"So, how was the party?" "What party?" "The one from last night." "Don't you remember?" "No, but I hurt all over for some reason."

Tonight (the 25th...who knows when I’ll find a good internet connection) was a curious night. The band had two sets at 7 and 8, which seemed pointless since most passengers would either be eating or seeing a show, but I’ve come to accept the (lack of) logic to the schedule. Normally this would have been a mellow two hours, mostly standards and maybe a few vocal tunes with a small scattering of passengers to offer scant applause.
That’s exactly how it would have been if the boat hadn’t been rocking. Non stop. Like a see-saw.
I’m not really one for sea-sickness. My first night was a bit rough, but other than that I’ve been fine with it; I think I’ll miss it when my contract ends, honestly. Tonight, however, Poseidon must have been pissed because the waves were relentless from about 5 until even now (midnight). When things first started to kick up I went outside and watched the ship smack into the water, casting out froth and water that looked like massive blue and white flowers. Mesmerizing stuff, really, once you get past the fact that you look like every other tourist, albeit a rather nicely attired tourist (it was formal night, after all).
Around 6:30 I got up to the Crow’s Nest, our designated spot most nights, got a drink and sat with the rest of the band, all of whom were surprised at how bad we were getting it. The place was dead, which is typical for the hour. 7 hit. 7:10. 7:15. Still completely dead, save for us and the bar staff. Sam, our piano player, went up to play solo for the first hour while the rest of us sat and waited for things to kick up enough for a group effort. Cameron left for a few minutes and came back with sheet music and the news that nearly a quarter of the passengers at the big production show left due to illness. Aside from the bad news that cast on the night, it dropped a big shadow over the prom-night gig we had to play at 10:30 that night.
The set at 7 ended with Sam having spent the entire time up there, essentially playing to no one. This was the most dead I’d ever seen the Crow’s Nest, even in the early afternoon when nothing is set to happen for hours. Since it’s pointless to get the entire band up there for an empty room, I split the second set with Sam–he played the first half while I grabbed my classical guitar and played the second half. It was nice getting to pay in semi-public for the first time in a while. At one point I got applause from an older couple sitting in some lounge chairs facing away from the staged–scared the hell out of me, but nice nonetheless. During my last song the couple got up to leave, but the husband stood around and listened to me play to my last note, leaving me with some very nice words afterwards. All in all, I left happy.
10:30 rolled around. Boat was still rocking pretty heavily. Band was on the stage, ready to play. Crow’s Next wasn’t even a third of what the prom-night gig typically gets. Still, maybe it was not really caring as much about the reception, but damn it all if it wasn’t one of the best fucking gigs we’ve played yet (sorry, mom). Everything just sounded so damn good and (shock) it was fun. Never mind how few there were in the crowd, everyone dug it. Honestly, they were just a fraction of what we typically get on this gig, but they were all so loud and danced the entire time. Aside from the fact that my music stand almost went toppling over a few times, this was easily one of the best gig nights I’ve had on the boat so far, looking over the unfortunate circumstances.
Lesson learned: Think things will sucks? Deal with it. You just might have fun.
Lesson for everyone else: If you like the musician/band playing, for the love of everything, please let he/she/them know. It’ll be much appreciated. Seriously.