Spotlight – Halifax, Nova Scotia – [08/05/2014]

We were concerned about the whole Sing with the ‘Cats thing this cruise, this has been a dead crowd – and I nearly mean that literally as it’s been something like trying to play a show to zombies. We just hadn’t been able to get a rise out of them – not even for bingo, just…nothing. It’s not exactly easy to establish the energy loop with a crowd that is determinedly giving you nothing back.

So, when I was putting together the new song selection books for the event all that was going through my head was the story my Dad used to tell me, about working a New Year’s Eve when only 10 people showed up to the gig – but they’d paid several hundred dollars a ticket. Dad always told me he’d never worked so hard as he did that night, because playing to a small crowd is 100% harder than playing to a big one. Since with the whole live karaoke thing I’m already the link between the audience and the band (“you’re not sure you know the words? No worries hun, this band totally has your back and ‘Gale will be right there in your ear if you get lost, you’ve totally got this”) – when no one is “playing” …it’s all of our jobs to get people up.

But…as it turns out, we were wrong.

They ran a music trivia session before the live event, so there was already a crowd up there, all we had to do was catch them – which was brilliant. And, since a couple of hours working over a hot word program ( ) had allowed me to hand over the new – properly formatted, much more durable, and in colour – song selection books (hey, no band of mine is going to go out there with anything that’s not professional looking!) we were actually able to have something decent looking to hand around. Four soft cover lists that could float around the room and one hardcover master folder that stayed next to me…

Yes, I am a nerd, this is utterly part of my charm. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

They swamped us in the first five minutes. Almost to the point where Amras couldn’t read my handwriting because I had to write so quickly to get the names down. Thing is, I have to take a 15 minute break every week because I have to come down to the library and do the weekly general cleaning – so when we hit 9:55 (the event goes till 11:00), I caught Amras’ eye from the corner of the bandstand and gestured to an invisible watch

I gotta go luv, I’ll be back in ten…keep an eye on the master book, do not let it leave this spot

Yes, we talk from bandstand to sidelines. We always have. Thing is, we tend to do it mostly without actually saying anything, which is handy. It’s a skill I think I’ve inherited from Mum, because I used to watch her have similar “conversations” with my Father when he was on stage.

Anyway, when I came back up from general cleaning, the rush had slowed down, which meant they needed filler, which meant I got my reward for being the good little roadie.

Hey ‘Gale, pull up 178 for Shaughnessy…

You got it…hey ladies and gentleman, we’re out of sign-ups…everyone give me an “awwwwwww” (pause, reaction, pick-up), but in the meantime, I have the perfect idea – who wants to hear our librarian sing? You know she sits behind that desk all day but…

And so my reputation as the quiet little librarian is blown for another cruise.

Not that I’m, y’know, terribly unhappy about that…