![\"10387179-pop-female-singer-with-the-retro-microphone\"](\"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/10387179-pop-female-singer-with-the-retro-microphone.jpg\")
There are times when running the \u201cSing with the Band\u201d night is an exceptionally smooth ride; after all Amras and I have this event down to a routine, we know how to run it and we know \u2013 usually \u2013 how to sell it. We have, on more than one occasion, kept the party going for a full hour and a half. On this same ship last season we had to turn people away.<\/p>\n
Not so this time.<\/p>\n
First, we had been under the impression that the event was going to be phased out; so we didn\u2019t pack the supplies we normally do. Y\u2019see, last Christmas I actually put together new lyric books and selection lists as part of Amras\u2019 Christmas present. We\u2019ve packed them with us ever since. Except this time, because we thought we wouldn\u2019t need them and they\u2019re a lot of extra weight in the suitcase. The problem is that without<\/em> those books \u2013 particularly the master lyric book \u2013 the event has to be run via the iPads that hold the Band\u2019s actual charts, which means the guests have to be able to read music, on a screen that\u2019s barely bigger than a postage stamp. Needless to say it never goes too well. Thankfully I hadn\u2019t archived my master files, so I was able to pull them off my laptop and have Amras send them down to the printer via the Event Manager (there\u2019s a long convoluted story as to why I couldn\u2019t do it myself), then we had to scramble to find a binder that would hold the whole thing and by the time we got it all put together I don\u2019t\u2019 really want to think of how much time we had put into the whole endeavor.<\/p>\n And then\u2026<\/p>\n This was one of those times where trying to get people onto the stage is like pulling teeth out of a ravenous alligator.<\/p>\n Four singers, that\u2019s it, four, not including me. For an hour. Lots of people sitting and watching, which is all well and good, but only four singers.<\/p>\n You need filler?<\/em><\/p>\n Sure, but I don\u2019t have a mic luv..<\/em><\/p>\n Oh\u2026dear\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Mamma Mia runs fine without Amras\u2019 backup vocals, but I\u2019ll admit it feels strange, I\u2019m used to hearing him behind me after all.<\/p>\n In the end, the boys were playing to a nearly empty room, and I was sitting with the sign-up sheets next to me, sipping a glass of pineapple juice, waiting for the evening to be over.<\/p>\n Some nights, no matter how hard you try, you just can\u2019t get an event off the ground\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are times when running the \u201cSing with the Band\u201d night is an exceptionally smooth ride; after all Amras and I have this event down to a routine, we know how to run it and we know \u2013 usually \u2013 … Continue reading