Entertainment Feature - The Weekly News
By: Dick Conklin
I remember when Gary’s Pub used to have live entertainment, which frankly I miss. But the other night we stopped at Gary’s and heard some great sounds coming from the dance floor at the back. OK, it wasn’t live music, but the sound system was excellent, and the light show reminded me of the disco era, something like a Marathon version of Saturday night Fever. Sam the DJ was playing a variety of sounds from yesterday and today, and we couldn’t resist getting out in the dance floor. I may not be John Travolta, but we sure had a great time. Sam definitely knows how to jazz up a party.
Sam Demming came to the Florida Keys and Marathon from the Virgin Islands 12 years ago. With a large collection of music, he can play jut about anything dancers want to hear, including hip hop, rhythm and blues, alternative, rap, Top 40, disco, oldies, light rock, reggae, and Latin salsa. I watched Sam react to his audience. If several couples danced to a particular number, he would play a series of the same kind of music to keep them on the dance floor. It worked. In this business, you have to be flexible, and he is.
Sam is currently playing dance music on weekends at Gary’s Pub and Billiards. On Friday nights between 10 p.m. and midnight Samlikes to play Rock and Roll Flashback and Top 40 music, such as AC/DC’s “you Shook Me All Night Long” and “Sharp Dressed Man” by ZZ Top. Others include Beyonce Knowles’s “Crazy in Love”, Sean Pauls’s “Get Busy”, and Matchbox Twenty’s “Unwell”. Between midnight and 3:30 a.m. he plays mostly hip-hop and rap, featuring song’s like P.Diddy’s “Shake Your Tail Feather”, Lil Jon’s “Get Low” and Ludacris’ “Act a Fool” which was featured on the recent soundtrack of the recent movie, “2 Fast 2 Furious”).
On Saturday nights Sam the DJ switches to disco funk and “old school” numbers like “Brick House”, “Play that Funky Music”, and “last Night a DJ Saved My Life”.
Sam the DJ ,ay not save your life, but he can sure put some rhythm into it. In addition to his weekend gigs at Gary’s, he can often be found at hawk’s Cay Resort, te Ocean Reef Club, the Village Café, and various other venues throughout the Florida Keys. He also does Weddings, birthdays and other private functions.
One of those weddings was the source of a funny – but true – story about Sam. He calls his most embarrassing moment a “horror story”, when a memorable night for a newly married couple also became a memorable night for Sam.
“I thought I had set up all of my equipment correctly before the reception, but I missed something”, he recalls. “I announced the bride and groom and asked everyone to join them on the dance floor. I put my headset on and the music was playing loud and clear so I started dancing and getting into the groove of things.”
That’s when Sam noticed that something was wrong. “ After a few moments of music, I expected everyone would be dancing along with me, but when I looked up at the crowd, I realized that everyone was just standing there and all those eyes were just staring at me! Pretty soon everyone was laughing. When I took off my headset, I discovered that the speakers were not on, so I was the only one hearing the music!” Sam says the rest of the wedding reception went smoothly, but to this day he always double checks everything before going “live”, and he always wears his headset over one ear to hear the speakers.
I asked Sam if he was planning to add Karaoke to his repertoire, since several local nightspots feature the popular sing-along activity during the week. He replied that he is, adding Karaoke at gigs and events where “adventurous people like to get up and sing and have a good laugh!”
If you need a quick trip back to the disco eighties or the hip-hop nineties, put on your dancing shoes and catch Sam the DJ’s act at Gary’s this weekend.
