I learned how to play the bass in order to play a wedding back in 1975. It was a blast! Plus, I got lucky! Twice!
*sad sigh*
Oh, to be young again.
*sad sigh*
Oh, to be young again.
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Would/does your band do WEDDINGS? Are they that bad?
- Thread starter CoffeeLove
- Start date
That is why in the wedding band business you price yourself accordingly to compensate for, the stress
Love this! It's good to be #2. That's why I know I can call Redhead "my stinky little bar band" and get away with it.
I always thought a cool name for a band would be 'A Bar-band'.Love this! It's good to be #2. That's why I know I can call Redhead "my stinky little bar band" and get away with it.
Haven't done a corporate/wedding gig in probably 25 years, but they were all fun and cool. Lotsa folk eventually gettin' drunk and partyin'. What's not to like? Like playing a bar gig, but with better dressed people LOL.
I've done hundreds of weddings... playing jazz. Of course we can rock the house if asked.
It's worth noting that not all weddings are $50000 Disney blow-outs. The diversity of wedding celebrations is huge. For this reason, don't rule out playing weddings just because you don't happen to play in one of "those" bands. I admire the hell out of the players who are doing it successfully. But the competition to be in those bands is intense, and we won't all get to play in one of them.
A friend of my family recently got married, and the music was two fiddlers.
Of course I suspect that smaller weddings pay less, but they also involve less gear and setup time. I'm glad there's a second or third tier of gigs. A lot of these weddings are low budget DIY affairs, many are second weddings, with people who are more socially confident and don't need all of the commercial trappings. Remember the wedding scene in The Philadelphia Story. There was no garter ceremony or drunken guests getting into fights.
And of course I have my share of stories, but all gigs are like that.
It's worth noting that not all weddings are $50000 Disney blow-outs. The diversity of wedding celebrations is huge. For this reason, don't rule out playing weddings just because you don't happen to play in one of "those" bands. I admire the hell out of the players who are doing it successfully. But the competition to be in those bands is intense, and we won't all get to play in one of them.
A friend of my family recently got married, and the music was two fiddlers.
Of course I suspect that smaller weddings pay less, but they also involve less gear and setup time. I'm glad there's a second or third tier of gigs. A lot of these weddings are low budget DIY affairs, many are second weddings, with people who are more socially confident and don't need all of the commercial trappings. Remember the wedding scene in The Philadelphia Story. There was no garter ceremony or drunken guests getting into fights.
And of course I have my share of stories, but all gigs are like that.
Thoughts - did not review the previous 9 pages.....
1) setup/logistics suck. Often they want you setup by noon. Play at 7-8. 2+hours from home, central Wisconsin - farms only for days. What do you do for 4-5+ hrs????
2) money is good. Hours, not terrible...
3) everyone is drunk. You are the Best Band In The World
4) a brother in law of.... someone.... is a GREAT singer. Let him sit in on Tennessee Whiskey? OMG. Where's my pocketknife? Ima cut my throat. He's godawful. Every. Single. Time. It's a three note song that lasts even longer than usual...
5) you learn a stack of mostly horrible new songs per the bride's request. This is good in that you are learning new material. Your cover/transcription skills increase. It's bad in that... well.. it's probably something by someone named Cassadee Pope.
6) In Wisconsin, you get yet another chance to witness The Chicken Dance. I have no idea if this translates to the rest of the world.
7) The money is good?
my main band won't play weddings anymore unless it's a close friend of at least one band member. Just too much work to play crap for a lot of REALLY drunk people.
my other band - well... that one has never been recruited to that quality of gig
1) setup/logistics suck. Often they want you setup by noon. Play at 7-8. 2+hours from home, central Wisconsin - farms only for days. What do you do for 4-5+ hrs????
2) money is good. Hours, not terrible...
3) everyone is drunk. You are the Best Band In The World
4) a brother in law of.... someone.... is a GREAT singer. Let him sit in on Tennessee Whiskey? OMG. Where's my pocketknife? Ima cut my throat. He's godawful. Every. Single. Time. It's a three note song that lasts even longer than usual...
5) you learn a stack of mostly horrible new songs per the bride's request. This is good in that you are learning new material. Your cover/transcription skills increase. It's bad in that... well.. it's probably something by someone named Cassadee Pope.
6) In Wisconsin, you get yet another chance to witness The Chicken Dance. I have no idea if this translates to the rest of the world.
7) The money is good?
my main band won't play weddings anymore unless it's a close friend of at least one band member. Just too much work to play crap for a lot of REALLY drunk people.
my other band - well... that one has never been recruited to that quality of gig
At one wedding gig, they were practically begging us to play the Chicken Dance. The band was hemming and hawing about it, pretending that they didn't know it, etc. My attitude is, what's the harm?
So I took my upright bass, got out in front of the band, and started playing the Chicken Dance, arco solo. Everybody loved it, and of course by the end of the tune, the rest of the band had joined in and was having fun.
And that band has called me back again and again, so I know that I wasn't in too much trouble.
We've also done entire sets of Polka.
I admire this. So very much!At one wedding gig, they were practically begging us to play the Chicken Dance. The band was hemming and hawing about it, pretending that they didn't know it, etc. My attitude is, what's the harm?
So I took my upright bass, got out in front of the band, and started playing the Chicken Dance, arco solo. Everybody loved it, and of course by the end of the tune, the rest of the band had joined in and was having fun.
And that band has called me back again and again, so I know that I wasn't in too much trouble.
We've also done entire sets of Polka.
In my experience the chicken dance does not translate outside of WI, so hard to believe it makes it to the rest of the world!
Here in central WI weddings are certainly not $50k Disney blowouts. We don't seek out weddings but the ones we've been asked to do have been fun.
I've played quite a few weddings over the years, usually pretty easy going and organised work. Played in some interesting places, a few castles, country manors etc. Highclere Castle where they filmed Downton Abbey, Bletchley Park where they worked on the Enigma code during the war. I can think of worse things to do...
The band that I'm in, recently played at a wedding. When the BL said that she signed up for it, I asked her why since we are more of a roots band that does a lot of originals. So, I didn't think our material translates that well but the bride heard the CD that the band did and wanted the band to play at her wedding. For the most part, it was fun...when we actually got to play! There was a 2 hour window, where we just sat around then we did the father-daughter dance, "Daddy Dance With Me", which the whole band hated but we pulled it off. It didn't help that the BL changed the arrangement at the last practice two days before the event.
Alive and well here in Florida Tampa/St. Petersburg area LOL.
I never would have guessed it eitherI stand corrected,
The skill isn't so much learning a new song as in learning another song that is exactly the same as the others but somehow different
I had a lot of fun (mostly) playing weddings. If you enjoy playing covers and you can fit it in with your other commitments, it's a great way to earn some money.
As i was "depping" it meant i also got to play with some really great musicians, which was also a pleasure.
At its best you get a great crowd, play a good set and get treated well by the hosts. This was 80-90% of my experience.
At worst you get treated like the help (as someone mentioned) and get a surly or just plain weird crowd who don't seem to be enjoying themselves.
One thing is, the hours could run much longer than bar gigs (IME anyway) - 10-12hour+ days, as opposed to just an evening. So the pay was good but it got stretched pretty thin at times.
Even the rowdiest weddings tended to have people on good behaviour, i found, and it was generally a happy vibe. Private parties are another story!
In the end i quit because it was clashing with other life commitments, and covers are not really my thing. But i would definitely recommend it if you get the chance.
As i was "depping" it meant i also got to play with some really great musicians, which was also a pleasure.
At its best you get a great crowd, play a good set and get treated well by the hosts. This was 80-90% of my experience.
At worst you get treated like the help (as someone mentioned) and get a surly or just plain weird crowd who don't seem to be enjoying themselves.
One thing is, the hours could run much longer than bar gigs (IME anyway) - 10-12hour+ days, as opposed to just an evening. So the pay was good but it got stretched pretty thin at times.
Even the rowdiest weddings tended to have people on good behaviour, i found, and it was generally a happy vibe. Private parties are another story!
In the end i quit because it was clashing with other life commitments, and covers are not really my thing. But i would definitely recommend it if you get the chance.
