Tony, though I hate to disagree, I will on this one. Most of the full time entertainers I've come across over the years only used their laptops and pads for references, and in my case, lyrics. For some strange reason, I was unable to remember all the words to more than 3000 songs I have been performing over the years - but for the most part, about 600 to 800 seem to stay in the cobwebs of my aging brain. As for the chords, they are there as well, and yes, I occasionally get one or two wrong, but that's pretty rare as well.

I primarily use onboard or USB loaded third-party style files, and maybe onece a night, use a midi file during a 4-hour job. All the other performers I know personally do the same. And, if I use that single midi file, I usually play over it using my right hand instruments.

The people that gave me the idea of using a laptop were UD and DNJ, whom I drove to watch in action on several occasions. They are both Pro entertainers in every aspect, and because they performed nearly every day of the week, they rarely even glanced at the laptop to do most of their songs. I guess when you perform a song regularly, some of that information is retained in the gray matter and can be instantly recalled.

One of the greatest features I discovered over the years with my arranger keyboards was the ability to recall the song settings using either registrations or my music finder director (MFD). Though it made it so I didn't have to think about what style to select, it made the transition between songs go from about 30 seconds to a minute, down to under a second, if I wanted to go that fast. In doing so, especially using the MFD, I really didn't have time to go into the laptop and look for the lyrics, though I could have in a few more seconds. I just wanted to keep the crowd on the dance floor and in that vein, I was very successful - just like DNJ and UD. I guess I stole a page out of their playbook, and was damned glad I did. Thanks guys for all the help you provided me over these many years.

All the best,

Gary