The show that we offer is really different to all the other Singing Waiters acts out there. One of the main reasons for this is that we are the only Singing Waiter act that plays our music live on acoustic guitar rather than just joining in with a backing track. Handily this means that we don’t need to sing along to any cheesy tracks and our show avoids that “karaoke” feel that is so prevalent with others. There are other huge advantages to playing our music live as it allows us to play around with the songs themselves. We are able to arrange the songs to ensure they are as enjoyable as possible for the audience with clever vocal arrangements and engaging moments. It is this flexibility that allows us the freedom to target individual guests with the music, something that our act has become really well known for. We perform slightly shorter versions of tracks meaning we put more songs into the show. This gives everything a great momentum as it moves through the performance with no song going on for too long.
The 25 songs that make up our set list are all very carefully chosen to be part of the show. There are many similar acts that will offer to learn any song you want – usually involving them simply downloading a backing track and learning some lyrics; offering that karaoke style of show that we avoid like the plague. We want to ensure that all the music performed is going to have a big impact on an audience – so all songs are painstakingly chosen and then arranged to suit a guitar/three vocalists. We also try to ensure that the songs we choose appeal to as wide a demographic as possible. As we perform at a such wide variety of events (weddings, award shows, corporates and the wide spectrum of birthdays and anniversaries) we try to make sure we are armed with enough variety in our set-list to appeal to whatever kind of audience we encounter.
We are a big fan of “anthemic” style songs that encourage an audience to join in – so you will find lots of this type of track in our performances! Choosing the songs themselves can be tricky and we are very selective about which tracks make it into our repertoire. We are essentially offering acoustic versions of songs and so tracks that are very reliant on big backing tracks sometimes don’t work as well as others. The method of choosing a song and then getting it ready to perform is a bit of a process. Once a new track has been chosen (often by committee!) it gets passed to our creative team who work on the arrangement. The song is broken down into its component parts for guitar and each of the three vocals with each individual section recorded for the performers to learn Every one of our performers is required to learn the arrangement and the song is then carefully rehearsed so that it is ready to be performed at an event. We always ensure that all our performers are up to speed with the full set list at all times – just in case something unexpected is required.
We always feel that selecting the right songs for an event works well as a two-way process between us and you. We like to recommend a set-list for a client’s event as a starting point – we have a very good idea of what will work at an event based on our experience and what we do with the music. In short: we know what works best for our act and clients will know what sort of music they like – so between us we can come up with the perfect set-list. I always say to clients to try not to think of the songs as their original versions when making choices, there are also key songs that are proven to work at whatever type of event they are hosting. Sometimes a client will make the mistake of assuming that a certain song we perform will be “cheesy/romantic” when our unique versions are anything but! What is really important to remember about our Singing Waiter act is that we put on a show for you and your guests, there is a lot of comedy and a narrative that runs through the whole performance.
We are always happy to put together an arrangement of a single track for clients should they be looking for something specific. We always advise that the songs most suitable for arrangement are tracks that lend themselves well to being played on acoustic guitar and are not heavily reliant on a backing track. The songs that always work best are ones that either have sentimental value to clients or are songs that are very well known by the audience as a whole. The best advice is to play to the crowd and not choose a song that only appeals to one person. With the best will in the world – often songs requested may be the ones that fall flat if not chosen well. We do like a challenge though and the list of bespoke arrangements is a long (and sometimes amusing) one!
