Whether to Hire a Disk Jockey or Live Austin Bands for your Wedding Reception

For pricing and booking call Ron at 512-507-0589

What's the best form of entertainment for your wedding reception, a Disk Jockey or one of the great Austin bands? Without question it is always a live band! Live Austin bands will really impress and can add a great touch of class if they also have a horn section. A live band has far more energy and mystique than a Disk Jockey because the band members are putting on a show as well as playing music and the live get-up-and-go of the band often packs the dance floor far more than a Disc Jockey.

Unfortunately, its not the joyous union of you and your fiance that your guests recollect most but the entertainment of the evening. You will hear many more congratulates on the band you hired than you will compliments on what a lovely ceremony it was, and you will rarely hear compliments on what an unbelievable DJ that guy was. the entertainment of the evening is instrumental to a fabulous reception.

Some advocates of DJs will say that most Austin bands have a limited song list but this is not always true as professional live bands have over 16 hours or more of music and can easily pick and choose the strongest songs according to crowd response to make sure that the dance floor stays packed and the energy never fails. Also, many Austin bands act as a DJ on band breaks and this is a good time to have them play some of your favourite tunes that might not be in their song list. Also, during breaks should be when you do all your wedding activities such as garter and bouquet toss, cutting the cake, and best man and bride's maid toasts.

This will give your guests something fun to do while the band catches their breath in between sets and the remainder of time left on break can be filled with the band DJing your favorite dance tunes. You can also have the best of both worlds with a live Austin band DJing tunes on their breaks by having the band DJ special genres of music for relatives of particular ethnic groups that may be at the reception such as South American, Korean, Japanese, or whatever style of music your special nationality of guest favors.

Don't forget in your perusing of Austin bands, that there are many bands out there and they are all very different in how professional they are. Make sure you take a look at the band's song list to see if it is comprehensive and it should have a good assortment of songs from all musical styles. A group that has been around for a long time will recognize which songs work best at making people dance in the varying age groups at weddings and will know which songs are adored across all age groups. An instance would be Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison which is just as effective at getting guests in their mid 20's on the dance floor cutting a rug as it is getting people of 60 or more on the dance floor.

A good live performance will have all this information in advance and will wield it like the hand of Thor in keeping your reception rocking and rolling through the entire evening. As Well, most professional Austin wedding bands will have a band leader that acts as Emcee announcing the bride and groom, the wedding party, cutting of the cake and bouquet and garter toss. Check to make sure that the band has an emcee that will do this for you.

Now for the cons of a live band. Most professional Austin bands will almost always be far more pricey than one man spinning tunes. Great variety bands can cost anywhere from $1500 to $10,000 for the flag ship cover bands and DJs can cost anywhere from $300 to $2500. Most of the time, you usually get what you pay for. More high-priced bands are more expensive for a reason. They normally sound a lot better and have much more of a crowd pleasing performance than more low-priced bands.

In sum, hiring one of the famed Austin bands will always show you a much more successful reception than a DJ by sheer entertainment value and can also act as a DJ playing specific obscure songs you may want that are not on the bands song list. The groups emcee will always know what songs to play from his years of experience dealing with the diverse age groups at a wedding reception and know what songs are appropriate to play at different times during the event. If your entertainment budget allows a fabulous live show, the obvious choice here is a live dance band for your wedding reception.

Ron Ronhaar is the owner and band leader of the "The Grooves" which is one of the well-known Austin cover bands, well known for their ability to keep the dance floor packed all night with hit favorites from all genres. He has performed with his group for a living in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas and throughout Texas for weddings, corporate parties, society parties and fund raisers. After Ron started the band in 1991, the band rocketed to the peak of Austin musicians and then took the state of Texas by storm. Ron and the Grooves Band are now in strong demand across Texas and are considered the finest of all Austin bands available for any event.

For pricing and booking call Ron at 512-507-0589