My friend and colleague, David Jay, talked me into seeing The B-52s at The Canyon Club in Agoura Hills last Friday. It is a great place to see a show and David ran into some friends that were eating which landed us seats just a few feet from the stage. Otherwise, we would have been standing the entire time since we chose not to have dinner.

The show was very entertaining and the music consisted of all their hits including Planet Claire, Rock Lobster and Love Shack. They sprinkled in quite a few songs from their new release: Funplex.

Here are a couple of photos that David took from our seats:



Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson sing their unmistakable harmonies.



Fred Schneider joins the ladies.


Kate Pierson, Fred Schneider, Ricky Wilson (Guitarist) and his sister: Cindy.


Grammy-Winner Adele performed at The Hollywood Bowl Sunday. Her favorite singer: Etta James was scheduled to appear but cancelled due to illness. Chaka Khan stepped in as the co-headliner with Janelle Monáe opening.

DJ-MC Michael joined me for this show with the hopes of seeing Etta James. We were both pleasantly surprised at Adele's 'innocent, quirky' stage persona and her ability to command the attention of nearly 18,000 attendees with just her voice and guitar. There is no denying her talent.

On Saturday, in between concerts, Awesome Entertainment supplied music for the Pasadena Hilton's open house. It was  DJ-MC Jeff. and yours truly.

July 15, 2009

I was at The Castaway in Burbank, California last night. Awesome Entertainment  is recommended by some of the Castaway crew and I have to say that working with their banquet managers and event staff is always a pleasure. They are courteous, flexible and accommodating which makes directing the wedding... a breeze!

I could not capture the whole night on video since I had a busy schedule for Meaghan and Bryan's wedding last night (06-14-2009). Jeff and I handled their wedding ceremony which included Carrie Underwood's "Ever Ever After" from the Disney movie: "Enchanted" for the couple's recessional. It worked very well.

The cocktail and dinner hour consisted of Michael Buble, Norah Jones, Sinatra, Ella/Louis with additional soft contemporary songs sprinkled in.

For dancing, the newlyweds wanted mainly Top 40 and some "Old School" classics but were open to requests BUT did NOT want any "hokey music" so when a relative asked the bride if the DJ could play the "Macarena"... she said: "No!"

Surprisingly, the bride, Meaghan, did ask me to play the"YMCA" so someone really special must have wanted it!

Requests ranged from Big N Rich and Michael Jackson to AC-DC and Lady Gaga. Grandma asked for "The Twist" for the older generation and well, who can refuse grandma?

Here's a quickly edited "music montage" of what I managed to capture during dancing. Most of it is the "late night" top 40 stuff:



My goal is to follow musical direction carefully and part of the reason I still love what I do is because each event is unique. Communication, planning and observation are three of the keys to a successful event.

I had Jeff mingle with the "shy side" of the room where he received some excellent information for motivating them to come to the dance floor. He also visited with some of the groomsmen outside and they were "battling" as MJ so he brought them inside for a "dance off" that the couple absolutely loved! I wish the video was a bit brighter but we shot it on my home DV-Cam...  REMEMBER: we are not videographers!

See Jeff on video at the Awesome Entertainment Blog.

Here is a still photo from Terry Chan Photography. They were EASY to work with and had photos to us super fast:

Kim and Craig fell in love because they are always laughing together. This Love Story Clip which was presented by "yours truly" 
DJ Peace of Awesome Entertainment and is a great example of their fun-loving nature and sense of humor! Their wedding was at the beautiful Athenaeum in Pasadena, CA and it was an honor to be their Wedding Entertainment Director.

DJ Jeff  found himself at The Riviera Country Club this last weekend on May 09, 2009.

Jeff handled The National Charity League's annual fashion show for the 2nd year in a row and then moved his equipment next door to assist me that evening for a wedding reception. Although Jeff was asked back by the client this year, Jeff and I would like to thank Mr. Bob Wyar (Wedding and Event Manager) at The Riviera Country Club for his confidence in Awesome Entertainment and his referrals.

Bob is an excellent event coordinator and he is often asked to sing at events because of his vocal skills.

Here's a picture of DJ Jeff and Bob from Riviera's Bridal Event in 2008:



My thanks to Jeff for working from 8:00am until Midnight on Saturday! He never lost his energy or enthusiasm.

The weekend of May 02, 2009 was boosted by our friend and wedding consultant extraordinaire: Stacy Porras of Porras Wedding Consulting. We had three events because of Stacy and her assistant Tricia. I'd like to say "THANK YOU"!

Here is a photo from this weekend that features Stacy and the beautiful bride, The new Mrs. Katie Schut:



Their first dance was the classic "La Vie En Rose" by Edith Piaf. Katie & Bragi's friends and family joined them for a pre-dinner dance set after their first dance:



Guests were invited to dance anywhere they desired since the dance area was limited and my motto is "The World is your dancefloor!". Here are a few guests who chose to get romantic in the aisle:



Notice the unique rustic setting and the tasteful chairs, tables and settings provided by
Classic Party Rents, another great recommendation from Stacy Porras.

Since my spotlight is on Stacy this week, here is one more shot featuring Stacy and our newlyweds
during their photo shoot at cocktail hour:

Make sure you check out:
The Awesome Entertainment Blog
for more videos, disc jockey happenings and news.

This photo taken by my new friend: Anu. He wanted to see Paul ever since the album "Wings Over America" was released but had to wait thirty years for Coachella 2009. We were about 100 feet from the stage.



This year I made the trek to Coachella to see Paul McCartney...  again (I've seen him at Staples Center twice). I love the atmosphere of Coachella: open-air, multiple stages, a dance tent, food vendors, artwork and unique people. I arrived a bit later than I anticipated so parking at 4:00pm turned into finally parking at 6:00pm. I chatted with a couple of the LOT 5 parking attendants for over an hour with the hope their boss would say "let a few more cars in"... but... it never happened so I jumped in my Honda Odyssey and made my way back toward the main gate. They let me though and I ended up parking very close to the entrance. Patience can pay off. I preferred to wait outside my vehicle than sitting in a line of traffic. I had actually picked up my ticket as I spoke with the staff at Lot 5. A group of ladies had an extra ticket because their friend was sick.  They asked $75.00 ... take that Ticketmaster!

I made it in just in time to grab a Tri-Tip sandwich (more on that later) and to catch Leonard Cohen.: a singer with an unmistakable voice and a very talented band. Before Mr. Cohen began his performance, I met a newlywed couple and they chose "Dance Me to the End of Love" for their first dance song at their wedding a few weeks earlier. As fate would have it, Mr Cohen opened with their song!

My friend, David Jay,  and I made our way over to the main stage for Morrissey. It took us awhile to get through the crowd since David's wife, Lisa, was holding us a "spot" about 5 rows from the stage and everybody was like "yeah, my wife's up there, too!". I much prefer to "chill" toward the back with the option to roam to other stages, tents, etc. Once I was entrenched for Morrissey and McCartney it would definitely not be worth fighting my way OUT and then back again. Unfortunately, I missed the 'mash-up' sensation Girl Talk which was recommended to me. I'll catch him another time.

Morrissey is another unmistakable voice and a talented song-writer. I've always enjoyed his dark sense of humor with songs like "Girlfriend in a Coma" and "Panic"  but his performance was a bit lackluster. He made a few looks of disgust and eventually commented on the smell of burning flesh which I felt was a bit odd, especially when he said that he hopes it is human! I understand if you are a strict vegetarian but if you are playing an outdoor music festival, wouldn't you assume there will be Bar-B-Cue!?! As I mentioned, I had just enjoyed a Tri-Tip sandwich and here was Morrissey telling me he'd rather I'd be burning.

I'm sure hard-core SMITHS fans will defend their fearless leader but I am confidant he lost potential fans and alienated quite a bit of the audience. I guess it makes life interesting, but it sure would have been a lot more fun to endure the standing, body-heat and shoving if he spent more time entertaining! There are also better approaches to bringing awareness to the masses. For those of you who are curious, check out Meat is Murder by The Smiths.

The main event for Friday night... Sir Paul McCartney. Paul always puts everything he has into his performances and tonight was no exception.  Paul is one of the few artists that still gives you a two and a half hour show and NEVER leaves the stage. Even when his bandmates are taking a break, he will play guitar and sing or jump behind the piano and play a classic.  McCartney is 66 years old and he has more chops and stamina than most of the young bands!

I planned this "Love Story" presentation near the end of dinner so I could lead a "Seventh inning stretch". It was a way to create some energy while getting everyone's attention for the "Love Story".  For those of you who do not know, Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond is the 7th inning stretch party song for Boston Red Sox fans. Enjoy the clip.

Here is a "Love Story" clip. I encourage guests to respond as I narrate so you will notice guests yelling things out or commenting. The goal is to get everyone involved in their story. My assistant and I thought we had all the key players in the room but Kim's brother had disappeared on us so I had to "roll with it". Kim and Dale met on Match.com and they are a lot of fun.