It may be a good exercise as a band and a direction you may want in the future but he, is not the decision maker. Its family at best I would do a song but it is the DJ's gig.
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Bar band --> Wedding Band?
- Thread starter hrodbert696
- Start date
So, I have a younger cousin who is getting married, and at the family Easter gathering I threw out to him that he could get my cover band to play the reception. He seemed open to the idea if we would do it for less than the DJ quoted him, which was $1500.
I'm sure the band would agree to beat $1500 - this is the group where the BL has hired us out to private parties for $300 (and then asked us to help cover airfare for him to fly back from CA where his job had taken him that week). But we're not a classic wedding band with a repertoire of 300 top-40 hits to choose from, we're a year-old bar band with about 50 or 60 tunes, and not all of them guaranteed crowd-pleasers - you know, stuff that someone or other wanted to play.
Still, I think we can pull it off, we have a lot of standard 80s stuff (Pat Benatar and 867-5309 and all that) and some more recent pop (Pink and Katy Perry) as well. The wedding is at least a year away, also, so there's plenty of time to learn new tunes they might request.
So - thoughts, experiences, warnings, advice, all welcome. What price would you guys offer, and on what terms, and what should we expect?
PS - Not entirely sure what to expect as far as the character of the crowd, like whether we'll have drunk Uncle Harry barfing on the amp or something. They're not a hoity-toity couple. My cousin's side is pretty religious and most of them don't even drink. Her side is apparently not particularly religious and I don't know what they're like.
My bar band has played weddings.
- We don't take requests
- You WILL back off our equipment upon request, no matter WHO you are
- I don't care how much the crowd likes us, if the Bride does
- We have always just been ourselves, and we have always been successful
- It's actually a pretty good time!
I've photographed dozens of weddings. Most wedding DJ's do a pathetic job as "master of ceremonies," from my experience. Most of them might as well ahve put their hat on sideways and said, "you dawg." Half the time, WE had to run things, or we would've never gotten out of there.
"Hey man, you gonna announce the first dance, or what?"
Wow. That's not what people hire a wedding BAND for ... as the father of 2014 bride going through the planning (actually, just being a listening ear and signing deposit checks) I'd be PLENTY miffed if the wedding BAND I payed for started spinning CDs.
And in this area wedding DJs, those with good reputations, are fine MCs and worth every penny. The guy who runs karoake or spins platters at some local bar or club isn't a "wedding DJ" ... but many pretend to be.
In my experience, the ability to provide recorded music during breaks is usually a selling point. Would you prefer to have dead space during the band's breaks?
Which brings up another good point for the OP. Generally, at a bar gig, your break is your break. During a wedding, if you get to take a break at all once things rev up, at least one person needs to hang by the stage to adjust volume, turn down the music and put a mic on for an announcement, etc. etc.
Which brings up another good point for the OP.
Things like the number and length of breaks, start and stop times, payment terms, band meals, performance space requirements, power requirements, etc. should all be laid out in a written contract. We also make it a practice to discuss the itinerary for the event with the facility contact and/or caterer in advance of the event to make sure everyone is on the that the band is on the same page with respect to what is going to happen and when.That said, the band needs to be flexible and to be able to adapt to the changes that invariably happen over the course of the event.
Canned music during the dinner, sure. But a wedding band doesn't take breaks as a whole. Members get breaks during the wedding rituals (cut the cake, garter, bouquet, etc) when the whole band isn't required. Once the music starts a wedding band plays right through, the stage is never empty. Just one part of running a wedding band is knowing how this works.
Which brings up another good point for the OP.
Yes..which leads back to my original suggestion that they not play the thing at all. I would feel uncomfortable working a wedding without a contract, yet also feel uncomfortable about making my cousin and/or his future wife's family sign a detailed contract.......but every family's relationship and dynamic is different, so perhaps the OP has no qualms about it...
In my experience and observation in a decade and a half of playing weddings with both my own band and as a sub, this is not true as a general rule. Some bands provide continuous music, others take breaks and provide recorded music, which often consists of specific requests by the client. I've found that it is far more common in my area and with the bands that I've worked with for the bands to take breaks rather than provide continuous music.
Obviously, much depends on the clients' specific needs, it's been my experience that using the breaks to provide recorded music can provide a better experience for the client and their guests than continuous music.
We can provide continuous music if a client requests it, but we typically use recorded music for breaks and play client requests that fall outside our band's repertoire and/or style. I can assure you that if you hired our band for your daughter's wedding, you wouldn't be miffed by the band suddenly spinning CDs, because we would have met with your daughter (and likely you, if you wanted to be part of those discussions) and had extensive discussions the itinerary and repertoire for the reception.
We're not a wedding band.
We're a bar band, and we let people know that when they insist on having us play their wedding.
I don't think I'd be any good in that type of band anyway. I'm a bit surly, and I like to play music because I love it. I'm not too big on requests; never have been. I'm not that kind of natural talent that can just pull off any old thing. I rehearse pretty thoroughly anything I am going to perform, and if I have any faith at all, you can easily convince me I am not doing the material justice, except in those rare instances where I KNOW I am just nailing it.
I have the utmost respect for house bands, corporate bands, wedding bands; any of the situations where you have to know a ton of popular songs, and do them with enthusiasm whether you like them or not.
I have compromised just enough to learn covers of popular songs for a four hour bar gig, but I have not compromised much, as all the songs on our setlist sung by me are songs I love, with the exception of ONE SONG: "Slither," by Velvet Revolver. I think it's an abysmally stupid song, with lyrics about nothing, and the only way I get away with it is by pretending it's the Doors' worst song, and I do a total Morrison read on the vocal.
Come to think of it, it wouldn't even be the Doors' worst song. That honor would still go to "Hello, I Love You," one of the most horrifying piece of fluff, directly stolen from "All Day and All of the Night," by the Kinks. Robbie Krieger will face Satan one day for that re-write.
I thought we were a horrible choice the first time someone begged us to do their wedding, but it actually turned out so good that we've done several more, and we've always had a heck of a good time.
Go figure.
Our bar band plays a lot of weddings. We don't generally play until later or during the "reception" portion after dinner, toasts, speeches, first dance, etc. The Ipod works fine for all those festivities and when we play we rock without stopping. No slow tunes, no blues, just up-tempo dance tunes for 2 hours or so and we go home.
Personally, I love weddings. Free food/drink and they are genuinely happy to see you or they wouldn't hire you. Beats the hell out of bar gigs but, most of the wedding and private party gigs are nailed down in bars.
Personally, I love weddings. Free food/drink and they are genuinely happy to see you or they wouldn't hire you. Beats the hell out of bar gigs but, most of the wedding and private party gigs are nailed down in bars.
This has been my band's experience. We're not a wedding band per se but we have picked up a number of wedding jobs from people who came out to see us on a bar gig or at a street dance. They hire us for us, knowing the material we play and the type of show we put on. It works out well because they don't expect us to be something different from what they saw when they hired us, and we generally don't bend over backwards to be something we're not on wedding gigs (beyond learning 2 or 3 special request songs and the BL assuming MC duties which he is very good at).
I think a lot of this is a local/regional thing. The expectations of "proper" wedding bands with regard to material, attire, etc. are obviously much higher (as is the pay) in big-money areas like the Northeast U.S. vs. the market we work which is the North Central U.S. with most of our clients being farm families or small-town folk.
Disaster is looming unless you nail down every detail. EVERY detail. Part and parcel of playing weddings is the ability to play quietly, with frequent interruptions, as well as learning music you don't particularly love. Godspeed.
My band plays both weddings/functions and bar gigs. Our repetiore has been cut back quite heavily to about 100 songs - we were at the 150-200 songs mark, but we decided to cut the chaff. However, this still gives us plenty of scope to cover both type of gig.
Things I've learnt about functions/wedding gigs from experience that are worth sharing:
Firstly, people want to dance. If you can't dance to it, don't play it.
Likewise, people like to sing. If you can't sing along to it, don't play it.
Offer to play a couple of requests from bride/groom, but don't give them carte blanche over your setlist. You're being booked on the strength of the songs you play and your following. You should also have more of an idea of what works and how to construct a dynamic exciting set than they can.
Play to the dancefloor, not the room. Many bar bands think they have to play loud enough to hit the back wall. That's great in a bar - everyone there is there to see the band. At a wedding you are not the star attraction. There are many people and family members that haven't seen each other in years and want to talk and catch up. Let them. Be loud enough to fill the dancefloor, but quiet enough that people off to the sides and back of the room can still talk without straining to hear. If they want to dance, then they will.
Who's the target audience? Whilst it's tempting to throw in a lots oldies as there'll no doubt be a lot of older people there, IME they aren't the ones who stay on the dance floor all night. The bride and groom's friends tend to be the dancers. Hit them and hit them hard. If they leave the dance floor, it's a bugger filling it again! However, don't dismiss the power of the old classics!
Keep gaps between songs to a minimum. The gaps are when people leave the dance floor. Arrange your set so there's minimum farting around between songs. Even string a few songs together to keep people dancing.
Aim for ever song to make someone exclaim 'tuuuuune!' Whilst it's satisfying for a band to play some exoctic and technical progressive shred number, it's boring for everybody else. It doesn't have to be poppy disco either. I've played Sweet Child o'mine at many wedding and it goes down fantastic. Let the blokes get there air guitars out!
How long have you got to rehearse? Sort your setlist out, weed out the chaff and non-danceable songs and see how much you've got left. Estimate about 15 songs per hour. If you need more songs, there's plenty of classic 3 chord songs that people love and are easy to play. Don't dismiss certain songs because everyone plays them. There's a reason every band plays Mustang Sally and Brown Sugar - people like them!
Lastly, enjoy it. A function band should be enjoyable to watch as well as listen to. Engage with the audience and have fun. And be prepared if someone want to sing with you.
Things I've learnt about functions/wedding gigs from experience that are worth sharing:
Firstly, people want to dance. If you can't dance to it, don't play it.
Likewise, people like to sing. If you can't sing along to it, don't play it.
Offer to play a couple of requests from bride/groom, but don't give them carte blanche over your setlist. You're being booked on the strength of the songs you play and your following. You should also have more of an idea of what works and how to construct a dynamic exciting set than they can.
Play to the dancefloor, not the room. Many bar bands think they have to play loud enough to hit the back wall. That's great in a bar - everyone there is there to see the band. At a wedding you are not the star attraction. There are many people and family members that haven't seen each other in years and want to talk and catch up. Let them. Be loud enough to fill the dancefloor, but quiet enough that people off to the sides and back of the room can still talk without straining to hear. If they want to dance, then they will.
Who's the target audience? Whilst it's tempting to throw in a lots oldies as there'll no doubt be a lot of older people there, IME they aren't the ones who stay on the dance floor all night. The bride and groom's friends tend to be the dancers. Hit them and hit them hard. If they leave the dance floor, it's a bugger filling it again! However, don't dismiss the power of the old classics!
Keep gaps between songs to a minimum. The gaps are when people leave the dance floor. Arrange your set so there's minimum farting around between songs. Even string a few songs together to keep people dancing.
Aim for ever song to make someone exclaim 'tuuuuune!' Whilst it's satisfying for a band to play some exoctic and technical progressive shred number, it's boring for everybody else. It doesn't have to be poppy disco either. I've played Sweet Child o'mine at many wedding and it goes down fantastic. Let the blokes get there air guitars out!
How long have you got to rehearse? Sort your setlist out, weed out the chaff and non-danceable songs and see how much you've got left. Estimate about 15 songs per hour. If you need more songs, there's plenty of classic 3 chord songs that people love and are easy to play. Don't dismiss certain songs because everyone plays them. There's a reason every band plays Mustang Sally and Brown Sugar - people like them!
Lastly, enjoy it. A function band should be enjoyable to watch as well as listen to. Engage with the audience and have fun. And be prepared if someone want to sing with you.
