This is a story I bet many of you can relate to. Have you ever had one of those "not-all-that-you-expected," "almost-lame," "less-epic-that-it-should’ve-been" kind of gig? This exact scenario happened to me recently, but the sleepy, less-than-epic night was redeemed by something unexpected at the very end of the show.

On a rainy, winter night in Georgia, I was playing a cover gig with three other musicians. We were playing for three hours at a nearby restaurant that’s often packed with a late dinner crowd (who are often generous with their tips for the band). The thought of a bustling crowd tossing twenties and fifties into the jar is always exciting. Unfortunately, someone had forgotten to bring the container we normally used for tips. That was a little discouraging, but we started playing anyways, hoping to maybe rig something before the second set.

We soon realized, however, that our lack of a tip jar didn’t matter anyway. There was hardly anyone in the...