Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Lousy Band

We were very unhappy with the band's performance at the wedding on 3 July 2011.

In the first place, there were too many gaps in the performance. They were all talking to each other in between songs. We had already run through the songs we wanted for the night so it is inexcusable for them not to know the sequence of the songs they'll be singing. The last minute discussions make it seem as if they were some impromptu band that we have dragged in off the streets to play at the last minute.

We expected nothing less than a smooth and effortless transition from song to song but what we got were long and uncomfortable silences between numbers that only served to draw attention to their lack of preparation and unprofessionalism. Our usual Sunday worship team, who are all amateurs by comparison, put them to shame.

The bassist was still texting on his handphone when he walked on stage! That was how unprofessional they were.

One of my guest's comment was that Tracy the singer was treating the whole event as if it was her concert. What's with all the walking around the crowd and saying hi to old friends in the crowd? She shouldn't have made it personal because many of our guests don't even know what TOP or TOPian is. The wedding is about the couple, not about her or TOP. Our mistake was hiring someone we know that led to the lack of professionalism.

She also put us in a tight spot when she asked the bride and groom as well as the parents to dance. My new in-laws are NOT dancing people. They had repeatedly asked Ky-Shen and my daughter to make sure there were no surprises – worse, they were specific about "make sure no dancing" – and my daughter had given them her word that there would be no dancing in the programme.

They were our guests on the 3rd and we were appalled that we have offended them albeit unwittingly and through no fault of ours. Fortunately Ky-Shen didn't kick up a fuss but graciously agreed to dance with Pam. Kenny and I had no choice but to also oblige since we were the hosts. Kenny was also not pleased because he is also a non-dancing person.

Tracy was really a loose cannon on that night. Isn't it just common sense that the band should not ask people to do things like that? Not everybody can or like to sing or dance, especially in public.

All these bad surprises left a very bad impression on my in-laws which, I fear, would be hard to rectify. They are so afraid that they have now insisted their band give them a complete itemised list of what they will be doing for the wedding dinner on the 9th.

BTW, the name of the band is Q Jazz under the leadership of Jerome Quah. Avoid them like a plague or you'll be sorely disappointed.


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