UpBeat Music Productions- UpBeat Band & UpBeat Orchestra

Do not use this band. They are both unprofessional and rude. They have zero respect for venues and organizers. Do not hire this «company.» It’s a fly by night scam.

I just got married 2 weeks ago in late Sept 2012. Hiring Upbeat music was the best decision that my husband and I had made for our wedding! We thought that no other bands in Chicago could offer such high-​quality wedding planning and music performance AND beat their price for a six-​piece orchestra! Let me give you two examples.
1. As soon as we signed a contract with Upbeat, Mike met with us every other week to get us going with our wedding planning. He also recommended many great songs and offered insightful advice for our activities. I never had to hire a wedding planner because he was already doing the job beautifully! Mike even took the initiative to call the hotel rep to make sure that our timetable was realistic and guess what… he also served as the emcee for our reception dinner.
2. Mike and his team went above and beyond our expectations on the wedding night! The band brought so much energy and excitement onto the dancefloor that everybody went up and danced! Their performance from start to end was flawless! They were very good at reading the audience and playing the right songs to get everyone pumped. Wonderful performance and I think they deserved 11 out of 10 for all of their hard work. Thanks so much UpBeat Orchestra for the unforgettable night!

The UpBeat Band was amazing! We booked music to be played our entire wedding, string quartet for the ceremony, piano for cocktail hour, jazz trio during seated dinner, 10 piece band for dancing. Michael Cascio designed/​scored the entire evening. Starting with the ceremony, the string quartet learned several new songs, but also adjusted timing/​scoring so that it fit within our ceremony. Triumphal March from Aida for the processional, Meditation from Thais mid ceremony, but most exciting was the recessional piece, a blend of «Show Goes On» rap by Lupe Fiasco and Canon in D, Pachabel. We and the quartet received amazing compliments on this song, you can find a similar version on YouTube. I highly recommend you request this song mix because it is so upbeat, yet classy for the ceremony.
During cocktail hour and dinner, they played jazz classics Sinatra, Michael Buble. The party really began when the full 10 piece came out. My husband and I both went to school at Southern schools, so we asked they learn a few country songs. The UpBeat band learned «Its Your Love» by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill for our first dance. We also sent the band a video of our dance lessons so they could see our dance ending. They timed the song perfectly to how we had practiced which made the first dance look effortless. They also played «Sweet Home Alabama» for us, and all the «Tide Fans» in the house loved it and sang out the «Roll Tide Roll» in the chorus.
Michael is truly passionate about working with all the wedding couples to deliver a special event that will live up to their expectations. The band played music for all ages including Motown Medley, Tina Turner, Journey, Lady Gaga, Maroon 5. The dance floor was packed the entire time with all generations.
Michael is highly responsive via phone or email, whichever way you choose to communicate. We were very lucky to have found the band and they made the celebration successful.

The Upbeat Band played my wedding in March. They’re fantastic and they were willing to do anything we wanted… we went against odds and opened up dancing immediatly after our first dance to «Don’t Stop Believin’» which got everyone on the dance floor. They learned all our songs, which most bands weren’t willing to do, and they were exteremely flexible. They are a very classy group and a lot of fun. Their pricing was spot on and just a little more than a DJ was going to be so CHECK THEM OUT!!!

The Upbeat band rocked our wedding this September at the Chicago Wit hotel. They were unbelievable. Every single one of our guests that has spoken to us since the wedding has mentioned how great they were. We have heard comments such as «best wedding band ever» and «they were unbelievable». Here is what made them so fantastic:
1) Flexibility. The band learned a new song to perform for our first dance. It was pitch perfect. Also, my wife and I had very specific taste. Our guests were predominately young, so we wanted to pass on the traditional wedding songs (think Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) and keep the music geared to a younger crowd. The upbeat band delivered. From the first song of the opening set list (Shook me all night long) to other 80’s and current hits, Michael orchestrated a set list that had everyone on the dance floor all night long.
2) Stamina. I honestly can’t recall if they took at break at all. Think Springsteen-​level stamina. Prior to choosing a band we listened to a number of the big bands across Chicago and were constantly put off by long breaks that most groups would take right when things were starting to get going. Not with the Upbeat band. They are all heart.
3) Price. Upbeat was ~1/​3 the price of some of the more well known bands in the city. Add the fact that they performed longer, and better than these other bands and you can understand why we were so thrilled with them.
You have to check out this band. We had a packed dance floor even after the lights were turned on and the bar shut down. It was an amazing night and wouldn’t have been the same without this band. If it was possible to give more than 5 stars we would.