The very last thing that any entertainer wants to see, ten minutes before they plug-in to take the stage, is half of the club getting up in unison, to leave. But, that is just what happened to us on this Friday night.
Sometimes at the Three Blind Mice Irish Pub, the 7:00 start means that the 5:30 dinner crowd is all done and ready to head home. And sometimes, if they happen to linger a wee bit after seven, we can musically persuade them to stay around, even when they had planned on being home.
Not in this case. Right before we got ready to sing our first song, most everyone left.
That only meant one thing: we would have to work even harder on this particular night to turn things around.
Now don’t get me wrong; Carl and I like a good challenge. And this night provided one for sure. Entertaining is a lot like opening a Christmas present from your uncle Clark: you’re never really sure what you’re going to get. Some nights its a sweater; and some nights its a brand new shiny I-Pad!
Undaunted from the beginning, we played song after song, as the night proceeded, and the tables slowly filled. And after the second set, the Mouse was busting at the seems with a wide-eyed chorus of holiday carolers.
This Christmas package seemed empty at first, but quickly multiplied like a set or Russian nesting dolls. Nesting dolls that drank and sang, a lot!
With things nicely in hand on the bottom floor at the Mice, it was time to venture upstairs to see what was happening. And, a “happening” was just what was going on!
Monkey Grinder was in the middle of a jam that had everyone’s eyes on the stage. The two lead singers were “tag-teaming” the lyrics like a wrestling duo that would not be denied!
The crowd loved every self inflicted word, as the unrelenting groove writhed higher and higher into the night. No one or no entire band out-works Monkey Grinder. They turn any place they play into their own personal “Empire State building”. Climbing and clawing their way to the top . . . only to dive head first to the pavement below. It may not be healthy; but it sure is entertaining.
From that point on, through the end of a night, (that didn’t really end for us until far after the midnight hour); we could only hold on for dear life, as the audience took control of the every single thing we played and drank.
We played – they sang. We played – they danced.
We all shared a huge present that no one really expected when they arrived.
But, some very special gifts are like that. Sometimes the best gift is something you never expected in the first place. Like having and epic night, when you thought that it would be truly forgettable.
Sometimes you never know just what you’ll get.
Rb
