i learned a very hard lesson... never go up drunk, your slur ur speech, n it takes away from ur presence n probs means u will forget ur lyrics, have one maybe 2 drinks tops b4 hand jus for abit of "dutch courage" so to speak, but go up level headed.... simple reasons.

1) you dont wanna be stumblin round the stage or even worse, falling off it.

2) whilst under the influence you could possibly do sumthing that could put majour damage to your rep.

3) forget your words(this can happen anyway, its happened to me.. if it happens... DO NOT STOP and dont make it obvious to the crowed, jus freestyle it out)

they are my main reasons for stayin sobre when i perform... theres times i might get stoned, but that jus keeps me relaxed n doesnt really effect my set that much, but ye, try stay sober to start with, untill you have grown confidence n know ur lyrics properly e.t.c and more importantly know your set perfectly.