Manage Handwrytten Notes

It was a bit of an awkward layout. The event was spread across multiple rooms, with a casino set up on a balcony overlooking the main lobby just outside of the room we were set up in, and the buffet in another room at the opposite side of the balcony. There was no PA system in the other spaces to make an announcement to let guests know where the piano show was or when it was starting, so when 6:00 arrived we had exactly zero guests in our space. We started anyhow a few minutes after 6 and a small amount of people found their way over. The buffet opened at 7, so we took a break at that point and invited people to come back for another set after. We began that set with 8 or 9 people in the room. Luckily more showed up over time and we were able to get a rhythm going, but between the casino games and the golf simulator, we were competing to get the guests’ attention. I will also note that I saw no signage of any kind indicating that there was a show happening in our room. I believe the client hoped the sound would “spill out” into the other spaces, but we were no match for the crowd noise of the people in the casino area.

Honestly the deck was stacked against everyone with the layout, but perhaps finding a way to communicate to clients that if they are hosting a multi room event, they should give some thought as to how to advertise/communicate the location and start time of the live music show. But that said, the people that did attend seemed to have a great time. Both guests and event organizers were very complimentary after the show. It just could have been so much *better* if we had a crowd to build energy with

One gentleman had a very enthusiastic (and very colorful) alternative to the “bah bah bah” audience participation moment in Sweet Caroline. Turns out he lives in West Virginia, and they substitute something else there at Mountaineers football games.

We ended the show with “Piano Man,” and managed to get nearly the entire room in one long line with arms on each other’s shoulders, swaying back and forth.

An attendee from New Orleans, who has frequented Pat O’Briens (widely accepted as the birthplace of Dueling Pianos) was the first to get people out of their seats to start dancing