Cyberspatialniche

What did you do for New Year’s Eve? I spent the final hours of 2007 and the first of 2008 playing with Charlie D. and the Things at the Cypress Cove Nudist Resort, our third New Year’s out there playing their big event. The place was packed with well-dressed and, well, not-so-dressed couples, and the vast majority were fantastic.

There was one exception, an unfortunate patron who hadn’t yet got his dinner somewhat late in the evening. While his plight was quite valid, his response to it was pretty horrible. His first attempt to bring light to the situation was to go up to the stage and use one of the band’s mics to yell “We want our food!” This was in-between sets, and when we finally got back, our new friend was back asking our band leader to make the announcement for him and his table.

While we’re certainly sympathetic to the hungry and frustrated, you really can’t expect the band to make proclamations or somehow intervene with the management. Just saying for those of you tempted in the future. Charlie politely referred him to the management, but instead, this guy kept coming up. He even passed us a note stating their request, as if to somehow improve the likelihood of it happening. More on note passing in a second. As a very appropriate response to this situation, Charlie decided to honor this man’s situation through musical request. Our first song of that set was Jimmy Buffett’s Cheeseburger in Paradise. Tasty!

For those of you dying to know how it all ended, the patron and his table did soon afterwards receive their food, though I believe the man himself actually didn’t stay to eat it (which was ashame, because the menu looked amazing).

A short while after all this, another note was brought up on stage from a different patron. The note said simply “please play something for normal people.” At the time this note was likely generated and delivered, we were in the middle of a classic rock medley. You know, Taking Care of Business, Old Time Rock & Roll, etc. Nothing spectacular or remotely fun to play, but certainly a staple of party bands for the last several decades. In short, crowd pleasers sure to fill up the dance floor…and it was!

Essentially, this lady was saying that they wanted something else to dance to, possibly slower, possibly less classic rockish, though we’ll never know for sure. In fact, at the time the note was passed around the band, we were already in the middle of a slow dance medley. At least she probably felt a bit more empowered after this, unlike the starving guy. Bands usually don’t mind taking requests, but its always better to ask for specific songs or, at least, specific genres. And try not to insult them by saying their music isn’t really conducive to “normal” people.

So yeah, Happy New Year and all! 2007 was pretty good, overall, and a vast improvement over 2006 for us. Here’s to hoping that 2008 will be even better. May you love, learn, and learn to love more than you did before!