Life's no good if you can't laugh at yourself. Stop for a moment, close your eyes, shut out all the mundane noise of your everyday life and you'll hear something. That ticking in the background – usually accompanied by the little voice that berates, complains, and protests at every opportunity – that's your life going by. A recent trip to The Roof brought this comparison to the forefront. We went to another Big Band Series event – something we always do, any chance to go to a venue like The Roof is worthwhile in itself especially if we get a chance to dance. The Twilite Nites Dance Orchestra provided the music – I'd forgotten the Nites but when their first tune started out as a swing and ended as a dirge I remembered them and the taste of vinegar filled my mouth. The Nites are (in my appraisal) famous for having difficulty maintaining a friendly relationship with tempo. Like a cheap watch, they tend to wind down quickly – usually within the span of a single song. So, needless to day, it wasn't one of my best nights and privately I was quite vocal about that fact.
Remember that ticking? It doesn't stop or slow down no matter what. You can spend a perfectly good Sunday evening moaning and swearing over the poor quality of the music, you can get angry because a bad band is making hard for you to dance, you can do all those things and the ticking just keeps going – your life's passing by, son. Looking back on the evening the majestic Spanish-themed ballroom still was just as glorious. The thunderstorm lightshow still held the same magic when the rumble died down into a Glen Miller tune. I still got to put my feet on the same boards that dancers have trod since 1927. All the wonderful things were there to be had – if you can get past that tick-tick-tick.
Am I any wiser for the experience? I hope so. Nothing will make the Nites a good band but, then again, does a bad band make a bad evening? Or maybe there's a choice involved? I'm going to believe the latter and I'm making a personal commitment to shut down my private metronome the next time I hit the dance floor. Hey, it's about having fun – isn't it?
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