A couple of years ago, I got a very well-paying Christmas party gig from a prestigious law firm in town, to be held in a local Irish Pub-in-a-Box with horrible acoustics - stone walls, huge glass windows, tin ceiling, tiled floor, etc.

I set up my little Bose system and went to work, keeping the volume low to avoid echo and reverb.

I used my tried-and-true audience grabbing tricks to get their attention but to no avail. I couldn't establish eye contact with anyone; they were just there to nosh and schmooze.

Then they started talking louder as if trying to drown me out.
Well, I finished the first hour and on my break I called a buddy living locally who is a fine piper and asked him if he'd come down and do the second half of the afternoon with me. He asked me "Do you want the small pipes, the border pipes, the uilleann pipes or the big lads?"
"Bring the big lads," I said.

Ten minutes later he was beside me on stage. We started with Scotland The Brave and the Bonnie Lass of Fyvie.
By golly, that got their attention!
We had people coming up and asking him to turn the pipes down.
I explained that hey weren't amplified.
"Can you play them more quietly, then?"

"Sorry. What you hear is the way they sound."
After about 10 more minutes of pipe-tunes, the boss came up and said "You guys are really great, but we'd like to converse. Here's your check for the full amount. You don't have to play anymore. Thanks."

We packed up, went to a non-Pub-in-a-Box down the street and had a couple of celebratory pints.