would vacate the floor and we would be attempting to pull energy back to dancing in starts and stops all night. I recall thinking while we were playing the Stones, Jumpin' Jack Flash, a song that packed the floor usually, that we needed to go straight into the next song. So, of course, Louie Louie, came into mind. On the last chord of Jumpin' Jack, I immediately moved into Louie, Louie...and the dancers engaged. The energy lifted and we were off on something that would eventually define us. One song after another in 4-5 song medleys.
I took the reins on this and poured through the lists, combining songs to make the best medleys. Sometimes it was all songs from one band and some times I took the songs from a variety of artists. Each was geared to massage the mood and work the energy, even weaving something slow in the middle of the frenzy. It was fun and informative to see what happened. And for awhile we tweaked the songs to make the medleys do their job to provide a great experience.
All in all, we came up with 20 different medleys that we wove through an event. It was really good and we got a whole lot of work from it. It was a fertile time that fed us musically and as professionals providing a quality experience to those who hired us.