In this piece
This piece is not our own interview. We went back to two articles: a profile of wedding singer Jordan Kahn in Fortune (21 July 2019, by Stephanie Cain) and a piece by NOS, the Dutch public broadcaster, on Dutch cover bands (4 September 2015). The quotes are reproduced word for word, with our translation of the Dutch and our commentary.
Who is Jordan Kahn?
Kahn leads the Jordan Kahn Orchestra, an American wedding band. According to Fortune, 11 to 20 musicians are on stage at a wedding, the orchestra has more than 500 songs in its repertoire and Kahn studied at Berklee College of Music. He sings and hosts the night.
The yardstick: the dance floor
Fortune writes that wedding bands like Kahn's could open for Bruno Mars or Taylor Swift. Kahn explains the difference from such a concert himself:
Our success is based on one thing, and it's not ticket sales. It's people on the dance floor.
If you are hiring a band, that gives you a useful question for every band: how do you know it's working? A band that starts talking about its own setlist is thinking about itself. A band that starts talking about your guests is thinking about the floor.
Adjusting the tempo
Kahn follows the tempo of his songs in beats per minute, and lets it build over the night. Sometimes it has to come down:
Maybe people don't have enough alcohol in their system to let loose yet, so we'll drop the tempo.
If he sees too many guests sitting, he starts At Last by Etta James, a song he uses to get guests in their fifties, sixties and seventies onto the floor. Next comes Uptown Funk, which in his view appeals to all ages. A DJ can do that too. With a band you see it happen: Kahn looks out at the room and gives his musicians the signal. Why tempo matters so much is in 12 songs that fill the dance floor.
What a bad wedding band does
Kahn is hard on his own trade. In his view, the bad bands are the ones that pick songs for themselves, or think the quality of their show lies in the number of lights. His orchestra sometimes plays three to four hours straight. Fortune contrasts that with the typical cover band, which wants a fifteen-minute break every 45 minutes.
That break is no problem, as long as you plan it. How to fill breaks with a DJ is in live band or DJ?.
And in the Netherlands?
In 2015, NOS spoke to Dutch cover bands. The picture was less rosy: bands were losing weddings and company parties to cheaper DJs. At cover band Nightwind, bandleader Kees van Langen said bookings had halved. Cherry and the Sugarstuds had no complaints, according to band member Elmer Postma, and the band had its own way of winning over couples: a viewing rehearsal. Manager Frits Robben: "Dan spelen we een uur voor ze, zodat ze kunnen zien wat wij brengen (…)." In English: "Then we play an hour for them, so they can see what we bring (…)." John van den Borne of Clash of the Cover Bands summed it up:
Het showelement wordt dus steeds belangrijker: als band moet je veel meer bieden dan alleen liedjes spelen.
In English: so the show element is becoming more and more important: as a band you have to offer much more than playing songs.
Kahn in America and Van den Borne in the Netherlands arrive at the same place: you see what a band is worth in the room.
What to do with this when you hire a band
- Ask the band how they read the room and when they adjust the tempo.
- Give them a short list of must-plays and leave the rest to the band.
- Go and see the band live before you sign. Why is in our column.
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De Peppers editorial team
Written by the editors at De Peppers, the Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band from Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands. Every fact is sourced at the bottom of the piece. Spotted a mistake? Email info@mia-automation.com and we will check it.
