Weddings

[funkysimon]

Here's a setlist from a two hour gig we did

Bring down the birds
Turn on tune in drop out
Shaft
Moonbeam woman
Express Yourself
Signed, Sealed, Delivered
Rappers Delight
Jungle Boogie
Superstition
Treat her like a lady
Oye como va
Mas que nada
Smooth
Ritmo Rico
Cuba
Sir Duke

Car wash
Gonna fly now
I believe in miracles
Always there
Starsky
September
I wish
Outside
Canned heat
Disco inferno
Kung fu
I want you back
Blame it on the boogie
Ain't no stoppin us now
Young hearts
Play that funky music

Advice? Not much that hasn't been mentioned before, but dress smart, be polite, and expect to be badly ignored for 90% of the evening, packed dancefloor for the final 10%, then huge cries of "Don't stop now" when they could have all been dancing earlier in the evening. Regarding this, make sure your last few songs really get people moving.

Also, listen to the lyrics of things - Young Hearts is a great tune and often requested at weddings but I have no idea why:
What's the sense in sharing this one and only life
Ending up, just another lost and lonely wife
If your singer is quick he/she can play fast and loose with the words, but there's no real need to do so.

Don't worry about having a huge set list if you haven't agreed a huge fee; I'd say it's only the pro and semi-pro bands who should be able to play every number one single from 1967 onward on request. As long as you politely explain that the request isn't one you've rehearsed people are usually ok.

[OldGit]

[quote name='funkysimon' post='58171' date='Sep 10 2007, 01:02 PM']Don't worry about having a huge set list if you haven't agreed a huge fee; I'd say it's only the pro and semi-pro bands who should be able to play every number one single from 1967 onward on request. As long as you politely explain that the request isn't one you've rehearsed people are usually ok.[/quote]

Another idea I collected down the years was the "jukebox" You put cards on their tables to request the tunes you do and to dedicate them to someone in the room .. They have a look through your list and choose one ... Then when you play it you can say hey ythis is for jeff from Sarah with teh special message " I'm so glad I got a pre-nuptual agreement after catching you in the bogs snogging with Jenny"
Thangyouverrymuch! 1-2-3-4

[funkysimon]

Not really on topic for this thread, but a friend of a friend has started a "live karaoke" band where they have a spare vocal mic and encourage people to get up on stage and do their thing with the band. Apparently it's quite popular.

[MB1]

[quote name='funkysimon' date='Sep 10 2007, 05:23 PM' post='58323']
Not really on topic for this thread, but a friend of a friend has started a "live karaoke" band where they have a spare vocal mic and encourage people to get up on stage and do their thing with the band. Apparently it's quite popular.

MB1.

Popular like what?.....The X factor.......Simon Cowells bank manager perhaps?. Giving punters(intoxicated or not) an open mic, is never a good idea,jesus ,have you not heard of Mick Hucknall.

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='funkysimon' post='58323' date='Sep 10 2007, 05:23 PM']Not really on topic for this thread, but a friend of a friend has started a "live karaoke" band where they have a spare vocal mic and encourage people to get up on stage and do their thing with the band. Apparently it's quite popular.[/quote]

We had no choice but to try that last year when our vocalist rang (as we were finishing setting up) to say he couldn't make it. What a hoot it was! We invited punters to sing the ones that we couldn't manage... in hindsight even us struggling to hit 'some' of the notes would have been preferable to someone struggling to hit 'any' of the notes. Lesson learned was never believe people when they say that they can sing or they used to be in a band, p*ssed people and their friends lie a lot!

Actually this isn't so off topic as you'll probably have some plonker goaded by his/her mates to get up with you... your call on whether it turns into a farce or a right laugh!

[OldGit]

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='58340' date='Sep 10 2007, 05:50 PM']We had no choice but to try that last year when our vocalist rang (as we were finishing setting up) to say he couldn't make it. What a hoot it was! We invited punters to sing the ones that we couldn't manage... in hindsight even us struggling to hit 'some' of the notes would have been preferable to someone struggling to hit 'any' of the notes. Lesson learned was never believe people when they say that they can sing or they used to be in a band, p*ssed people and their friends lie a lot!

Actually this isn't so off topic as you'll probably have some plonker goaded by his/her mates to get up with you... your call on whether it turns into a farce or a right laugh![/quote]


We have a big fat karaoke book with us and an open invitation for anyone to get up an play if they want to .. works a treat .. Rich from this very forum got up a while back, bassed Mustang Sally for me so I could show off on sax for a few bars

We find it works a treat, some people really can do it but they are not usually used to playing with a live band .. a drummer 2 feet from your back is a decidedly weird experience for some karaoke specialists... oh and Karaoke machines that don't look to them for cues

[chris_b]

[quote name='funkysimon' post='58323' date='Sep 10 2007, 05:23 PM']Not really on topic for this thread, but a friend of a friend has started a "live karaoke" band where they have a spare vocal mic and encourage people to get up on stage and do their thing with the band. Apparently it's quite popular.[/quote]
I'm sorry...... but that's a step too far!!!!

[OldGit]

[quote name='chris_b' post='58396' date='Sep 10 2007, 07:24 PM']I'm sorry...... but that's a step too far!!!![/quote]

Yeah it's from the "Advanced Wedding Band" manual

[Rich]

[quote name='OldGit' post='58354' date='Sep 10 2007, 06:11 PM']We have a big fat karaoke book with us and an open invitation for anyone to get up an play if they want to .. works a treat .. Rich from this very forum got up a while back, bassed Mustang Sally for me so I could show off on sax for a few bars [/quote]Yeah, and the buggers made me take a solo too

[Merton]

Lots of interesting reading here and I agree with it all, but it's good to tell the most embarrassing story of this year's weddings:

Isle of Wight, June 2007
We normally provide full band and DJ sets but this particular couple had a friend who is DJ so they got him to DJ. His PA was smaller than our monitors. But that's not the bad thing. We suddently realised that, despite him being the DJ, we were supposed to play the first dance (recording) thru our PA. So we search the interweb for Andy Williams, you all know the song... Buggered if we can get it anywhere, not even i-Tunes. This being the middle of nowhere in the IoW (admittedly only about 5 miles from any one bit of sea, but that's not the point) we couldn't go and BUY the CD. So we wait for the DJ to turn up and fortunately he has it on CD. So, what do we do? Rip it to our Mac and hand the CD back. He buggers off to enjoy the wedding and we don't see him again til halfway thru our first set. Too late.

Of course, the first dance happens at the BEGINNING of our first set.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the bride and groom!"

Wild applause slowly dies away, bride and groom looking slightly nervous on dancefloor, 200 pairs of eyes on them. Then 202 pairs of eyes slowly moves to the stage, where we are standing. Our eyes are all on our soundman, who is frantically hitting the keyboard and playing with the desk. Nothing. Zero. Zilch. Not even a faint hum.

"C'mon!" shouts one of the crowd.

"Er, ladies and gentlemen, we seem to have a technical hitch. Erm, please bear with us while we sort this out" says our embarrased frontwoman. Our soundman is now rushing to the DJ's box to find the CD, no luck.

Then someone in the crowd starts singing the song, and within a line or two the whole room is singing. The bride and groom dance. Everyone loves it (except us, we're naturally mortified).

As the voices drift off (too much "I love you baaaabbbyyy" gets a bit boring, thank god it's over) we check with Mr Soundcalamity that the PA is hunky dory and kick into a Beatles classic. The dancefloor doesn't empty the whole night. Hooray! When we eventually speak to the B+G, they were so relieved. The fact that we'd f**ked up took the pressure off them and they loved it. Any other wedding this year I think we would have been crucified, we were just lucky it happened at the one where there we'd been drinking with them all the night before!

Anyhoo, turns out the Mac crashed, for the first, and so far only, time ever. And our soundman still hasn't heard the last of it.

Moral? Have a back up. Have 2 back-ups. Or in the case of us, have 5. The wedding we did two weeks later (the next one with a DJ'd first dance) had the mp3 on i-tunes, an i-pod, 2 CDs, the mp3 on a memory stick AND an old cassette walkman with a tape. Just in case

[OldGit]

[quote name='Merton' post='58458' date='Sep 10 2007, 10:03 PM']We normally provide full band and DJ sets but this particular couple had a friend who is DJ so they got him to DJ. His PA was smaller than our monitors.[/quote]

That's a great story
We did one recently where the DJ had a huge amount of gear and two young humpers to drag it all in and plug it all together ... our whole PA, backline and drum kit was the size of one of his monitors ... all for about 30 mins of the Grease megamix at the end of the night

[OldGit]

"Anyhoo, turns out the Mac crashed"

Yeah sure ... haha I believed you up to that point

[Shaggy]

Excellent thread - worth pinning? Only played two wedding gigs, and we probabaly made every mistake possible short of sh@gging the bride's mother...... Wish I'd read these pearls of wisdom first!

[lukeward2004]

Im going to Pin this thread as it is a great thread for anyone looking to breakout into the wedding circuit.

ALl of the above is fantastic information, and my new functions band will be taking note of this thread to help sharpen ourselves up!

We have our first corporate gig at a works do at the end of the month, and although its a shade different to your usual wedding gig, we still need to put on a good show, so here is our current setlist:

Set One:

Brand New Heavies - Never Stop
Jamiroquai - Runaway
George Benson - Turn your Love Around
Wild Cherry - Play that Funky Music
Jamiroquai - High Times
Luther Vandross - Never Too Much
Modjo - Lady (Hear me Tonight)
The Doobie Brothers - Long Train Running

Set Two:

Prince - Get on the Boat
Jamiroquai - Too Young To Die
Stevie Wonder - Higher Ground
The Commodores - Brick House
Jill Scott - Golden
Stevie Wonder - Superstitious
Amp Fiddler - I believe In You
Stevie Wonder - Master Blaster

Obviously we will be looking to learn a number of other tracks to accomodate for weddings and similar events, and we are looking to promote ourselves as a funk outfit, rather than anything else - im thinking we should probably pull in some old school Motown and Soul, alongside a bit of disco for fun.

[MB1]

[quote name='OldGit' date='Sep 10 2007, 11:35 PM' post='58504']
That's a great story
We did one recently where the DJ had a huge amount of gear and two young humpers to drag it all in and plug it all together ... our whole PA, backline and drum kit was the size of one of his monitors ... all for about 30 mins of the Grease megamix at the end of the night

FINBARR SAUNDERS!

Young Humpers???????

[Merton]

[quote name='OldGit' post='58506' date='Sep 10 2007, 11:36 PM']"Anyhoo, turns out the Mac crashed"

Yeah sure ... haha I believed you up to that point [/quote]
You're right, it was all a big lie

Our male singer did a good one ealier this year, as the first dance faded out:

[size=3]"Ladies and gentlemen - nows it's yours turns!"[/size]


(Nows it's yours turns? Mike, that makes no sense at all....)

He now refuses to announce the first dance or even talk to the audience until at least three songs in

[OldGit]

[quote name='lukeward2004' post='58628' date='Sep 11 2007, 11:08 AM']Im going to Pin this thread as it is a great thread for anyone looking to breakout into the wedding circuit.

ALl of the above is fantastic information, and my new functions band will be taking note of this thread to help sharpen ourselves up!

We have our first corporate gig at a works do at the end of the month, and although its a shade different to your usual wedding gig, we still need to put on a good show, so here is our current setlist:

Set One:

Brand New Heavies - Never Stop
Jamiroquai - Runaway
George Benson - Turn your Love Around
Wild Cherry - Play that Funky Music
Jamiroquai - High Times
Luther Vandross - Never Too Much
Modjo - Lady (Hear me Tonight)
The Doobie Brothers - Long Train Running

Set Two:

Prince - Get on the Boat
Jamiroquai - Too Young To Die
Stevie Wonder - Higher Ground
The Commodores - Brick House
Jill Scott - Golden
Stevie Wonder - Superstitious
Amp Fiddler - I believe In You
Stevie Wonder - Master Blaster

Obviously we will be looking to learn a number of other tracks to accomodate for weddings and similar events, and we are looking to promote ourselves as a funk outfit, rather than anything else - im thinking we should probably pull in some old school Motown and Soul, alongside a bit of disco for fun.[/quote]

Ok a few comments about stuff relevant to this as it's getting pinned.

I strongly recommend the two name approach for a band that plays two types of gigs - one name for the band that plays pubs and is building a following and another name (same band) for the band that plays weddings and corporates. This is cos the markets are different and are best served by separate attitudes and approaches to almost all of it.

Marketing a wedding/function band is totally different to a pub or originals band.
Totally different market and a totally different approach.

If you are planning a lot of wedding and function work the better known your stuff the better you will go down.
In the above set you might find it works better to truncate Superstition.. Fabbo tune, outstanding epoch making record but ... in general audiences get bored by verse two .. I've watched this happened a lot of times. The stat brings a huge whoop of recognition followed by a floor full of people but they start glazing over pretty fast so ... do two verses and the middle bit and then morph it into something else like Play that Funky Music and it will work a lot better...



OG

Edited September 11, 2007 by OldGit

[Merton]

[quote name='OldGit' post='58917' date='Sep 11 2007, 07:32 PM']If you are planning a lot of wedding and function work the better known your stuff the better you will go down.
In the above set you might find it works better to truncate Superstition.. Fabbo tune, outstanding epoch making record but ... in general audiences get bored by verse two .. I've watched this happened a lot of times. The stat brings a huge whoop of recognition followed by a floor full of people but they start glazing over pretty fast so ... do two verses and the middle bit and then morph it into something else like Play that Funky Music and it will work a lot better...
OG[/quote]
Interesting observation. We do the full thing, with a silly drum solo bit at the beginning, but I think the way we have arranged it seems to go down really well with the audiences. Nothing clever, just using the full dynamic between quiet and loud. Famous last words, we'll probably have an empty dancefloor on Friday now....

[stingrayfan]

[quote name='funkysimon' post='58171' date='Sep 10 2007, 01:02 PM']expect to be badly ignored for 90% of the evening, packed dancefloor for the final 10%, then huge cries of "Don't stop now" when they could have all been dancing earlier in the evening.[/quote]

Haha...that is *so* true.

[elom]

Well what a response! More than I could have hoped for so thanks guys. Thanks, apart from the fact that you've scared the shirt out of me!

It has clarified one thing though, we are not a function/wedding band and to be honest we don't really want to be. When the guy phoned up he asked "do you do weddings?" to which I said "we could do, but we're not your typical wedding type of band". We've had a couple of email exchanges since and have sent them our set list, which they have declared 'great', plus we've offered to learn something specific for them.

We have nothing like the number of songs that you guys are talking about, so could not have a set as long or flexible. We've been really upfront with them about all this and they still seem keen. They are coming to see us play next week and are bringing the bride's mum!

Having said all that we will take on board a lot of the great advice that this thread has produced. We'll smarten up a bit - no ripped jeans and Sid Vicious T-shirt, make sure we set up early, keep quiet, try and keep our young singer from getting drunk and getting off with the bride, be the mobile disco, check the volume levels and generally try to remember that we are the hired help. Hopefully everyone will still have a great time though I suspect that the 'B&G +20 mates will love you, the rest will think its a bloody racket' scenario may well apply!

Oh well, nothing ventured eh? Would it be appropriate to ask the assembled guests to be upstanding for the Queen as it is a formal occassion, before launching into the Pistols? No? Anyone got any Van Morrison tabs....

elom

[OldGit]

[quote name='elom' post='59041' date='Sep 11 2007, 11:35 PM']Anyone got any Van Morrison tabs....[/quote]

Tabs eh? That explains why he looks so vacant when he's playing on stage

[lukeward2004]

[quote name='OldGit' post='58917' date='Sep 11 2007, 07:32 PM']Ok a few comments about stuff relevant to this as it's getting pinned.

I strongly recommend the two name approach for a band that plays two types of gigs - one name for the band that plays pubs and is building a following and another name (same band) for the band that plays weddings and corporates. This is cos the markets are different and are best served by separate attitudes and approaches to almost all of it.

Marketing a wedding/function band is totally different to a pub or originals band.
Totally different market and a totally different approach.

If you are planning a lot of wedding and function work the better known your stuff the better you will go down.
In the above set you might find it works better to truncate Superstition.. Fabbo tune, outstanding epoch making record but ... in general audiences get bored by verse two .. I've watched this happened a lot of times. The stat brings a huge whoop of recognition followed by a floor full of people but they start glazing over pretty fast so ... do two verses and the middle bit and then morph it into something else like Play that Funky Music and it will work a lot better...
OG[/quote]

I totally agree, and we have already decided to morph from Jill Scott's "Golden" into Supersticious, which in turn morphs into Higher Ground, and so far it works well!

[OldGit]

[quote name='lukeward2004' post='59169' date='Sep 12 2007, 11:31 AM']I totally agree, and we have already decided to morph from Jill Scott's "Golden" into Superstition, which in turn morphs into Higher Ground, and so far it works well![/quote]

Well I'm also a big fan of multiple morphs, especially when there's a possibility of a deathly silence between tunes with tumbleweed blowing across the empty dancefloor ...

Just fill the spaces where the applause should be and remove the risk

Edited September 12, 2007 by OldGit

[Tradfusion]

As a wedding veteran of many thousands of gigs over the last 20 years the first thing I would tell budding wedding bands is to fully understand the task in front of you. The guests are not long after finishing a 4 or 5 course meal with wine etc so they are full and bloated and looking for fresh air, a fag etc etc. The last thing on their minds at this point is dancing! The bride and groom are a bit uptight because they still have to do their first dance and want to get it over with as quickly as possible. Dont leave them too long on their own, about half way through the first dance call the bridesmaids/groomsmen out to join them and always do a second or even third slow song or waltz. The Dean Martin song " Amore" is in waltz time and can be a great one as a second dance, usually all the oldies will hit the floor and fill it up nicely...try to keep them there once you have them out!
Have lots of sets and medlys strung together, as already mentioned momentum is the name of the game here and you are better to keep the floor full while you have it full rather than having to work hard to get people back out onto it. You can generally tell by looking when people are starting to wilt and ususally 4 or 5 songs strung together is enough before pausing and hitting them with something a bit different. A set or two of waltzes is a must, same goes for Jives and Rock & Roll etc. It doesnt matter what fancy chops you have or what you play in your pub gigs, weddings are a different animal completely and you have to keep a few different age groups happy and dancing....thats your job as the wedding band and it can be a bloody tough one too if you have a dry crowd who just are'nt up for it. Of course they will be pissed enough later on to go beserk when the DJ kicks into an Abba set but dont get too hung up about it because its just par for the course.
Expect the unexpected, loooooong delays are normal, pissed uncles turning up at the stage with harmonicas or button accordians are normal, same goes for the dreaded singing auntie who cannot keep in tune or time to save her life...
[b]BIG TIP [/b]Grab the bride before it kicks off and tell her to find her bouquet and leave it up at the stage beside the band. Hopefully she will be throwing it later on and if you can convince the couple to go for the whole "groom takes garter off brides leg with teeth" routine as well then you are looking at at least half an hour of time wasting during which you are not flat out bursting blood vessels trying to keep people on the floor. If you time it so that this bouquet/garter game is roughly 45mins before you finish, then its much easier to get the floor packed for the big finale as you now have the bride and groom in the same place for the first time in about 2 hours and you [b]KEEP[/b]them on the floor by getting everybody else out so surround them in a circle and hit them with your best finisher upper tunes...a few of our greatest hits include : Brown Eyed Girl, Sweet Home Alabama, Video Killed the Radiostar, 500 Miles and Hit the Road Jack as the last one..., the impression you leave people with is the one they are most likely to remember !

[OldGit]

[quote name='Tradfusion' post='66325' date='Sep 27 2007, 11:02 AM'].....a few of our greatest hits include : Brown Eyed Girl, Sweet Home Alabama, Video Killed the Radiostar, 500 Miles and Hit the Road Jack as the last one..., the impression you leave people with is the one they are most likely to remember ! [/quote]

There you go .. It's exactly the same whatever your genre..
We have our drunken own button accordian player of course, but we still do all of that and end with Hit the Road Jack
Nice garter and teeth idea though, I'll be integrating that into our set ...