It's not just weddings. I did an upscale house party this week. Guests were mostly 60-70 yrs of age. As guests arrived I played the S970 doing "Cocktail" music, easy for the guests to meet and greet. Thirty minutes in the host told me to "pick it up...this is a party". From that point forward it was all original hits by the original artists...a mix of 60's RnR to present. Steely Dan was about as mild as it got. They responded best to things like the Stones & Stevie Wonder for oldies to Blurred Lines, Uptown Funk, etc for contemporary hits.

This was an ritzy country club audience....no requests for ballroom music. I did sneak in Sway by Michael Bublé and that was about as Big Band as it got. So, there I sat, programming, pushing buttons and analyzing crowd response. No vocals. No playing the arranger. Just using the USB MP3 function. At the end of the night I was asked by several people for business cards. Even the caterer asked for a few cards. The host was happy and put a tip on top of my fee.

These kind of jobs are not the fun that I get from playing and really entertaining a responsive crowd....but its the way things are going, and it pays the bills. Tony said it best: "We did the best of times...."

Eddie