Apollo soul came to Shustoke Farm Barns on Wednesday 8th of August, to perform for Mrs and Mrs Hastelow wedding. After the initial booking via their band hire website Apollo Live everyone was ready for the big performance.
The day started off great, the sun was shining, and the drinks were flowing, unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worse and it started the rain. That did not stop all the wedding guests from enjoying themselves, they were outside until the band had finished setting their gear up.
The wedding band arrived at six o’clock, they started to load their gear in through the bands and supplier entrance to avoid interrupting the guests. They started with loading the keyboard in to the venue, which was a Roland F140R, this particular Roland keyboard had weighted keys with an ivory touch and a sleek compact design. Next on the agenda was to set up the P.A, Apollo Soul use RCF ART 735-A speakers, this particular brand of speaker are notorious for their reliability on the road and consistent quality at every show you play, the bass cuts through and it allows the vocals to cut through nicely for the audience.
Next they set up the drum kit and the lights, James the drummer uses a Yamaha custom kit with red paint work, he also uses a signature Benny Greb snare, this particular snare has sentimental value to him because he went to meet Benny Greb and he signed the drum for James. Apollo Soul then proceeded to set up and light stage. Apollo soul use wireless LED par cans which are great because they eliminate wires and in turn help with the overall cleanliness of the stage area.
Apollo Soul were set and ready by half seven, all that was left now was to round up the guests and proceed with the first dance and cutting of the cake. The bride and the groom opted to have a cake that was not considered to be traditional, they had one sponge cake on the top layer with white icing and then a few trays of cupcakes surrounding the main cake. Apollo Soul then entered on to the stage suited and booted ready to perform the bride and grooms first dance. The first dance they had chosen was a classic song that never ages Ben E.Kings Stand by me, the song started with male vocalist Corey young taking the verses, shortly after the chorus kicked in Victoria Haslam joined Corey with some beautiful harmonies.
With the formalities now out the way Apollo Soul proceeded with their set, playing hit after hit of classic songs from the last few decades, some of these songs were, Lady marmalade by Christina Aguilera, Superstition by Stevie wonder and Somebody else’s guy originally performed by Jocelyn Brown. Apollo soul went on to perform two one hour sets over the course of the evening, keeping the dance floor entertained all evening. After the wedding band had exited the stage at eleven o’clock, Lucasz,the bands Sax player came back to the stage and proceeded to play with a live DJ, It created a whole new vibe, it was as so the whole room was transported to Ibiza’s hottest night club.
Once the DJ Sax set was over the DJ, James Burgess continued to play the bride and grooms requests until 1.am. After that the night came to close with the song, Time of your life, from the sound track of the movie Dirty Dancing. The bride and groom had one last dance and then thanked their friends and family for making their day so special.