from one extreme to another

Sunday 27th May 2007

5:57 p.m. CET Last night was definitely the most successful of the week, I had a warm reception throughout the evening, and people singing along to several of the numbers. Mid-way through the evening I asked for requests and about five people came over which was very encouraging. I got chatting to a couple of groups who were sat behind me, and a few more who were drifting in and out throughout the night. It was also the first time since I have been on here that the small circular dance-floor in front of the piano (which only features on the two larger ships) got any proper use. During my second set, a group of Dutch people requested Yellow Submarine, which I (slightly reluctantly) agreed to play, and they responded by instigating some rather erratic dancing. During my last set one couple requested Autumn Leaves, which I played with a sort of gentle Latin feel, and they did a slow dance along to it. I rounded the night off by playing Nightswimming by REM (which had also been requested), followed by Candle In The Wind as an encore. I played thirty songs in total (not counting instrumentals), which is the most I have played in one evening for a few months.

Monday 28th May 2007

12:54 p.m. BST A bit of an odd night last night, to start with some gremlins seemed to have crept into the sound system again so I was without vocals for my 9 o’clock set, but it was just as well, as we had left Europort earlier than usual so it was still light, hence the piano lounge (being the right at the top of the ship, with its panoramic view) became more of an observation deck, and there were lots of people milling in and out. I managed to get things back to relatively normal by my penultimate set, and although I did get a few requests and a few people singing along to some of the numbers, it wasn’t my best night.

Unfortunately the worst was yet to come as the boat was subject to some considerable movement during the night, and I suffered a rather severe bout of sea-sickness. Usually it doesn’t affect me but there was something about the way it was last night which seemed to throw me off balance.