Essential booking

Recent feedback

"Mish, Suresh, Peron, Mark, Jamie and Jeffrey, what can we say. You were absolutely incredible! Thank you for such a fantastic night. From the moment we saw your show reel we knew that our crowd would love you, and you lived up to all expectations. You were extremely professional and courteous over email, and when we met you had such great charisma and that really showed on stage. Your voices were incredible and the diversity of your play list was fantastic. The only time our dance floor wasn’t full was when you were on your break – we couldn’t get you back on stage sooner. Thank you for making our ball in Singapore such a success. It was a wonderful reminder of the great talent that Australia produces. We hope to have you back!"
Sarah McSporran
Australian and New Zealand Association, Singapore – Marketing & Sponsorship

“For all my meticulous planning and endless hours of preparation, the success of my event really came down to one decision – choosing Essential. From the beginning their friendly and mature manner meant that they were a pleasure to deal with. On the night, their amazing talent had the dance floor full from the very first song. Their interaction with the crowd and professionalism made my event the success that it was and I would have no hesitation in recommending them for future corporate or personal functions.”
Deloitte Accounting

“Thank you so much for all your help along the way organising Essential to play at our inaugural Year 12 Valedictory dinner at Etihad Stadium, it was a huge success with no less than 500 people taking to the dance floor for the first dance and I don't think the numbers dropped for the rest of the night and with the requests for "more" at the end of the night showed we could not get enough of the Band”
Tracie Price – MLC Girls’ College

“Essential were great, unfortunately we were running late and weren’t able to utilize them as much as we would have liked but would certainly use them again.”
Anna Mitchell, Western Bulldogs Best & Fairest Ball

“Hi Mich & Suresh, Aran & Alex,
We have had nothing but positive feedback on the performance of Essential at our event on Saturday night at the Park Hyatt.  We will never get away with using a DJ at these events in the future thanks to Essential!  They were fantastic.  Mich and Suresh have amazing voices.  They were a pleasure to deal with right from the very beginning.  The selection of music was ideal
for our audience.  We've never had so many of our guests still dancing at the end of the night.
 If you would like any further details, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards, Rebecca, Event Manager”
Rebecca Leahy – Event Manager NSW, Mitsubishi Electric
 
“Both Russell and Essential were great! Lovely people and they coped with the short play times really well. I would definitely recommend them and use them again on course.”
Janelle Green, Moonee Valley Race Club

“We honestly cannot express how happy we were with Michelle and Essential as our wedding band, they were absolutely AMAZING! Friendly, energetic and fun, they made every effort to ensure everything went as best as it possibly could, and so many of our guests commented on how fantastic they were and asked where we had found such a great band.

One of the memories we will have forever is looking around the room after the bridal waltz during the first set and seeing every table in the room empty. Literally EVERYONE was up on the floor dancing, it felt incredible!

The music they played suited all of our guests and was a great mix of classics and top 40, it was just sensational. They played a huge part in making our wedding “the best wedding people had ever been to” as we were told by many J. Please pass on our biggest Thanks to the band as they truly helped make our wedding night better than we could have ever imagined!”
Mel & Clint Mills – Newlyweds

“Thanks for your email, I would’ve emailed you anyway to tell you that Michelle and Essential were fantastic. From the very beginning we felt things were in very good hands, Michelle contacted us the week leading up to the Wedding and put our minds at ease. The night was a total hit! The band sounded amazing and their vocal range was brilliant. I have only been back a few days (from the honeymoon) but everyone I have spoken to about the wedding has commented on how good Essential were. We were totally pleased with the guys and they made every effort to keep the dance floor alive!!! It was great! Thank you. Andrew & Laura”
Andrew and Laura – Newlyweds

“On be half of myself and the soldiers of the Army Logistic Soldiers Club, Thank you for your performance on Friday Night the 30th of July.
Your attendance at the function contributed to the atmosphere of the club. I hope you enjoyed your night at the Lowerson Club.”
Daniel Webb , Latchford Barracks Army Logistic Soldiers Club

"Their selection of music was more than appropriate and another test was, did a cross section of ages get up and dance - yes. They were good!!
Very professional and, as an ex director of Melbourne youth music - good muso's that appeared to know their stuff."
Robert Goode / Assoc Management Services

"As I arrived a little later than expected on Saturday night I did not get the chance to speak to the band before the function commenced. Please thank them and congratulate them for me as they were great. All the feedback I have had so far has been very positive, and you only had to look at the venue on Saturday night to see that 80% of the people were up dancing and filling the dance floor."
Paul Dudley, Senior IT Systems Administrator, ANL Container Line Pty Limited

“Both The New Musicmen and Essential were fantastic.  The feedback from everyone attending has been excellent.  The Musicmen incorporated some of our staff members into their performance which was extremely well received.

Essential are a very talented group and played a great mix of music that suited the varied ages groups.  They were also extremely professional in changing their schedule to fit us when we started running behind schedule.

I also appreciate the advise and assistance given by all at Bandshop in helping make our Christmas party a complete success. I look forward to working with you again in the future.”
Debbie Wadwell, Executive Assistant, Scania Australia Pty Ltd

“We were extremely happy with the band and would definitely look into to using them again!
 Thanks so much.”
Gemma Henderson, event at Caulfield Race Club

“Hi Michelle! Just wanted to say thanks so much for being part of our special day/evening! You guys were AMAZING!!!! Wish you could have played longer..!!  Everyone was so pleased with the band, everyone got dancing straight away, we were loving it!!! Please tell the rest of the band thanks and you guys were awesome!!!  I would recommend you guys to friends for the future who will eventually get married! Thanks again, hope you enjoyed your night J”
Cariz & Joel – Newlyweds

SAMPLE SONGLIST

Top 40

American Boy - Estelle
Beauiful Girls – Sean Kingston
Black and Gold – Sam Sparrow
Breakeven – The Script
California Gurls – Katy Perry
Can’t Get You Outta My Head – Kylie Minogue
Closer – Neyo
Count On Me – Bruno Mars
Crazy – Gnarls Barkly
Crazy In Love - Beyoncé
Do You Remember – Jay Sean
DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love – Usher
Dynamite – Tayo Cruz
Forever – Chris Brown
Forget You – Cee Lo Green
Get The Party Started – Pink
Grenade – Bruno Mars
Hey, Soul Sister – Train
Hot n’ Cold – Katy Perry
I’m Yours – Jason Mraz
Just Dance – Lady Gaga
Just The Way You Are – Bruno Marz
Let Me Entertain You – Robbie Williams
More – Usher
Moves Like Jagger – Maroon 5/Adam Lavinge
Mr. Know It All – Kelly Clarkson
No One – Alicia Keys
Poker Face – Lady Gaga
Price Tag – Jessie J
Pumped Up Kicks – Foster The People
Sex on Fire – Kings Of Leon
Sing It Back - Moloko
Tell Me Bout’ It – Joss Stone
This Love – Maroon 5
Trick Me – Kelis
Umbrella – Rhianna
Use Somebody – Kings Of Leon
Used To Love You – John Legend
Yeah 3x – Chris Brown
Valerie – Amy Winehouse

Rock n Roll/Oldies

Crazy Little Thing Called Love – Queen
Hound Dog – Elvis
Hit the Road Jack – Ray Charles
I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) – The Four Tops
I Saw Her Standing There – The Beatles
Jailhouse Rock - Elvis
Twist and Shout – The Beatles
My Girl – The Temptations
Shake A Tail Feather – Blues Brothers
Sway – Michael Bublé
The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss) – Cher
Walking On Sunshine – Katrina and the Waves
You Can’t Hurry Love – The Supremes

Party Time!

All Night Long – Lionel Ritchie
April Sun In Cuba - Dragon
Blame It on the Boogie – Jackon 5
Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
Celebration – Kool and the Gang
December 1963 (Oh What a Night!) – The Four Seasons
Footloose – Kenny Loggins
Grease Mega Mix
Hot Hot Hot
La Bamba – Ritchie Valens
Life Is A Highway – Rascal Flatts
It’s My Life – Bon Jovi
I Wanna Dance With Somebody – Whitney Houston
I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
Jessie’s Girl – Rick Springfield
Kiss – Prince
Mustang Sally – Commitments
Mamma Mia – ABBA
Next To Be With You – Mr. Big
Nut Bush – Tina Turner
Play That Funky Music – Wild Cherry
Rock With You – Michael Jackson
Run To Paradise – Choir Boys
Signed Sealed Delivered – Stevie Wonder
Superstition – Stevie Wonder
Summer of 69’ – Bryan Adams
Stuck In The Middle With You – Steelers Wheel
The Time Of My Life – Jennifer Warnes/Bill Medley
You’re The Voice – John Farnham
Y.M.C.A – Village People

Mid-tempo

Ain’t Nobody – Chaka Khan
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Marvin Gaye
All I Do – Stevie Wonder
Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You – Frankie Valley
Could You Be Loved – Bob Marley
Georgy Porgy – Toto
Higher Ground – Stevie Wonder
I Feel Good – James Brown
I Love the Nightlife – Alicia Bridges
I Wish – Stevie Wonder
Imagine – John Lennon
Isn’t She Lovely – Stevie Wonder
Let’s Get It On – Marvin Gaye
Let’s Stay Together – Al Green
Love Foolosophy – Jamirequai
Master Blaster – Stevie Wonder
Never Too Much – Luther Vandros
Red Red Wine – UB40
Stand By Me – Ben E. King
Sexual Healing – Marvin Gaye
Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay – Otis Redding
Son of a Preacher Man – Dusty Springfield
Songbird – Eva Cassidy
Teardrops – Womack & Womack
Waiting On The World To Change – John Mayer
What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye

Slow Songs

All My Life – KC & JoJo
At Last – Etta James
Ave Maria - Beyoncé
Back At One – Brian McKnight
Better Be Home Soon – Crowded House
Burn For You – John Farnham
Bubbly – Colbie Callait
By Your Side - Sade
Day Too Soon - Sia
Everything I Do – Bryan Adams
For The First Time – The Script
From This Moment – Shania Twain
Have I Told You Lately – Rod Stewart
How Do I Live – Trisha Yearwood
I Don’t Believe You - Pink
If I Ain’t Got You – Alicia Keys
Last Request – Paolo Nutini
Lost Without You – Robin Thicke
Make You Feel My Love – Adele (Bob Dylan classic)
Man Who Can’t Be Moved – The Script
More Than Words - Extreme
Someone Like you – Adele
Song Bird – Eva Cassidy
Stay With You – John Legend
Still The One – Shania Twain
What A Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
You Give Me Something – James Morrison
Your Make It Real – James Morrison
You’ve Got A Friend – James Taylor

and many more...