Bob Goldberg's 50th

For those deejays who don't know it, there is a lot of Bruce Springsteen music out there. No one would know that more than Bob Goldberg, a huge Springsteen fan. His wife, Susan, and 2 kids surprised him with a birthday party at the Hard Rock Hotel, here in Chicago.

Bob works in Chicago, and lives in Baltimore. He flys in weekly for business, so Susan's was not on his radar. That's exactly why Susan's plan worked to perfection. Bob was blown away by the party.

Where does Bruce come in? Bob's a huge Springsteen fan. I played a lot of Bruce, mixed in with other rock, throughout the night. "Hugry Heart", "Glory Days", "Born To Run", etc. Fig intern, Russell Furman, designed a 6 foot card board cut out of Bob jamming with Bruce Springsteen. Bob's face was photoshopped over the sax guy's face. fig media "We do cut outs"

Brian Carey
deejay, photographer

Michigan vs. N. Carolina

On Saturday, August 11th I attended and deejayed one of the most crazy wedding receptions I have ever been to. Chrissie and Drew threw it down and tied the knot at the Sofitel Hotel. They held their ceremony, cocktail hour, and dinner at the event. Emily and I were there to supply music for the dinner and dancing. The crowd was crazy fun, I announced everyone in to "This is How We Do It" Montell Jordan style that is. We threw down the classic nice jazz for dinner and into a hopping dance floor. A last minute first dance was put into the mix playing "Home Sweet Home" by Motle crew, with guitar solo by the groom. The crowd was awesome, so fun, and half the time I couldn't believe what I was seeing. A groomsmen took off his shirt and wore his vest and bow tie to bartend, a man pulled out the cloth from under the glassware and wore it as a toga, there were many dance offs, many inpromtu dances, like the Hora to Timbalands "Give it To Me," I mean I was going to slow it down and the bride and groom asked for "Give me that Nut" yes it was a wild party. Another favorite moment: a man jumping off our stage onto a high kick and then landing in the splits on stage, or how about the Michigan State song being played, and a battle off of the groom shouting the NC song. The night went another hour overtime, was a blast, and a gig I will never forget.

DJ: Megan Taylor
DJ Assistant: Emily Hard
Venue: Swiss Hotel

A TURKISH celebration

This past Saturday I had the privilage of DJing Ceylan and Efe's wedding reception. Ceylan booked us through a friend, and saw me at the Vera Wang event and asked if I could be her DJ. I committed and worked with them this summer to create an awesome Turkish affair. Ceylan is Turkish born in Chicago, Efe is Turkish and grew up in London. They are the cutest couple, both into IT work, and love music. Ceylan and I have a very similar taste in music, so for cocktails I played a lot of my own mix: Electric Boutique with a mix of old jazz and cook bossanova cocktail music. I emceed the evening with the support of my assistant Brent Rolland, played music for ceremony, cockatails, dinner, and dancing. A few exciting unique things about the event, my fav was a live painting by Ceylan's sister Ela during their first dance, also a live performance from Efe's brother Tarik to a piano, and Turkish music. This was my favorite part... playing off of an awesome CD that the couple gave me, I spent some time preparing and listening to the CD, and when it came time for the dance set it hit hard. It was first time in my DJ career where I was playing music I didn't know, but reading the crowd, going off of their recommendations, and playing from my gut. It was hot! I played a mixture of Tarkan (the Turkish Ricky Martin), Ricky Martin, Shakira, but not my white mtv girl shakira, the raw spanish hip twirling music. It was and is hot. So, that was my biggest win of the night.. of my international event.

Venue: Swiss Hotel
DJ: Megan Taylor
Assistant: Brent Rolland

Fig Mod Deal Strikes Again: Jessica and David

Jessica and David, hired fig this August to supply their mod deal expertise for their wedding at the River East Art Center. The event was classy, unique, elegant, and personal.

SOUND: I (Megan Taylor) was the lead DJ of the event. I loved how Jessica and David created a day of elegance and still kept their individual style present in the event. I began the day with the ceremony, playing cute and soft love songs from cool indie rock albums (Feist, Wilco, Iron and Wine, Magnetic Fields, Flaming Lips, Cat Power, Ryan Adams... ) as guests arrived. As they entered the River East Art Center the went into a room of white fabric designed by the fabulous Pavel of Kehoe. Then as they walked down the aisle I played the perfect set of Ryan Adams "It Takes Two", "End of the Line" Travelling Wilburys, and then as Jessica entered I played "Story" by Brandi Carlile. It was so perfect... Then the ceremony proceeded as we amplified the rabbi with a wireless microphone. The vows, kiss, and then the exit to "Jessica" by the Allman brohters.
I then made up a killer playsit with bossa nova and reggea music for upstairs. As people entered downstairs into dinner a band called Tributosaurus took over playing a lot of rock from the 60's and 70's, the singer rocked with a voice exact to Van Morrison. This was my first time doing band breaks... and can I say we (my assistant Matt Carlson and I) rocked. I created a dance floor so the band could take over, then did sets of disco/80's to keep the dancing alive.. by the end of the band they were begging for more. I threw in "You Shook Me All Night Long" and everyone went crazy, into "Walk this Way" which created a dance circle that brought out moves I haven't seen in 10 years. This event was awesome, I went staight to current music, played JT, Timbaland, Nelly Furtado.... the party was a total success.

I Left My Heart at A New Leaf

Jeanne and Joe had a freakin’ awesome wedding and reception at A New Leaf tonight. They were married in the courtyard and then went into cocktails, dinner, and then dancing. For a Sunday night, it was rockin’. Fig also did photography. Brian, James, and Joe were on photo. Myself and Alvin were on DJ. Going into dancing, I was a little worried. The reception was laid back with the only real structure being a few introductions going into speeches. We cut the cake later in the evening and were supposed to do a first dance, but the Jeanne and Joe said to just go into dancing. I announced that the dance floor was open and let the party happen. At A New Leaf, the DJ is on the mezzanine level and to get up there, you have to go up a long flight of stairs. It’s typically a challenge to get people up there, and it’s the kind of space where you just have to let the party happen and can’t really force the guests to do anything. We were ending dinner with some upbeat Motown and old R&B, lesser known but awesome tunes. So making the transition musically into dancing wasn’t difficult. We made the announcement, and just kept playing great music. We switched into more popular stuff, hitting Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson. The guests started coming up into the end of “Billie Jean” and I transitioned into “Promiscuous Girl” when they started dancing. Odd song to start off dancing for a wedding, but it worked. What I was thinking before they came up was what’s new and beat matches with Billie Jean and kind of fits with their song list. When I saw them coming, I started thinking, “Oh Crap. I’m not sure if this will work. They’ll walk all the way up, hear the song, and walk all the way back down.” I said, F it, and went ahead and played it. Worked great. We played another current song and then worked our way back in time. Another odd thing about the night was when we were packing up, the groom’s brother came up to me saying thank you and stuff, then he gets me three bumper stickers with the map of Oregon and a heart inside it. “I Left My Heart in Oregon” I believe is the slogan. That’s where he lives. That’s where my brothers live. Odd. Cool. Boss.

--Jonathan
Resident DJ, lead for the gig, DJ Operations Manager for fig, professor hood in the streets.

Argentina comes to the Michigan Shore

Tango. Horah. Small champagne grapes. At the Michigan Shores Club, fig deejays Brian Carey and Alvin Black III rocked the house for the Shea+Smud (pronounced smoood) with a varied mix of music, paying homage to Argentina, the motherland of the groom. Dinner started off with a mix made by Alvin combining jazz, tango, and some bossa nova to set the mood for the evening. Place settings were made using bouquets of flowers flanked by champagne grapes, as was the wedding cake. A little Ella + Louie was used for the first dance, Can't take that away from me. Some Argentine rock was supplied straight from the shores of South America to the fig decks, adding something new to the mix. Brian kicked off dancing with some some Motown classics, mixing in a bit of funk, which flowed into some 80's, then exploded into a short latin set by Alvin, which had a lot of the Argentine delagation singing along. The crowning achievement of the night however, was a brilliant, yet unorthdox idea from Brian -

while playing Shout, the brothers/cousins of the groom started to do a Horah. Quickly he pulled up a Horah, flowed out of Shout, did the Horah which got crazy - small children spinning, people almost falling over, all kinds of fun
- and then brought Shout back in.
The crowd goes wild.

Alvin played a pair of Tango songs, letting the dancers show their stuff. David, the groom, danced with one of his younger nieces for the second song, much to the enjoyment of everyone present. Ending the night, Brian started to play a rock set which went over well with both sides of the newly formed family. Finally, David had a special request to play Lily Allen's LDN, for his new wife, which Brian and Alvin gladly obliged. After that, a few slower latin and jazz songs completed the night.

Summing up the night muically:

• Shout
• Hava Nagila
• La Vida Es Un Carnival, Ceila Cruz
• LDN, Lily Allen
• You Shook Me All Night Long, AC/DC

Thats all folks.

written by Alvin Black III, assistant deejay

MediaBridge Youth Fest @ the Harold Washington Cultural Center

The usable and terse phrase "short but sweet" can be applied to many things in life. In regards to a deejay gig I had this past Sunday, no other saying could be more fitting. The MediaBridge program, offered through Facets Multi-Media, is a special film workshop series for international students aged 15-20 in which they get to learn about the movie-making industry and work on projects to enrich their education in film. August 12th was the end of the program for the students (lovingly named "Youth Fest), and a going-away party at the cavernous and beautiful Harold Washington Cultural Center, complete with exclusive film screenings and "autograph book" sessions among the staff and students, was in store for them. Being a former employee at Facets and an ongoing volunteer of the Chicago International Children's Film Festival, my relationship with the great people there (and a touch of God's favor!) led my partner Beth and I to deejay a portion of the good-bye party. I was nothing less than excited and ready to do so.

Here is where the term "short but sweet" comes into play: The gig lasted only thirty minutes. Yeeehp. That's all the time we were contracted to play. The sweetness, however, was that the kids and the Facets staff were, for lack of a better statement, getting their groove on. Originally, the requested music vibe was "hip, contemporary downtempo and acid jazz," but I decided to kick it up a notch. Besides, this was the last time the kids were going to be together, so why not have fun? My focus was on international artists: I played choice cuts from the electronic jazz band Four80East, Japanese songstress Mika Nakashima, and England's very own masters of smooth, Jamiroquai. I even threw in Sean Paul for the heck of it all. I totally love when I can step away from the "normal wedding stuff" and play music that I think others would enjoy. Everyone simply dug what I was spinning and beatmatching, and that affirmation was confirmed with dancing and a few "woooos!" here and there. It was disappointing when the MediaBridge group had to go back into the theater to finish watching their films, but I felt so good knowing that they were going back in with springs in their steps and smiles in their faces. It's amazing what a little good music can do.

Another "sweet" spot of this gig was working with Beth, who is one of our new interns. I had the privilege and joy of teaching Beth some of the tricks of the deejay trade, including simple things like how to cue songs, how to listen for beats in music, and how to time your transitions. During our car ride back to return the equipment to fig, Beth mentioned to me that she was "glad to be on this gig" and that she "learned a lot." Every gig is not as rewarding as such, and I only wish that it was. Albeit the gig lasted only a half-hour, the success Beth and I received from it will potentially lead us to more gigs with Facets—maybe even longer ones! But still, here's to hoping for more of life's "short but sweet" moments.

– Brent Rolland, resident fig deejay

Davy/Bower @ Spiaggia

On August 4th, 2007, Anne Davy and Tony Bowers were wed at Spiaggia's, located at Michigan and Oak St. in Chicago. The ceremony, cocktails, and reception were all held in the same cluster of spaces. Melissa and Myself set up in the dance floor section, and the ceremony was held in the next section. During the cocktail hour, the tables were placed, the center pieces were set, and the candles were lite. A Stem Above did the floral design.

The introduction of Anne and Tony was directly followed up by their first dance, "Into The Mystic" by Van Morrison. Shortly after, there were toasts and then dinner. Dancing was kicked off with the Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dances were together, followed by open dancing. The dance music consisted of a tasteful, yet absolutely fun, array of songs.

Memorable moment - The rich, chocolate aroma was seeping from the chocolate cake. We were able to smell the cake from across the room.

Brian Carey
deejay, photographer

Flynn/Rave @ The Signature Room

The fig media MOD deal consists of all three of our services provided for an event. In the case of Marisa Flynn and Martin Rave, the MOD deal best fit their wedding day. Starting out, the fig photography and cinematography crews documented the couple getting ready at the house in Laakeview. Upstairs Marisa (the Bride) was putting on her make up, examining her dress, and strategically adjusting every curl of her hair. In the meantime, Marty (the groom) was cuffing his sleeves, adjusting his tie, and waiting rather patiently for his bride to be. Marisa captivatingly strolled down the staircase and wowed Marty. The shots were being fired from the digital cameras, and footage was being captured on the video cameras. These brief, yet captivating, events were now priceless memories to be touched upon by the generations to come.

A limo ride took the Bride, Groom, Bestman and Maid of Honor to Wrigley Field, Millennium Park, and then over to the church in Lincolnwood. Photographer Brian Carey and videographer Melissa Martens went along in the limo with the Bridal Party, capturing the interactions of the group as they traveled around the city.

The reception was held at the Hancock buildings exclusive Signature Room, located on the top floor. The sunlight through the windows of the Hancock made for great was natural lighting. Marisa and Martin were introduce into the room and went directly into their first dance during the cocktail hour. After toasts and a blessing dinner was served. Fig artists, noticing a great opportunity, grabbed Marisa and Martin for a moment on the dance floor as the sun set in the distance.

Brian Carey
photographer, deejay

PASS@ the Millenium Knickerbocker

Airplanes. Nixon. Whitney. Salsa. Fig DJs Brian Carey assisted by Alvin Black III did a dinner+dance for PASS [Professional Airways Systems Specialists ]. This was their annual meeting of members from across the country, complete with a slideshow and a ice sculpture with the union's logo. A lot of motown, a bit of funk and world music was played to set the mood. There was a short speech thanking people for coming, and a couple of raffles. Then the dancing was on! An awesome dancefloor with illuminated tiles set the scene nicely, but it could've done more transitions to make it even more of an element of the party. Brian and Alvin split the decks for most of the night, playing a pretty diverse set, with funk and classic rock getting the strongest responses from a sometimes fickle crowd. Rappers Delight was a huge hit, with the crowd dancing for 7 minutes of the 13 minute marathon of a song. Another surprise hit was Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You, which a couple requested - it was their anniversary, and that was their song. When Brian and Alvin put the song on, slowly the dancefloor filled up with couples, which was completely surprising.
The big surprise of the night, however was the ending. A guest requested a salsa song, and after some initial resistance, the figDJs played one for her to practice her salsa moves. A few other women wanted to salsa as well, but were unsure of the steps.

Alvin to the rescue!

figDJ Alvin Black steps down to the dancefloor and proceeds to show the ladies the basics, much to their enjoyment. At the end of the song, he started to go back to the DJ table but was asked back by the ladies eager to learn. A final salsa was played, the night ended with lots of affirmation for the DJs and some good feedback from the guests [bring waltzes!].

Summing up the night musically:

• You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC
• Rapper's Delight by Sugarhill Gang
• Brickhouse by Commodores
• I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston

If you were wondering what Nixon had to do with the Knickerbocker, he stayed there during the 1952 Republican National Convention...

Word.

written by Alvin Black III, fig deejay

18th Birthday Party Extravaganza

Last Saturday I deejayed another 18th birthday party, the party was beautiful located on Lake Michigan at her parent's home in Winnetka. The party was tasteful with a beautiful tent, lights, and dance floor. I played upbeat fun dance music the whole night for parents and 18 year olds going back a forth, can be a tough combination, but I try to give equal rights to all music. There was an awesome dance crowd that emerged and kept going all night after 9pm. I would have to say the parents and Alison (the birthday gal) were the ones who kept the dance floor popping.

DJ: Megan Taylor
Assistan: Beth Redfern

DJing from the Principle's Office

Well I managed most of my life to stay out the my principle's office but this summer I had to back for a day to the principle's office. Tecate, a pharmaceutical company, donates their companies time every year to spending a day at a school that needs work on it's exterior and interior. They hire fig to keep spirits alive and help people forget about the heat. Last week Emily and I (Megan Taylor) spent a day with the crew cleaning up an elementary school in Waukegan. We played music inside and outside, ran speakers outside and ran music inside using the PA system. The day was fun with requests, music, interviews, principles, teachers, and a great team.

Lead DJ: Megan Taylor
Assistant DJ: Emily Hard

The Blue (Ball)

The Shedd hosted for the first time Blue, what was formally Shark Ball, at the end of July during Venetian Festival. The co-chairs hired fig to be the music experts and dj's for the event. The night included cocktails by the reef aquarium, with a fig dj Alvin playing cool lounge and bossa nova music. Then moved to the terrace where they had cocktails, and could mingle and lounge on pillows in the grass as the Venetian parade floated past. I (Megan Taylor) played music on the terrace and then traveled down into the cafeteria turned into lounge for dancing. The party brought in 800 guests and was held on a perfect night. This was definitely one of the most challenging DJ nights I have ever done. I ran a team of 4 people, in charge of 3 huge setups and only have one hour to do each. It was a challenge and a success as our fearless team pulled off a stellar night.

Lead DJ: Megan Taylor
Assistant DJ: Alvin Black, Melissa Martens, and Tanya Cascoe
Venue: Shedd
Catering: Shedd
Designer: Kehoe

DJ at the Grove

I deejayed a beautiful wedding with Jon at the Grove this past month. The couple Cheryl and John had a very intimate gathering for the celebration. One of my favorite characteristics at the Grove is the cozy feel and close community it creates. I have deejayed in the past there, and its location in the woods, being a small cottage, and size all create a very intimate wedding. I always feel I am a guest as well as a vendor there. Jon and I sat with the family during dinner and met relatives who shared great stories about the families air conditioning business and family history. I always feel it is a treat to be with guests and included. The night was so beautiful most people wandered outside as the room was being turned over, we were setup to play music inside, but found a fabulous way to rig up a speaker in the window to play music outside. It was so fun to run around the house and hear our music. I just love music. Dancing was spectacular and actually inspired the groom's daughter to email us and ask if they could shadow us. Super cool. jon and I were the perfect duo as the couple wanted a lot of current hip hop and old school house, two areas Jon and I know well. We were the perfect fit!

Lead DJ: Megan Taylor
Assistant DJ: Jon Hood
Producer: Andrew Ettenhoeffer

Lobo/Corey @ Hotel InterContinental

Erik Friedly and myself were situated at the lavish Hotel Inter-Continental to celebrate the marriage of Maria Lobo and Jason Corey. Sounds pretty rosy so far, right? Sure it does. There is more to the story, though: The couple had a concern around me being the best fit for their wedding, although I clicked well with the couple and I chose them based on their music list, which I was quite familiar with. Working with their producer (and one of our fellow deejays) on the event, Brian Carey, I made sure to make Maria and Jason feel super-secure by meeting with them twice, answering all their e-mails immediately, and serving their concerns. The back-end work was done well; the true test of my efforts was all in their wedding day. To make a long story short, the night went better than I hoped it would. Erik and I played every song off of their playlist—which included lots of fun, forgotten 80s tunes (i.e. "Situation" from Yaz and "Party Train" from the Gap Band) and some funk and 70s hits. The genres that Maria and Jason liked were the fortés of Erik and myself, and we were able to create a long-lasting dance party for the 150 people that were there. The synergy that we had with each other and the crowd led to us getting 30 minutes of overtime, which totally unexpected. I had my fears around Jason and Maria not being fully satisfied, but I let my fears go and simply played from the heart. We ended the night with "California Stars"—quite apt for two of Chicago's biggest Wilco fans. Our couple called us "terrific," which was very welcoming to hear. This was a night of good success and enjoyment, and I am glad that I focused on making the celebration fun, rather than surround myself with fear. That's what celebrating is all about.

– Brent Rolland, resident fig deejay

Total Event Resources/M&M Marscar @ Swissotel

Buenos dias!

Oh, no. I'm speaking Spanish. There must be something going on in my cabesa. Hee. Actually, the only factor that is contributing to this atypical effect is a recent gig that I did with my partner and friend, Erik Friedly. The Puerto Rican division of M&M/Mars, the company behind numerous famous candy specialties and pet food brands, was having a seminar at the classy Swissôtel to present new products and to celebrate their team and their success. We were hired by Total Event Resources to supply sound reinforcement and background music for these Spanish-speaking individuals.

The theme of the day was "auto racing;" that fact was highly apparent from the impressive decorations of real car tires, checkered flags, bright lights, and posters of famous auto racers posing with the hilarious red M&M from the commercials. All the attendees were clad in new baseball caps and sizzling-hot black-and-red track jackets, covered with a near-endless array of well-stitched logos of M&M/Mars properties. Wicked cool. The routine of the day was simple: Erik and I reinforced the clapping by fading in and out sounds of race cars. We played Latin and Reggaeton tracks for the introductions and walk-offs of the presenters as well. This was my first time ever playing Daddy Yankee—and actually feeling good about it.

I will be perfectly frank and honest in my opinion of this event: It was lohhhnnng. In a good way, of course! The gig was initially four hours long, but an extra five hours of agenda items were added on, making the entire event a total of nine hours. Holy frijoles…among other things. Erik and I used our break times very well, as we either ate or took time out to call clients or complete small assignments. Most of the day was like watching a Spanish broadcasting network; I kept looking around for a button on our mixer to turn on English subtitles (I wish our mixer had that option). I understood bits and pieces of the presentations. If anything, the only Spanish word that I instantly understood throughout the day was "Musica!" That was my cue to play music for the presenters and hosts. With all that said, the whole day went successfully well, and I ended the seminar with a dancy Latin set, including songs by Santana, Sergio Mendes and The Black Eyed Peas. Caliente.

So, maybe I could not understand everything that went on in this event, but I carried myself well and performed like a pro. Most importantly, I had fun, and I am certain the next gig I will be at will be enjoyable as well. Until then, hasta luego!

– Brent Rolland, resident Fig deejay

Friedman/Cabot @ Spiaggia

As a deejay, it never fails to pique my amazement how music plays such a part in the lives of the clients I am thankful to serve. For Jill Friedman and John Cabot, one of the warmest, most gracious couples that I have worked with, music was the basis of their wedding night. Their ceremony and celebration took place at the excellent Chicago Italian restaurant Spiaggia, complete with a cocktail hour, a full dinner buffet, loads of Italian dessert (can you say "gelato" and "bombolinos"?), and lots of dancing. Nearly everything that took place during the evening had some sort of musical background to it, which set the tone for the evening.

I simply loved the way the first of many dance sets started off: Jill and John came up to our microphone after their salads and said a few words right before doing their first dance to Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt's "All My Life." As I was instructed, in the middle of the song, I switched into Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell", and the couple started to do the twist—exactly like the Travolta/Thurman restaurant scene from Pulp Fiction! From there, my partner James and I (who was also the producer of this event) played everything from Robert Palmer to O.A.R. to Outkast. The most popular song of the evening was "Time Warp" from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, which nearly brought the entire 60-person crowd to the dance floor. I do not think that I have felt more comfortable behind the decks—I felt every song was a good choice and worked well with the audience. We celebrated from 6pm (when the ceremony started) all the way until two in the morning. I was astonished at the fact that my couple had more energy than me! Jill and John were super-grateful for us being there, and were elated about all the music that was played during the evening. I was one pooped, yet proud deejay, with a strong confidence in my heart that music made this night a success.

– Brent Rolland, resident fig deejay