Justin Bieber Played For 50 People And They Had No Idea It Was Him
Last Thursday afternoon, Justin Bieber walked into the Duke of Marlborough Hotel in Russell, New Zealand, with seven people, ordered oysters and ika mata, had a few beers, and then noticed the red baby grand piano in the corner. He sat down, lifted the lid so the diners couldn't see his face, and played modern songs — none of them his own — for approximately 50 people who were mostly eating lunch with no idea who was behind the piano. "He just jumped on and started knocking out a few tunes," the hotel's co-owner Anton Haagh told RNZ. Most people never figured it out. Four or five of them did, almost all on their way to the bathroom, which happened to take them past the piano. "As they walked past, they sort of went, 'Whoa,' turned around and went, 'Whoa.'" Haagh quietly asked each of them to let it be. "You can either spoil the moment and take photos and make a scene," he said, "or why don't you just sit down and relax and enjoy it?"
Before leaving, the group rang the ship's bell that hangs in the restaurant — a house tradition requiring whoever rings it to buy the whole bar a drink — and they did, slipping out before word got around. Haagh said 30 to 40 people turned up afterwards hoping to find Bieber still there. He wasn't. On Sunday, Bieber posted a photo of himself at the piano on Instagram, grey beanie on, smiling slightly, the wooden bar and oblivious diners visible behind him. The Duke of Marlborough Hotel is 180 years old and is thought to be the oldest licensed pub in New Zealand. It now also has the best story.
