Reviews and News From Lincoln, IL

“You should be commended for your top notch professionalism dealing with all the management and staff while performing here. Your attitude and flexibility to the hotel for their first time here was great. Everything from working on a location to perform within the hotel as well as adhering to our family oriented crowd we had all weekend you didn’t miss a beat! (I saw their show at a local club, which was decidedly not family-rated, so their ability to run both extremes while keeping audiences participating and entertained is remarkable). All of our guests enjoyed every minute of your performance and you can really entertain a crowd! Since your performance we have had SEVERAL compliments from our guests that stay with us every weekend during football season as well as guests who came off the streets just to hear a dueling piano show!” Sales Manager Embassy Suites, Lincoln

Amazing! Everyone had the best time and it was smiles all around. Thanks to Matt & Jason for bringing so much joy to our event, it was an uplifting experience for all.

The show went really well! Everyone had a great time and we're receiving a lot of great feedback. Sam and Matt are the best!

Everything was great.  We all had a wonderful time and Matt was very entertaining!

It was FANTASTIC! 10/10 recommend. I love how everything went, and my crowd was very pleased!

Everything was fantastic.  Matt and Lexi were super and so talented.  Our group had a blast and multiple emails from employees came in this morning that this event was, without question, our best holiday party ever!  Everyone had a great time and had a lot of laughs.  My wheels are already turning about when can figure out how to bring Fun Pianos back! Thank you so much for everything and having great performers that are also great people!!

It was great! We had rave reviews from all of our guests! The performers even allowed us to use their PA System to do our award presentations which was 5 times better than the other system we had. They were very professional and great to work with. We enjoyed the entire experience from start to finish with your company. Thank you for all of your help and for being so detail oriented.

Honestly – it was GREAT! The setup was a breeze and the performers were fabulous. The fact that they were totally self-contained was awesome!

Really well received by the members. Thank you so much for all of the help!

I can’t say enough good things about Matt and Brandon. They were just absolutely the best!

As ALWAYS, the show was a hit- everyone had a wonderful time and complimented all of the entertainment involved!  We look forward to seeing you all again! Tell Sam and his crew thanks for everything!

FANTASTIC!   Our two players entertained my entire group all night long.  From the very beginning, they had everyone singing along.  They amazed me how they got some of our more reserved members to stand up and join in the fun.  The worst part of the entire show was when it ended.  THANKS for a great time!

FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was AMAZING!  The guys were set up on time and played the entire two hours.  They were personal, professional and so talented - everyone loved it!  

Thank you again for being a part of our event!
 

It was amazing!!!  Everyone had a blast!!!  Brandon and Mark are fantastic!  Thank you so much! 

Good morning. Everything was great!  Everyone loved Jason.  Jason did a great job and kept the audience very involved, which was really important to me.

Katy and Amanda were AMAZING! They were so engaging with our crowd, and they were extremely pleasant to work with! We received awesome feedback about how much fun people had – the only complaint was that they wished it lasted longer! Haha. We are so glad we decided to go with your group. We could not have asked for more 😊 (Also, we couldn’t thank Amanda and Katy enough for being so generous with their tips and giving them to our organization. Incredibly kind.) Everyone seriously had an absolutely amazing time, and we will vouch for Fun Pianos ANYTIME!

We’re looking at our calendars and the possibility of making this an annual event…so may be booking again soon! 😊

Thank you so much!

Wow!!!
Sam,

I want to thank you again for our now 5 year partnership with our fundraising program. I’m sitting here at 11:05pm on the second night of our double feature to draft this e-mail although you’ll notice I didn’t send it until Monday. I wanted to be sure to write you from both the immediate impression from the shows and then after I’d slept on it.

In all transparency, I asked Matt and Amanda if there was something I should message you in our usual post-performance conversation to tell you how stellar your performers were. Matt suggested that I just focus on what actually happened and give some feedback to you as their boss who wasn’t able to be in attendance. So, without further adieu:
 

1. Chemistry – I’ve had Matt for three shows and he never fails to impress. Without a doubt, his chemistry with Amanda (despite not performing together often, to my understanding) was top notch. Multiple people asked me how long they had performed together due to their ability to roll off each other, banter back and forth, play together, and trade off based upon what songs they new. I asked them following the second performance how often they played together and Matt replied that good professionals are able to create that chemistry kinda quick.
2. Stage Presence – I convinced my mother to come to Quincy for this show. It’s the fourth time in nine years that she’s come up to visit me. She brought two of her brothers-in-law with her. I asked her what she thought of the show and she went on and on about Matt and how she loved the way he interacted with the crowed and got everybody engaged (even when she got tagged to stand and dance like a rocket city Rockette). She was pretty pissed that I took a video of it, but she said that it was one of the many highlights of her night. I then asked my uncles. My uncle, Tom, was enamored with Amanda. So I asked my uncle Rob who is more logical minded and he was very impressed with how both Amanda and Matt were on the same level of skill and could play back and forth. He was impressed with how quick Amanda could sing lyrics legibly i.e. Macarena and whatever that song is by M&M (I like the ones with the peanuts). I spoke with a few people in my Kiwanis club who attended. They had never seen a Dueling Piano show before. They were amazed that we host an event of this caliber with talent this impressive. I then asked the Bar Tender (who was dressed like a bee for Halloween) who sees lots of shows, weddings, bands, etc. She was very thankful she traded a shift to work this event instead of a wedding. She also made a killing at the bar thanks to the performers promoting people to refill their cup. In turn, I did my best to keep Matt and Amanda well hydrated…
3. Show Format – This being the first year of having a double feature, I fully expected to hear the same set of music with some songs swapped in based upon the requests that Amanda and Matt solicited. I must say that the three of us (me, our CEO, and one of my employees) who attended both shows were entertained all six hours of the shows. The hits were replayed (Don’t Stop Believing, Bad Bad Leroy Brown, Great Balls of Fire, etc) but there were many more pop songs, classic rock songs, and many piano bar standby’s that I’d never heard before. I guess the way I’d summarize this bullet point is that I’m very pleased with the way Matt and Amanda were able to read the room to cater to the dancers, the toe tappers, the singers, the younger people, and the older folks.
4. Singing & Performing – Amanda singing quick, Matt rocking the classics, the trade off between male and female singers, Matt’s ability to rile up the crowd, Amanda’s ability to engage the audience. Zero complaints here.
5. Setup & Take Down – Pfft. I guess if I’m trying to give you feedback as a performance-review-style I’d have no complaints here. I do like that they set up between 1:00 and 1:30pm vs the last several shows were closer to 4:00pm. As the organizer/promoter it gave me more peace of mind and I didn’t sit there double and triple checking that I’d plugged in the right date and location.
6. Three Hour Show vs Two Hour Show – I like the longer show. That may become our new thing.

As we’ve discussed over the years that I’ve been your customer, I’d recommend you to the ends of the earth and I pretty well think that rainbows flow out of your company’s rear. This year raised the bar once again. One day, I’d still like to have you (the man, the myth, the legend) come perform. Matt tells me that you’re stellar and he bases his stage-presence off of you (while Amanda smiled and nodded). However, I’d take the Matt/Amanda combo back any day.

I did ask if you would share my feedback with them, they assured me that you usually do send them positive and negative feedback. There’s nothing in this e-mail that I didn’t tell them to their face or wouldn’t have told them to their face if I’d thought of it before we split ways.

Your guys did a great job!  Those 2 are very talented musicians, singers and comedians.   They did a great job getting the whole room involved.
 

It was great!  Had awesome feedback!  Missed seeing ya! We will be in touch for future dates!

Hey there! It was GREAT! I think our best show to date. Jason and Matt were awesome!

I've heard nothing but great reviews from Saturday! Sam, you were a hit! Everyone loved you and told me this was the best set of entertainers we've had. I would have to agree. So thanks for rockin' it out for us!

It was a pleasure having you. The dueling pianos were a hit once again!! The players were right, it went really well and all of the guests really enjoyed their show!

It was terrific. The group loved the piano guys! They had a lot of fun.

It was AMAZING! The players were so talented, personable and interactive! Honestly...it was the best time I have personally had in a very long time!! My Directors actually gave me a standing ovation at the meeting the next day for planning this and how much fun they had. So....with that said....I think it was a huge hit! Thank you for everything! You all were great to work with! Hopefully we will be in touch again soon!

Show was great!! Everyone enjoyed them. Thanks so much for everything!!

This was our second time booking dueling pianos for our end of the year gala, but our first time utilizing Fun Pianos! by 176 Keys. The experience, from booking, to planning and day-of execution was exceptional.  They helped us generate additional revenue, showed our guests a great time and really knew how to maximize our space, set-up and guest interaction for a top-notch experience.

Your guys were AWESOME! I thoroughly enjoyed the show. At one point, we even tried to “stump” them. We could not. J They did an incredible job, especially since a majority of our group was glued to the television with the World Series on it. So, they sang “Go Cubs Go” several times for us. Very enjoyable! Thank you. Amy

The show went great! Everyone had a fabulous time and stayed so engaged! The guys did a great job…please tell them and everyone in your office ‘thank you’ for a fabulous fundraiser!!!

They threw one great Musical Party for our Fundraiser on the 16th! We had about the same size crowd as last year, but was younger ... and we netted $1,200 more than last year. Had larger groups participating in the activities, too. I'm so impressed how the guys can get people to perform - no one turned them down and they have everyone's attention the entire time. The Baseball Fan Oreo Stack 'Em contest did well, too = had 3 gals stacking the cookies and they all got around 30+ cookies stacked in a single vertical stack before one stack fell and then the gal knocked the other two stacks over (glad I had a tarp down). We collected about $550 among the three teams' buckets! I think they were impressed. One of the players even wore a couple of the baseball caps to the end of show. Our Father Steve helped raise some money with his piano medley. He really enjoyed himself - They did a nice job in promoting him! Everyone really had a great time!

It was great as usual. Got a little crazy thanks to a group of our guests but it made the show even better. You guys never disappoint! I had some people asking about the company so I sent them information, hopefully they contact you :)

Hello! We just arrived back from our honeymoon! The show was amazing! Everyone loved it and commented on how unique and cool it was! No one had ever seen anything like it. Thank you again for everything and for making our wedding so special!

Amy, we just wanted to tell you thank you so much for helping with the dueling pianos this weekend. The guys were absolutely awesome and everybody had a wonderful time thank you so much we hope to see you again!! George and Matt were awesome!!!

George and Matt were awesome!! I've never seen so much interaction and fun by a crowd at this event before. They were so nice to deal with and their show was outstanding. I've had guests telling me how much fun they had, since the event! Thank you for making the whole process so easy and delivering such an exceptional show!

The show was GREAT! The players were amazing and did just what we wanted and got the majority of our guests involved and dancing. I think everyone had a wonderful time. The room set-up was perfect. Many thanks for all your follow-up and attention to details and all our questions. All of our work really paid off.

Hi Amy! The show went great! We had an awesome turnout. The players were great to work with that night and did an awesome job with the crowd.

We have heard wonderful comments about the players' performance all week! They entertained us the entire time - and there was quite an age span ... probably 20's to 80's. Someone said that two hours just wasn't long enough. Another comment was that you knew those guys were good because no one was hanging out at the bar - everyone was in their seat and just waiting to see what was going to happen next. Lastly, no one refused to go on stage! And the people who were chosen raised some eye brows - for nobody would have thought that they would have gotten up in front of so many people. The players really did a great job in engaging the crowd from the get-go.

I can’t begin to tell you the raves reviews you folks got for your performance last Thursday! “Best holiday party EVER!” was repeated I don’t know how many times! Thank you and your team so very much for making our party such a huge success! I will keep your information on file, and will be looking for the next opportunity to bring you folks in for a conference or meeting. As the senior conference planner for the company handling around 35 conferences a year ranging from 20 to 5,500 attendees, I am confident something will come up soon. Once again, thank you, and VERY WELL DONE!!

The guys were amazing, the entire town has not stopped talking about the event. I had people telling me that we should do this every couple of months! My wife and I knew that once the town got to see your show that it would be a must see event every year.

Everyone loved the show once again. Thank you for all your help and wonderful staff. This always makes this fundraiser a great success.

Last night’s show was awesome. The performers were great- very engaging, funny and kept the crowd entertained. It was a different set-up than I had originally planned because my director wanted to incorporate patio seating as well as lawn, but they did a great job at playing to both sides of the crowd. We had our largest crowd yet for our summer concert series so we definitely want to book you guys for next year again!

The show was fabulous. Great food, great time, great turnout and wonderful fundraising result. Thanks to the players and 176 Keys office!

The show was wonderful, once again! I hope the guys enjoyed it as well. They did a great job!

It was awesome. Awesome is probably even an understatement! So many people loved it and even after the piano guys stopped playing, people kept asking when they were going to start playing again, haha!

It went VERY well! The players were SO great to work with. We were able to raise $10K MORE than we did last year! 176 Keys is the best company to work with. You put on a great show, you communicate very well and your price point is very fair. Thank you for everything! If we decide to make a 3rd year out of this, we will call you!

Fun Pianos was a joy to work with. I have worked with paid and unpaid halftime acts for our men’s and women’s basketball games for two years, and I can say without a doubt they were the most flexible and open to our ideas. They even helped us film a short commercial that we used to promote the fact that they were going to be performing at a basketball doubleheader for us. One of the greatest parts about the Fun Pianos dueling pianos show was the dedication of the performers to learn and perform the Illinois State University fight song. Our fans loved that touch. From an entertainment perspective the fans were engaged and we were able to seamlessly incorporate them into our game day promotions.

It was absolutely awesome!!!! The players were so good. Everyone wants to know the date for next year. We wowed Decatur. Thank you for everything!!! Your company is awesome. We were a sell out!!!!

The show was fantastic!!!!! People in town have been talking about it all weekend. It was a fantastic fundraiser. We definitely want to do it again next year. Thanks again for all your help. Your company has been a pleasure to work with.

I just wanted to tell you the players were amazing last night. They did a great job getting guests involved. We had a blast. Thank you!

The fundraiser on Saturday was AMAZING! 176 Keys had people out of their seats and dancing from the moment they took the stage. It was insanity! People who I thought might roll their eyes at such unbridled fun were some of the first ones up on the stage. The 2 hours flew by and I was bummed when it was over. We would like to book again for 2014 (though we will need to find a bigger venue). The musicians were professional, kind and totally hilarious! The fact that they donated their tips back to the Ottawa YMCA at the end of the night, was icing on the cake. People are STILL talking about it 5 days later… When can we book again?

We had a great time! The guys did get most of the crowd engaged. Just like I wanted! Thanks!

Thank you for making our event truly come to life with dueling pianos as the main attraction. This was the highest attendance we have had for our Holiday Party thus far. I am told it was because everyone was SOOO excited for Dueling Pianos. You beyond surpassed any of our expectations! We were completely thrilled with the show and how you engaged our corporate crowd! Having 176 Keys Fun Pianos as entertainment reinvented our traditional country club holiday party! We have received many compliments about the show and have now set the bar extremely high for next year. I sincerely appreciate your help and HUGE contribution to making this event a success! We will absolutely use you for corporate events in the future. You were a pleasure to work with. Thanks again!

176 Keys was a fantastic addition to our annual holiday party this year! What fun to have almost everyone up and about being interactive with other employees and the show. I have gotten nothing but rave reviews from other employees telling me what a great time they all had. Thank you 176 Keys!!

A BIG THANK YOU to 176 KEYS!!!!!!!!! The show was GREAT! The event overall was a HUGE SUCCESS, we met the goal of raising $10,000 !!! Actually made a few hundred extra. So, I am very happy with the outcome! The guys were AWESOME!!! Everyone had a great time. Great songs, crowd involvement and a few surprises from certain people in their willingness to get out of their seats and join in the participation! Thanks again for wonderful communication with me throughout the pre-planning stages! It really is a huge benefit to someone who has a lot on their shoulders, not having to worry about waiting to hear back from the company who is putting on the show!!!

The function went great!! I never would have believed that the guys could get our members up singing and dancing, but they did and everyone seemed to have a ball. They were set up way ahead of time and were just great to work with! You’ve got another very happy customer in ICUL!!!

Oh My. What a night!!! My cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing so much. It was definitely a success, even though the crowd was much smaller than we had hoped. The guys were quick to aid us in a set up that worked much better for a small crowd, and they utilized the layout to get the crowd involved. Some who came up to “perform” surprised us with their “talent”. The officers of the club are already sure we will do this again, so please keep me updated with your schedule / calendar.Thank you so much for working with me to make this such a success.

Just wanted to say thank you for our Friday night event. It went over awesome. The crowd loved it and the guys were fantastic. They were so awesome when I met them and helped me calm my fears about how the night would go. It’s a lot of pressure to pick the entertainment for a fundraiser. I felt like its success or failure was squarely on my shoulders. I have had nothing but positive comments from the people who attended. I could not believe how EVERYONE there was up and participating. It felt so good to have some good old fashioned fun. It would have been a shame to pick any other dueling piano company and not have the experience we did. I have no idea what made me go with you guys, but I am so glad that I trusted my gut. Many, many requests to have you guys back next year. As soon as we set the date, believe me, I’ll be contacting you guys. Thank you so much again, they were awesome!

The show was AWESOME!!! Mark and Jeffrey did a fantastic job and we have gotten a lot of positive feedback. Last year, we had 80 attendees. This year, 250! We were so pleased with the performance and how interactive they were with the crowd. I wouldn’t change a thing.Thanks so much for helping to make our fundraiser great! Click here for a recap video that a friend put together.

Thank you for an amazing night! Our alumni event was an all-around success and having 176 Keys as our entertainment was exactly what our group needed! It was so rewarding to see everyone out of their seats and participating. And to keep the majority of the crowd there until the end of the night speaks volumes for the quality of entertainment you guys provide. It was so fun watching people in their 20?s and in their 80?s up dancing. LOVE IT! We have received so many compliments from those that attended and I know people will be talking about that night for quite some time. Your guys were amazing. I hope you had a good time as well. If all your events are as fun as ours was, you are guaranteed many years of success! Thanks for everything.

Everything was wonderful!! We had SO much fun, I couldn’t believe we danced almost the entire time! Our guests were raving about your show. Many people said it was the most fun they’d every had at a wedding, and that was exactly what we were going for. You guys did an awesome job.

Everything was great! We have had MANY compliments on the show and so many more in our community are aware of what dueling pianos are. I appreciate all of your help. Looking forward to working with you in the future! Thank you!

You both were truly phenomenal on Saturday, and we just can’t thank you enough!!! You and your staff have been wonderful to work with throughout this process, and the reception hall said you were just a “hoot.” All of us were amazed by your musical talents, and I was particularly amazed by your ability to read the audience and keep so many people involved and entertained – it was just an incredible show! There were people up there dancing who told us they hadn’t even danced at their own wedding!!! Your show is all we have heard about since Saturday night, so it was a great success. Because of you guys, our wedding reception was exactly what we hoped it would be, and actually even better than we had expected. We will remember that forever, and there just aren’t enough words to thank you! The best to both of you and thank you forever!!

The show went great!! The guys did a phenomenal job! I was a little nervous since most people in this little bitty town that barely makes the map had never heard of a dueling piano show before. I was pretty sure it would go over well, but just had that little bit of nervousness about it. They knew exactly how to get the audience up to speed and involved quickly and it turned out to be probably the best main stage act that our town has ever had! People stuck around for the entire show and even convinced them to do “ONE MORE SONG, ONE MORE SONG!” Everything turned out wonderful.. and you’ve got two pretty cool dudes workin’ for ya. Additional facebook comments to the organizers: “That was one AWESOME piano show!!!” “You did a great job… NO complaints! Loved the pianos and stage shows! Heard lots of compliments!” “If you didn’t get to see the dueling pianos you missed a great time. One of the best evenings of entertainment we have had in a while. My wife enjoyed it so much I think she became a roadie for them and is now heading toward Arizona. Somewhat embarassing, but she had a blast.”

I wanted to send you an email in regards to our event Saturday night. They did a wonderful job, they are first class! Everyone had a great time and commented on how great they were! We look forward to doing business with you guys again in the future!

We had a wonderful time! Everyone wants us to do it again next year – told us it was the best fundraiser we’ve hosted! They had so much fun that we extended the time an additional 1/2 hour. The piano players did an outstanding job and the crowd was very interactive. Thanks again!

We had a great time and even now I keep thinking about my cousins, coworkers, and close friends being a part of the actual entertainment. The guys were great! We’ve already had tons of feedback… ‘Best wedding I’ve ever been to,’ and ‘You throw a great party!’ We really appreciate how 176 Keys Dueling Pianos helped make our day STAND OUT! As if I thought it would have been anything other than awesome?!?

I just wanted to let you know how great your guys were on Saturday! I’ve had so many compliments! Please let them know how much we enjoyed it..

I wanted to let you know that everyone (approximately 270 people) really enjoyed the party. Your entertainment was ‘first class’ all the way. The way you were able to get such great audience participation was just wonderful. The age group of employees we have is so diverse. I was just amazed how you held the attention of our 20 year old employees as well as our 60 year old employees, you just had something of interest for everyone….

“Fantastic and fabulous fun… I’ve told many people about you guys and hope to sign you up next year. Have a great holiday season.” Dentist Profits

“176 Keys Dueling Pianos was great! The entertainment was fantastic, and the entire crowd loved the show! Way to go guys! We can’t think of a better way to have celebrated her 50th! Thanks again!”

“EXCELLENCE all around….from the pre-planning sessions; to driving through a Chicago blizzard; to the actual show. 176 Keys Dueling Pianos kept 700 people engaged, smiling, and singing along. Lots of fun with rave reviews from the audience. We have already booked them for another event. Thanks for providing a memorable evening at our Leadership Development Institute.”

“… Guests enjoyed cocktails and appetizers, but the party really got into gear when the guys from 176 Keys Dueling Pianos took the stage. With a show combining requests, and songs ranging from country to rock and roll and everything in between, the dueling piano’s provided spirited entertainment all evening…” Excerpt from Jack’s Fund Newsletter Click to read the entire article

“Hello! Just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know how absolutely amazing the piano players were. They were a pleasure to work with… I had been stopped at least 50 times today and thanked for the great party last night…”

I just wanted to let you know that Shelli and I are very happy about how things went last Friday. You two did a great job. We received lots of compliments about our entertainment. Everyone wanted to know who you were and where you were from, etc…

Sam, I just wanted to let you know that Shelli and I are very happy about how things went last Friday. You two did a great job. We received lots of compliments about our entertainment. Everyone wanted to know who you were and where you were from, etc…

Hi Guys! Your performance was wonderful Sat night! Everyone is raving about it!