The French way (Second in a series?)

My favorite work-ridiculous experience happened early on during my first singing engagement at a club in Saint Michel on Paris's Left Bank.
First, one should know that Chamomile is made in an herbal tea and principally used for a good night's sleep and in general, its calming effect. I had already given up caffeinated tea and switched to herbal tea, mostly to avoid staining my teeth.

This night I arrived early and when asked if I'd like a drink, ordered herbal tea. Herbal Teas on hand were Verveine and Chamomile. Since Verveine reminded me of elephant's p_ _ s although I'd never drunk any (don't ask), I ordered Chamomile. It came, I drank, end of story. I thought. Later, as I sang onstage, the sound of my voice got progressively thinner and without presence until I was practically shouting and still hearing nothing. At the end of the set, I stormed offstage to confront Laurent, the sound technician --- this was before I knew of the velvet glove approach. Anyway, I accosted him with my favorite question, "Are you crazy? Then, "What happened to the sound?"
He told the following story which astounded me:
The boss wandered into the club to listen and thought my voice sounded weak. So he said, "What's happening with the newbie? She sounds weak."
"Boss, if you ask me, she's not feeling well tonight," says Laurent.
"And how did you arrive at that conclusion?"
"Yeah, well, I heard her ordering Chamomile tea before the show."
"Mais oui, good thinking, Laurent. In that case, turn the volume down onstage, this way she'll be forced to sing louder. "
Results: the louder I sang, the less sound I heard in my monitor.

I simmered and sputtered but the damage was already done. Finally, it dawned on me to suggest he check the main volume, located in back of the soundboard which sat flush with the wall behind it. He moved the board away from the wall with some difficulty, looked at the main volume indicator and discovered it was turned down to the lowest level possible.

So, someone had sabotaged my show. Since I was the first act and any irregularity would surely be caught out either during or at least after my passage it was obviously a way to show me in a bad light, make that, in a bad voice. As the 'new girl in town' and latest gleam in the boss's eye, I already had enemies at work and soon learned that this sort of petty behavior is not that rare. Now it's laughable but at the time I saw purple!
Apparently, any sneaky trick is better than confrontation.