Every so often, someone asks me why I’m friends with the actual musicians on board. The “real” entertainers. Honestly? It’s because of nights like last night.
I’m the devoted party band girl. They work hard, and in all honesty they don’t always get a lot of appreciation. There have been times when I’m the only one in the audience. Everyone finds an adopted family on their current ship, this time around, these guys are mine.
It’s been a rough cruise for the party band, in more ways than one. This group of passengers just doesn’t want to give back – they’ll sit and listen, but getting them to dance is like pulling teeth, and for reasons completely out of our control – we were down a guitar player this week. This severely limited the amount of charts the band could actually perform (if you want to know why, try to imagine Johnny B Goode *without* guitar, and you’ll have your answer). By the end of the set, they were starting to run low on options – though you wouldn’t have noticed that unless you knew what was going on.
So I’m sitting there, minding my own business, actually thinking of packing it in for the night myself, when I see the vocalist lean over and whisper something to the band leader. Now, if ever I were to have a big brother, Amras, is it. And he knows it. All he does is smile, and shrug and nod, and then the vocalist is shading her eyes to look out into the audience.
I’m really glad this is okay with the band, and I’m hoping it’s okay with the lovely lady in front of me.
And I realize she’s talking about me.
I’ve been lucky enough to work with Shaughnessy before, and I love her to pieces. This girl is not just your librarian ladies and gentleman, not only is she a near-professional level swing dancer, she’s a singer. Who wants to hear her sing?
And that’s what you call being put on the spot. I made my way up to the stage and asked her what on earth she wanted me to sing. She just grinned ‘the usual’…and with that Amras pipes up from behind me
We got no guitar, you’re gonna have to wing it
I’ll need a cue
You got it
And they kick off the intro to Mamma Mia. It wasn’t a big crowd by any means, so it was much more about me having a blast with the band than it was about impressing anyone. I am the first to admit that I do not have the makings of a party band singer. My voice has too much virbrato and is too much of a broadway belt , I’m a production cast girl if anything – but there is nothing like the jolt you get from singing in front of a live band. Especially when that band is made up of your friends, and they want you up there because they know you can handle it, not just because they want to do you a favour on live karaoke night. And they have enough respect for your abilities that they treat you just like any other singer.
When we came around to the chorus and I hear Amras come in next to me with the harmony I turned and flashed him a grin that actually got applause from an otherwise unresponsive crowd. I’m comfortable enough with these guys that I can play off them, and that may have been one of the few genuine smiles I’d had that day (it was a bit crazed).
The vocalist gave me a big hug and a thank you when we finished, but in reality it’s not me doing her a favour when something like this happens – it’s vice versa. I may complain about being put on the spot, but I remain a performer at heart, and sometimes I wonder if anyone really understands how much it means that some people still respect that.
Bright blessings,
Shaughnessy