Recently I've noticed a lot more artists than I have in the past using music stands and referring to sheet music & lyrics when playing. I've always thought this was frowned upon and as such have strived (without much success) not to rely on them myself. I feel much more comfortable with something to refer to
and, although I hardly look at my notes, it makes me much less nervous and therefore perform better.

The calibre of artists I've seen using a stand recently makes me wonder if I should give up my quest to be "stand-free".

Thoughts?

Ian.