Reunion entertainment ideas: hire a band for a class or high school reunion

The short answer

The reunion entertainment that works is the music your class had when you were in school, played loud enough to fill a floor. A live band runs $2,500 to $8,000 in the US, and because a reunion is paid for out of ticket sales, that fee divides across the whole class: a $4,000 band across 120 attendees is about $33 a head. For classes that graduated from the 1960s into the mid-1980s, a Motown and soul revue is the closest thing to a guaranteed dance floor, because everyone in the room already knows every song. Book 8 to 12 months out, build the evening around the slideshow and the in-memoriam moment, and get an accurate headcount before you sign.

We are a nine-piece Motown and soul revue that plays reunions across the US, from 60-guest single-class dinners in a hotel ballroom to 300-guest all-decades gatherings in a country club. Packages start at $3,400. Last updated July 2026.

★ 200+ shows · $2M liability coverage & COI on request · own PA and lighting

Reunion entertainment, at a glance

The five numbers a committee needs

Live band, typical reunion	$2,500 to $8,000
Band cost per attendee (120 guests)	$21 to $67
DJ, typical reunion	$800 to $2,000
Lead time to book the date	8 to 12 months
Load-in before downbeat	2 to 3 hours

Market ranges reflect published US live-entertainment cost guides checked in July 2026. Our own package figures are exact.

See our package pricing

Two minutes, your class

Build the set from your class years

Pick the songs that were on the radio when your class walked the halls, then send it with your date. You get back an itemized quote and a hold on the date, not a brochure.

The program desk

Build your show program

1 · The occasion

2 · The mix

Motown '64 Northern Soul Soul, but 2026

Tonight leans .

3 · Show length

4 · Your first dance

Chosen: , arranged for your night.

Compare the options

Reunion entertainment, honestly compared

We are a band, so read the bottom row as interested. The rest is what we tell committees on the phone, including the reunions where we say a band is the wrong spend and point them to a DJ instead.

Option	Typical US cost	Years it covers	Best for
A classmate with a playlist	$0 to $300	Whatever one person remembers	Small casual reunions in a bar back room where nobody planned to dance
DJ	$800 to $2,000	Any span of decades	All-classes reunions covering many graduation years, and tight committee budgets
Solo singer or duo	$600 to $1,800	One era, low volume	A dinner-and-mingle reunion where people came to talk, not to dance
Four or five-piece band	$2,500 to $6,000	One tightly-matched era	Single-class reunions of 60 to 150 built around one graduating decade
Full show band with horns (us)	$3,400 to $12,500	The 1960s to mid-1980s catalog	Reunions of 100 plus where the class grew up on Motown and the night is the point

The honest line: if your reunion pulls five graduating decades into one room, a DJ who can cross forty years of radio serves you better than any single band. A live band earns its fee at a single-class reunion, where everyone graduated inside a few years of each other and one catalog owns the whole floor. The same band-versus-DJ math shows up at weddings, and we work it all the way through on our band versus DJ cost comparison.

Who books us

The reunions a soul revue is built for

They share one thing: a room of adults who came back for the people and the years, and a catalog that all of them already know by heart. That last part is why Motown outperforms a current-hits act at a reunion of anyone who was in school before 1985.

High school reunions

The 30th, 40th and 50th are our most common reunion booking. A class that graduated in the 1970s or early 1980s grew up on this exact catalog, so the floor fills on the first chorus and stays full through both sets.

College and class reunions

Homecoming-weekend reunions, sorority and fraternity anniversaries, graduate-program milestones. Often a shorter window inside a packed schedule, so we build tight two-set nights that hit hard and end on time.

Family reunions

A three-generation family reunion is the best possible room for this music, because a grandparent, a parent and a teenager all know the same songs. We keep the volume down during the meal and the family program, then lift it once the plates clear.

Military and unit reunions

Service and unit reunions usually carry a formal program: a color guard, a toast to those lost, a keynote. We hold the stage until the program is finished, then turn a solemn room into a dancing one without a jarring switch.

Company and team reunions

A former team or a retired department gathering years later, often invoiced to whoever is hosting. That paid-by-a-business side of a reunion looks a lot like our corporate event entertainment work, with a W-9 and a certificate of insurance.

Milestone anniversary reunions

A band re-forming, a venue marking 50 years, a congregation or club anniversary that pulls old members back. If yours is really a private celebration for one person or couple, our private party band page fits better.

The run of show

How a reunion evening actually runs

A reunion is not a wedding, and the difference is the program in the middle. Almost every reunion has a slideshow, a welcome from the committee, and an in-memoriam moment for classmates who have passed. Those beats need silence and full attention, so the band has to stop cleanly and start again without killing the mood. The mistake committees make is scattering the program through the night, which means the floor never gets going. Group the program into one block after dinner, then let the music run.

This is the spine we use. Adjust the clock, keep the order. Tell the bandleader where the slideshow and the memorial sit the day before, and each one gets a cue and the right volume instead of an awkward stop.

Planning the whole evening from scratch? The reception timeline guide lays out the same minute-by-minute structure, and the numbers behind the quote are in our event entertainment budget breakdown.

Clock	What happens
4:00 pm	Band load-in and line check. Committee sets up the name tags and the photo board.
6:30 pm	Doors and cocktail hour. Recorded class-era music, low, so people can hear each other.
7:15 pm	Dinner. Still recorded and low. This is when most reconnecting happens.
8:00 pm	The program: welcome, slideshow, in-memoriam, awards for farthest traveled. Music off.
8:25 pm	Set one, 45 minutes. Opens mid-tempo, builds, ends on the floor-filler.
9:10 pm	Break, 20 minutes. Group photo, recorded music, a chance to catch a breath.
9:30 pm	Set two, 45 minutes. The dance set, no ballads after the first three songs.
10:15 pm	Encore, then recorded music while people trade numbers. Strike by 11:30.

The quote

What moves the price, and the per-head math

A reunion committee reads a band quote differently from a wedding couple, because the number gets divided by the headcount and folded into the ticket price. Here is what drives the total, and how to translate it into the per-person figure your class will actually see.

Divide by the headcount

The band fee only feels large as a lump sum. A $4,000 band across 120 confirmed attendees is $33 a ticket; across 200 it is $20. Nail down the RSVP count before you commit, because an optimistic guess is what turns a $33 line into a $55 one.

Headcount on stage

The biggest driver of the total. A five-piece and a nine-piece play the same songs; the nine-piece plays them with horns and three-part harmony. For a big single-class reunion the horns are usually worth it. For 60 people in a small room they are not.

Date and season

Reunions land on the same summer and fall Saturdays as weddings, which are the priciest and first-to-sell dates. If your committee can meet on a Friday or tie the reunion to a homecoming weekend with a fixed date, book the band the moment it is set.

Travel and sound

Inside a two-hour drive travel is usually in the fee. We carry a PA that covers rooms up to about 400 people and our own stage lighting. A hotel ballroom or country club almost always has the power and the stage; a rented hall or a tent may need a rental line, so confirm the circuits early.

Committees running the ticket-price math from the ground up will find the full method, with the six add-on lines that break a budget, in our event entertainment budget breakdown.

How it works

Booking a reunion band in four steps

Send the date and the years

Date, venue, rough headcount and the graduating years in the room. Those tell us the right lineup and the right catalog. We hold dates for seven days without a deposit.

Pick the lineup

Five-piece, seven-piece or the full nine with horns. The room size and the headcount decide this more than budget does, and we will say so if the space cannot take the big version.

Sign and lock it

An itemized contract with set times, load-in window, power needs, meals and cancellation terms. Fifty percent deposit, balance on the day. What each clause should say is in our band contract guide.

Build the set and the program

Two weeks out we take your class-era must-plays, your do-not-plays, and where the slideshow and memorial sit, then send back the running order for the night.

If your committee is weighing us against a booking marketplace, read our breakdown of how to book a wedding band first. The platform fees, who pays them and what direct booking saves are all laid out there, and the same numbers apply to a reunion.

Reunion entertainment questions, answered

How much does it cost to hire a band for a reunion?

A live band for a US reunion runs $2,500 to $8,000 for a four or five-piece and $5,000 to $15,000 for a full show band with horns. Because a reunion is usually funded by ticket sales, that fee divides across the whole class. A $4,000 band across 120 attendees is about $33 a head.

What kind of music is best for a high school reunion?

Play the music that was on the radio when your class was in school, not what is popular now. For classes that graduated from the 1960s through the mid-1980s, Motown and soul is the sweet spot: everyone in the room grew up on it, so the floor fills on the first song instead of the fourth. Match the catalog to the graduation year.

How far in advance should you book reunion entertainment?

Book the band as soon as the date is set, which for most committees is 8 to 12 months out. Reunions cluster on the same summer and fall weekends as weddings, so good bands sell out early. Once you have a venue and a date, the entertainment is the next thing to lock, before invitations go out.

Is a band or a DJ better for a class reunion?

A DJ is cheaper and covers a wider span of years, which suits a reunion of several graduating classes at once. A live band is better for a single-class reunion built around one era, because a band playing your class songs is itself the event people came back for. Many committees book a band for two sets and a DJ for the gaps.

How long does a band play at a reunion?

Two 45-minute sets or three 40-minute sets across a three to four hour evening, with recorded music covering the breaks, the dinner and the program. That leaves room for the reunion staples a wedding does not have: the slideshow, the in-memoriam moment, and the awards for who came the farthest.

Who pays for a reunion band?

The class does, through the ticket price. A committee sets a per-person fee that covers the venue, food and entertainment, then the band fee comes out of the total headcount rather than one persons pocket. This is why the cost per attendee stays low even when the total does not, and why an accurate headcount matters before you sign.

More of what committees ask before booking is on the FAQ page, and the questions worth asking any band you are considering are in our band vetting checklist.

Keep planning

Bring the class back to the music they grew up on

Send us your date, your venue and your class years. You get an itemized quote and a seven-day hold on the date.