When considering The Country Club of Lansing, Carl and I take several thoughts into the equation: Distance, Time, Effort & Reward.
Distance: 112 miles
Time: 1 hour 44 minutes
Effort: Plenty
Reward: Normal rate
We drive quite a distance.
The set up is easy and quick.
The playing time is only two hours, but the people, (and I know I can be a bit of a broken record), are what makes this performance either worthwhile of completely out of the question.
It is quite a drive; but that just gives us time to talk about lots of music stuff that we normally don’t get a chance to discuss.
Time: yes, it is a big chunk. Arrival, driving, set up, playing, tear down, return drive, unloading, return to our houses. However, we don’t play that long so it all evens out when you think of it that way.
Money, effort, wear and tear; I suppose there are lots of things to consider when doing a gig like this, but really, if the people appreciate it, we’re in!
However, the greatest factor to mull over is one of the simplest, enjoyment! Any discussion pretty much begins and ends right there.
So, off we go to Lansing.
Since we have played this event a few times, we know the way. Carl pretty much puts the Bob and Carl mobile on cruise control and before we know it, we’re there.
After saying “Hello!” we pull the van up to the beautiful clubhouse and begin the set up.
It’s their annual LobsterFest evening, so we know where to be, what to wear and just what to play. It seems to all just falls into place.
I’ll say it again; the people are just so nice. That makes it all worthwhile. From the staff to the guests, we get nothing but smiles, and “Thank you!”s
For the evening we do our usual mix of country, ocean, rock, folk favorites, and as usual, they are all greatly appreciated.
It’s nice to be appreciated.
When you know that you are wanted and the things that you do are important and valued, it really makes a person feel like they are a priority and needed.
As the night evolved, we interacted more with the members and got some good requests of songs we might not have otherwise thought about playing.
Requests always make us feel good. They are an integral part of any performance, and a great way to open up valuable avenues of communications with people who would otherwise be too shy to interact with us.
There was some dancing towards the evenings apogee, both fast and slow. This group is out to enjoy dinner at this event, so it tends to be a bit more reserved.
With another perfect summer evening closing, we loaded the gear and headed back to our homes, content in the knowledge that sometimes, you can’t decide a problem by mere statistics alone.
Sometimes you need to use your heart, not just your head.
It’s a “people thing”.
(Most things are in this business.) It’s pretty tough to use mere statistics to explain music, It just doesn’t work that way.
In the end the reason we do what we do is pretty simple as well.
We sing for the people. We sing for you!
Rb
