I was part of a Christmas band that had six or seven members. The shows were fun to do for one month a year. Like Grab mentioned above, I was also part of a group where the leader would bring in unexpected extras. Again, he wanted the feeling of a house session brought to stage. I told him several times, that once we go onstage, we've changed that vibe. The last time I played in that format I thought it would be the band leader, a fine fiddler, a harper and a bodhran player. When the Suzuki string quartet showed up and enough guest vocalists to fill out the extras for a Ken Russell film, all five minutes before we were due to start performing I thought things were really getting out of hand. I did wind up saying at that point, that I didn't like surprises. Just telling suzuki students to jam along when the spirit moved, did them and us no favors. Also, any harp player showing up that close to starting time, and then announcing that they need to tune, is unprofessional. Come to think of it, that was the last time I played in that format.