Sing Us a Song, You're the Piano Man

It's so easy to get in a rut, to think of dates as a time to catch a dinner and movie, but ruts can become quite boring. So, when our friends called to ask if we were interested in doing something different for the night, I hit the computer and started googling fun things we could try. In my search, I ran across a dueling piano bar in Tempe called The Big Bang. I got really excited seeing as it is something I've always wanted to do. But, by the time our friends picked us up, it appeared that another night of dinner and movie was in store.

I tried to suppress my disappointment, grateful that we were at least going to eat at Lucille's and I could munch on some fried okra. Still, when we got in the car, I mentioned the piano bar as a possible future date. Joel and Tish really liked the idea and Matthew said he would try it sometime if everyone else wanted to go.

As we finished dinner, it looked like maybe we wouldn't have time to fit in a movie (babysitter time constraints), so we started discussing our options. Initially we planned to go to a tattoo parlor (?) and watch Joel get a new tattoo. Unfortunately, the decent ones close around 7 on Friday night (I think this little fact just deserves a pause. What happened to the whole idea of people getting drunk and deciding to get a tattoo at midnight?) Anyway, we were in Tempe and decided to try The Big Bang.

First of all, you have to walk downstairs to get in, which is so reminiscent of Cheers that I already felt cool just by entering. It seemed almost empty and I thought maybe we would be disappointed, but then realized that it was only 8:30 and only us "old" people would consider going out before 10. Turns out, being old is a real plus because within an hour, the place was packed with standing room only.

And, we were definitely not disappointed. The piano players were incredible. They played requests that ranged from Journey to Bon Jovi and Cindi Lauper to Lady Gaga. Their playing was accompanied by just about everyone in the room and they actually remarked that the crowd did the best rendition of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" that they had ever heard. It was hilarious and we all were screaming the lyrics to the most ridiculous songs and laughing at the piano players, other people in the audience and one another.

So, as the song goes, "...we [were] all in the mood for a melody and [they] had us feeling all right".