Wow!!!
Sam,
I want to thank you again for our now 5 year partnership with our fundraising program. I’m sitting here at 11:05pm on the second night of our double feature to draft this e-mail although you’ll notice I didn’t send it until Monday. I wanted to be sure to write you from both the immediate impression from the shows and then after I’d slept on it.
In all transparency, I asked Matt and Amanda if there was something I should message you in our usual post-performance conversation to tell you how stellar your performers were. Matt suggested that I just focus on what actually happened and give some feedback to you as their boss who wasn’t able to be in attendance. So, without further adieu:
- Chemistry – I’ve had Matt for three shows and he never fails to impress. Without a doubt, his chemistry with Amanda (despite not performing together often, to my understanding) was top notch. Multiple people asked me how long they had performed together due to their ability to roll off each other, banter back and forth, play together, and trade off based upon what songs they new. I asked them following the second performance how often they played together and Matt replied that good professionals are able to create that chemistry kinda quick.
- Stage Presence – I convinced my mother to come to Quincy for this show. It’s the fourth time in nine years that she’s come up to visit me. She brought two of her brothers-in-law with her. I asked her what she thought of the show and she went on and on about Matt and how she loved the way he interacted with the crowed and got everybody engaged (even when she got tagged to stand and dance like a rocket city Rockette). She was pretty pissed that I took a video of it, but she said that it was one of the many highlights of her night. I then asked my uncles. My uncle, Tom, was enamored with Amanda. So I asked my uncle Rob who is more logical minded and he was very impressed with how both Amanda and Matt were on the same level of skill and could play back and forth. He was impressed with how quick Amanda could sing lyrics legibly i.e. Macarena and whatever that song is by M&M (I like the ones with the peanuts). I spoke with a few people in my Kiwanis club who attended. They had never seen a Dueling Piano show before. They were amazed that we host an event of this caliber with talent this impressive. I then asked the Bar Tender (who was dressed like a bee for Halloween) who sees lots of shows, weddings, bands, etc. She was very thankful she traded a shift to work this event instead of a wedding. She also made a killing at the bar thanks to the performers promoting people to refill their cup. In turn, I did my best to keep Matt and Amanda well hydrated…
- Show Format – This being the first year of having a double feature, I fully expected to hear the same set of music with some songs swapped in based upon the requests that Amanda and Matt solicited. I must say that the three of us (me, our CEO, and one of my employees) who attended both shows were entertained all six hours of the shows. The hits were replayed (Don’t Stop Believing, Bad Bad Leroy Brown, Great Balls of Fire, etc) but there were many more pop songs, classic rock songs, and many piano bar standby’s that I’d never heard before. I guess the way I’d summarize this bullet point is that I’m very pleased with the way Matt and Amanda were able to read the room to cater to the dancers, the toe tappers, the singers, the younger people, and the older folks.
- Singing & Performing – Amanda singing quick, Matt rocking the classics, the trade off between male and female singers, Matt’s ability to rile up the crowd, Amanda’s ability to engage the audience. Zero complaints here.
- Setup & Take Down – Pfft. I guess if I’m trying to give you feedback as a performance-review-style I’d have no complaints here. I do like that they set up between 1:00 and 1:30pm vs the last several shows were closer to 4:00pm. As the organizer/promoter it gave me more peace of mind and I didn’t sit there double and triple checking that I’d plugged in the right date and location.
- Three Hour Show vs Two Hour Show – I like the longer show. That may become our new thing.
As we’ve discussed over the years that I’ve been your customer, I’d recommend you to the ends of the earth and I pretty well think that rainbows flow out of your company’s rear. This year raised the bar once again. One day, I’d still like to have you (the man, the myth, the legend) come perform. Matt tells me that you’re stellar and he bases his stage-presence off of you (while Amanda smiled and nodded). However, I’d take the Matt/Amanda combo back any day.
I did ask if you would share my feedback with them, they assured me that you usually do send them positive and negative feedback. There’s nothing in this e-mail that I didn’t tell them to their face or wouldn’t have told them to their face if I’d thought of it before we split ways.
