I once played a christmas party in a machine shop. It was for the shop's employees and their friends/families. I played fiddle in an Irish music pickup band recruited from a session. We had a piano accordion, two fiddles, guitar, and mandolin, and settled into our chairs ready to play the usual session tunes we'd been playing together. The guests were listening and dancing to rock music out of a boom box. As soon as the boom box was turned off so we could start our first set, the guests let out a loud "Awwwww!" We start into our tunes, and the guests are resigned to talking with each other and waiting for the end of our set. As soon as the set ends, the boom box goes back on, the guests cheer, and go back to dancing. At that point, one of our fiddlers had a good idea, and approached the host, telling him that since many of the guests want to dance to the rock music, what if we go into an adjoining room and play there, so if anyone wants to listen to us, they can join us there. The host readily agrees, and we step into a room full of electric drills, saws, etc. It is cold as ice, and we settled in under an overhead heater and take out our instruments. There are two people in that room, and as soon as they see our instruments, they walk out! So, there we are, freezing cold, playing to nobody. Well, what the heck, we're getting paid so why don't we just play tunes for our own pleasure and not worry about it, we all agree. After awhile a guy walks in, big grin on his face, and listens. He's three sheets to the wind, but he's our fan for the evening. After listening for about a half-hour, he asks us "What is this? Is this a party? Is this your place?" He was a crasher! Either that, or he was too drunk to remember where he was, but he was our biggest fan. Another case of a host wanting to have something "different" for the guests, but not really knowing what was in store.

-chanteyranger