I've been playing for quite some time and have recently joined a band as the only violinist. I love it to pieces and rehearsals are amazing. My problem though is that when we play in front of people I get the initial nerves that generally smooth out after the first song or so. However that first song sounds awful when I'm using the upper half of the bow because my arm is shaking so much. I don't feel afraid and the jitters generally disappear after about a minute but the shaky effects last much longer. Too much adrenaline I suppose. Any advice for shortening this adrenaline rush or avoiding it altogether? Thanks for the help!

That is normal, the more pactice you get the less it will show. Until you dont even notice it, you are just nerveous.