Yes, beautifully written (I really enjoy reading intelligently-written and grammatically correct posts - non-first language users excepted). However, it is highly personalized and by no means reflects the attitudes and opinions of all here. It is a position I can respect but for me, the true artist/musician may care to some degree about his/her audience but is mainly concerned with the art, in this case, making music....music that is, first of all, satisfying to his or her self. I believe that if you put the art first, the audience will take care of itself. I think an audience would prefer the best musical offering you can provide as opposed to being pandered to with half-hearted crowd-pleasers. I also think that going in with the notion (as expressed by some) that the audience doesn't care where the music is coming from or how it's produced, is counter-productive to producing a good product. If they act like they don't care, it's probably because you're giving them musical crap. If you think that an Iphone is a suitable backup for a gig, that says a lot about what you think of that gig.

Of course we're quick to throw out that old chesnut, "It's all about the VOCALS!" (the universal excuse for deficient musicianship). Well maybe, but this board or this post isn't about vocals, it's about (electronic) musical instruments and what you can/should do in case of an on-job failure. So although a well-written post on your philosophy of life in the music biz makes for some mighty fine reading, it doesn't quite address the problem of whether an iphone or laptop is a suitable backup. BTW, in your particular case Dave, we know that you could finish the gig with acoustic piano or guitar, but that's not true for most folks here, certainly not for me. But, as Fran states, luckily today's gear is so reliable that it may only happen to you once in a decade, maybe never....but you never know .

chas