Looking back over a long, undistinguished show business “career” I ponder, what makes any particular gig enjoyable?
Scrolling back through my mind, it seems my most memorable shows were ones where we got paid well — but also had an engaged audience. There’s one client who has hired our band annually for something like 13 years, clapped for the songs and fed us a nice BBQ, and paid us well.
A few libraries in the South Bay, where their Friends of the Library groups are more prosperous than the ones around the East Bay have hired us multiple times and cut us a nice, fat (for us) check. And there were a couple of private parties in years past where an extra $100 showed up in the pay envelope as a tip. Very gratifying.
But even without much money, or sometimes any money, there are shows that turn out to be special fun. There was a farmers market in Petaluma a few years ago where there were a bunch of little kids — older than the toddlers we usually play for — who danced, and danced, and danced, until I wondered how they could keep it up.
Just a few weeks ago I joined a pickup band to play some tunes for a children’s preschool carnival in the Mission District of San Francisco. Just getting there was a bit of an adventure. As I left the BART station I realized I hadn’t strolled through the chaos of Mission Street in some years. There was a protest rally for Nicaragua in the plaza at the station, and the streets were crowded with shoppers. Question: how do the Mission Street greengrocers sell very nice tomatoes, three pounds for a dollar? I’m more used to $3 for a pound. I guess I need to stay out of Whole Foods.
The nursery school parents had organized carnival rides (small bicycles harnessed together in a circle, among others) and various games. They gave us tickets to redeem for some succulent chicken tacos. The meat was shredded and braised, and there was both mole and pico de gallo sauces. Probably the best chicken tacos I ever had.
We were blessed with a very good fiddle player and the bouncy bass beat got a bunch of children up and dancing. I can’t say the music was anything special; we had rehearsed a couple of tunes outside but mostly just played standards. But the applause was plentiful and sincere, and when we were done the parents committee thanked us profusely. And as I walked back to the BART station with my wife, I realized I had thoroughly enjoyed the day.
Scored some karma points, too, I think, because we got seats on the crowded BART train for the trip back to the East Bay!
