The Blues Brothers on the eve of Kentucky Derby
When one of the world's largest restaurant companies sought to present a very special, yet informal and fun party on the eve of the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, KY, they called Empire Entertainment to deliver the right entertainment. Working with this client, Empire was able to secure The Blues Brothers, featuring Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi along with the Sacred Hearts Band to perform a no-holds-barred concert of Blues Brothers hits including "Kady," "Sweet Home Chicago," "Going Back to Miami," "Rubber Biscuit" and "Soul Man." Dan and Jim wore their full Blues Brothers costumes of black suits & ties, Ray Ban sunglasses and black hats and performed with all of the stage choreography seen in the original motion picture featuring Dan Aykroyd and the late John Belushi.
The event took place in a large, tented site on the grounds of a magnificent private home in Louisville. The band performed on a stage set based on a "House of Blues" theme and delighted the audience members, who came from around the world, and began dancing almost immediately after the music began. Dan and Jim agreed to pose for meet & greets with 160 guests and customized many of their between song comments to the audience and the host, even inviting the host's daughter and her friends onstage to dance with the band. Following the Blues Brothers' performance, a surprise country & western superstar took the stage and performed several songs before Nashville-based dance band The Kadillacs played dance music for the remainder of the evening.
For this project Empire was responsible for negotiating for and contracting the Blues Brothers, handling all logistics including travel, hotels, ground transportation and hospitality and coordinating production with a top Louisville staging & production vendor. Empire also stage-managed the entire evening's activities.
Empire is a leading producer of major concert events and is regularly called upon to create unique events surrounding major sporting events such as the Kentucky Derby, The Superbowl, Indianapolis 500, World Cup Soccer, and The Olympic Games.
Guests received their first taste of technological innovation at registration, where they were welcomed by name on a reactive LED screen installation covering the full width of the entry wall. A large lunch café was created with a décor scheme that incorporated custom-built, ceiling-high steel LED frames draped with foliage to create smaller, intimate restaurant-style spaces that displayed both technology and nature.
A series of breakout sessions presented content targeted to attendees’ varied interests, while imagery displayed throughout the venue showcased real-life applications of how products designed to empower developers help to unleash the power of data and reimagine possibilities that will improve our world.
Every element of Microsoft Connect(); from registration, breakfast and keynote, to lunch and evening cocktails, were custom-designed to communicate exacting brand messaging and to deliver a high-touch guest experience to this important audience. The keynote and breakout sessions were livestreamed through an onsite studio built for this purpose and content was watched online by millions around the world.
Empire is proud to collaborate with Microsoft on this annual, top-tier business communication event.
To view excerpts of Connect(); 2017, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/connectevent
