Charlyne Yi Quotes

Playing a stadium is a big adrenaline boost for me and I dig it. It keeps me on my toes and makes me revamp everything I'm doing and not get stagnant with how I approach every show, which is something I like.

Sometimes I might be sleepy, and sometimes I've literally been sleeping backstage, woken up, gone straight on stage or gone crazy. It's not like I psyche myself; I don't do any of that.

It's dangerous to get calm. You need some nerves to work from, it's good energy. It's not good to have no nerves. You'd fall asleep on stage.

The adrenaline of performing on stage to a crowd - there's nothing like it.

I have more energy at the end than I do at the beginning. You can be so beat up that you can scarcely walk on stage but when you get to the piano the excitement kicks in, you forget about being tired.

Both songs are really, really intense when it comes to performing them, and very draining at the same time.

All these years later, I have almost no memory of the shows themselves. It's a blur. I remember my jogging runs better - that was my way of getting my energy together. I used to try to get to the arena as late as possible; otherwise, I'd just be pacing around, waiting to go on.

There's a feeling of elation that comes after getting off stage and then there's a feeling of utter sadness that comes after getting off the stage.

I'm actually sometimes nervous right before a performance, but as soon as I'm on the stage I'm like, 'okay, we're gonna rock this baby.'

You're in front of an audience, but you're playing for a camera. There's this huge adrenaline rush, because you know that besides the audience in the studio, there are millions of people watching at home.

You get yourself prepared for a big game, you get yourself up for it. Then afterwards you don't sleep or eat properly.

Performing live in front of an audience is such a matter of will - all of those things you can do just fine in your basement, suddenly you have to do them in front of hundreds or thousands of people, and it becomes a different matter entirely.

You want to have butterflies in your stomach, because if you don't, if you walk out onstage complacent, that's not a good thing.

Touring is really about being on edge the whole time - you're like a racing horse: you've just got to be on. You've got to pull it together.

I still get thrilled by the energy that is a live performance, the fear and the panic and the electricity that happens on the night. I think jolting myself every once in a while with that fear is a good thing for me.

But I love the hot sweat. I think overheating onstage is invigorating. It's better than being comfortable. I think being comfortable is the death of a show.

I think a big part of 'American Idol' that scares people and actually has, I'm sure, stopped people from trying out is the fact that you do have to do things that are necessarily not your genre.

The live setting is always better for me. I usually thrive at live. I feel like having a band behind me and being able to interact with the crowd helps boost my energy up.

It's very intense to be in front of a live audience. It's just an amazing experience. It's dangerous. Everything out there is heightened. The bad stuff is extra-worse. The silences are extra-silent. The good stuff is amazing. It's electric when you walk out there. For 90 minutes, you're on this other planet.

Of course, you get exhausted. You want to pass out. I came close a couple of times. But you're filled with something, that feedback that comes from the audience.

More is asked of you on stage. It's no way to make a living. But it's like a bullfight. You find out who can do it and who can't.

Before the show, we see all these radio people, and most of them say, 'Garth, you're a lot calmer than I thought you were gonna be.' But when the members of the band give one another that handshake, and the lights go out, and the crowd goes up, then you're sliding into the elevator, man, your heart is just going bopbopbopbopbop.

I'm always at my fittest when I'm doing a show - even when you're not on stage, you are running around backstage doing quick changes.

When I finished playing, I didn't think I would be able to replace the buzz you feel at kick-off, but when the light on top of the camera turns red, and you're about to go live to the nation, it is a very similar feeling.

Performing in front of an audience gives you an extra ten per cent energy and the chance to react to the instant feedback.