Normandy Beach Gig Reviewed

I returned to Normandy Beach for a repeat performance at an annual family get-together.

I left at 11 AM, for a 12:30 expected arrival, and anticipated 1:30 PM start-time. It was smooth sailing from Lawrenceville to the Route 34 south exit, but that's where the trouble began. Traffic was backed up a long ways. I thought that it was just beach traffic volume, but apparently there was an accident on the Pt. Pleasant bridge (thus, the two ambulances). I didn't arrive at the party until 1 PM, meaning a one hour snail's crawl in the final stretch. Still, the music started promptly at 1:30 PM.

Dennis, the family patriarch, was in good spirits and I dropped lots of oldies in the first hour for the older crowd - Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, Louis Armstrong and so on. The inquisitive kids were back! They were back with tons of questions and carefully studied my CDs. Yet they didn't tire of hanging out with the DJ, so we were together all afternoon. As the afternoon progressed, I put in lots of the younger people's requests, but still tried to keep things on a common ground. A 25th wedding anniversary dedication with Chicago's Color My World was played. They had me stay on for an extra half hour and threw in an extra $50.... very nice.

I didn't have any shade and it was mostly sunny, making it difficult working conditions. I drank about 5 bottles of water to stay hydrated and lubed up with sunblock. The girls requested the Ketchup Song, a rare request that I was happy to satisfy.