Weddings!

Tonight, I played a very fun wedding. In a rare set of circumstances, the couple was perfect - they love music and have great taste, totally have their stuff together, know what they do and don't want, have communicated and been accessible with perfect clarity every step of the way, while also being delightfully laid back and open to ideas and suggestions... have I mentioned they, their family and guests are just the nicest people you could ever hope to meet?

Wedding Season is upon us. With (typically) three generations of people in the room, (often) small factions of people who know each other but not anyone else who gather in a handful of places throughout the room, and the resulting "you can't please all the people all the time" reality... weddings can be challenging. How does a DJ deal with that? It varies. If you're looking at wedding magazines and conventions, you'll find DJs who are good and professional but who only play the standard schlock, anything from the Electric Slide and the Macarena to YMCA and the Chicken Dance. The hippest song you might hear is Brown Eyed Girl and the DJ is almost definitely using a lighting tree.

As a DJ, your job is to play to the crowd, spin music that will best facilitate the people within hearing distance having the best possible time. No matter the event or venue, it's not enough to simply play good music. You've got to play the right stuff at the right time, manage the tempo, choose thoughtful sequences, handle requests - find ways to reject the ones that don't make sense without offending the requester, adjust your flow to honor the ones that do in a timely manner. Take the time in preparation to know the audience and play specific artists, songs, eras and genres to connect with the folks, the occasion, and any circumstances which inspire a particular piece of music. With a wedding, this means learning about the bride, groom, and their family & friends. Where are they from? What do they do for a living? What are their hobbies and interests? Where'd they go to school? What'd they study? Answers to these and other questions help personalize the experience for the audience, not to mention the wonderful folks who've thoughtfully chosen to hire you to manage and administer the soundtrack for their wedding, the celebration of the most meaningful decision of their life together.

I love playing weddings for all the above reasons.

This one was particularly fun. Cocktail hour had some of the bride and groom's personal favorites, including Wilco, Snow Patrol, Mountain Goats, and Death Cab For Cutie. Dinner music included anything from Sam & Dave and Tony Bennett, to Medeski Martin & Wood and the Brand New Heavies. Dancing included contemporary stuff from Sean Kingston, Lady Gaga and Flo-Rida as well as older stuff by Ray Charles, and 90s gems from the likes of Bel Biv Devoe, Young MC, Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch, and Ton Loc. As the couple is moving to Boston, we closed the night with the Dropkick Murphys "I'm Shipping Up To Boston" and as the Chairman must be present at all weddings, "Summer Wind."