Playing weddings and privates this year gives me NO INCENTIVE to learn anything but crusty standards.

[sventvkg]

I don't know how much I'll delve in to that DJ Pop-Hiphop-Electronica style....Maybe a song or 2 if it's really popular but my sense is there's enough danceable all ages stuff with actual playing and singing we can do. Pitbull type dudes rapping with a chick singing is stuff we may just play on the IPAD during breaks. That's gonna be ALL hardcore, fun dance stuff.

[Vito Corleone]

I don't know how much I'll delve in to that DJ Pop-Hiphop-Electronica style....Maybe a song or 2 if it's really popular but my sense is there's enough danceable all ages stuff with actual playing and singing we can do. Pitbull type dudes rapping with a chick singing is stuff we may just play on the IPAD during breaks. That's gonna be ALL hardcore, fun dance stuff.

Yeah, whatever works for you is whatever works for you for sure. But, for the record, we do all the actual playing and singing ourselves. We don't use any tracks. Since you've already talked about using tracks I would think that sort of stuff would actually be easier and make more sense for a band like yours than mine. If we were using tracks we'd probably be playing a lot more of that stuff.

 

But, as you can see, we don't really delve into that arena too much either. A handful of stuff that's all pretty popular otherwise we wouldn't be doing it. iPad during breaks is OK, but that isn't really the show they are paying for. They could run their own iPad with the same songs for a lot less money if that's what you're gonna offer them. If you're going to go that route, I'd suggest thinking about bringing a DJ along to play that stuff during the breaks and make it seem like all part of the same seamless performance.

 

And again...every market is different, but my guess is that the Florida coast would be a bit more "dance" oriented than a lot of other places?

 

I'd even consider padding the setlist with a few more modern song titles if you don't (or rarely) play them. From the marketing standpoint consider a typical wedding customer looking at your band and another for the same price who will probably have that danceable all ages stuff you're going to do PLUS the newer stuff. Which band is he/she more likely to hire?

 

Just offering up stuff for you think about. Not telling you what to do or anything. You'll find your own way as time goes on.

 

But DO learn "Dynamite" if you can. lol. Even the older ladies love that one. I'm always surprised how many 40-somethings are out on the floor for that one. Remember a lot of these girls hear these songs in the car while driving the kids around and such if nothing else.

[Vito Corleone]

I thought I had some better video of this somewhere but this was all I could find. Not promo-quality video by any means. Purely just for my own record of the gig. Ignore the blinky-blinky lights that I have since remedied (thank God!) and some chick blocking half the camera for most of the first 5 minutes. (grrrr probably best just to fast forward to 5 min in...) Pretty crappy audio, too from the vidcam, but still you get the idea. Just want you to see how much the crowd likes these songs and how they know all the lyrics. And how easy they are to play with a guitar/bass/drum/keys lineup.

 

This was a couple of months back at a small wedding we did before we crammed "Starships" into the middle of the medley, which also works great. The crowd eats this stuff up. Even the old people dance to it for the most part. Brown Eyed Girl is a great track that everyone still loves (and we still pull it out when requested), but we can't do this with a song like that. Or just with playing these tracks on an iPad.

 

 

 

[sventvkg]

Yeah, whatever works for you is whatever works for you for sure. But, for the record, we do all the actual playing and singing ourselves. We don't use any tracks. Since you've already talked about using tracks I would think that sort of stuff would actually be easier and make more sense for a band like yours than mine. If we were using tracks we'd probably be playing a lot more of that stuff.

 

But, as you can see, we don't really delve into that arena too much either. A handful of stuff that's all pretty popular otherwise we wouldn't be doing it. iPad during breaks is OK, but that isn't really the show they are paying for. They could run their own iPad with the same songs for a lot less money if that's what you're gonna offer them. If you're going to go that route, I'd suggest thinking about bringing a DJ along to play that stuff during the breaks and make it seem like all part of the same seamless performance.

 

And again...every market is different, but my guess is that the Florida coast would be a bit more "dance" oriented than a lot of other places?

 

I'd even consider padding the setlist with a few more modern song titles if you don't (or rarely) play them. From the marketing standpoint consider a typical wedding customer looking at your band and another for the same price who will probably have that danceable all ages stuff you're going to do PLUS the newer stuff. Which band is he/she more likely to hire?

 

Just offering up stuff for you think about. Not telling you what to do or anything. You'll find your own way as time goes on.

 

But DO learn "Dynamite" if you can. lol. Even the older ladies love that one. I'm always surprised how many 40-somethings are out on the floor for that one. Remember a lot of these girls hear these songs in the car while driving the kids around and such if nothing else.

 

 

Yea it's weird, we do a 2 set, high energy definitely more 80's and rock oriented niche thing in the band i'm in now and it's obviously booked full time. Gonna be 48 gigs this year by the end but i think there's a few more on the table as well. IT works for him for sure. and we do more dance oriented stuff on the ipad during breaks so they got what they hired us for plus he gives them the modern and more dance stuff too:)

 

For my band I think i want it to be more dance elements than Dan's band but stuff like Timberlake, Michael Jackson, etc mixed in with all the female pop out there plus a few of the male pop things like you do...But we'll also retain a lot of fun upbeat 80's stuff as well. Probably a cross between your band and the band i'm in now. One thing I LOVE about your band is the Medley thing you do! What a GREAT Idea man and something I'm going to have to steal from ya!

 

Also, as far as the DJ thing goes, as I told you, part of my business is going to be a DJ service offered and if the client wants that I can add it into the band for a discount in a package deal.

 

As an aside, we had a soundman filling in this past weekend who's niche market is the higher end corporate and wedding thing where his company provides sound and he game me some good insight to what's working for the acts that are making the most $$..He echoed what you said about the female fronts. He said flat out, the more good looking women you have up front the more $$ you make and I believe him. This guy is a good businessman and great musician as well...He suggested pretty women who can sing as front women and the band can certainly cover the male lead parts. Initially I was going to get female front and a male Front but now I'm thinking 2 females is the way:) There are a lot of really pretty, elegant female singers in the southern/FL market so it shouldn't be too crazy finding some. Thanks for the advice and insight!

[Vito Corleone]

 

Thanks for the advice and insight!

 

Hey, anything I can do to help and I hope that you DO take it as such since I offer to you with all humility. I'm not trying to tell you or anyone how to do anything. I just offer up what works for me and why I think it does and you can do with it what you will. I've learned a lot from others on this forum and I just want to pay if forward to whatever degree I can.

 

I know what you're trying to do and how you want to do it. If I can save you a step or two, my mission will be accomplished.

 

As far as the medleys go---the best thing about that is how they cater to today's short attention spans. We talk a lot about doing just the "meat" of the song and getting out and moving on to the next one. We don't do a lot of solos. We don't do a lot of bridges---especially if they bring the tempo or mood down too much. That stuff is great for listening to in the car and setting the flow of the recorded song, but often kills the dance floor. That medley we do is something like 7 songs in 15 minutes. Those two sets of 23 songs each run about 60-70 minutes a piece.

 

And we're looking to do more of that stuff. The gig coming up this weekend is the one where they requested us to do September. Well, we've also long been trying to find a way to get out of opening with "Celebration" so often. Not only do we all pretty much hate that song, but it's such a dated cliché that it is probably the #1 "please do NOT play" song on our list. But what is better for being the first all-ages songs to start off a wedding with...right?

 

So the plan for this week is a medley that wraps "1999" into "September" into "Treasure" (Bruno Mars) into "Billie Jean". Or maybe flip the last two. But I'm worried that while "1999" has a great opening feel to it and a great hook (I love having a chorus that says "tonight I'm gonna party like it's..." to open the night) that it won't immediately pack the floor. But hopefully even if it doesn't we'll only be into the song for a minute or two anyway and then "September" will be the song that packs the floor and we'll be OK. And then 10 minutes later after those 4 songs are over we'll have set a great tone for the rest of the night.

 

I dunno. All this stuff is always hit and miss. You're right to not over-think stuff. But then again, I'm the kind of person that overthinks EVERYTHING, so I just have to work with that. lol. But I've found that putting a little bit of extra time and thought into some things often results in bigger pay offs. I'll let you know how this one works out for us.

 

And, speaking of the "1999" chorus----NEVER underestimate the power of the lyrics in the songs you play. I have learned from experience that---especially at weddings---songs with negative lyrics or hooks generally DO NOT work. Regardless of how great the rest of the song might be. That's why virtually every song we play has an upbeat, positive lyric. We're there to make sure people have a good time, not bring them down.

 

We worked up the Miranda Lambert song "Gunpowder and Lead" awhile back. Great tune. Big hit. We played it really well, had a lot of fun playing it, and Sarah knocked the vocals out of the park. But nobody at a wedding wants to hear a song about some chick shooting her abusive husband. Seems obvious in retrospect, but sometimes it takes trial and error to learn that stuff.

 

[Vito Corleone]

 

 

He said flat out, the more good looking women you have up front the more $$ you make and I believe him. This guy is a good businessman and great musician as well...He suggested pretty women who can sing as front women and the band can certainly cover the male lead parts. Initially I was going to get female front and a male Front but now I'm thinking 2 females is the way:)

 

Yep yep and yep.

 

I think what having two girls up front instead of just one does is takes you from that standard "rock band" image to a "show band" image. When we added the 2nd female we upped our standard asking price from $3000-3500 to $4500-5000 and we stayed just as booked. Perhaps we were asking too little with the smaller lineup, but I don't think so. (We'd have booked more if that was the case.) Yeah, the 2-girl front is a cheezier show-band look, but that's what most of the people with money to spend seem to be looking for. For the corp/wedding type gigs anyway.

 

We still want to add a male front, too. And probably will when/if the right guy comes along. I think (hope) we'd be able to up the price enough to cover his cut if not more. (I think the one male/two female front look is a good one too.) But as much as that we want it just because none of us guys really want to be bothered with singing anymore. Either lead or backup except when absolutely necessary. Rather just be able to concentrate on playing the music better.