Christmas Gig Stories

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This topic has 15 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 7 months ago by adam-b-harris.

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December 21, 2011 at 1:02 am #104662

David Ice
Member

I always seem to get the oddball gigs (like playing in the chesse section at Safeway) but this season really seems to take the cake.

December 21, 2011 at 11:28 am #104663

Cheryl Z.
Participant

The titles are “I Am Going To Stay Home And Enjoy Christmas, Just Because It’s Christmas”

December 21, 2011 at 1:23 pm #104664

David Ice
Member

Hi Cheryl,

The Bengal Tiger was a pretty well behaved kitty.

December 21, 2011 at 2:41 pm #104665

jennifer-buehler
Member

I do a volunteer gig at a friend’s church for the pre-Midnight mass concert.

December 21, 2011 at 3:16 pm #104666

Cheryl Z.
Participant

Hi David,

Question – Did that high of humidity effect the harp at all?

December 21, 2011 at 6:22 pm #104667

David Ice
Member

Hi Cheryl,

Believe it or not, the high humidity didn’t seem to affect my harp at all.

December 21, 2011 at 6:39 pm #104668

erin-wood
Participant

I recently played a Christmas concert and a friend posted a video of me playing Susann McDonald’s arrangement of Greensleeves. It was exactly 2 minutes long, but I am sure on a different night it might be more or less. You can’t play the exact same tempo every time.

I also had terrible weather once for a midnight mass gig. I will never to a winter job for that church again because they were the ONLY church in town that did not cancel their service. It is just not worth the risk. I don’t understand why they still do the service when it is so dangerous for people to come.

But I don’t think anyone can top your Bengal tiger gig!

December 23, 2011 at 10:36 am #104669

David Ice
Member

There are photos of the tiger on my Facebook page!

Update:

December 23, 2011 at 1:54 pm #104670

jennifer-buehler
Member

Ninety seconds!

December 23, 2011 at 3:26 pm #104671

sherry-lenox
Participant

When the Bishop used to come to Confirmation, the choir director was told to stop on THE NOTE that was being played when the bishop’s foot hit the first step of the altar. Any hymn in progress was to stop immediately, mid-syllable if that was in synch with the falling foot.

After some heated discussion, this was amended to STOP – V7-I, because even the bishop, who hated church musicians, came to realize that the gillliotin-like stop was a real mood breaker.

December 23, 2011 at 4:30 pm #104672

David Ice
Member

A triumph of form over substance, eh?

December 23, 2011 at 8:56 pm #104673

Jerusha Amado
Participant

You guys crack me up!

Jer

December 24, 2011 at 11:50 am #104674

rod-anderson
Participant

I have a recording of While Shepherds Watched in which the last verse ends:

“Good-will henceforth from heaven to men
Begin and never”

and the recording stops dead on the unresolved chord.

December 26, 2011 at 8:39 pm #104675

Gretchen Cover
Member

I am an adult amateur harpist – day job, kids etc. got in the way of playing over the years.

January 5, 2012 at 8:31 pm #104676

Sylvia
Participant

Not exactly an exciting story here compared to the previous ones…the only mishap I had this year was that the choir organist switched keys on one of the carols during the mass.
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