Most. Awesome. Theme. EVER!

Hardee had a Super Mario Brothers theme…. Mario, Donkey Kong, and other famous video game characters adorned the floats (including a giant Donkey Kong who threw barrels) and the gym. Needless to say, the nerd in me was enthralled!

As usual, Hardee (while being a relatively smaller school) rocked out all night. Monica, Sagar and I had a blast, which complemented our amazing dinner at Paul’s Kitchen.

Check out the pics and video below!!

Hardee’s one of my favorite schools… they just really know how to get down. The day started as they treated us to lunch at Paul’s Kitchen. Folks, words cannot express how much food we got for the price and how delicious it was. Hardee has now become a stop for us on our food breaks. Too bad they’re not 24 hours…

The setup was much smaller than what you’ve seen thus far from us… but it fits them well as they have an attendance of under 250, it is a smaller school. Still, they really do things big over here. They’re the only school that has what I consider to be a true-spirited homecoming. No theme… it’s just “Spirit of Hardee,” where they honor the football players on a successful year. The Queen crowns the King and people come as they are. It doesn’t matter if they’re in an expensive oufit or good ol’ jeans and tee… everyone’s welcome to have a good time.

I decided to break out the old moving heads for this one… after a few whacks upside the head, the lights finally worked 100%. This was a free upgrade to the school, so they didn’t mind being the guinea pigs.

My wife, Monica, who’s set up all the light shows this year, started programming lights on her own at this show.. check out the great scenes she did at the videos… big props!

Check out the amazing photos…. including some from my good friend and Hardee photographer, Alex Gilliard. He lent Monica a 50mm ƒ1.8 lens and she went to town taking some great photos, too. Alex’s photos are labeled with his name…. so call him if you’re in the area and need some great shots!

More photos here!

And the first video is the gig log… the iPhone doesn’t capture the lights.. it was bright in that gym!

WATCH IN HD!

And the last video is a couple really quick clips shot by Alex on his AWESOME Canon. This shows exactly how bright the lights were. It also shows a few preshots of the light show itself!

Watch in HD!

Hardee High School is one of my fave schools because I truly feel welcomed there– the students and teachers always call requesting me by name. As a DJ, I love that feeling! (They email me every year asking what I would like for dinner… such a wonderful gesture!!)

Being a smaller school, their prom is not one of my usual 500-700+ crowds, but rather a modest 100-150; However, these 150 students came in with only one thing in mind: PARTYING. Just like every year, they create their own decorations and always surprise me with the amazing stuff they come up with. They’re a very creative bunch!

Check out their Video Explosion BLE (Black Light Edition) complete with Glow-in-the-Dark Bubbles and lasers. Photos were done by the amazing Alex Gilliard. Not only is he an outstanding photographer, but a close friend as well!

And as usual, Alex shot some bonus HD footage!

In all our years in the school business, this is the first time a real homecoming theme has been set. What do I mean by real theme? I mean that the theme was “Go Blue & Orange” (the school colors). Homecoming is about the football team, and many lost sight of it. Hardee High School celebrated their theme college-style!

My fear this week was my health… I came down with the impeding signs of a nasty flu on THURSDAY– OH NO! With some Vitamin C, a little medicine (which I never take), and God’s gift of the best immune system one could ask for, I pulled everything off. Had it not been for the extra hard work, I am sure I’d be 100% by now, but it was all worth it!

Jamie, the teacher in charge, and her husband provided Amanda (my light tech) and I with a delicious lunch of Subway (I had a Philly Cheesesteak..mmm) and cookies. A cooler with drinks was provided for us behind the stage. I love Hardee, they ALWAYS treat me like family!!!! Could I ask for any better?

The crowd was amazing: students screamed to every song played, teachers danced, and we got lots of compliments. We also brought 2000 glowsticks! A big thanks to Derek (video and assist. DJ) and Amanda (Light Tech)!

….and a HUGE thanks to Alex Gilliard. He teamed up with us and shot some AMAZING photos! His work blew me away!! Check some of my faves out below along with a YouTube video!

The party begins

Arab Money!!

Derek is testifying to his brothers and sisters… AMEN! lol

Derek, myself, and Amanda!

You can see more photos on my Facebook by clicking HERE.

Alex’s blog post on this can be found here.

Hardee was real special this year… why? Because this was the senior prom for one of our very own: Derek! Alonso and I tore it up on the dance floor, playing all the big hits as well as classic throwbacks. This is the only school that requests Cumbia so I got to play a few smash hits including my personal favorite, Kumbia Kings.

This was done at the Wauchula Civic Center. The decorations (which were stunning) were done by the students, parents, and faculty.

It was a slow start, like last year, but once they were in it was blown out of proportions. The haze really made the lasers pop.

Check out the video and leave a comment!!!