I was at a retirement ceremony for a former shipmate at the Naval Reserve Center (sorry, NOSC) in Baltimore last October. The building is right next to Ft. McHenry, where a certain flag once flew during the war of 1812. After the official party arrived and was on the dais and the colors had been presented, the button on the CD player was pressed so that the anthem could be played. Nothing. The guy in charge of the music furiously pressed the button about 10 times, and still no music. Everyone was standing and the military in uniform were holding salutes. My retiring shipmate then started singing the anthem a cappella, and after she sang a few notes everyone joined in.
Among other things, this helped make it the best retirement ceremony that I've ever been to.