Open Mic in the Sky Lounge

Thursday 16th October 2008

5:12 p.m. The last couple of evenings were very busy. Tuesday night was probably my best at sea so far this year, one of the rare occasions where I seemed to become the main source of entertainment, as most of the socialising passengers appeared to gravitate towards the top deck rather than the show-lounge. The effect of this was an exceptionally vibrant atmosphere, and at first I had to turn up the volume and partially open the lid of the piano just to be heard, but having done so, I soon won over the audience and had an excellent response throughout the whole evening. A large group of Dutch students were scattered around the room, who were requesting a lot of songs, most of which were quite up-beat numbers, e.g. Clocks, This Love, plus High and Dry (which I played later on), none of which I perform very often. Also, a couple who had been in the night before requested Against All Odds the night before, so I played for them during the last set (having brushed up on it earlier in the day) and it was well appreciated.

Last night was also busy but didn’t quite have the same atmosphere, a lot of the same Dutch youths were in but they were making quite a lot of noise as the evening drew on. Nevertheless it was still a good night, there were several couples and groups who stayed until the end. I played Tiny Dancer and Yellow for the first time in quite a while as well. I had loads of requests again, including some rather obscure ones; a song by Limp Bizkit for example, from some of the younger members of the audience, but I don’t think they were being entirely serious… and also several for ‘My Heart Will Go On’ to the point where it was becoming irritating.

I think a piano bar is an alien concept to some people who venture into the Sky Lounge, the other day, one man thought that he had to pay me to make a request, and didn’t seem to understand when I tried to explain to him that I hadn’t yet learned the song that he asked for. I think he thought I was a walking juke-box, considering the range of requests I had just last night, that is an objective that I can only aspire to at the moment, and in the mean time, I’ll just do my best to learn as many of the most-requested songs as possible… and discard the most obscure ones!

Friday 17th October 2008

6:10 p.m. Last night was a welcome departure from the norm, in that half-way through the evening a four-piece folk band came and played a set (it hadn’t been pre-arranged, they were just en route from Holland to a music festival that is being held in Bridlington this weekend). Also afterwards a German girl came and played a couple of numbers. Both went very well. As a result I only ended up doing one and a half vocal sets, but it was nice to have a break and something different. There was a man there taking photos, I asked him if he would be putting any of them on-line and he said he would next week, and he gave me his web-address, so if he does indeed upload any from last night I will post the link on here. I took some bits of video on my phone as well, but the quality wasn’t great. Ask me if you want to see them.

Last night as we were leaving Europort a large thunderstorm rolled overhead, and after we had left the harbour I was on deck and although the sky above was clear and the moon was visible, I saw some spectacular lightning over the port only a few miles behind us.

Earlier this afternoon Chip (the resident DJ) treated Owen (the relief Ent’s manager), Jack (the children’s host) and myself to a Chinese buffet at a local restaurant, which made a nice change from eating in the crew mess…

Saturday 18th October 2008

4:58 p.m. Last night the ship was very busy, being an outward Friday night sailing from Hull (the first of two of my current contract), the Sky Lounge included. Again there was a large group of Dutch kids scattered throughout the bar, but also a good mix of older people, including a couple of groups who were sat nearby throughout the night who were listening and making several requests. Among the requests I played were Bright Eyes, Rocket Man and American Pie. The evening was flowing very well so I decided to carry on playing rather than taking a break at 10 o’clock, and I ended up playing right through until five to eleven, before returning at 11:15 for my last set.

Since going to the Chinese yesterday I have only eaten a piece of cake, two currant buns and a sandwich! But I will be going for dinner shortly though. As some readers of my blog will no doubt be aware, it is very rare that I will skip meals.

Sunday 19th October 2008

12:29 p.m. Last night was steady, still quite busy but the atmosphere was calmer. My last set was the best as there were a few groups sat behind me who were singing along to the songs and making requests. I had to decline an encore though, as I was having some problems with my voice.