With quiet urgency, the hotel door opens. Josh asks me if I am presentable. What does that mean, I wonder. Presentable, as in there are guests at the door wanting to come in and chat, or presentable, as in I'm not naked in front of the door and it's ok to come in?
His face was lit up with excitement. "Downstairs, Rach. Go downstairs! I've saved you a seat on the front row!"
I guess I better back up a bit. A few weeks before we went to Thailand, our friend told us she had heard a rumor. Rumor was, that while we were in Thailand, Shane & Shane were going to be there, too! [Note: Shane & Shane is two guys, both named Shane :), who are Christian recording artists.] I wanted to believe it, in my heart of hearts, but couldn't bring myself to belive in case it wasn't true. The disappointment would have been too much to bear! But shortly after we arrived, we discovered...it's true! They willingly came to be a part of our time in Thailand, occasionally doing worship for the large group, and having a free concert one night too!
So, back to the story. This particular night, when josh and kevin were walking through the hotel, they saw two guys fiddling around on guitars in the atrium. They both thought, hmmm, these guys are pretty good, let's go listen. The closer they got, they realized who it was. They were one of the first people to notice them and pull up chairs, hence the front row seat. That turned into an impromptu concert - nothing fancy, a little makeshift stage and a 20-story tall atruim with which to fill their sounds.
Josh sat for a while and then had the thoughtfulness to run up to the room and switch places with his wife, who was living blindly in ignorance with her Newsweek. After hearing his great news, I threw on some sweats and flipflops and ran down to the elevators, where I could hear the melody of one of my favorite songs echoing off the walls. I got down in time to hear a bunch of my favorite songs and several new ones too!
One truly funny moment during that little gathering happened right in the middle of a more somber, reflective-type song. It was almost like there was a little bit of reverence in the air, not exactly reverence for them, but it felt like no one really wanted to move, or say anything, or do anything that might throw things off and make them quit playing. Except for...the little thai waitress that worked in that part of the lounge. The entire staff had been busily at work, oblivous to the unknown american playing the guitar. But then, out of nowhere, this one waitress bowed her head low like the thais always do, crossed in front of the stage and gave Shane E. a little peice of paper. She gave her little thai "wai" (see bangkok pics post for more info) and then scurried off. Shane E. looked at the paper, with sort of a puzzled look on his face, then as realization came, you could see it all over his face. He looked over at the desk where the waitstaff had gone back about their business, and gave them a big thumbs up.
When the song was over, Shane B. asked Shane E. what that was all about. They had some "dialogue", you know the kind where the move the microphone so that know one else can hear exactly what they are saying? And then, Shane B. said, " If I knew 'Hotel California', I would SO play it right now!"
Sorry to say, they didn't know hotel california. :)
I felt particularly thankful that the guys decided to come out and share their music with us. From my understanding, it was totally their initiave and their idea. Of course, I wish they would have done the worship every day (though I felt so blessed by those who came to serve in that part), but we really enjoyed the concert they gave. It felt a little awkward trying to get a picture of them; you know, they were here to serve, they were leading us in worship...it just felt a little strange pushing my way up to the front and then blinding them with my flash just so I could get a good picture as proof that I saw them. So, I just took one quick picture from my seat (which, at the official concert was kind of far away) and called that that.
I was just glad that this time, the rumors were true!
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