btweengigs ... I've (and I would think many others) have had very similar experiences ...

One place I worked at often used the 'piano lounge' as a room for private parties, MUSIC INCLUDED ... Actually, that was one of their selling points ..... And if a private party was in there, I often could't have my own guests, at least until after dinner was served....
Now, I was making $150 a night, Fri and Sat, which for a steady gig wasn't bad, but a lot of these private parties felt they had hired the music as well, and would have all the 'special requests' etc. ...

For one in particular, the owner of the restaurant/lounge calls me on Wed and asks me to contact the person who was having a 50th birthday party for her hubby on Fri, and had a special request .... Well, I make the call, and the 'special request' is about 15 tunes that they want played for a "This is Your Life" routine they were going to do....
What to do ?!?!? .... I could have easily said I wasn't hired by them, and couldn't comply with their wishes, but I was sure the owner had said I could ... So, where does that leave me??? If I don't do it, it only reflects on me, as no one is going to know anything other than "the kb player wouldnt/couldn't play anything we wanted" ... Of course I explained to the woman what my price for a private party would be, but that was to no avail... "I was told the music was INCLUDED" ..
So I did the gig to the best of my ability, downloading tunes from the net as much as I could, .... The crowd had a GREAT time and I got all kinds of compliments from the woman who ran the party, the guests, even the r/l owner ... AND NOT ONE CENT IN TIPS!!! ...
This practice was one of the reasons I wanted out of there.....
t.