I am playing and singing for 400 people Christmas day. I know I have to apportion genre's, tempo,etc., but am undecided on percentage of Christmas(all types) to non Christmas. I will play from 12-2:00, with probably two seatings.

It is totally up to me. 50/50, 75/25?

I'll bet you don't KNOW more than two hours of Christmas music! I think if you do it would be too much anyway.
I would just play it by feel, and see what they respond to, and what, if anything, they request.
I played a Christmas party recently where they didn't respond at all to the Christmas songs, but when I started playing old Rock n' Roll they woke up. Ya never know!

Bernie, Until this year, I played 35 to 40 Christmas parties ever December. I can assure you that more than a dozen songs is far more than they want to hear. And, I'll be more than happy to email you my Christmas Gig Disk, which has a lot of non-traditional styles for traditional Christmas songs - it keeps those parties alive and vibrant. They hired you for the job based on your other performances. It's those songs they really want to hear.

Good luck,

Gary

Bernie, we did a Christmas 'do' yesterday, 450 people. One two-hour set of about 35 songs. We only have seven Christmas songs, usual old chestnuts, and we spaced 'em out to one every seven or so songs. Worked out well. Nobody said it was too many or too few, and it felt about right to us as well.

Hostess of party I played tonight told me "All Christmas Music". She even called me at home prior to party to remind me all she wanted was 2 hours of Christmas music.

At the party, within 30 minutes I had people asking for something other than Christmas. I referred them to the hostess. At one point I heard a guest ask the hostess if she would ask me to play something besides Christmas. The hostess just about bit the head off that guest. It was embarrassing for everyone within ear shot.

But the up rising continued and I was finally given the go-ahead to do what the party goers really wanted. The hostess shorted me a few bucks...I don't know if it was on purpose or not...but in lieu of the earlier problems I let it ride.

Eddie

How could she short you?..didnt you have a contract for a certain price?

Bernie,
I've been playing these gigs all month. Some wanted only Xmas music and some wanted none. Most wanted a mixture and that is not hard to do. There are dozens of secular and religious Christmas songs. I always ask before I start playing what they want. Makes it very clear to everyone involved.

Check your email - I'll send you my setup.
Deane

No contract Donny. It was a loosey-goosey deal with a neighbor who is also one of my computer customers. No biggiee.
Eddie

Donny,
A lot of areas simply don't use contracts. Here in Texas I wouldn't play a single gig if I required a contract. The ADs wouldn't mess with getting them approved. Days of contracts and unions are gone down our way.

Deane

I'm glad I don't live around your area boyz that's all I will say. Spit & a handshake don't go far in this business.

I have contracts for every client. Never had a problem.

Gary

I call it a "performance agreement", somewhere in time "contract" took on a negative connotation.
To fill time, there's Jingle Bells swing, and Jingle Bells with an R&B rhythm then Jingle Bells samba, jazz waltz, polka etc. Same for Frosty and Rudolph ...
Ciao,
Jerry

Having a contract means nothing in the real world. You'll win the battle with it, but lose the war.

Most folks don't know what's it's like going to court to get a judgement against someone. In the many years I've been playing I think I had to go to Small Claims Court maybe 1/2 dozen times to claim my money. In those days, I would not play without a contract.

Here's what happens if you get stiffed in any way. You start a dialogue with the person about getting the monies owed (out of politeness and out of trying to avoid Small Claims Court). That hardly ever works so the next step is....go down to the Court, fill out the papers, pay the processing fee, and go home and wait for your court date appearance. On that day, you get up about 4 in the morning to make sure you get to the court in time (a no show means you lose your case). Most times you're there until mid-afternoon waiting for your case to be heard.

When the judge sees the signed contract he will enforce it, no questions asked. So you get your judgment awarded to you. BUT.....it the person ignores the judgment, you then have to go back to court to have a judge enforce collection proceedings. That means he assigns a Sheriff to take the money from them physically or have the person's wages garnished.

I had a bride once who cancelled a week before. I took her and the contract to court, got awarded my money, but it took a year to finally get the whole amount. You can imagine how much time and energy I put into that deal.

Luckily, most folks don't know they stand a good shot of getting away with it by just ignoring the judge's decree to pay. Most of those I took to court just payed me. But when you get one like that obnoxious bride (who I had to have her wages attached) you end up going through so many hoops, you wonder is it worth it?

It got to the point where I personally solved the problem by telling a client (in a polite and friendly, but professional way) that they need to pay a 50% deposit and the balance BEFORE I start playing. It helps a lot when I add that they can pay me right up to one minute before I start, but it HAS TO BE BEFORE I START! That tends to make them more comfortable if they can pay me at the job rather than by mailing a check beforehand.

Mark

Thank you everyone. This is what I suspected. I normally do about one in every three, but, I might cut that down. I know I get pretty tired of Christmas songs by the 25th, and I'm sure I am not alone.

Unlike poor Eddie, no one tells me how to do my job.

What I sometimes do during the Christmas season is to play 'charity pop music' in addition to Christmas songs, songs like 'That's what friends are for', 'I'll be at your side' or 'We are the world', 'Man in the mirror'.

I usually do 30 min straight Christmas songs in the start then pepper it .....the rest of the gig

Another example of the Client not having a clue as to how please their guests. That is why I don't miss doing the big weddings. Too many Brides with big ideas that don't work in the real world.
I would of mentioned to her that you did do what she asked and did not incite the guests to badger her. And a polite mention that she did short you. Maybe let things cool off for awhile and give it a try. She shouldn't think she is allowed to pull off that attitude. She should have tipped you big for being professional and trying to please everyone.

BTW on the contract issue. A verbal contract is binding if that mode of business has been done before with the client. I won two cases that way. Just had a Lawyer friend sent the client a letter reminding them of that fact and I got paid.

To the original thread. I think starting off with Christmas Chestnuts and then getting to what they really want to party to is the way to go. But on my recent Atlantic City gig 2.5 hrs. I stayed with the Holiday music almost entirely because the crowd kept changing. It was an open cocktail party and there were others going on so people drifted around. The strangest thing was in the room next door I heard an Acoustic guitarist doing "Another Brick in the Wall"" LOL !!

YEP.

Ditto! I've turned down dozens of weddings during the past year, and in many instances give the people asking the name and telephone number of a GOOD DJ. I'll stick with the senior events, nursing homes, assisted living centers, retirement communities and private parties - lots more fun, far less headaches, wonderful people, and great pay. When I was doing weddings with a band, we did about two a month - not enough to make a full time living by a long shot. Yeah, the band charged $1,500 for the four hours, I went home with $300, which was $75 less than I would have made for three hours of NH performances. A GOOD DJ, in this part of the world, will pick up about $600 to $800 for a wedding job, but most of those guys are lucky to do 15 jobs a year - about half the number of jobs a good OMB working the senior circuit does a month. And, the last wedding I did Don Mason sent the same drunken, dozen young, barefooted girls up here to dominate the dancefloor that plagued him in Louisiana every time he did a wedding.

Gary

There's plenty of pie on the table......
just pick out the slice YOU want!

It's amazing how things in 'life' differ as much as the locations in which we live ... based on my conversations with musicians around the RI area, a GOOD OMB will make anywhere from $500 to $1200 for a wedding or other good sized party, depending on what he/she does as a performance ... if they are doing DJ work as well as keys/vocals the price goes up to the $1200 range, even higher ... include lights, whatever and the price goes even higher, as in Donny's post ... some guys do 'specialty' shows, such as Sinatra, Dean Martin, Michael Buble, along with DJing and make even more ...
IN the greater NY area, bands are still in demand for weddings and big dances, but these are 8 - 10 piece groups of well schooled musicians and vocalists, who can play and sing ANYTHING and sound like the recording ... AND they will command $10,000 + for a wedding ... I would say most DJs in the NY area perform - sing/ play instruments - as well and also command top pay ... but then, we are talking the greater NY area where there is a LOT of work if you are GOOD ...

Back to the OT ... I used to play almost ALL Christmas music at this time of year, but the past two years I've gotten away from that ... now I keep it at about 1 out of 3 songs and the rest is the 'other' music the audience likes to listen to ...