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Has a live band ever wronged you by butchering a classic? Did you then throw a total shit fit? Has this ever happened to you?
The world seemingly goes to shit a bit more each year. It seems like people are constantly at each others throats over the pettiest shit imaginable. Common ground is no longer sought, in fact oftentimes it is ignored in favor of holding on to anger and resentment just so some folks can pretend to control their own corner of the world.
Luckily all is not yet lost. There are some things that transcend the parochial squabbles of the teeming masses.
A shining example of one such beacon is Shout, Pts. 1&2 by the Isley Brothers.
While you may not have realized that was the title of the song and not simply Shout! (the name of the Album), you most likely know deep in your soul immediately what song I am talking about. It makes you crave a cocktail immediately and you start to sway side to side before gyrating with abandon on the dance floor.
Now you may ask, why am I writing about a perennial classic from 1959? Surely everyone in the known world is aware of how great this song is of course.
Shout, Pts. 1&2 has become synonymous with a live wedding band. Regardless of what type of folks you are bringing together from the union of two souls, the song will get everyone on the dance floor for some unabashed fun. I know first hand from my large, primarily Irish side of the family. While we have no problem making fools of ourselves out there and having a blast at each wedding, occasionally the other side of the union is stuck in their seats. Shout, Pts. 1&2 can get anyone out of their chair.
(Otis Day & The Knights great rendition in Animal House is how I first heard it as a yute)
Well unfortunately the song is under attack. That bastion of common ground of which I spoke earlier is under siege. Who are these villains that seek to lay low our society by toppling a pillar of our very community?
Wedding bands.
Wait, didn't I just say that the song has become analogous with weddings? What the hell is going on!?
I should more precisely say, wedding bands with such ego held in their twisted hearts that it has poisoned their very soul and turned them into monsters who no longer recoil at their reflections.
These grotesque individuals commit the most cardinal sin of all live bands. They attempt to interject their own personality, whimsy, and style on the song. Shout, Pts. 1&2 is perfect. Up tempo, takes a breather for us on the dance floor, builds back up again, and finally the iconic 'a little bit softer now/a little bit louder now' building to the perfect crescendo of the 'hey' call back and forth. What we don't need, is the band to alter from the script they have been given. It is a profound bastardization.
While at a wedding within the past year the band was playing a seemingly solid rendition. As we got to the 'a little bit softer now' section of the song, the singer began talking to us! WHAT! Saying things such as 'I hope everyone is having a good time tonight, what a great party'. All the while people are still crouched down to the floor waiting to get up! Bastard! This is not an overreaction, he completely killed the mood and flow of the song. I was not the only one to depart the floor after the song in a bitchy huff. For shame!
That is the most egregious example that has happened to me over my wedding career but there have been others. Changes in tempo and call outs to the bridal party are a couple that have happened enough to be disgustingly called routine. I'd say at least 40% of the time, the wedding band has fucked it up. That percentage is way damn too high. And yes, I'm actually a fun guy so I do get invited to weddings. I'd say I've been to at least 20 in my career.
The upbeat and positive vibe of the song is the most important element we must safeguard. The movie Wedding Crashers does a fantastic job incorporating it. They manage to make it fit without reducing it. You can feel the energy The Isley Brothers were going for when they first crafted this masterpiece.
(edited version to make this SFW)
I hope this serves as a warning and call to action to all decent people across the globe.
Maybe like me at your next wedding you'll walk up to the band leader before things get underway and do your very best Larry David.
Go straight up to them and say, "Hey, how you doing? Do me a favor and don't fuck up Shout okay? Everyone will want to kill you. That's just what I'm hearing."
Be strong out there and remember to have fun. Whatever you do, don't let anyone ruin that for you. That's your right alone.
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