I know a lot of guys who do this daily, Tony. One, in particular, Jerry Burns, performed five days a week, every week, since he was 18 years old, played piano and arranger keyboard for some of the greats, and never, to my knowledge, had a single sheet with him on the job, and did not use a laptop or notebook PC - the songs and chords, some very complex arrangements, were all in his head. Same goes for Helmut Licht, whom I posted a short video of his big band here. I rarely saw UD look at his laptop during the hours I saw him perform, and when I saw Don Mason perform, he rarely looked at his as well. With some entertainers, especially those that are constantly on stage and performing on almost a daily basis, the need to glance at the chords is often secondary - and the same goes with the lyrics. There are some songs that I performed so often that it would be difficult to forget the words, but then, there are times, when you fire up the keyboard, play the intro, and forget the first line of a song you have performed thousands of times - and at that point, that damned netbook PC sure comes in handy. I know it has covered my ass on several occasions, and the audiences were none the wiser.

Tony, my disagreement is that UD, DNJ, DonM and many, many others do NOT need the charts and often the lyrics in front of them in order to perform for hours on end. Joe Ayala was another great example of this. You saw Joe at my home perform many, many songs, he never looked at anything - it all spontaneously came out of his head and he never missed a beat, chord or word the entire day - and that was after a lotta Kickapoo Joy Juice!

Sure miss Joe. He was a dear friend.

Gary

Tony, though I hate to disagree, I will on this one. Most of the full time entertainers I've come across over the years only used their laptops and pads for references, and in my case, lyrics. For some strange reason, I was unable to remember all the words to more than 3000 songs I have been performing over the years - but for the most part, about 600 to 800 seem to stay in the cobwebs of my aging brain. As for the chords, they are there as well, and yes, I occasionally get one or two wrong, but that's pretty rare as well.

I primarily use onboard or USB loaded third-party style files, and maybe onece a night, use a midi file during a 4-hour job. All the other performers I know personally do the same. And, if I use that single midi file, I usually play over it using my right hand instruments.

The people that gave me the idea of using a laptop were UD and DNJ, whom I drove to watch in action on several occasions. They are both Pro entertainers in every aspect, and because they performed nearly every day of the week, they rarely even glanced at the laptop to do most of their songs. I guess when you perform a song regularly, some of that information is retained in the gray matter and can be instantly recalled.

One of the greatest features I discovered over the years with my arranger keyboards was the ability to recall the song settings using either registrations or my music finder director (MFD). Though it made it so I didn't have to think about what style to select, it made the transition between songs go from about 30 seconds to a minute, down to under a second, if I wanted to go that fast. In doing so, especially using the MFD, I really didn't have time to go into the laptop and look for the lyrics, though I could have in a few more seconds. I just wanted to keep the crowd on the dance floor and in that vein, I was very successful - just like DNJ and UD. I guess I stole a page out of their playbook, and was damned glad I did. Thanks guys for all the help you provided me over these many years.

All the best,

Gary

In high pressure situations, like TV, a distraction could be costly to a performance. I play small time rooms to home town crowds, and if I miss a lyric, or play the wrong chord, nobody dies. In the big time - sponsors get unraveled if a performer flubs up. There's no shame in having a "safety net" on stage. The trick is to use it like your rear view mirror - just quick glances to stay on track. The focus should ALWAYS be on the audience. If you and the crowd are not connected ... again, you better start playing jazz. (I'm not dissing the genre, but it's a different mindset) I can easily do most jobs with no ipad, no sequences, and no safety net, but I can offer more to my clients when I have those tools at my disposal. I've already started a sequenced song, had an electronics meltdown, and had to quickly shift gears and start a drum pattern to continue with manual bass and chords. No one was the wiser, but me. Being "in the moment" can be a lifesaver when you're on stage. If your face is buried in a book, or tablet, it's hard to stay connected. It's like Public Speaking 101 - glance at your notes, but always look AT your audience. It makes a huge difference.