Bernie, I played hundreds of these events and the bottom line is the people in attendance usually consist of political wannabes, lawyers, and building contractors. They could care less about the music, though I always got lots of compliments on how much they enjoyed the music. As the old saying goes, "follow the money." Who in their right mind would pay $1,000 a plate for finger food and to listen to a political wannabe running for office, or reelection?

Just take the money, and hope you get a call for the next job. BTW: My fee for these jobs was $500 and I rarely played more than an hour - they never blinked!

All the best,

Gary