Ok, now that we have everyone’s attention, let’s think about what that actually means.
First of all, neither one of us is Elvis. Never have been, and never will be. If you read that Elvis was in a movie called, Pajama Party!, one can only imagine all of the thoughts and images that title would conjure up. Girls everywhere, shaking and waggling to all the latest dance grooves. There would be Elvis, right in the middle, with the spotlight splashing each and every hip-thrusting gyration for the cameras.
Ok, now that we have covered what didn’t happen last Saturday evening at 
Bumper’s Landing, let’s talk about what did.
It was the first annual, Bumper’s Landing Pajama Party, and it was . . . . great fun!
Carl and I had a blast, watching all of the happy people spend a much warmer evening than planned in a bar on the water in the winter. Most of the girls in pajamas, were the staff at Bumper’s, actually. They were fun, comfortable and hard working as always. I have said this before, but it bears repeating: these gals never stop working. We don’t know how they do it, but they keep going, hour after hour after hour.
The party began officially at 8:00, to a bar area that was nearly full and almost rowdy; but completely happy. There were smiles on every table, drinks on every hand, and hope for spring in every step.
Our music was simply a bonus on a night like this, since the crowd was so content on their own. Don’t get me wrong, we were more than happy to play music for the patrons, but as for entertaining; well, I think that they were pretty much entertaining themselves.
We played lots of up tempo tunes that first set. Thankfully, each one of them went over well, like the sound track to the party that was already in full wing.
Seems as thought the Pajama Party theme was doing its job of putting everyone in a wonderful mood of relaxation and abject contentment.
About then we noticed that there were some friends of ours in the house. One couple of friends we have known for just about forever. Interesting thing about Rick, is that he was coming to listen to us play music back in the 70’s when we played in Algonac. Those were some early rock and roll days that we still treasure. So nice to see people that have been coming to listen to us for more than forty years. I guess, it reaffirms our belief that it is possible to keep getting better at what you do, if you keep on keep’n on! (Well, they used to say that back in the seventies. Look it up!)
More songs poured out of us, as we felt pretty content on this festive, pajama challenged night. Sometimes entertaining at Bumper’s Landing is kinda like shooting happy fish in a barrel. They are usually in such a great mood, they don’t even notice that they are being entertained.
Some nights we are all over the place musically. Not sure if it us us being bored with the usual expected, requested songs, or not. On some nights we just have to go off the beaten path, musically. On those nights, we are country, and rock, and pop and Irish, or Beatles. We are always thinking in the back of our minds, while we are playing a song, what the next one will be. Something different or unusual, or hardly ever played.
I’m sure you understand that we can get tired of playing certain songs at times, even though they are true bonafide classics. On those nights, we try very hard to go in a different direction, musically. It keeps it fun for us, and hopefully for the audience as well.
Well all of that to say, on this particular night, we had none of that. We simply played all of the usual, classic party songs. We played them right in order and just let the patrons party to each one. Most nights we have learned to go where the people take us. They give us direction. With our vast musical knowledge, we can hang with them, no matter where that is.
Now well into the evening, it was time to crank up the sing-a-longs. Time to see how this group can carry a tune. Billy Joel, Van Morrison and John Denver did the trick to get the ball rolling. We even had some folks appreciate several of the Kinks classics that we offered up. Good times. We like these Pajama Parties.
The night ended as it began; with smiles and drinks and singing and fun. Everyone happy, everyone pleased.
We look forward to every night at Bumper’s. We may never really know what is in store for us, but we do know that it will be fun!
Rb
