I played a wedding at San Francisco’s Regency Center last night. Previously I’ve performed in their enormous ballroom, but last night’s wedding took place in the smaller, but no less grandiose, Social Hall. A big plus, from my standpoint, is that the room has a booming sound system and high-tech light show built in, so I don’t have to lug in a truckload of speakers, amps, and lights and start from scratch. Everything is dialed in, and sounds and looks great, from the get-go. The Regency even has an A/V team on hand, so my job was easy.
Here’s a great shot I took of the couple’s monogram projected onto the curtain next to my DJ booth.. A custom logo or monogram is a fun and inexpensive wedding enhancement, and something I’m always happy to provide.
There was no formal meal at last night’s wedding. After a little less than an hour of cocktails and mingling by the guests, the bride and groom arrived. They enjoyed a brief introduction, immediately took to the dance floor for their first dance, and after two toasts and two dances with parents, the party started. That meant that instead of, as is often the case, me having 60 to 90 minutes to play, I had a solid 3 hours to work with last night. That gave me freedom to go in a number of musical directions, play a fair amount of requests, and generally build the energy on the dance floor to a fever pitch.
As always, I went into the event with no preset idea of what I’d play, or when I’d play it. I choose every song on the fly, deciding what’s next while the current song spins.
I started with the following during cocktails
Better Git It in Your Soul – Charles Mingus
Straight No Chaser – Miles Davis
Piazza New York Catcher – Belle & Sebastian
The Book of Love – Magnetic Fields
La Vie En Rose – Edith Piaf
Heartbeats – José González
I Got Rhythm – Django Reinhardt
We’re Going to Be Friends – The White Stripes
Sweetest Kill – Broken Social Scene
Picture In a Frame – Tom Waits
Frankly Mr. Shankly – The Smiths
I Get a Kick Out of You – Frank Sinatra
Glow Worm – The Mills Brothers
The extended dance time allowed me to mix in some ’80s freestyle music, a little classic ’90s house, a healthy dose of current hits as well as some fun ’80s pop and R&B tunes, and still have time to give the guests, many of whom came from Philadelphia to attend the wedding) a 3-song Philly set at the end of the night, just before the final dance.
On a side note, I never knew before how well Sweet Child ‘O Mine mixes with Blurred Lines. I may have to remember that combo and pull it out of my pocket at some future affair. And on that (side) note, let’s see last night’s playlists.
Introduction of the Couple: Tell ‘Em – Sleigh Bells
First Dance: Angel – The xx
Mother Daughter Dance: Beyond the Sea – Bobby Darin
Mother Son Dance: You Are My Sunshine – Johnny Cash
The Way You Look Tonight – Frank Sinatra
ABC – The Jackson Five
Kiss – Prince and the Revolution
Let the Music Play – Shannon
Someone Great – LCD Soundsystem
Get Lucky (feat. Pharrell Williams) – Daft Punk
Blind – Hercules and Love Affair
And I Was a Boy From School – Hot Chip
Move Your Feet – Junior Senior
That’s What I Like – Bruno Mars
Wild Thoughts [feat. Rihanna & Bryson Tiller] – DJ Khaled
Trying to Stay Alive [feat. John Forte] – Wyclef Jean
Goin’ Back to Cali – Notorious B.I.G.
Sing It Back (Mousse T’s Feel Love Mix) – Moloko
Push The Feeling On (The Dub of Doom) – Nightcrawlers
Chains of Love – Erasure
We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off – Jermaine Stewart
State of Shock – The Jackson Five
Love Shack – The B-52’s
I Think We’re Alone Now – Tiffany
Electric Feel – MGMT
Midnight City – M83
Take a Chance on Me – ABBA
Come On Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runner
Poison – Bell Biv DeVoe
I Wanna Dance With Somebody – Whitney Houston
Like a Virgin – Madonna
Thriller – Michael Jackson
Blurred Lines [feat. T.I. & Pharrell] – Thicke
Sweet Child ‘O Mine – Guns-N-Roses
In My Life – The Beatles
Solsbury Hill – Peter Gabriel
Passionfruit – Drake
24K Magic – Bruno Mars
….Baby One More Time – Britney Spears
Hypnotize – Notorious B.I.G.
Thizzelle Dance [feat. Chuck Beez] – Mac Dre
Rollin’ With Kid ‘N Play – Kid ‘N Play
Don’t Stop the Rock – Freestyle
I Wanna Be the One – Stevie B.
Forever – Chris Brown
Bad Liar – Selena Gomez
Let’s Get It On – Marvin Gaye
Toxic – Britney Spears
Tainted Love – Soft Cell
Beat It – Michael Jackson
Faith – George Michael
Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) – Beyoncé
‘ll Be Around – The Spinners
Motownphilly – Boyz II Men
Private Eyes – Hall & Oates
Lovin’ You baby – Charles Bradley
I’m not going to lie, by the end of the night I was beyond famished, but a post-gig trip to a nearby diner cured that, and I ate my meal feeling happy about helping turn another wedding into a fun dance party!