Down for the Count at Dell's Great Gatsby Party in Marrakech
In June 2016 Down for the Count provided vintage entertainment at an international corporate event for DELL at La Mamounia Hotel, Marrakech.
We worked with the client, event planning agency, and Alive Network to create a unique, bespoke vintage 1920s entertainment package including the 6-piece version of our 1920s band The Lady Gatsby Band and fabulous interactive swing dance troupe The Vintage Swing Collective.
The Great Gatsby
The event was an extravagant Great Gatsby evening for the Dell’s top worldwide sales personnel. The event took place at La Mamounia – a hotel famously frequented by Winston Churchill in the 1950s. The hotel has recently undergone a 100 million Euro renovation and in 2015 was voted the best hotel in the world by Conde Nast Traveller.
The Hotfoot Strutters Dance Troupe
To add atmosphere to the event and to encourage guests to dance, we bought along a troupe of 12 professional swing dancers, who form part of our Vintage Swing Collective. Having professional swing dancers is a great way to get involved in the event and to add some theatricality to the proceedings.
The event was 1920s themed, with 350 guests dressed to impress. The evening started with a drinks reception and presentation in the world-famous Churchill Bar, before guests headed out to the pool area where they were greeted by a vintage Rolls Royce, food stalls, and entertainment from Down for the Count and the Hotfoot Strutters.
We started with the dancers performing live routines alongside the band whilst the guests made their way to the poolside for drinks and dinner.
Then after dinner, and once a few drinks had been consumed, the dancers started interacting with the crowd to give them a vintage party like no other - including fun interactive group dances by the poolside.
Bespoke vintage corporate event entertainment
Our brief was to provide three sets of bespoke live entertainment by the pool area, and we worked closely with the event company in the months leading up to the event to choose appropriate songs for the performance. We took songs performed by our Swing Orchestra and Lady Gatsby Jazz Band line-ups, and also orchestrated ten new songs especially for this performance.
The company wanted the first set to be of completely authentic 1920s music; we choose music inspired by The Great Gatsby, including tunes like Happy Feet, Puttin’ on the Ritz and Charleston.
In Set 2, we were asked to take modern songs and perform them in a 1920s style. Inspired by Postmodern Jukebox, we gave a retro spin to tunes like Crazy In Love, Gangsta’s Paradise and Careless Whisper – turning them into swinging arrangements true to the period.
To finish off the evening, Set 3 contained a mix of more recent swing music, with a range of jive and 1940s music to get all the audience dancing around the pool.
Audience Feedback
The event was a huge success, with great feedback for the band and dance troupe. Afterwards we spent a few days enjoying the wonderful city of Marrakech - staying in a riad, exploring the markets and souks and taking a trek into the Atlas mountains.
Your international event entertainment with Down for the Count
Find out how Down for the Count can transform your destination wedding or international corporate event. We have a huge range of bands available and can offer whole-day entertainment packages, with our musicians providing live entertainment for different sections of the event.
We can also create bespoke line-ups, like we did for Dell, where we take elements of our various line-ups and combine them to make something new and unique, which no-one has seen before.
Get in touch today and we'll start planning your international event - we can't wait to hear from you!
About the author
Mike Paul-Smith has over 18 years experience in delivering bespoke live music and entertainment packages for wedding receptions and corporate events across London, the UK and internationally.
He is the company director, pianist and musical director of Down for the Count.
