearance on the night would express to the audience and perhaps simply help with other factors of my stage presence and improve it overall.

2. Body Language and Expression.

   Something I've been mindful of for a while of my performing history now is how my body language and facial expressions come off to the audience. So I'm fairly well practiced in trying to keep a comfortable and cheerful demeanour whilst on stage, I did however, feel I could improve this for the night. I tried to practice this by trying my best every rehearsal to express the body language that I would hopefully replicate whilst on stage, this was easier given the complexity, or lack thereof, of my parts for each song so instead of standing still whilst trying to figure out an intricate solo, whilst playing with the rest of the band I had the space to move around a little or try to smile a little and have fun whilst playing.

3. Embracing Imperfections.

   A big part, I think, of playing to an audience and having a good stage presence is making sure that you don't freeze up at the first mistake you make, or let it ruin your performances as the link puts it. I had to make sure that during rehearsals i was keeping an eye on myself to not get too lost in having a good time, so I didn't get lost as to where we were in each song, meaning if I did make a mistake, I could brush it off and quickly get back to playing what I should. I hoped that with the practice in rehearsals if i messed up with one note or chord during the final performance, I'd be able to easily bounce back.

4. Adapting to the Environment on the Night of the Performance.

   The final thing i kept in mind was making sure I could adapt to the environment of the actual performance. I had to keep in mind that playing to an audience of potentially up to 200 people on a fairly small stage with my other 8 bandmates would be very different to the rehearsals I had been doing up until then in terms of energy, lighting and even sound. there was also some uncertainties before the night of the performance, for instance my acoustic guitar, which is the guitar i used for every rehearsal previously, i had to use the XLR out it had as opposed to a jack like almost every other guitar uses, since the jack-in on my guitar had broken. This was something neither me nor my lecturers were sure the venue would be able to accommodate and I'd simply have to wait until getting there on the day to figure out what id be able to use for the gig. Bu regardless of what happened on the night I'd need to not freak it, adapt and give it my all just the same for the audience.