here's another boomer related question, coming from the other direction:

In addition to gearing up for a solo act, I recently joined a band that specializes in weddings. I was surprised that their song list is mostly older beach music. If the average bride is 20 years old, then the average bride's parent is now 40ish... that means this band's song list appeals to neither the bride's generation, nor the bride's parents generation. This set speaks to the bride's grandparents!

We're kicking around the idea of offering a hybrid musical set that we hope will appeal to more people:

1) when we show up, the PA gets set up first, and we start off with a DJ set of songs that appeal to the young 'uns. We figure the young people have more energy to burn, and the adults are most likely socializing at the beginning of the reception and less focused on the music.

2) During this set, the other band members will set up the rest of the gear in the background, behind a screen. This immediately cuts an hour of unpaid setup time off the gig!

3) middle set(s) will be the whole band playing variety music that we hope will appeal more to the adults, who by this time have done their socializing and are now ready to play a little.

4) By the last set, we expect that the adults will be more tired than the kids, and the kids will have been drinking like fish for several straight hours... so the last set will be hard driving DJ dance stuff again

5) during this last set, everybody but the person DJing will tear down all the equipment but the PA and load up the truck. This cuts ANOTHER hour of unpaid load time off the gig!

We think this approach will solve a variety of problems.
1) no more need to ask "should we hire a band or a DJ?" (why not BOTH?)
2) it will put us in a unique competitive spot in the wedding market
3) it will better meet the music tastes of the diverse groups at wedding receptions
4) it will get us in and out the door a lot faster
5) by needing fewer band songs, we can recover more quickly if somebody quits the band and has to be replaced

We haven't done this yet, it's just brainstorming at this point. What are your thoughts?

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ey71h8ep047758h/AAC12jNM0Hz9Q8zsh5iDeqNHa?dl=0