mm ... you are right on about the volume, especially in the earlier part of the night ... if the venue is such that the 'dining crowd' turns into more of 'drinks/talk/dance' crowd - such as where I worked last night - you can usually turn the volume up a little bit ...
I will ALWAYS ask a staff member in the room to check my volume early on ...
In last night's venue, I know to not point the speakers toward the bar, and I ask the bartender about the volume ... invariably he will say "just a little lower" at the start of the night ... I turned it down so little I doubt he could have heard a difference, but he gave me the 'thumbs up' anyway ...
However, in the main dining room of this place, they use a guitarist who does vocals ... very tasteful ... his volume is VERY low, and remains so all night ... I'm not even sure he can be heard in the back of the room ...

BTW, yes, the owner - who owns 3 other successful restaurants - pays 2 musicians both Friday and Saturday nights, and pays better than the going rate in most places ...

t.
PS ... Usually in the early hours I use minimal accompaniment on the arranger ... many times just bass and guitar along with the piano - or sometimes accordion - voice ...
t.

[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 10-10-2010).]