Greatest Fans

My band was going through a lean period. We were all slowly drifting apart, the music was not really getting created, and well there were no shows lined up really.
Finally, one day I got a phone call which gave us the breakthrough. One big venue, which had just decided to start hosting live music, and we were to be the first band to play there!

This news got us awake and ready to go. The band was back on our feet again. We looked forward to and prepared for this show like never before!

D-day came, but the sound guy didn't. The idiot showed up 2 hours late, so we had to just make do without a full blown sound check, because the crowd was already swelling. Anyway, the sound guy never really figured out his game, and we were sounding *absolutely* lousy. We would've stopped playing, except that the owner of the club kept insisting that we go on playing (he didn't seem to know much about music anyway).

The crowd were supportive for a while, actually for longer than we hoped for. That too, fell flat, and finally I shook my head at the owner and told him that we're done.

When we finished packing up and were all getting a drink around the band table, two diminutive guys walked up to our table and beckoned to me. After I went close to them, I realized that they couldn't talk, because they were trying to say something in sign language. It looked like appreciation for our performance!

One of the guys took out a piece of paper and pen and wrote this down. I was not wrong. He also wrote that they were 'deaf'.

Now this was confusing. I asked them, in whatever signs I could make, how can they be appreciative of our music if they couldn't hear a thing?

The two boys exchanged looks. Then one of them grabbed my hand, placed it on his chest and smiled and nodded. I knew what that meant. They meant that they could feel the music, much beyond what we, the audience or even that fool sound guy could feel.

Today, I have parted ways with that band (I wish them all the best), but will never forget those two pairs of shining eyes that stood out in the crowd.