Everyone files into the Hall of Excellence, talking loudly over the thrumming music. The whole room vibrates to the beat of the song, and students immediately feel the energy building in the room.
“We’ll have a DJ from the same company that did Homecoming and Prom last year,” said Homecoming organizer Carol Galyan. “They’ve done this before, so they know the ropes and how to pick the music.”
This year, at the Homecoming Dance, there will be a DJ named Nathan representing AMS Entertainment playing the music. Jason Ryan, the sales associate at AMS Entertainment commented on the company’s policies while picking music.
“Obviously we have to pick music that’s appropriate for schools,” Ryan said with a laugh. “But we get our music directly from radio stations. So all of the songs are actually radio edits.”
Getting their music from the source ensures that AMS DJs know which songs are most popular at the time. All of the DJs must stay updated on new music to be certain that their playlists receive the best response possible from the audience.
“We choose our music based on requests, of course,” he said. “It’s also based on how the crowd is feeling and reacting.”
While entertaining, the musicians are also observing the crowd and gauging the level of interest students have in certain songs. While some songs have to be cut out of the playlists, others have remained crowd-pleasers through generations of music.
“There’s such a huge span of music, so it’s not hard at all to find songs that get people on the dance floor and are still appropriate,” he said confidently. “We have current music like ‘Watch Me,’ but ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ still gets people dancing and screaming.”
Music changes everything about an event: from its popularity with the students to the songs that get stuck in their heads afterwards. Music creates energy in a crowd, and it’s one of the main aspects that makes any event fun. With experienced entertainers from a highly-rated company, this year’s Homecoming Dance is sure to start and end on a high note.
