Every year in September, the city where I live holds a ribs and craft beer festival on the fairgrounds. This year, the band I play with landed a gig there.
Everything was going well until, partway through a set, I noticed one guy who looked a little out of place at such a venue. He was dressed in a 3 piece suit, brandishing a large briefcase, and walking around purposefully. He looked like a lawyer. And wouldn’t you know it, he’s striding right up towards the stage. Uh-oh…
What happened next stopped the show and left us all with jaws dropped. I’ll leave it at that for now.
I was afraid it was going to be something like that. But the truth was something totally unexpected.
What actually happened…
He asked if he could perform a wedding in front of us?
We said “Uh…sure?”
Then he turns around and whistles. Suddenly, half the people at the event come rushing the stage like some kind of a flash mob with a bride and groom leading the way.
I was just standing there and staring, gobsmacked. Some of the congregation were dressed like furries. The DJs in the booth next to the stage who had been MC’ing for us looked just as surprised but ecstatic. I think they started doing some sort of “Breaking news from your man on the street” bit for their listeners.
I finally snapped out of it and unclipped my mic to hand it down when the groom started saying his vows. The bride was holding a giant helium balloon shaped like a dinosaur, and when it was her turn, she was struggling to hold it and the mic at the same time. So the groom grabbed it and tucked it between his legs so it wouldn’t fly off. So he was essentially riding a T-rex while she was professing her love and commitment to him.
In the end, we played them Galway Girl for their first dance after learning the bride was Irish and they dispersed to have drinks and eat ribs.