Keith in Naples -- Friday, 18Dec2015

I figured it would take me two hours just to get there, on a Friday just before Christmas, driving past South Coast Plaza, but if you're not there really early, there's no place to park. So I left at 3:30 and got there at 5:30. Of course, nobody else was there so I had to stall a while before setting up. Good thing, too, 'cuz the batteries weren't fully charged and I only got to play for two hours -- shut down just as it was getting good. Oh well.

It was pretty slow at first, and without sufficient traffic, it's hard to get anyone to stop. But I did get some families to stop long enough for their kids to shake some tambourine sticks to "Jingle Bells". And a girl came right up and asked if she could get a picture with me, so after that I asked her if she wanted to sing a song, too. Her friend suggested "Silent Night", which I remembered as a Big Hit last year, so I fired it up.

A group of four middle-aged ladies with matching light-up halos on was sitting nearby, listening and singing along. They wanted "Joy to the World" next, but since I don't know it, I admitted that I do know "Oh Holy Night", so I had to do that one. Unfortunately, the bombastic high notes at the end coupled with the increased signal when the harmony box is on proved to be too much for the batteries to cope with, and it started doing that cutting out thing that it does when it's about finished.

And just as I was about to ask if one of the Halo Ladies would step up for the Girl Part of "Baby It's Cold Outside". Drat.

But, even with only two hours, and too early of ones at that, I did really well tips-wise, and had fun. I'll have to go back with fuller batteries next week, if the weather cooperates.