There are times when the whole Sing with the ‘Cats thing is a laugh-fest from beginning to end, when – despite the fact that it’s something the Party Band often rolls their eyes at – we can pick up a nice little energy charge off of. The last few times we’ve run it we’ve been lucky and the crowds have been on our side…
And then there are the other nights; the nights when even I can’t work my magic to get people up to the mic, when Amras and I are reduced to having side-stage conversations as to how to get people up to the sign-up sheet because it’s like trying to pull teeth out of the mouth of a ravenous alligator.
Do we have anyone?
Sorry ‘Gale, it was just those three…I got nothin’ for ya
Okay guys, pull up 178, we’ll use Shaughnessy as filler…
This early Big Brother???
Got no choice Sis…
I hadn’t even intended to sing last night, not really – I’m still getting over the nasty cold that’s been ripping through the department and my voice – while good – is not up to its normal standard, but Amras was right, we needed filler. So for the first time, I was slightly off-kilter as I sidled up to the microphone. Thankfully, no one noticed that my voice did crack some on the first verse. That could have been because the line for our main vocal mic was apparently faulty, causing the mic to not be as hot as it should have been (unless you were practically swallowing it). Halfway through the first chorus we had to negotiate a fast mic swap wherein ‘Gale handed me her mic, and handed the other one back to Amras to use for the back-up vocals. This actually was a perk for me as it gave me the corded mic instead of the wireless, and for some reason I always work better with corded mics.
But despite all our efforts, the night just couldn’t get itself off the ground. Sometimes you’re presented with a crowd that just doesn’t want to play, and no matter how hard you try nothing is going to get them up on the floor.
What saved us was that at the end of the evening the entire throng of teenagers on board showed up. These kids are awesome, they’ve just bonded together and are utterly making their own fun – I honestly wish some of the adults on board could take lessons from them! So they at least filled the dance floor for the last ten minutes or so of the night, which had us all breathing a sigh of relief…
Like I said, sometimes it’s like pulling teeth out of an alligator…