Sorcha wrote:

OK, here's one. I don't think this qualifies as suicide, quite, but it should be in a book somewhere. As most of you know, I regularly play at our local nursing home, and it usually goes over very well.One night, however, Miss Julia, who had Alzheimer's, apparently decided she did not want us in her living room.

....

None of the band missed a beat except the guitar player--takes 2 hands to catch a flying fiddle. I learned that I can catch a flying bow with my right hand while continuing to left hand pizzacato. It was VERY funny, but also so sad. What could have been going on in her memories? Since then, we have always had a Staff person in the room with us, but if you can play Nursing Homes, bars are a cinch!

I can second Sorcha's experience. When the Irish emsemble that I am part of, started playing public, our very first gig was a nursing home that had a high percentage of Alzheimer's patients.

In the middle of our performance, one wheelchair-bound audience member loudly called for staff to take her away, she had had ENOUGH of this noise!

Another roving audience member kept coming up behind several of us, and seemed very interested in the music on the stands, and on the floor beside each of us...She finally managed to steal Lindsay's music when he wasn't looking... This caused him great discomfort, since he could not (or would not) play without it!

Poor Lindsay, that was the last time he played with us...

Since then, any public screw ups have seemed minor!

Rich