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Doesn't Brittny Spear perform with pre-recorded backing including her voice?

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

I don't know about Brittney Spears but I do seem to recall reading that some of the shows that rely heavily on high-tech effects rely on some pre-recorded music.  I think part of that is to reduce the number of people traveling with the show and the other part may be that there are things being done in recording studios today that can't be replicated in a live performance.

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with pre-recorded music . . . as long as the performer is upfront about it.  I recall a numbe of years ago when Millie Vanillie (I don't think that's spelled correctly) had their career blown out of the water when it was revealed that they were lip-synching all of their live performances.  

Larry

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"Life is too short for diet soda and lite beer"

I notice when I go to a concert that the band almost always blends into the background unless the lead vocalist makes it a point to draw attention to the band. So it wouldn't matter to me if the music was pre-recorded as long as the vocalist was decent and sang the music that I am drawn to.

I would be upset to go to a show and have the words lip-synced to. I want to hear a live vocalist. A live vocalist changes from one show to another. A live vocalist can add the emotions that lip-syncing can't.

About Stage Fright........

Are your gigs well recieved?
Do you get repeat bookings?

If the answers to the above are both yes then the stage fright is your friend, not your enemy.

I don't believe I have ever walked off stage without being asked one of these three questions; sometimes I am asked all of them on the same night.

1) Is there another place you perform at that we can go watch you perform?

2) Could we hire you to do a show on (date) and (place)?

3) Would you be interested in getting a band together?

The truth is I very-very rarely perform and I have gone years at a time without stepping foot on stage but every time I do perform, people appraoch me almost before I am able to leave the stage. They say I gave them goosebumps (I hear this everytime I sing) or that I made them cry (I hear this quite often) and I hear how much the songs bring back memories.

Even though I know people like what I do, I can't convince myself that I am that good. I always think I need to practice harder and sing better. I hear many singers on the singers showcase who I believe have a lot more talent than I do.

It takes about all the energy I have to walk on stage, sing and shake the stage fright. I have one fear stronger than stgae fright, and that is the fear of heights. Sometimes as I walk towards the stage I feel like I'd rather be dangled from the Golden Gate Bridge.

I have been very lucky, I have never felt stage fright.  I do feel a sense of anticipation and I get a little jittery.  But that's just my mind/body telling me I'm anxious to get out there and get going.  The way I always express it is, "I didn't come here to stand around.  I came here to play."

There are two things I would be interested in knowing: 1) Why do you perform at all? You said you had gone years at a time without doing it.; and 2) How do you feel when you are performing?

Do think your stage fright is related to insecurity about your ability?  Or is it something else?  

If it's insecurity I think you have plenty of reason to try to put that behind you.  Based on what you wrote it sounds like you are far more concerned about other singers than you are about you.  If you take a long look at whatever music genre you enjoy you'll see that there is a pretty wide cross-section of talent.  Some singers are technically better than others.  That's just a fact.  But that's not all of what it takes.  The ability to touch people's emotions is very important as well.  You already know that you are doing that.  You should keep striving to do better and it's good not to be too satisfied with your performance.  I've never given a performance that I didn't know could have been better.  So each time I try to correct the mistakes of the past.  

In what you wrote I also heard a concern about other singers that you believe are better than you.  Performing is not really about competing with someone else.  It's about what YOU do.  

I don't believe I would ever particpate in a contest.  I know the limitations of my voice.  After 40 years of singing professionally I have a pretty good idea of what I do best and what I can't do at all.  So I know that if I were to get up with a bunch of people who really can sing I'm sunk.  But when I'm giving a performance I don't have to worry about that.  All I have to worry about is turning in the best performance I can.  I'm an enterainer.  That's why I get hired.  So I enterain and I don't worry much about the rest of it.  

I always wanted to be able to sing like Wilson Pickett.  I can't.  So when I sing "Mustang Sally" I don't worry about how he did it.  I pay attention to what I can do with that song.  And whatever I'm doing must be okay because it's well received wherever we play.  But I will never be able to bring to that song what Wilson Pickett did.

I don't know if any of that helps.  I hope so.

For me, there is something inside me that makes me want to perform.  I don't feel complete without it.  If that feeling is strong enough I guess you do it whether you have stage fright or not.

Good luck!  And keep singing.

Larry

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"Life is too short for diet soda and lite beer"

Thanks larry for all the time you are putting into your replies. You have given me lots of things to think about.

I will say this, when I first walk onto a stage i have an intense case of stagefright but once the stagefright is gone (normally about the third song), there is no place on earth I'd rather be. But, to get there I have to suffer through stagefright and that is the part of performing that I hate dealing with.