Hiring Hayes was the biggest mistake we made for our wedding. He's very aggressive, impolite even, and though he prides himself on being professional, he is anything but. The only thing he has going for him is his rate ($600 for 5 hours), but in retrospect, his services are definitely overpriced. The conversations we had before the wedding were okay. He had conviction behind his advice and we adopted them because he's "done 600+ weddings" and he knew how to run things, apparently. He was an aggressive "take charge" kind of a guy. Things were running pretty smoothly for the first half of the wedding. Hayes was surprising polite and tried to take care of things. However, his services and demeanor started to go sour once we hit a snag. We were running off schedule by about 30 minutes because of issues with the center pieces and other set backs, so we had to compromise a few things and modify the order of events. Our bridesmaids, coordinator, and officiant wanted to make sure things kept on going smoothly, so they all checked-in with Hayes to make sure he was updated on the new schedule. I can understand how he could have felt bombarded, but it's no excuse for how he acted. When it came time to dance, there wasn't a lot of people that came up. It was a Sunday, people were shy, and I picked a lot of the music. I just want to make it clear that I'm not blaming Hayes for any of that. After some dancing (or lack there of) my wife and I were going to perform for our guests. I was looking for my ukulele and Hayes made a snide remark to our guests that I was looking for my "little toy." Whatever, no big deal. But after the wedding was over, we had a conversation with one of our bridesmaids who said that Hayes snapped and yelled at her. She also pointed out that he was short with my wife. That's right, he gave the bride attitude. I haven't DJ'ed at 600+ weddings, but I'm pretty sure that you do not yell at the bride on her wedding day. That is totally inexcusable! We also found out sometime after that some of our vendors had a tough time dealing with Hayes. Hayes also was supposed to give us group dance lessons during the wedding. We asked him to, but he refused, saying that he'd only do it when more people were on the dance floor. To top it all off, he left an hour early without saying a word to us. He may have had a bad day, things didn't go according to plan, but it's no excuse for acting unprofessional and rude. His personality was the tipping point. I probably wouldn't have bothered signing up on yelp and writing this review if it weren't for how he acted. Despite Sugar Rhythm, we still had a great time. It was still the best day of our lives. I dislike reminding myself of Hayes and thinking negatively, but I just want to make sure wedding couples knew how his services were at our wedding. read more

Do not hire this guy! He yelled at me several times during my friend's wedding. While some other reviewers have given him decent reviews despite his terrible attitude (due to the fact that their dance floor was packed), I would not - because the dance floor was not packed and he made no effort to improve the situation. read more

Hayes has done the music and worked the microphone at quite a few mixers. He keeps the music at a great level where you notice it's there when you're quiet but you don't notice it during a conversation. Plus, he coordinates well to pump up the volume to get everyone's attention and is a good speaker. For parties, it's great to have a DJ who knows how to dance and isn't afraid to hold a quick dance lesson to get more people moving. Good prices and he's better than DJ DoubleClick (an iPod and speakers) read more

Hayes Kolb is amazingly talented and one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. I wish I could give Hayes 10 stars because he really does deserve all of them! I hired Hayes for my BFF surprise 50th birthday party this last month and Hayes went above and beyond to ensure that my needs were being met for this special occasion! My experience working with Hayes was nothing less than amazing!!! If you're looking for a professional DJ as well as a master of ceremonies (MC), hire Sugar Rhthem Dance! Hayes, thank you so much for helping make my BFF 50th Birthday party a night to remember. Maricela read more

We catered a party two weeks ago, where the client hired Sugar Rhythm for his DJ. The client was going all out and throwing himself a 60th Birthday Party.... And all out he went! This DJ was amazing! He knew his music business and was proud and friendly...But most of all he did a great job of entertaining while playing his perfect selection of music. The party loved him and most of all he was fun to work with....If you want a DJ to take the music & entertainment off your shoulders...Hayes is your MAN! read more

I recently went to a wedding he DJ'd and he was more than rude and bordered on creep status. He yelled at the maid of honor (bride's sister) as she was walking down the aisle (or trying to before he told her to stop). He snapped at guests and made rude and annoying remarks all throughout the evening. Don't even get me started on his DJing abilities...more train wrecks than I can count. As a guest of the wedding, he left quite the negative impression on me and I could have done without his poor behavior at my friend's otherwise beautiful wedding. read more

My husband and I hired Hayes to dj our wedding reception and also hired him for a couple dance lessons. Overall, it was an okay experience -- the dance floor was filled and everyone seemed to have fun, but we thought he needs work on his attitude. He can be pretty condescending, rude, and arrogant. My guests told me afterward that they had a great time but that he sucked (they were referring to his attitude). My father-in-law told us that he was rude when he spoke to him as we were all setting up the party. At the beginning of the reception, he instructed our wedding party how they are going to walk into reception area as they are introduced. My brother was leading the party and was specifically instructed to walk around the cake, but the DJ called my brother out on it on the microphone in front of all my guests and told my brother that he was doing it wrong. My brother was mad that it seemed the DJ wanted to embarrass him in front of everybody. That was my younger brother! Another incident happened during dinner. To make a story short, we had the DJ seated at a table with my husband's friends and badly offended one of the guys. A couple minutes before the end of the night, my dear mother-in-law was requesting a song since the very next day is her anniversary with her husband. Something happened and the DJ's computer program went down and the music stopped completely. He blamed the system shut-down on her. I don't think it's very professional to use a song request as an excuse for the system to go down, especially if that was our mom, someone who we love very much. My siblings witnessed his accusation and that of course did not leave them with a very good impression of him. He spoke to us at the end of the party about my father-in-law, my mother-in-law, and the incident with my husband's friend. He did not admit fault nor apologize for those incidences and played it off as if he had no idea why they were upset. But I will give him 3 stars since he did pack the dance floor and did a decent job. The majority of the guests had fun and he did have some good ideas about entertaining the guests and helped coordinate the cake cutting, garter toss, and things like that. I just wished he treated our guests better because they mean a lot to us and we want them to have fun and feel good. read more

My guests told me after my wedding that he was rude to them. Unprofessional and arrogant. I do not recommend him.

We hired Hayes to DJ my parents 40th Wedding Anniversary Party. We explained in advance that my Father had pancreatic cancer and voiced our concerns about putting up a deposit. Well sadly the worst happened and my Dad passed away before we made the final arrangements. We had already placed a $300.00 deposit down with hesitations. I called Hayes 2 days after my Dad passed away explaining the situation and asking if atleast half the deposit would be refundable considering the situation. Keep in mind this was 5-6 weeks before the event was to take place he could still book that date. He has not responded to my letter or phone calls or e-mails? He said he wanted to do the 'right" christian thing but so far nothing. So I'm not sure that he would be the right choice if I was to do it all over again. And yes as stated many times in other posts he was rude, arrogant and kinda condescending at times with his comments. Think twice before hiring this guy for your special event. Lots of other much sweeter and understanding guys who wanted to do our event. Very dissappointed!! read more

We hired Sugar Rhythm Dance for my mom's disco themed 50th birthday party. Everyone had a blast! They had all the music we requested, and then some. Not to mention all the lights, and of course the disco ball! We called around and did some research and Sugar Rhythm Dance had the best pricing. We would highly recommend them for your next party or function. read more

I just received a call a couple hours ago from Hayes and I am extremely disappointed and pissed off at how he handles his business. He told me my review was ruining his life. That is just plain dramatic and unnecessary. There was no remorse or reflection on the things I wrote. It was simply my fault for writing it. Im sorry but me talking to Hayes before I wrote that review would NEVER have changed the fact that he obviously didn't listen to what I wanted nor did he even try to be a decent person and not overcharge us on the traveling. He also left his shoes all by himself. These are things he did to HIMSELF. I did none of it and I suggest anyone thinking of hiring him RUN IN THE OTHER DIRECTION. This guy does not learn from his mistakes AT ALL. Addendum: In regards to his comments below I would still not change ANYTHING I wrote having heard his "reasonings". For one thing he is lying flat out about the rain. It was a beautiful and actually very warm day with little to no clouds. We were actually very fortunate and happy that the weather was so good. Look up the weather. No rain whatsoever so leaving his shoes was for no reason. As for the amount extra for travel. I understand his reasoning, mostly im upset he waited until the last second to tell us it was going to be that much more. Obviously he has a model to calculate that out as he stated it in his comment, he could have reminded us it was 100/hr extra and we could have calculated it out and decided ourselves, months in advance, whether we wanted to continue with him or not and been prepared. Extremely unprofessional to just wait until a week and a half before the wedding after being asked many times for a quote. He had the same information the whole time, it should have been simple. So whether my husband was mistaken or not, still not ok. The things about the minor mishaps at the wedding like dismissing the guests and not playing a song, he doesnt actually give reasons why those things happened yet say there are very reasonable things to back them up. Hes more than willing to tell you all about the rest. Well my problem is I JUST talked to him about those things. He simply forgot. Thats fine, not a big deal, but with the other things he did, that didnt help. Very frustrating. Yes he tried to call and once again like I said in my last review he showed absolutely no remorse for the things I mentioned. Hes still blaming me for things HE didnt handle properly. If he had I would have been more than willing to talk to him. I just was so angry that he was blaming me I was not about to listen to anymore. Lately it seems hes only getting worse too. I hope this helps people and helps him realize he needs to change his approach if hes going to get any good reviews in the future. read more

I contacted Sugar Rhytm Dance for my upcoming wedding. His response was cold and unprofessional. Here is the email that was sent to me -- you can decifer his attitude for yourself: ME: I am interested in learning about your dance lesson prices. i would like instruction for me and my fiance's first dance -- nothing fancy but just to be able to get across the floor on our first dance. Please send me information about prices and suggested amount of sessions. Also do you travel to Newark? HAYES: Sorry, I teach in the San Jose - Santa Clara areas ME: so can you provide me information regarding dance lessons in your studio? HAYES: Please call me anytime with your questions. ME: No need. I was able to find someone else who was very helpful and interested in obtaining my business. HAYES: You hit it on the nose. I did not really want your business. Perfect. I hated responding to your emails. Wishing you get someone that fits your needs. ME: by the way, I am an wedding/event planner and I also advertise on TheKnot.com. I will not only warn my clients about you but will be speaking with my The Knot account representative about your professionalism. thanks for your honesty. HAYES: Good. Stay out of my life. Your earlier emails showed your style and demeanor, which is not who I am looking for. read more

We had Sugar Rhythm provide a background music to our Roundtable networking event in Pasatiempo, CA and Hayes did a great job. The sequence he provided was well thought through and the music didn't overpower our speakers, which is very important at such events. Sugar Rhythm created a wonderful atmosphere for our entire evening. Thanks Hayes! read more

My husband and I decided to do a salsa for our first dance 3 weeks before our wedding day. We contacted a dozen salsa instructors in the area and decided to hire Hayes because of his fast and warm response. We cannot be happier with our decision. We had little experience with salsa dancing before. Just took some group classes and learned the basics. Hayes was a great instructor. He taught us so much more than just the moves. He really knows how to teach different students with different skill levels. After just 7 private classes, we both improved a lot and became much more confident. Our first dance at our wedding was a surprise to our guests and we did great. I mean we are not professional dancers in any way but I would say we did our best. And nothing of this could possibly happen without Hayes' help. Thank you so much Hayes! I would definitely recommend his dancing classes to anyone who wants to learn "proper dancing"! read more

After returning from Panama, my husband and I decided we would take salsa dance lessons. Hayes has done a great job at getting two people with two left feet to move in unison. Thanks Hayes! read more

I attended a silent auction and this company was in charge of the music. Hayes did a great job getting everyone on the dance floor and the music selection was perfect for the event. it was New York themed and the music was awesome. read more

The DJ service is wonderful. They were the DJ for our dinner event. He was very professional, courteous and knowledgeable!!! Highly recommend their services!! read more

Once again, we employed Sugar Rhythm Dance for our holiday party at work. DJ Hayes (owner) was fantastic. Not only did he provide great music, but he taught group Salsa and ChaCha lessons at the same time. He even danced with some of the shyer ladies afterwards. This year, we asked for lighting , and the room was lit up like a giant Christmas tree. Towards the end, a group of the employees requested Karaoke, which Hayes provided. They had alot of fun with that. This whole variety of sevices was done for a very reasonable price. Everything was done in a courteous, proffessional manor, and most importantly people had a fun and memorable experience. read more

We hired Sugar Rhythm Dance for our Father/Daughter dance and we were really happy that everyone had a great time dancing--even the dads. We asked Hayes to play appropriate music for the under 12 yr. old set of which he obliged, while he still kept the teens dancing and happy as well. Hayes can be direct and some of the girls were disappointed their requests were not played but there just wasn't enough time. We are using Sugar Rhythm again this year and the girls are already beginning their request lists. read more

I worked with Hayes last year and had an excellent experience. He is a great DJ, personable and friendly and the music he played was definitely a hit with the attendees of the party. He kept the dance floor packed with his fun tunes, and even joined the crowd at one point and taught some dance moves! I would definitely recommend hiring him to DJ at your wedding or party! read more

Hayes did a great job at the mixer we hosted. Obviously knows his business and caters to his specific audience.

"My niece hired Sugar Rhythm Dance for her wedding reception, last month. The music was perfect during the greeting and dining hours. DJ Hayes' MC announcements were fantastic. He taught two group Salsa & Swing dance lessons for the guests. I really loved that, because I love to dance so much! Sugar Rhythm kept the dance floor packed all night as all the guests stayed to the very end. We loved his music selections for the "over thirty" crowd, and they enjoyed dancing to modern Hip Hop & Pop music as well. Overall, a fantastic time. My niece told me they've had several calls since the wedding about how Sugar Rhythm really made their wedding reception special." read more

Hayes provided the music for our wedding last month and did a fantastic job! He was both really friendly and very professional throughout the process. Although we left the DJ selection until the last minute and didn't leave him much time, Hayes put together a great selection of music, mixing Argentine tango (our request), vintage standards, and current hits for our reception - exactly what we were hoping for. He even did a short Latin dance lesson for our guests that had nearly everyone (from toddlers to grandparents) on their feet and participating. In advance of the wedding, he walked through the wedding timeline in detail with me and provided plenty of helpful suggestions, and everything went very smoothly on the day of the wedding. read more

This is our 5th or 6th time we have used Rhythm Sugar Dance, never disappoints. This year we used RSD for our Christmas party, Hayes had a prior commitment so he matched us up with another DJ from his crew, David...just as outstanding as Hayes. David started earlier to warm up and nailed all the music we love. We have never had a bad experience with Hayes, why would we look any further when we got the best. Hayes and David you both rock, David, thank you for a great nite and great music. Joy/Frankie read more

We hired Hayes last week for our work party and from start to finish our experience was great. Our group enjoyed the music selection and we had a blast singing and dancing. We found that his rates are good and Hayes is friendly. We give him 5 stars! read more

I hired him in my wedding, and he did an outstanding job! Couldn't ask for more... I highly recommend him, and he is all worth it.

Hayes is great I met him when a good friend wanted to learn how to dance. My last dance partner was a West Swing Dance champion, but he suddenly and unexpectedly passed away 8 weeks before the wedding. So when my friend asked me to be his dance partner, I felt it would be best to get "back to basics" and start feeling more warm and fuzzy with dancing again. The teaching techniques of Hayes is outstanding. Much like presenting pieces of a puzzle, he is very particular about form, posture and position. When you put all the pieces together, you realize that it makes you a better dancer. In addition, you recognize what type of dance is appropriate with the music. Too many dance instructors let their students get sloppy so they can get the footwork correctly - Not Hayes, he provides the overall instruction. Thus, there are no bad habits to break so you can dance with more than one partner. And if you choose to transform your social dancing to the next level, your "tool box" of skills are plentiful. Fond memories of my late Fiance' are enjoyed when I dance at social gatherings. No more depressing thoughts as I was starting to feel sorry for myself. Lessons with Hayes has brought the fun back into dancing read more

Hayes was great, very professional and approachable. His prices were very reasonable, especially considering I booked him with only 4 days notice. He kept the party goin all night long. read more

Hayes.came to my house to help us with our bride groom, mother son dance. It was a perfect intro and it helped us all make it through the day without treading on goes. Really good idea to schedule couple of hours before wedding. Wish I had time for another leas son with Hayes. read more

I was looking for DJs for a wedding reception and Hayes was fantastic in response to my inquiry. He called me back right away and had already talked to the reception site to find out all the details about the setup. He already had some great ideas to compliment what we wanted from the party. Ultimately, we did end up booking with a direct referral from a friend, but I wanted to leave a great review for Hayes as he was very responsive and wonderful over the phone. I will keep him in mind for my next event. Thanks, Hayes! read more

Hayes dj'd at one of our networking events and did a great job. He seems to be very versatile on the type of music he plays and he's always been very polite to me. read more

We hire Sugar Rhythm at least once a year and recommend them several times a year. Last month Sugar Rhythm DJ'ed and MC'ed our daughters' graduation party. As usual, DJ Hayes had all the newest and latest Hip Hop & Dance songs for the teens and twenty somethings. The dance floor was packed all night. But, what we love about Sugar Rhythm is that he knows how to blend in the 1970s 1980s Disco & Classic Rock that us adults love. He does his mixing so well that the parents & kids all dance together. BTW, there were more parents than graduates at this party and all went home happy. Our home phone has been ringing the past month with nothing but compliments. read more

We hired Hayes for my 30th birthday party. Had a disco theme and his job was to DJ and give dance lessons. He absolutely rocked! We had roughly 50 people at the party and at any given time 30-40 were on the dance floor because Hayes was so engaging. He's a great dancer, a great DJ, and brings awesome energy to the party. I'm surprised by the reviews that say he was rude - we certainly didn't experience anything like that, he was great! Easy to work with and really had his thumb on the pulse of the party. read more

Sugar Rhythm DJ-ed my dance party. Frankly, he blew me away with the choice of his music. It was fantastic! I'm glad I trusted him to follow his instinct and create the music list himself. I had a lot of very high-level amateur and professional dancers there who know their music well, and they too raved about how great the music was. In fact, I heard about how great he was for days and many said they wanted to hire him. I found him very friendly and very nice to my guests. read more

I just got married June 18th , 2011 about 3 months prior we booked Sugar Rhythm Dance to be our DJ.I cant express how happy and blessed I feel to have found them. I had a meeting with Hayes he is so polite and professional. He made us feel so comfortable and took so much time out to get the details of our wedding to really make the music fit the guest in every way. My wedding day couldn't have been more perfect, the dj kept the dance floor FULL,the entire night. So many of my guest raved to me about how great he was and his music. The DJ was a sweet heart i was running late to the church ceremony and he was already at the reception area setting up,he saw me in a rush and helped me set out the place cards for my wedding. My fiance and I had to do everything of ours on a budget and all i kept hearing about is how the DJ is the most important factor to a reception and they were all so right. Hayes actually gave us a fantastic price, but his services should be priced way higher for their delivery. did i mention the DJ came and set up lighting all around our reception room. I cant say enough, just take my advice and don't go anywhere else, Hayes knows what he's doing.If I could give him 10 stars I would=) read more

My dad and I took some dance lessons from Hayes in preparation for the Father Daughter Dance at my wedding, and as a fun bonding experience. Hayes was wonderful! We were both anxious about the process, but Hayes was able to make us laugh and feel more comfortable and we really enjoyed it. Not just that, we actually learned quite a bit! Hayes' teaching style is great and he employs several types of analogies so that its easier to visualize and understand what to do for various dance moves. Thank you so much, Hayes! read more

We hired Sugar Rhythm Dance for my wife's 40th birthday dance party. I thought he did a great job of keeping the dance energy up the whole time -- great tunes and he is clearly experienced. He knew just what song to play at what time to keep people on the floor. Several times I was going to take a break and then the next song came on and I just had to keep dancing! He also led a short swing dance lesson for the guests at our request, and that was great. A couple of times he made sort of silly comments to the guests but I think that's par for the course for DJs. read more

We hired Hayes to DJ our TMPSE New Year's Eve event. I found him professional and fair to deal with. I would definitely use him again.

Don't bother contacting this guy. Customer service is not his strong point. He is more into teaching you how to spell than he is in teaching you how to dance. read more

Our group hired Sugar Rhythm for our annual event. We have had great success with Sugar Rhythm in the past. He played all of our requests which were lots of Latin, modern pop & dance, 1980s, Big Band and Disco. Everybody was dancing till the end. Also, they MC'd our raffles and announcements to perfection. DJ Hayes taught Salsa and Swing group dance lessons, and got us all going with the Electric Slide. Another fun time. read more