First off, I love this story. "It was only a little crooked." That's definitely good for a laugh. Well after the event. At the time, I'm sure it was another matter. But going back to the original post, did the band tell you afterwards that it was a new tune to them or before? If after, then optimally, getting a chance to listen to them play it again and figure out the phrasing could be really good -- for you and the band both. Potentially, you could help them determine what type of dance would go well with it, or help them figure out how to phrase it in a way that would make it easier for the dancers to find the phrases. There are definitely great tunes out there where either the A or B parts (heaven help you if it's both) just don't have the phrasing to be able to do anything that needs to happen NOW (balances & long lines in particular) but that can do quite well with something where the internal timing isn't as important (a series of allemandes, a hey, dsd and swing, etc) but which give you exactly what you need to know where the end of the whole part is. Quite a while ago, I was calling with a band that I knew had a particular set that was really great, but was going to be challenging to match dances to. Overall, the tunes were smooth, but well phrased. Catch was that the middle tune was half time, so the A part of the tune took the time of A1 and A2, and the B part of the tune took B1 and B2, and once you were in one of the parts, figuring out where the end of the 8 or 16 count phrase was was almost impossible. So I ended up looking for smooth dances that only had things that had to happen NOW at the top of the A1 or the top of the B1, and otherwise had internally squishy timing. I could only do that because I had a chance to listen to the music some (ok, actually a lot) ahead of time and find where the dancers would be able to get phrase information and where they wouldn't. So....again, back to the original post: If it's a band you work with frequently, getting the chance to hear them play through sets that are new to them, or which they know are going to be unusual, is almost never a waste of time, is actually something I quite enjoy doing. It also gives you a chance to potentially give them feedback about the set or tune and for you to get an idea of what sort of dance might work well with it. Frequently, with a new tune, the band really hasn't had a chance to figure out what sort of dance is going to work with that new tune. And we'd all rather they not have to figure it out by process of elimination and experimenting on their callers and dancers. (Where the band might be thinking after that dance: "It's a fun tune, but it definitely didn't work with that dance. We'll have to try it with something different next time. I wonder what will actually work....") And now I look back at the original question you asked, which is not quite what I answered.... I think that others have hit most of the high points of the in the moment stuff. Make sure that the next dance is a fun, indestructible dance that will work with any tunes the band could play. And that the next set of tunes is the band's 2nd best set (they're probably saving the best for the last set of the evening....) If the band is able to change tunes, even if they've just changed tunes, I have on a number of occasions *strongly* suggested that they switch now -- either to the third tune, or back to the first tune, just away from this one that isn't working (for whatever reason). That not being possible, and the dance in the process of melting down before your eyes, though, I am a big fan of either a) changing dances to something dead easy, or b) if the sets are already unzipping, turn it into a scatter mixer (or a scatter keeper)....do some things in circles -- stars, swings, hands across and pull the lady under, then promenade around and find a new circle. And then get them into a big circle and do a spiral into the middle and back out and end on a high note. Or just do 4-6 times through this new dance (that you're probably making up as you go) and then promenade up to the front of the hall and clap for the band. If the mixer works, and the energy is way up, take that and run with it. (And do a can't fail dance, with hot tunes next....) The dancers have probably forgotten all about the dance that didn't work, and there's probably no need to remind them about it now. (I would still want to chat with the band after and get to hear that tune again, though!) So....that was more long-winded than originally intended....hope that there are some useful ideas in there. :-) Jack On Tue, May 30, 2017 at 7:48 PM Donna Hunt via Callers < callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: -- Jack Mitchell Durham, NC