the rough and the smooth

Wednesday 21st March 2007

12:05 p.m. CET On Sunday night I decided to do something original and play all of my instrumental pieces during my first set in the key of C. Nobody seemed to notice! Later on there were two couples in who were very attentive, and were making plenty of requests. One of the couples were mostly asking for Billy Joel numbers, some of which I knew and played. Both couples returned on Monday night, which was busier and as such there was more of an atmosphere in the bar. Not the most attentive audience, but New York State Of Mind was particularly well received.

Like many mid-week evenings, last night started off being quite busy but the number of people in the bar declined throughout the evening, and by the end there were only a few people left, including one chap I got chatting to who had been sat nearby for most of the evening and was very supportive.

The current spell of bad weather has produced rough seas and freezing temperatures over the last few nights. Early on Tuesday morning I got woken up by one of the drawers in my cabin flying open, and various other items falling over or rolling about. Yesterday while we were docked in Hull we had hail, sleet and snow showers, at times quite heavy, unfortunately I got caught in one of them and got drenched. Last night when we had left the Humber the ship was rocking wildly, which made walking in a straight line very difficult. However by the time I went to bed it had improved slightly.

Jo, who was working as the children’s entertainer on the York last year, is in Hull for a few days, I got to see her for a few hours yesterday afternoon and catch up which was good as I hadn’t seen her since the beginning of November.

Friday 23rd March 2006

3:16 p.m. CET Wednesday night was fairly steady and a few people were in who had been in the previous night, including the same fellow who I mentioned before. There were several school groups on-board again, including one consisting of German students, for whom I did a dedication half-way through the evening. There was also a older couple in who kept buying me (soft) drinks throughout the evening, which I thought was a nice gesture.

Last night was relatively busy with a mixture of people coming and going throughout the evening and only a few groups staying throughout. Had quite a few requests too, and once again Billy Joel seemed to be a recurring choice. I took the opportunity to air some numbers that I hadn’t played for a while, including At My Most Beautiful by REM which went down well.

Early indications are that I may be spending a portion of the summer working on the Pride of Rotterdam, the sister ship of the Pride of Hull, where I was working for a couple of weeks back at the end of January.

11:18 p.m. GMT It’s been a while since I did an entry during the evening while at sea, so I thought I’d take the opportunity. Had a good night tonight, the best of the week so far in fact, it was busy for most of the evening, with most tables occupied until my last set. Had several requests, and a receptive audience throughout which was the first for a while. There were several Germans in the bar, including a group of young ladies who sat nearby for most of the evening singing along to most of the songs which helped to keep things lively! Also there was a couple sat by the piano until quite late, who were listening intently.

I managed to get hold of a photo of the helicopter that came to airlift someone to hospital last Saturday morning, from the communal computer in the crew mess.



Saturday 24th March 2007

12:44 a.m. GMT Was out on deck just now, and saw the orange crescent moon hanging low in the sky, reflecting on the sea. Quite a sight, especially as I hadn’t seen the moon at night for a few weeks.

11:44 a.m. GMT The sea has been a bit calmer the last couple of nights. Still a bit rocky, but nowhere near the level of Monday night.

party time

Sunday 18th March 2007

10:25 a.m. GMT I awoke an hour ago to find that we were still sailing, but when I looked outside I saw that we were already on the Humber and nearing the lock and the harbour. It reminded me of when we were stuck on the river on the York last November, which coincidentally was also the time when the couple were on who I mentioned a few days ago.

Another outward sailing from Hull on Friday night and as such was expectedly busy, and mid-way through the evening became rather rowdy so I decided to lift the lid of the piano, and play several more upbeat numbers, including Great Balls of Fire which I rarely do but it went down a storm and I even had cheers afterwards! I also played River Of Dreams which was well received.

Last night was still fairly busy but generally a quieter night and so more laid back. Had an appreciative audience throughout, and some requests. Played Video Killed The Radio Star for the first time in a while, which seemed to be a popular choice. Not the most eventful night I have had recently, but a good one none the less.

I was woken up early yesterday morning by a helicopter which I later learned had come to rescue another unwell passenger. Doesn’t happen very often so to get two in the space of a month is quite unusual!

Only four more round-trips to go now. This contract has been going fairly quickly, and has been a lot less arduous than my last contract on the York last year. Also I think it was helped by having a night off a week after I came on-board, and several quiet nights throughout.

familiar faces

Thursday 15th March 2007

1:49 p.m. CET There weren’t many people in the bar last night but those that were there seemed rather enthusiastic, in fact I had already had three requests before I sat down to play! Started off by playing mostly pop but as the evening progressed I found myself mostly playing jazz. Mid-way through the evening a couple came in who I recognised; they were on the York for a round trip at the beginning of November last year. As before I played You’re A Lady for them, and they were very appreciative. Played a few instrumentals later on in the evening as well, including Ballade Pour Adelaine, and Streets of London.

Friday 16th March 2007

11:27 a.m. GMT Last night was possibly the best I have had since I joined the Bruges a month ago. There was a good atmosphere in the bar the whole evening, it wasn’t too busy or too quiet, I had several requests throughout the evening (again I had some even before I had started playing!) and most of the people there were attentive. The proceedings flowed nicely and people were singing along to some of the songs which is always a plus. Played a couple of numbers that I don’t tend to do regularly, namely Man On The Moon, and Bright Eyes, which both seemed popular with the audience. Rounded off by playing Summertime (which was also a request from the same group who were in the night before), then I did Bridge Over Troubled Water and Yesterday as encores, which also went well. Was the first time this week that I did a full last set. Even after I had played my very last song people were still asking for more.

Last night’s success was very timely, after what had been a bit of a mixed week. It’s always nice to know when people have appreciated what I do, it makes it all seem more worthwhile.

And on that note, apparently the General Manager gave Kieran some good feedback about me earlier in the week, saying that he thought I was doing a good job, and that he had noticed that there were often several people in the piano bar after eleven o’clock; that must be a fairly new thing.

There was a spectacular sunset in Zeebrugge last night (even more so than Sunday’s), I took some photos of it which came out quite well, but don’t quite do it justice, as it looked more breath-taking to the naked eye. Here is one of them.

red sky at night...

Wednesday 14th March 2007

10:18 a.m. GMT Monday night was fairly uneventful, except for later on when a lively group of Liverpudlians came into the bar and were requesting several numbers. Also there was a group of Germans sat nearby who stayed for most of the evening, and were making requests too.

Last night was slightly busier and the audience was more receptive. I played The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack for the first time which went well, although I think it was lost on a few people.

Mathias, who was the resident pianist on the Pride of Rotterdam for most of the second half of last year, has been on-board for the last couple of nights, to see his girlfriend who also works on this ship. Was good to see him and catch up, since I hadn’t seen him since my last contract on the York last November.

Last night when I was out on deck I noticed that the sea was almost completely calm, I have only seen it like that once before.

Apparently Peter from Live Business might be making a journey on this ship at some point early next week, which will be handy as it will give me a chance to talk with him about what work they want to offer me once this contract is over.

11:02 a.m. There was an amazing sunset on Monday night, and I took a few photos. I had forgotten to turn the flash off for one of them and I got this rather apocalyptic looking shot as a result. (More on my web-space).

Sun-day

Monday 12th March 2007

11:42 a.m. GMT Saturday night was a bit of a struggle as the audience was fairly unresponsive, although there did seem to be a few people listening, and it was a welcome novelty to have Ida there. I didn’t have many requests, but one German bloke did approach me mid-way through the evening and asked if I could play ‘Tie A Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree’, which needless to say I had to decline.

The weather in Belgium yesterday was heavenly, warm with a cool breeze and no cloud at all, so we decided to go down to Blankenberge for a while. Being a Sunday and sunny the beach was quite busy, and I think it was the first time that I had eaten an ice cream at this time of the year.

Was stood on deck last night before we left, and witnessed a rather dramatic sunset. Being a weekend we left slightly earlier than usual, and as such it was even lighter when we left than the other day.

Last night was a much better night with a lot more responsive audience, played several requests (including Speed of Sound by Coldplay amongst others) and as usual there were some couples and groups that stayed in the bar until the end of the evening.

more mild than wild

Friday 9th March 2007

1:02 p.m. CET Wednesday night and last night took on a rather similar format, they started off well but the number of people in the bar gradually declined throughout the evening and by the end there were only a few couples and groups left. Wednesday night I rounded off by playing just instrumentals, but last night I managed to get a bit more audience participation, and I played a string of requests including the jazz standard Autumn Leaves, and a rather flamboyant rendition of the main theme from Phantom Of The Opera which I sang for the first time, which both went down very well.

Again last night felt more like a weekend, and in fact we had more passengers on last night than are due to be on tonight, which is unusual as Thursday is often one of the quietest nights of the week. Having said that, a good proportion of the passengers yesterday were school groups.

When we were leaving the harbour in Zeebrugge on Wednesday evening I noticed that it was still a bit light. Also when I have been on deck the last couple of times on our outward crossings, I noticed that we seemed to be a lot closer to the shore than I can remember seeing before, both on this ship and the York; so much so that it was possible to make out each of the roads from the street-lights.

Yesterday afternoon the weather was quite good so I took a walk down the side of the river, and ended up walking as far as The Deep (which I would guess is about a mile away) and back. Saw a few interesting features along the way, including a derilict pier a little way down from the ferry port (which houses what looks like a the remains of a warehouse and a disused railway siding), and a couple of wrecks a bit further down at Victoria Dock. I took some pictures which I have uploaded to my web-space as per usual. Here are a couple of them.

Saturday 10th March 2007

2:06 p.m. Last night went well, the bar was busy for most of the evening, and I even had a few people singing along to some of the songs including Moon River and Annie’s Song. Apart from that it was a fairly unremarkable night but nevertheless a good one.

It rained heavily yesterday morning in Zeebrugge but in the afternoon it cleared up so I took a walk down to the beach for an hour. It will still quite blustery though and I watched some people wind-surfing.

The weather is fairly mild and sunny today too, and with less wind, hopefully it will stay that way for the next couple of days as Ida is on-board for a round trip.

midweek-end

Wednesday 7th March 2007

2:25 p.m. CET Had a much better night last night. The bar was busy, the audience were receptive, and the atmosphere was much more reminiscent of a weekend than a midweek evening (particularly a Tuesday which tends to be one of the quietest nights at this time of year). Another outing for Jessie last night (which I felt I played a bit better than on Saturday), plus a rare opportunity to play No Surprises by Radiohead, which was well received despite the majority of the audience being from the older generation. There was a group sat near me making several requests throughout the night, and afterwards one of the chaps gave me a rather generous tip, which was a real blessing. Also while I was packing up another chap approached me and told me that he had “only popped in for five minutes, and ended up staying for three hours”.

what's on my playlist?

On my Napster playlist I currently have:

1. Silence - Delerium
2. Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (Heart of Asia) - Watergate
3. Ordinary World - Aurora
4. Madame Butterfly - Malcolm McLaren
5. Electricity - Elton John
6. Moon Over Bourbon Street - Sting
7. A Spaceman Came Travelling - Chris De Burgh

a night at the museum

Tuesday 6th March 2007

1:16 p.m. Sunday night was fairly quiet and as such my evening took the form of providing background music rather than performing. Still I didn't mind since it gave me the chance to experiment, and play songs less rigidly which was a nice change. Later on in the evening I got chatting to a couple who had been making a few requests, and the guy told me that earlier in-between songs he had started humming 'Life on Mars' by David Bowie to himself, then and I started playing it!

Last night was more busy but again things veered more towards background music. This being the case it gave me an opportunity to try out some new material, including Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm by the Crash Test Dummies, which went quite well, but overall not the best night I've had. Some comic relief was at hand though, as I joined the others in the cinema after the bars had closed to watch Night at the Museum which was very enjoyable, I would highly recommend it.

Malcolm (the relief Ent's manager) went home today, and Kieran is returning to duty as of this evening. He's due to be around for the remainder of my contract. Under three weeks to go now, this contract has been going very quickly.

lunar eclipse

Saturday 3rd March 2007

4:40 p.m. CET Wednesday and Thursday night again were both very quiet, although there were people in both nights who were attentive and made requests. Last night was quite busy being a Friday-night sailing from Hull, and despite one rather rowdy group being in for most of the evening, it went well and there were several couples and groups who stayed until the end, and I had two encores. I also had several requests, including one for Jessie Paints A Picture by Josh Kadison which I didn’t have with me so I am going to play it this evening (and coincidentally I was already in the process of learning). Many of the people who were on last night will be doing the return trip tonight, which is always good as I can be almost guaranteed a receptive audience.

On Thursday I took a walk with Dale, Sapphire and Malcolm (who is covering for Kieran at the moment) to a small harbour down the road, it was nice and sunny although a little cold and very windy. I took some pictures which I have uploaded to my web space; here is one of the best ones.



Fortunately there have been no more recurrences of Tuesday night’s roughness, although I did get woken up early this morning by things falling off the desk due to the ship rocking wildly!

Sunday 4th March 2007

11:40 a.m. GMT Last night went well, with most of the people who had been in the night before materialising at various points. I played Jessie which went down well, and during the last set I did a bit of a 90’s medley, playing tunes by Radiohead, Oasis, and Take That. Did America by Razorlight which went very down well, especially with a group of young people who were sat nearby who I had got chatting to. Had plenty of words of thanks and praise afterwards, was another very enjoyable night.

There was an eclipse of the moon last night (at midnight rather conveniently!) so I stood out on deck after I had finished and observed for a bit. Fortunately the sky was cloudless and I was able to see really clearly. Later on after the eclipse had finished I went out on deck and the moon was shining really brightly, so much so that I could make out a bit of the landscape of the coast on the horizon.