The "Original" Moonlighters ®

Ceremony pricing

Prices start at $250

Reception pricing

Prices start at $2,000

Category: Live Band or Ensemble

Type: Multi-piece live band

Genres: Jazz, Motown/Soul, Pop/Top 40s

About The "Original" Moonlighters ®

THE "ORIGINAL" MOONLIGHTERS ®

DC's #1 Motown and Variety Dance Band

Since 1990, The Moonlighters ® have been performing throughout the U.S. as one of the country’s best-loved and most authentic Motown and variety dance bands, covering all your Jazz/Blues/Oldies/Motown/Soul/Disco/Funk/Classic Rock/Pop favorites! Just close your eyes and you’ll swear the original artists are performing. But don’t close them for too long or you won’t be able to enjoy their outstanding dance moves and showmanship.

As seen again and again in our many rave reviews, The Moonlighters ® are dedicated, professionals truly committed to making each and every show an event to remember. Playing over 400 songs in a wide variety of styles, we range between three and thirteen pieces to fit any budget, while offering an authentic soulful sound that's guaranteed to keep your guests out on the dance floor...so don't delay, book us today!

Performance samples

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Services

Services

  • Band Backdrop
  • Ceremony microphones and sound
  • Confetti
  • Dance floor
  • Dancefloor lighting
  • Event planning
  • Fog/Snow machines
  • Learning new songs
  • Master of ceremonies
  • Multiple location support
  • Music during breaks
  • Parade/baraats
  • Signs
  • Sound system capability audience <300 -
  • Sound system capability audience >300

Musical genres

  • Jazz
  • Motown/Soul
  • Pop/Top 40s

Event types

  • After party
  • Cocktail hour
  • Engagement party
  • Farewell brunch
  • Other
  • Rehearsal dinner
  • Wedding ceremony
  • Wedding reception
  • Wedding shower
  • Welcome party

Reviews

Write a review

3.7 (3 reviews)

  • Rebuttal to Merin V.

    Verified review
    •Will Goldman•8 months ago

    We're quite saddened by their google review, posted even before we had a chance to actually speak with them to clear up several serious inaccuracies. Our band has HUNDREDS of positive online reviews/satisfied wedding clients. And we'll always accept valid criticism. But this one is mostly false and unfair. As Zola does not provide the option for responding to negative reviews, the following are our comments: 1. Since the bride and groom hadn't hired a wedding planner everything was extremely disorganized as we received their timeline just one week prior to the event, but then they changed it twice more, including two days before. Despite asking for our bandleader's phone #, the groom never reached out to discuss any of these details. In other words, we were given minimal direction in regard to all of the last-minute changes. Even on the wedding day itself, our band was asked to set and reset their equipment multiple times because the bride and groom disagreed with the onsite coordinator's floor plan, moving/resetting the bride and groom table as well! 2. According to what the photographer told us, the bride and groom's limo driver was over 90 min. late, shifting the entire timeline and putting them in a bad mood from the very beginning, as noticed by our bandleader at around 5:15pm when he first introduced himself, prior to the band providing either live or recorded music. 3. Regarding the recorded music, it was only lacking for approx. 45 min. as the band discovered the phone battery issue at approx. 7:45pm, during their first break, quickly rectifying the situation by putting the phone on a charger and then continuing with the recorded music outside from approx. 8-10pm. Furthermore, they made up for it by keeping their system running for an extra 30 min., beyond our contracted time of 11pm. And those comments regarding the afterparty are also totally untrue as somebody from the band was manning the system, until a cousin of the bride or groom demanded that he use her playlist instead, and then she responded angrily when he finally turned off the system at 11:30pm. 4. As for the band's sound system, we do acknowledge some 'hum' issues as there was just one electrical outlet provided for the entire band, resulting in 'dirty power' which couldn't be fully corrected. And we deeply regret mispronouncing the various names as most were very unfamiliar and of Indian origin, despite our lining up the wedding party in advance and writing everything down phonetically. 5. Even though some of the client's emails mentioned solo keys during cocktails, we provided a duo, covering an extra 30 min. of recorded music from 4:30-5pm at no extra charge, as requested. While it's standard practice for a band to take a dinner break during an almost six hr. event, this was clearly-specified in our contract as well. And then we performed continuously from 8:30-10pm, including most of the requested songs that we had prepared well in advance. So their comments about seemingly just 'walking off a bus' are completely false and misleading. In other words, our musicians went 'above and beyond' in spite of some very challenging circumstances. 6. Fortunately, we did receive a 'happy reaction' with a crowded dance floor and TONS of compliments from the guests, some requesting pictures w/the band too, while even the bride and groom were singing along and dancing non-stop, which we were VERY happy to see, making their negative review even more surprising though!

  • Awful experience

    Verified review
    •Merin V•8 months ago

    This was an awful experience and I would never recommend this band for a wedding. We had to get multiple different people talk to them to figure out what they were doing. At one point they just gave up and left to drink and eat and played an instrumental from one of the playlists we gave them in the main ballroom. There was a buzzing feedback sound the entire time, our guests could barely hear each other. You could not hear the guests speech (best man, maid of honor, parents). The guests were yelling into the microphone to try to cancel out the feedback. They mispronounced our new LAST NAME.. They mispronounced every single person who walked down for their entrance. My parents didn’t even get their names announced. They claimed that our names were too ethnic because they were Indian in origin but they even mispronounced names like Matt, Katrina, and Catherine. I gave them a list with all of the important names ahead of time and within those 2 months not a single person reached out to practice or run them through with me before the actual event. My maitred eventually had to substitute herself in and take over being MC. This was after I had confirmed with the band whether they would be able to MC for our wedding since we weren’t sure if they were solely a band. To which they said they definitely can provide MC services. We paid 500 for outdoor speakers. Their phone died and no one was manning that station so we had no outdoor music for 2 hours after cocktail hour out of 5 hours that we paid for. Every other part our wedding was perfect and they people simply undid the work of a year with your lack of coordination, lack of communication, lack of ownership, and lack of experience with modern day sound system. If they could not MC, they should have told us so we could at least have a family member step in to take over. They announced the mother son dance and then played the father daughter song. My family was performing a dance, they announced it, and immediately started playing the music without waiting for anyone to stand up and get into formation. The whole thing was truly a train wreck. The band itself could play music and put on a performance which they finally did for 1 hour but they were absolutely lost regarding the workings of a wedding. They were given no direction and seemed like they walked off a bus to a wedding they knew nothing about. They include a “DJ” service on their contract for the after party but the band stood and watched as a guest took over. It wasn’t until the week of the wedding that William told us we needed to make a playlist for the outside patio after we asked for a specific vibe (instrumentals) for the outside. I’m shocked they state to be a wedding band yet cannot perform core duties and expect a happy reaction from your clients. In my opinion, this was the worst part of our wedding. Multiple guests expressed complaints and frustration from the way they handled MCing the event. Even after reaching out to them via email, they blamed us and said we had unreasonable expectations and that nothing could have made us happy. William, the agent who was the only one communicating with us noted that we were defaming the band and refused to have a phone call with us. He asked us multiple times to remove the google review without ever acknowledging how much he messed up our wedding or providing any other kind of reprieve. Please avoid this band on your special day!

  • Fantastic Performance!

    Verified review
    •Graham Haulsee•10 months ago

    This band was excellent to work with and sounded very tight, it was clear they have worked together for a long time. The Moonlighters are true professionals, and put on the best show that we could have hoped for our big day. We really appreciate them so much. Everyone had a blast, and we’ve received so many compliments on how great the band was. Book this band for your event!

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