Yingling/Jose @ The Carleton in Oak Park

That's right, friends—Oak Park, just as the title boldly states. This suburb is known to be one of the cleanest, quietest, and most picturesque in all of Chicagoland. Just between you and me…it honestly is. Typically, I would not be hanging out in this part of Illinois if I did not have something important to do. Thankfully, I did have something important to do: a deejay gig. Yes. Charlie Yingling and Hector Jose, who are both doctors and very delightful gentlemen, wanted their wedding day to be fun, relaxed, and full of their favorite dance and 80s choices. The couple was aware of the "cheesy deejays" who donned in sequined vests and brought fog machines—and they were sick of it. My partner Matt Carlson and I had the remedy for that, as we were the guys who were going to doctor up a healthy and enjoyable evening for the couple. Professionalism and good music was our prescription, and we were ready to deliver it.

The event took place at the beautiful Carleton Hotel. This is one of those hotels that's either hit or miss if you are walking down the street and trying to locate the darn place—like I was a while ago. The second entrance to the hotel was situated ever so snugly between two of its restaurants, so much that I had to do a double-take at my site visit there to self-verify that I found my destination. The coolest factors included free parking and a direct passageway into the grand ballroom straight from the parking lot. Me like convenience. Convenience good.

I will start my gig deliberations with one positive factor: the guests. Right after I announced, "Welcome to Charlie and Hector's wedding celebration" at the beginning of introductions, resounding applause and cheers ensued. Ooooh…what a good vibe. It has been a while since I have worked with such a warm, loving and celebratory crowd, and Charlie and Hector brought the best people to their event. The couple and their wedding party walked into the uplifting electronic track "Sunchyme" by Dario G, and near the part of the song when the drums came in, I introduced the couple into the room to one of the loudest and most welcoming receptions ever. The guests cheered and clapped to the beat and started the evening off at a very high point. It's always a good sign of a probable successful evening when you know the crowd came to celebrate.

Matt and I played mostly 80s, new wave, disco, dance music, and some light Motown and funk sprinkled in the mix. Erasure was the somewhat "featured artist" of the night, as we hit four of their hits during the evening: "Always," "Star," "Chains of Love," and "A Little Respect." We even got away with the ill-fated "Electric Slide," which actually drew a good number of participants. Boogie-woogie-woogie they certainly did. Some of the more entertaining songs of the night included Mr. Big's guitar-laden "To Be With You," in which Charlie and his maid of honor Megan did a fun interpretive dance to. A boom-boom-boom-and-a-bang-bang-bang went Basement Jaxx's "Do Your Thing." The night ended with the rousing Olivia Newton-John tune, "Xanadu." Little did I know that a majority of the people who were there were going to: 1) scream, and 2) get out of their seats and back on the dance floor because of this song. Seems like "Grease" was not the word at this party. (Sorry, Olivia-dear.) The party ended at exactly 11:30pm…and thankfully, none of us turned into mice or pumpkins. We ended on time, much to the affirmation and gratefulness of the Carleton staff.

Everything was simply delightful about this gig. Heck, even the hotel was located on Pleasant Street—which is the truth! Ah, sweet irony. Charlie and Hector were such gracious hosts, and it was so rewarding to be their deejay for the evening. It was almost as if they were our patients, and we gave them a healthy dose of hospitality and great music. That's just what us doctor-deejays ordered.

– Brent Rolland, resident fig deejay