Last Saturday night, Premier Piano Shows’ Randy Keith took a break from dueling piano entertaining during dinner at this year’s Women’s Business Owners of North Florida. Instead, he entertained the crowd of nearly 60 women with just his baby grand piano and microphone.
The event took place at the Omni Championsgate in Orlando. Following a few announcements and giveaways, the dnce party started with the ladies singing rounds of “Sha la la’s” to Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl.”
“They told me it was going to be ‘a group of ladies’ that really likes dancing,” said Randy Keith, a piano bar entertainer since 2004. “The request list I received ahead of time had real classics like “The Locomotion,” “Twist and Shout” and the “YMCA,” which I of course did.
Later on in the night, after many of the ladies frequented the bar, the dancing continued and got a little more boisterous. Many were ffamliar with the “Electric Slide” but got new lessons in dances like the “Cupid Shuffle” and the “Cha Cha Slide,” made famous in more recent years.
“I thought I was back in the raunchy piano bars I started in,” Keith commented, as he noticed some of the ladies start to throw articles of clothing at the bartender. “One minute, I was playing ‘the Locomotion’ and ‘YMCA,’ and the next minute I saw the bartender act like he was putting on the brassiere one of the ladies had thrown onto the dance floor. I didn’t realize it was going to be that kind of party.”
While that moment was a bit surprising both to “The piano man” as well as the hotel event staff, it became just one of many songs over the 3-hour show that were filled with genuine fun and appreciation for great music, singing and dancing.
Aside from the dancing, the female contingent sang along with all the piano bar classics: Piano Man, Sweet Caroline, Sweet Home Alabama, and Bennie and the Jets.
And then the late night crowd enjoyed dancing to “Baby Got Back” and “The Wobble.” According to both Keith and the hotel staff, this group was definitely one of the most fun small parties they’ve entertained this year.
BEFORE THE SHOW
“Oh it’s a real piano!” One of the attendees said as she walked into the ballroom. When she heard there would be a piano player during the dinner event, she assumed the entertainer would bring a keyboard, so she was surprised to see a baby grand piano.”
Randy Keith, owner and lead performer at Premier Piano Shows, says “II love when people say that. I’m not here to trick anyone, I’m just here to deliver a great product. My piano may not have strings but it looks a lot better than just a keyboard on a stand.”
Keith is referring to the faux baby grand pianos (also referred to as “shells”) that he uses for his solo and dueling piano performances. “It’s the industry standard, even for top-tier famous artists. It just doesn’t make sense to haul around and tune a real piano when you can get the same (or arguably better) sound out of a keyboard with a facade.” It’s also a huge cost saver for the client, since real pianos require an entire crew to tune and move in a timely fashion.
Using digital pianos (or keyboards) in a live setting adds huge versatile, with the ability to move equipment easily and set a precise sound level as desired by event guests.
Want to see the baby grand digital pianos in action? Fill out our contact form below and let us know how we can make your event a “musical experience you’ll never forget!”
