It's been really fun playing my annual gig at the local downtown venue but what learning did I get out of it?

Don't push it with the invites, don't go haywire extending your invitation to whoever crosses your mind, sure, a packed place will get the owner satisfied but you don't have to play to a big crowd. In fact, playing to a smaller audience will give a closer connection, you'll have time to greet and if they are not that many you can even give them small presents and gifts as a token of appreciation for showing up. In my case I got to play the 17th of May, international day of hypertension, so mid-show I got everybody to count their heartbeat and shout it out back to me, sure it was embarrasing for some people but it was also fun and informative, not to mention healthy. So yeah, try to make it as personal as possible without making them uncomfortable. They're probably coming to see just you so don't go getting all high horsed and act like you're playing at an arena to a crowd you can't even look at the in the eyes.

If it's okay with the owner try to get people in the scenario, the 4th wall is very thin during a small gig and can be easily broken to decrease unnecessary distance between the performer and the audience. This time I got one friend to, at the very beggining, get up on stage and read out loud a text he'd written and was afraid to post online. Even big bands enjoy having the audience come up on stage and sing along with them.

If you're playing your own songs or rarely heard-of covers hand out a page with lyrics, if your tunes are catchy enough you'll have the audience singing along with you in the best christmas carol style.

If you have an invited artist or band make sure they find themselves at ease in the venue, show them around where can they put their equipment and let them know beforehand when's the sound check, if there is one.

Some people will take a hike as soon as you're done playing so make sure you let them know if there's a featured show after you. They'll be glad to be getting the full bang out of their entrance fee.

Last but certainly not least, picture yourself playing at the venue, what are you wearing? Are you wearing anything at all? Are you standing or sitting down? Where do you place yourself in the scenario? Last time I played I chose to sit on the edge of the scenario facing the crowd, sure, the sound engineer wasn't crazy about me not having any feedback at all from the on-stage speakers but it was worth having a laugh with the people on the first row and getting to see their expressions. Make a drawing of yourself playing there, you'll be amazed of how close it was to the actual thing.

Playing a gig is like organizing a birthday party? How do your birthdays look like? You do have a birthday, right?