Reviews

Down For The Count first appeared at The Twinwood Festival in 2013, and immediately after their performance I went straight onto the stage and booked them again, which as a promoter was something I had never done before! I was so impressed with their performance. This young, accomplished and enthusiastic band is a breath of fresh air on the Swing Scene today. Their repertoire and style is great for theatres, dances, weddings and corporate functions. In fact they will go down well anywhere!  

Hi Mike, I hope you are well. Apologies for the belated email, this week seems to have run away! I just wanted to send you a quick email to say thank you very much for performing on Sunday. The band were amazing. Perfect for a sunny Sunday afternoon! The feedback we have had from the guests has been really good, and seeing people up and dancing summed up the fun, relaxed, enjoyable afternoon we all had. Please pass our thanks on to your band members.

Very polished professionals but also friendly and down to earth – no prima donnas!

Hi Mike, back from honeymoon now and trying to get back in to the swing of going to work, but before we do that, we wanted to write to thank you guys for making an amazing wedding day even more special. We can honestly say that you were truly outstanding and surpassed all our expectations. You will be pleased to hear that everyone we spoke to, from the guests, to the photographer (Haywood Jones Photography even mentioned you on her Facebook page) as well as the venue staff, all said that you were by far the best wedding/function band (I don’t like those labels as it pigeonholes you far too much, but you get my drift) they have had the privilege to see perform. So many thanks again.

David and I have just returned from honeymoon and want to thank you for being so fantastic on our wedding day! The entire band were excellent and we had so many compliments about how great you all were. We also really appreciate how flexible you were given the extraordinarily hot weather we all had to face (there were one or two casualties to the heat). I'm glad people managed to brave the Hall at the end of the night to hear you because you truly were a fantastic band. Thanks again!

Hi Mike Although two days on I'm still a little delicate from my party which actually ended as the sun came up, I wanted to convey my thanks to you and the band as soon as possible. I think I managed a thank you on the night but I suspect that that was probably more of a drunken slur. So here it is. Thank you! Music is something that is really important in my life and having failed miserably to master the trombone and play jazz, I now find myself listening endlessly to all types of music. Having spent some considerable time selecting your band for the types of music you play and listening to your online music for the right sound, I knew I was going to enjoy hearing you play. I was however a little nervous as to whether everyone else would enjoy my music preferences. I have however been completely blown away by the response. If you ever need a reference all 106 of my guests will provide one as I doubt there is anyone who hasn't raved about your performance. The most common comments are about the range of music you play, interestingly/pleasingly how much you appeared to enjoy playing for us, and finally (a comment which made me smile) several wives/girlfriends commented that until my party and your music they hadn't managed to get their respective partners on the dance floor since they first met! We really needed a bigger dance floor. Please do pass on my thanks and comments to your band members. In your first email you asked what you should play for my first dance at my wedding. If I ever get married and it's in the UK then I'll let you know...

We have used this band twice for our Winter Balls. They are always on time, professional and more importantly are great performers who know how to get everyone dancing.

Hi Mike, a big thank you to you and the band for Friday. Everyone mentioned how amazing you were!

The band was fantastic, I really enjoyed them and the feed back I got from other people was the same. I will keep them in mind for next year depending on what we decide to do.

Dear Mike et al, Thank you all so very much for such wonderful entertainment last night. Everyone commented on how brilliant you all were, you made the party a night to remember for us. Hope everyone had enough food and drink etc and that there were no problems on the night for you, and you all got home safely. Will be handing out your card to everyone.

The Get Downs were absolutely amazing and were instrumental in making our evening unforgettable. We had a Great Gatsby theme in a lovely marquee and the band ensured their choice of music fitted in perfectly with the theme - swing and Rat Pack. The singer was sensational and the whole band looked great. My dad was at the opening of Ronnie Scott's in London and even he was bowled over by the band - he thought their music was divine. I would highly recommend the band.

  We got married in the summer of 2012 and hired The Get Downs Lite for our wedding day. Before going into more detail, to summarise, we were absolutely thrilled to have The Get Downs Lite play at our wedding. We thought they did a fantastic job and really helped to make our wedding day so special. We have received so my compliments about the band. Now for a little more detail...

Choosing The Get Downs Lite

We found Mike Paul-Smith Music through internet searches which are a little daunting as they are a step into the unknown. However, Mike’s (the band leader) communication was amazing from the outset. He discussed configurations, set list and prices. Other bands we researched just did not seem to have that level of professionalism, versatility in music and customer focus that Mike Paul-Smith Music have in abundance. Their website is also fully representative of their ability. How they sound in their videos is how they sound in real life. We just did not get that level of comfort from other bands we looked at. We were even fortunate enough to see the band perform in a South London bar. This made the decision for us very easy as they performed so well and were very approachable and friendly in person. Mike’s care and attention deserves special merit. Every time we called or emailed we got a near instant response. He was happy to discuss any idea and answer any question swiftly. No other wedding supplier was so helpful, fast and diligent. Mike was also excellent when dealing with the venue. We wanted the 7-piece configuration of the band, but are venue had a rule that restricted bands to 5-pieces. Mike was pro-active and helpful by speaking with the reception venue coordinator and negotiated for us to have the 6-piece as a compromise. This was a relief and it was great to be able to rely upon them for this.

The Big Day

For our first dance, we wanted the Swing number ‘Sing, Sing, Sing’. This was not in the band’s original repertoire for a 6 piece. However, they were happy to accomodate us and even sent us a recording of the song before the wedding. In terms of the set play list: the song selection was full of energy and well balanced. Our guests, from young to old, had an amazing time and enjoyed all the songs. We had Swing/big band music to start, followed by soul and Motown classics. Everyone enjoyed themselves because of the enthusiasm, the calibre of singing (thank you Nicky, you have an amazing voice, remarkably suited to such a wide range of genres) and the standard of the musicians. The bands also brought their own lighting which was ideal (not too much that it overwhelmed the room, but enough to create a fabulous atmosphere). Another great benefit of The Get Downs Lite is the "auto-DJ service". You choose the music you want to be played once the band’s set have finished. Many other bands try to charge you extra for a DJ, but the band do this as a free extra for 30 minutes after their performance. In addition to excellent communication, we really appreciated the bands flexibility on various issues. From the song list to facilities, and set running times to food, they were extremely accommodating. Even when we wanted to delay the second set to accommodate some timing changes on the day, this was done with no fuss. The biggest compliment of all and testament to their quality was the fact that our dancefloor was constantly packed throughout the night until the very end. We have heard it said from several friends that "they had never seen a Bride dance so much". Anyone who organises a wedding knows how many things there are to do. Mike Paul-Smith Music really took the stress out of hiring a band and did an amazing job. What makes Mike Paul-Smith Music stand out form other bands? 3 things: 1. Talented singers and musicians 2. Professionalism and lovely people to deal with 3. Excellent value We could not be happier. Thank you.

Not knowing at all where to start planning a wedding, I asked friends for recommendations on everything from florists to dresses to wedding music. A friend of ours, who wouldn't mind me saying is quite tough to please, unreservedly recommended The Get Downs and said that at his wedding, even if everything else had gone wrong (which thankfully it didn't!), it would have been a fantastic day just for having The Get Downs perform. So off we went to their Christmas Concert and booked right up. Right from the start, Mike treated us as friends and went out of his way in many ways to help make sure everything was just right and 'us' - and it absolutely was! The band are wonderfully professional and on such a busy day it was great to know we could just trust them to sort everything and they blew everyone away! We had a good number of professional musicians in our midsts and all said how brilliant the band was and how much they'd enjoyed the music - praise indeed! It's a lot of responsibility to make a recommendation of any kind for someone else's wedding but I am enthusiastically following my friend's lead and recommending The Get Downs all over the show!

Hi Mike, Huge apologies for taking so long to write to you...time has simply flown past since the wedding and now, on Wednesday morning, we finally leave the UK. Thank you. Thank you all so, so much for providing such brilliant music and entertainment! I loved every single moment, and though I wasn't there dancing all the time, I was listening everywhere I went. I was disappointed that more people weren't up and dancing, however I have since found out that Dan put the Olympics on. Had I gave known about this I'd have turned the TV off! However, given that it turned out to be the biggest night for GB I guess I can let him off... We have decided that we will have a party for our tenth anniversary. I'm working on Dan because I actually want one a lot sooner than this and will, without a doubt, want you guys to be there again. We had so many compliments about the music played and each time I did manage to get in the dance floor I had the best time! Take care.

Dear Mike, Many thanks for the amazing set on our wedding day. Honestly we had a blast and so did all of our guests. We could not stop talking about how fabulous you all were. A very special thank you from Paul and I for learning our first dance, it was truly beautiful. Best Wishes and thanks again.