The polite patter of applause.

I am lucky enough to be the resident singer at the five star St David's Hotel and Spa in Cardiff Bay.

The hotel was built by Sir Rocco Forte but is now owned by the Principle Hayley group. The bar and restaurant underwent a huge refurbishment about a year ago, and I was asked to sing during the first two nights of re-opening. I have performed there almost every Friday night since and will do for the foreseeable future. The money isn't fantastic - However - and it's a big 'However' - the spin-off work I get from performing at the hotel is fantastic. Tide's bar is attached to the restaurant and quite a few of the customers visit the hotel for special occasions; anniversary, birthday, engagement even divorce! The important item in the list is 'engagement'. It's amazing the amount of work I get from people who have seen me perform at the hotel whilst they were visiting for their special engagement dinner. So in a sense I can follow the couple from engagement right through to their wedding party - But I draw the line at the wedding night. I can't really imagine being booked to sing Nessun Dorma at the end of a couple's bed during consummation...

I digress.

Being a hotel, there a very few 'locals' who drink in the bar. Over time I have got to know the few regular faces and they have become friends, including the staff (who are ace by the way). The majority of customers are people who are just passing through for a special occasion or a business event. However occasionally the 'celebs' come to town. Over the years I have performed to: Kylie Minogue, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Al Green, Michael McDonald, The Pussycat Dolls, Ant & Dec, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Stereophonics, Rhys Ifans, Cerys Matthews, Karl Jenkins, Amanda Holden, Oasis, Damon Hill (who I ended up playing in a band with), the entire England rugby team after they beat Wales the other week (very boring lot but apparently under orders not to get drunk or misbehave), Josie D'Arby, John C. Reilly (The perfect storm), Zara Phillips, Gabby Logan, JLS, The Hoff... the list goes on. They don't all acknowledge my existence, but some do and when they do, it makes it all worth while. Imagine being told by Sir Anthony Hopkins that I have a beautiful voice, or Al Green telling me that when he walked into the hotel and heard me singing 'Let's stay together' that he thought he was hearing a CD of of himself, or The Hoff commenting that if I had have entered Britain's got talent this year I would have probably won? All these are great up-side's to performing at this kind of gig.

There is however, a down side.

The majority of people who were at St David's hotel last night were not residents. A burst water main had left most of the bars and restaurants in Cardiff bay closed (it's illegal for a food and beverage establishment to open without running water), but St David's has a second separate water feed which meant it could stay open. Subsequently, quite a few of those people who had travelled to the bay last night for a meal ended up at the hotel. The bar and restaurant were packed to the rafters. I'm not being snobbish here (because even I can't afford to stay at the hotel!!!) but the punters were 'different' last night. Some of them looked slightly uncomfortable in the surroundings and I think a lot of them didn't know what to make of my singing performance.

I generally bash out a few swing songs earlier in the evening and ramp things up a bit later to get a bit of a party atmosphere going. People make requests and we generally have a bit of a giggle and I often get a polite patter of applause.

Last night - after every song - nothing.

It was odd, not even the regulars or my friends in the bar clapped and every performer knows that if that happens it's time to panic. 'What am I doing wrong?' I thought to myself. Then just as I was about to give up hope, the bar manager Tim came up to me and said; "Aubrey, you sound fantastic this evening. Your music choices are excellent and the volume level is great - keep it up!"

So I kept it up (Matron!). But still no reaction from the audience. It was only after I finished playing at the end of the night (and you could have heard a knat fart at the end of the last song) that I realised that people were enjoying it, it's just that the majority of them were too embarrassed to show their appreciation because they were out of their comfort zone and I don't think they realised that it was OK to clap at the bloke singing in the corner. My friend Simon who sat at the bar all night told me that he was watching peoples' reactions to my songs and they were obviously enjoying it. This was then confirmed when three people in a row came over to the bar where I was sitting to tell me how much they enjoyed it but even they commented how odd it was that no one was clapping!

Those three people that came and spoke to me put my mind at rest and made the whole evening worthwhile. Sometimes it's really hard to judge your audience - especially if they don't react, but I guess the thing to remember is that sometimes your audience is more scared that you are. People are strange, when your're a stranger...

So the next time you see someone performing, not matter what they are doing; singing, acting, comedy, public speaking, whatever - If they are good, don't be afraid to let them know. Clap! Say 'Well done'! Smile! Acknowledge their existence! Even a polite patter of applause will make that person's day.

However, if they are rubbish - throw monkey pooh.

Until next time...