Client Reviews & Testimonials

Jon Bates and his musicians were absolutely fabulous. My fiancé and I are both musicians (along with many of our friends and colleagues who attended the wedding), so live music was a very important part of our reception. Jon was excellent with communicating before the event. Any questions or concerns that I had were promptly addressed. There were several songs that I had requested that were not listed on the group's song list, and they were able to perform all of our extra requests. 

The Jon Bate's Band kept people on the dance floor all night long. Even at the very end of the night, the dance floor was so full that we decided to extend the reception. And the group was very flexible, when we came up to them 10 minutes before the planned end of the night and asked them to stay longer so that people could continue dancing. We received SO many compliments on the music (which coming from other musicians who we know to be judgmental, we were very pleased), and heard over and over again what a great time everyone had, even weeks after the event. I would highly recommend The Jon Bates Band.

A band really makes or breaks a wedding. 
The Jon Bates Band was fabulous in every way at my wedding in August 2013.
They offer a huge selection of music from pop to funk to classic Sinatra. Nothing is comparable to having a live band at your wedding. Its a must!!!
Personally they genuinely kind and nice to work with. Not to mention very patient as timelines changed during the planning process. 

My good friends who are getting married in the coming year asked me for the Bands information before leaving the wedding; they enjoyed the music that much. 

All I wanted was for everyone to be dancing all night and The Jon Bates Band accomplished that and much more. The energy in the room was fantastic.
 
There is so much to worry about when planning a wedding, choose the Jon Bates Band and confidently cross that task off your list.

My wife and I first heard The Jon Bates Band a year before we got engaged when they played my sister's wedding. When we were planning our own wedding, we thought we had a slim-to-none chance of finding a band as good - and we were right. After researching what felt like a hundred bands, we decided to reach out to The Jon Bates Band on the off chance that they would be able to travel to a different state for our wedding. When we found out they were available, there was no question that they were the band for us.

What stands out about The Jon Bates Band? Musically speaking, they are hands down the highest energy wedding band I've ever seen perform. These musicians are working hard every minute they're on stage, and the guests at our wedding (and my sister's) responded by hitting the dance floor in force. The band members are not only very talented individually, but they are tight as a group - a rare thing in a wedding band (as anyone who's sat through a dozen YouTube audition videos can tell you).

The Jon Bates was by far our favorite vendor to deal with during the entire wedding planning process. Jon was not only professional, but also extremely positive during the whole process. He handled last minute scheduling and logistical changes with grace and optimism - "whatever happens, we're gonna keep the party going" is something I remember him saying, and he was right.

Jon and the group are terrific! The planning and execution process was so easy and so flexible, rather than other music vendors we spoke with who very much wanted to execute "their way".

Most importantly, their music is phenomenal, we had a packed dance floor, and have continued to receive compliments in the months since about how awesome they were! If you want terrific music, professional staff, who don't nickel and dime and make you feel inexperienced, book with Jon Bates Band!!!

The Jon Bates Band was incredible and we had the best time dancing all night long. Our guests loved the music and Jon was so easy to work with and fulfilled all our unconventional requests. Thank you Jon!!

We hired the Jon Bates band for our wedding and they were amazing. There was a big debate between a DJ and a band; we couldn't have made a better choice. Everyone was up dancing and having a great time. Our relatives and friends were still commenting on how great the band was weeks after the wedding.

Jon was great getting us set up for the big day and was responsive to all our special requests. He was one of the easiest vendors to work with during our entire wedding planning process. We highly suggest hiring this band for your special day.

The Jon Bates Band is the perfect wedding band regardless of venue, time, day, or anything else. Jonny is responsive and flexible and can literally play anything you could possibly imagine. The professional musicians in his band have years of experience and can adapt to any and all requests. Our first dance was reggae, my wife's dance with her father was pop, and my dance with my mother was southern rock. All were played to the note, and all were outside the 200 song available playlist. I can not recommend this band enough.

Words will do no justice in describing how truly pleased my husband and I were with the Jon Bates Band. From begging to end, working on every detail with Jon was flawless. And the band was a HUGE hit. Our guests couldn’t stop talking about how great the music was...and or dance floor was packed the entire evening with our guests dancing night away. They were able to accommodate all of our song choices, and overall were a tremendous joy to have with us for our biggest celebration.

We were so thrilled to have the Jon Bates Band play at our wedding in June, they were truly the heart and soul of the reception. Jon was a pleasure to work with throughout the entire planning process. The band learned our wedding song and played it amazingly. They engaged our guests and played the perfect mix of music - the dance floor was overflowing throughout the entire evening. If you're looking for an incredibly talented group of musicians who are fantastic to plan with and even more fun to dance to, The Jon Bates Band is the total package.

We would enthusiastically recommend The Jon Bates Band for any occasion! We hired them for our wedding reception and from the first email to the event date, they were so responsive and accommodating to our requests. The dance floor was jam packed throughout their entire set. Everyone I spoke to said they were the best band they had seen at any wedding and I have to agree. Seamless transitions and virtuosic performances kept the energy high and everyone on their feet. Cannot recommend highly enough!!

I can't say enough good things about the Jon Bates Band. One of the top priorities at our wedding was music and I couldn't have been happier with this band! They were incredibly responsive and easy to work with - everything was laid out clearly from what services they provided (how many pieces of the band we were looking for as well as which portions of the event we wanted live music) and their song list is EXTENSIVE. But the very best thing was that our guests were up and dancing from the minute the band took the stage. I am pretty sure that almost every guest at our wedding told us how fantastic they were. Thank you to the Jon Bates Band - it wouldn't have been the same without you!!

We were thrilled with the Jon Bates Band! They made our daughter's wedding the most memorable event ever and we cannot thank them enough for their talent, willingness to be flexible ( a very close friend of ours performed two numbers with the band) and their warm congeniality. The quality of the singers was unbelievable. And the instrumental band member were phenomenal. Much praise all around!!! Hope we have a chance to hire them again in the future!!!

The Jon Bates Band is extremely professional, accommodating and knows how to put on a good show. In the time leading up to our wedding, I was impressed with the level of detail of preparation that they showed. We had chosen some harder songs that the standard wedding band might not be able to play, and I must say, the musicians in the Jon Bates Band are extremely talented and nailed all of our requests with style. The true test for a great wedding band is the reaction of your wedding guests. All of our guests could not stop talking about the band and how good they were. We had a blast with the Jon Bates Band and would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a talented wedding band.

The Jon Bates Band made our wedding. The entire group could not have been more professional, responsive to our requests, or helpful as we planned our perfect day. The musicians learned special songs for our ceremony, made our first dance perfect and memorable, and kept us dancing for 4 hours straight. Frankly, the music was the best I've ever heard at a wedding (and my family is full of musicians, so we are tough to please). Our guests did not sit down for even a minute, and they kept calling for encores because they didn't want the music to end. I could go on and on, but to be brief, choosing the Jon Bates Band for your wedding or event will be the best decision you make.

We loved working with the Jon Bates Band for my daughters wedding. They helped us with the play list, had a few musicians help us with the wedding ceremony, and then played beautifully getting everyone dancing right up through curfew. The band even backed me up when I sang a version of "Cecelia" to my daughter. We had a great experience with the band.

The Jon Bates band was an amazing experience for us and our guests. They were very accommodating to our requests and their talent is undeniable. I would highly recommend the Jon Bates Band to anyone who cares about good music, and a good time.

The Jon Bates Band rocked my wedding!! The variety of music they played and enthusiasm had all of our guests dancing the entire evening. Not only were they amazing during the reception, but the guitarist was spot on for our ceremony music - a ceremony that took place outside, at the top of a mountain. He even rode the chairlift up and back just as our guests did.

Our wedding took place in rural New Hampshire and the band booked themselves an AirBNB so they could stay the night. When their first BNB had to cancel, Jon contacted us and told us that no matter what they'd be there. Luckily they were able to find a different place to stay and all went smoothly.

I've now seen the Jon Bates Band perform at two weddings (they performed on Martha's Vineyard for my best friend's wedding several years ago) and I would recommend them to anyone who is looking for a group that will keep your crowd dancing!

We highly recommend the Jon Bates Band. They are all extremely talented musicians and put on an excellent show. The dance floor was packed all night. They incorporated our requests, and the requests of our guest. They are professional yet approachable. Our only regret is not video taping their amazing performance :-).

The Jon Bands delivered more than I could ever imagine!!! They were so easy to work with leading up to the wedding and helped make our wedding the best party of our lives!!! They certainly can pack a dance floor and do it all night long!!!! Our guest are still talking about how amazing they were!!!! Thank you again for making the trip to Ellicottville NY to make our wedding so memorable!!!

We hired the Jon bates band for our wedding and they were absolutely amazing. Even our on site wedding coordinator who said that most bands are fussy said that JBB was the classiest and most professional band she had ever worked with. We had a couple of special requests but mostly just told them to play whatever got people dancing and people were dancing all night! My husband loves Dave Matthews so they played a Dave song and they sounded great! Jon was so nice, friendly and easy to work with, I highly recommend them!

From the first email contact to the wedding day The Jon Bates Band went well beyond our expectations. I couldn't have asked for a better band. The communication about payment, Band attire, songs to play was spot on. A year out our guest still talk about how much they loved the band how they have never danced so much! A+

I am typically skeptical of 5 star reviews, but this rating accurately captures my experience with this band. My husband and I are serious music lovers and my husband sings in a band so we had very high expectations for our wedding band. We did not want it to be cookie cutter and we got exactly what we were looking for. Jon Bates Band is a great balance of providing you with the wedding essentials while also being true musicians/performers. You can tell they are fully enjoying themselves. They greatly exceed all expectations we had. Our guests continuously rave about how great they were. They were delightful to work with-so responsive to us. You can trust that they will play what they play best. And they are also very responsive to learning songs and taking requests. The music sounded awesome and people were dancing from the beginning of the reception until an hour after it was supposed to end. They were happy to extend their contract an extra hour. We had an Adele song as our first dance and the female vocalist did an amazing job which is incredibly hard to do. We have friends whose wedding bands were more than twice and even three times the price and not as good as Jon Bates Band. They were one of the best choices we made in our wedding planning process. You can rest easy if you book this band.

We were honored to have The Jon Bates band at our wedding and it was one of the highlights. Firstly, they all are really nice people and then they started to play music and people could not contain themselves. Every one of them is at the top of their game and they blew us all away with their talent. I had friends going up to them during set breaks to get their email and phone number so they could hear them play again. Seriously, don't think twice about hiring The Jon Bates band, your guests will be in for a real treat.

Thanks again to The Jon Bates band! I have to find another reason to have you play music for us!!

Miles and Katie

The most amazing wedding band with the most incredible ability to stay flexible, fun and most importantly kind. Jon will respond to ALL of your e-mails in record time and he will answer each of your questions with thorough and thoughtful explanations. He and his band are, simply, THE BEST. They learned four new songs for our reception, arrived early to set up and made sure our ceremony had sound. They also looked great and they made music that inspired EVERYONE to be on the dance floor (seriously, no one took pictures since they were all dancing!). It was one of the most important investments we made when planning and we are overjoyed by the results. Thank you to Jon and to the rest of your band, you made our day beautiful.