By Brian Buonassissi
Recently, a wedding industry pro asked me, “What Rock N Roll songs are you playing at weddings these days?” The question needs a bit of clarifying as that is such a broad genre – is this 50s rock, classic rock, current rock, etc.? It turns out the question was supposed to be broad. This got me thinking about which ones are popular and which ones I still use. I really do try to keep my programming as fresh as possible and lean towards more current music. Also, being a destination-based DJ, the programming varies much more than a local market DJ. However, they are some rock classics that, for the moment, always seem to find their way into my wedding sets. Because they are truly “classics” (in my opinion, this is due to their sing-a-long quality), I really don’t think they need a remix. In fact, remixes can hurt these tracks more than they help. I would never play all these songs in one event (usually I’ll use 1-3 max) but here’s a few that still work well:
*You Shook Me All Night Long – ACDC
*Back In Black – ACDC
*Pour Some Sugar On Me – Def Leppard
*We Will Rock You – Queen
*I Love Rock N Roll – Joan Jett (yes, I’d qualify this as Rock – has it right in the title)
*Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
*Living On A Prayer – Bon Jovi (Jersey crowds for sure)
*Take Me Home Tonight – Eddie Money
Then there are some classics that when mashed with a current song’s beat or done with a redrum (modern drumbeat) work extremely well because the hooks of the song are so recognizable. Here’s a few that I tend to use (again not all done at one wedding – a selection of 2-3 per wedding is usually just the right amount):
*Carry On My Wayward Son – Kansas
*Sweet Child O Mine – Guns N Roses
*Jump – Van Halen
*Peace Of Mind – Boston
*Mr. Jones – Counting Crows
*Edge Of Seventeen – Stevie Nicks
*Don’t Stop Me Now – Queen
Where Rock where lives right now with the Millennial generation of brides and grooms (which is the bulk of most of our clients) is in the 90s-2000s era. Rock songs from that time period that you’d never play during their heyday absolutely crush at weddings right now. In a lot of cases, the originals suffice just fine (though I have a ton of mashups with the hooks of these tracks). I play on average about 6-7 of these type songs per wedding – whereas maybe 5 years ago, hip hop classics or pop hits would make up the bulk of my wedding dance song selections. The crazy part is that lyrically these songs are probably the furthest from true wedding content that you’d want but nobody seems to care now. A good song is a good song. Here’s a sampling of some that work super well for me (the key is when and HOW you mix them in).
*Mr. Brightside – The Killers
*The Middle – Jimmy Eat World
*I Write Sins Not Tragedies – Panic At The Disco
*My Own Worst Enemy – Lit
*Crazy Bitch – Buckcherry
*Stacy’s Mom – Fountains Of Wayne
So that leaves us with today’s alternative rock songs. I have to be honest – this genre has been dormant for at least the last several years as far as wedding dance floor fillers. There might be 1-2 tracks a year that seem to gain a bit of traction, but they never tend to last long and most are not for prime time dancing. There are some electronic rock or indie rock songs that work well for me during cocktail hour and/or dinner. Here’s a few that may get used at a wedding of mine:
*High Hopes – Panic At The Disco (probably will fade out shortly)
*Broken – lovelytheband (also will fade out as it falls off the charts)
*Handclap – Fitz & The Tantrums
*Feel It Still – Portgual. The Man
*Heartlines – Broods
*Kangaroo Court – Capital Cities
*Let It Go – James Bay
*Take The World – JOHNNYSWIM
*What You Know – Two Door Cinema
DJs: What are you using these days in the rock category? Any that seem to get a great response? Any outliers? Send me a note and let me know.
Based out of NYC, DJ Brian Buonassissi is a successful internationally traveling DJ/MC specializing in luxury destination private events. He runs a multi-city mobile DJ/event business with satellite offices in Southern California, Scottsdale, AZ Destin, FL, Tallahassee, FL and New York City. You can connect with him at brian@djbrianbofficial.com.