Its always interesting; what awaits us inside, right before a show. That’s what we were thinking about this Friday night, at the Three Blind Mice Irish Pub, in Mt. Clemens Michigan.
Always something different. That’s just one of the great things about entertaining. Its usually not about us; but about the people who come to see us. They bring the magic, really.
The people, the patrons, the fans bring their hopes, their dreams, their attitude into the pub; and it is up to us to recognize the vibe and answer it accordingly.
The goal, as always is to help everyone have the good time that they were seeking all along.
Sitting in the van before each performance, we never really know what awaits us. We never know who is there, or how many, or even what kind of night its going to be.
We simply do what we need to do. That is, we arrive early, well prepared and even in anticipation of what might go awry.
We begin on time, and are mindful of our employer, our surroundings and our audience.
We put in the work. We never take the easy way road. We always play over and above what we were contracted to do. We listen to the people, and guide our music through their eyes and ears.
We try and talk to our audience. To ask them how they feel about what we are trying to do. We ask them what we can play to make them even happier. Or help them forget about their troubles for a little while. (All with the help and expert guidance of Johnny, Jim or Jack.)
When we do these simple, but important things, usually, the night goes our way. We play, they enjoy. Pretty simple when you distill it down.
On this particular night, the crowd was good right out of the gate. The pub was filled and eager to be entertained. All except for the two guys who decided to sit right where the stage was. They made it known in no uncertain terms that they did not want music of any kind to be played. (Funny, people usually say that after they hear us play, not before.)
We thought that we should play anyway, and we did. The first set was pretty lively, for us. We usually ease into the night a little bit. But on this night, however, we went full tilt, into the fray!
Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the analogy. That powerful first set segued into the smooth second set, as the singer showed up early. After a few songs, the entire bar was lamenting, Friends n Low Places in unison.
Upstairs, Paper was covering the rock, once again, to the delight of the surging crowd. i must say again how tight this band is. Very professional, very polished sound. Great opportunity for anyone to listen to, a great, up-andd-coming band.
Back down those stairs we went, to entertain the second half of the night. What started out big, has now gotten a little smaller. No one really stays out late, like they used to. We focus on the hours between eight and twelve, and try and play another hour, just for good measure. But we have noticed that when it gets past twelve, the crowd starts to thin dramatically.
The ones left on this night were the “die hards”, determined to party, no matter what. Shots were ordered, songs were sung and smiled were hung on the faces with care.
it was another good night that the Three blind Mouse.
Happy to have people to sing to.
Great to see friends come back for another visit.
Wonderful to make new memories for all of the above.
Rb
