Sid Miller Blog

I am very excited to inform you that the Sid Miller Dance Band will be performing at The Parx Casino and Racetrack on Sunday, May 16. This event is free and open to everyone 21 years and older. Play the slots and e-tables, dine at one of their three restaurants and join us at Club 360 from 4PM to 8PM. We'll be playing your favorite songs from the 60's to todays' hits, and maybe some big band tunes from the 40's & 50's if requested. We hope to see you there!

-Sid

We have made many technical improvements in the band for this year which will make our sound the best it can be. We have new state of the art wireless vocal mics for each of the singers, new stage monitors and PA speakers, a new 30 band digital equalizer, as well as a new 32 channel mixing console. We also will debut our new music stands. The members of my band and I are really looking forward to another year of creating joyfull and fun-filled parties for our clients and their friends and relatives.

Joe has accomplished alot in his professional career. He has performed with Ringo Starr, Charlie Daniels,The Dixie Dregs, The JB's (James Brown's horn section). Bootsy Collins and Parliament Funkadelic, Vinnie Colaiuta (Sting,Chick Correa, & Jeff Beck's drummer, just to name a few), Jimmy Haslip (bassist with The Yellowjackets, Chaka Khan & Bruce Hornsby), George Duke, David Ruffin, and Eddie Kendricks. Joe also was the musical director for Grammy Award winner, Michael Sembello (former guitarist for Stevie Wonder). He has also had the honor of winning the John Lennon Song Writing Contest.

I've known Joe Mass for about fifteen years, and his loyalty and committment make me feel extremely excited to have him as an integral part of The Sid Miller Dance Band.

The Sid Miller Dance Band had a great time this past Sunday at the wedding reception of Meredith and Justin Durst. It was held at the Skytop Lodge in the Poconos. The Skytop Lodge just built a new wing for private parties, and it’s beautiful.

The guests and the bride and groom were wonderful to us. The bride’s parents were very gracious offering us a lobster or a New York strip steak entree during our break. We enjoyed it very much; we were all very hungry since we left Philly at 6AM so some of us could arrive to do the wedding ceremony at 11AM.

The wedding reception was like a dance-concert. Most of the guests were dancing and those who weren’t, were watching the band. The dancers as well as the listeners applauded enthusiatically after just about every song that we performed. When we took our break, almost every one of the guests stood up and gave us a standing ovation! It felt great to be appreciated in that manner.

The role of the band leader is crucial in terms of the success of a party. The band leader and maitre’d’s role in the making of a great party is often overlooked, but is paramount in importance so that every minute runs smoothly and seamlessly without wasting any precious time.

The Sid Miller Dance Band had the opportunity to perform at two wedding receptions this past weekend.

On November 28 we were at The Drexelbrook performing at the wedding reception for the bride and groom, Jenn and Joe Gallagher. Working with the staff and especially the maitre’d, Cheryl, was a pleasure. We worked together to make the party great for the bride and groom and the guests. I was very impressed with the professionalism of the staff and the beauty of the ballroom.

On November 29, we had the opportunity to perform for the bride and groom, Ilanna and Ronnie Shmoel’s wedding reception. It took place at the Crystal Palace in Livingston NJ, a few minutes from NYC. The name of this venue is totally appropriate. It is a beautiful banquet facility, crystal chandeliers, gold inlays and gorgeous marble everywhere. The groom’s side of the family practices Orthodox Judiasm, and hired the Israeli/Arabic band, Ronnie Shalom, to play dance music during two segments of the evening’s celebration. They were incredible! 

There were so many details that needed to be addressed during the evening, so working with a great maitre’d at the reception was very important to the success of the party. The evening’s agenda was filled with many details. Nella, the maitre’d was wonderful; we worked very well together to make sure that every detail was attended to, as a result, the party was a total success. Everyone had so much fun dancing to the modern Israeli music and the music of the Sid Miller Band.

It was definitely a memorable weekend!

Here are some more photos of the band.

We had the opportunity of playing our third wedding reception of this year at the beautiful Rehoboth Beach Country Club in Rehoboth Beach Delaware. Cheryl Ramano, the banquet manager, is a pleasure to work with. Here are a few photos from the last time we performed there.

The party we did for Ward and Dena at the Ritz Carlton was amazing! Because the bride and groom requested it, we had the opportunity to perform one of my favorite Al Green tunes, “Love and Happiness”, as well as a musical tribute to Michael Jackson, which included “I Want You Back”, “ABC”, “Billie Jean”, “Don’t Stop Till You get Enough” and “Thriller”. The guests loved it and we really enjoyed playing those songs with authenticity, the way they should be played.

I want to thank a great artistic photographer, Mike Allebach, who took some fantastic action shots of the band while we were performing that evening. When I receive them, I’ll put them up on this site.