New Video: Two radios stations, two appearances within two weeks of each other...

[wheresgrant3]

For your viewing pleasure...

 

For 5+ years we've been working as the 'house band' local FM rock radio station group (three station under one roof: classic, alternative rock, AOR) performing at various public appearances and events. It use adds up to 5-6 performances over the year and have been a great relationship over the years. It's given us wide exposure all over the tri county area and made us a household name in the local band community... which just leads to more and more people coming out to see us at shows. Over the years other bands have tried to establish the same relationship with the other stations in the group (and competing stations) and nothing every seems to work beyond a single appearance. Most of these performances we've done in trade for either inclusion in the station's concert calendar, and/or on air commercials and mentions from DJ's. I know some on this board have argued 'time is money' and unless cash is on hand to pay them for their services the effort is a waste of their time... but I'll take consistent on air radio endorsements and mentions in exchange for exposure to new friends, fans and supporters.

 

So two weeks ago we played a Spring 'Beach Party' event for the station we do the most work for. They rent out the local civic auditorium and host a summertime beach party and we play three sets providing lights and sound. Keep in mind this is a small arena (capacity 1500) and hosts national acts (311 and Train just played there) so this is quite a challenge for us with our club PA and light system. Still I'm amazed at how our system keeps up, and of course the new lights we purchased certainly help (I'm not sure what other bands would even do with a few par cans given the situation). Unfortunately this year's event was woefully unattended. The Halloween party we played last fall had over 1000 people in attendence. This event was between 350 and 400... and with entourage, we brought at least 60-75 people. Still it's not our event... we're not responsible for draw... the radio station is.

 

Originally I wanted to hire a video production company for some 'professional' looking video to use for future marketing, but in the end it was too cost prohibative. So instead I cobbled together some cheap 'Flip' video and 'borrowed' video from friends and put together this mini-documentary of the event. Enjoy.. but fair warning it's 11-12 minutes but highly entertaining.

 

WRRV Beach Party

 

So... fast forward to this week. Without us even knowing we won 'Best Local Cover Band' by a competing radio station's morning 'Zoo' show. It was an online poll, which we found out about on the last day of the contest. So we were 'invited' into their studio to perform live on the radio this yesterday.... enemy territory. Before anyone identifies this as an 'awkward situation'... well yes it is. After all this is 'head to head' competition for our 'unofficial' sponsorship. But hey... we won a contest. So it wasn't something we pursued, we were invited. Still I can hear the gears turning with the other local bands, who would jump at a chance to work with either station.

 

Originally they wanted to go 'big' and have us to do a full band setup in their lobby and they would broadcast using two overhead condensers, but anticipating tons of problems we instead offered to play acoustic in the studio booth. It would just limit the number of bottlenecks (not to mention two hours of setup and teardown for 20 minutes of performance.) Again here's not just a 'clip' but the full 'Behind The Music' treatment ... it's another 10-11 minutes, but a good time waster.

 

K104's Morning Show

 

We just celebrated our 8th Anniversary Party at the Opening Party for a top seasonal hotspot. Attendence was through the roof (a line outside the door for several hours) no doubt as a result of the radio appearance that morning. It seems that everytime things start feeling stale, or attendnece seems to slip a bit, one of these opportunities falls into our laps and again we're people's radar again for 3-4 months. We don't take this for granted... this is 'work' to maintain these relationships, to make the time to work these committments. Still... for a band just celebrating 8 years we should, and could easily be in decline. Instead we're still hitting our stride.

[wades_keys]

Nice tempo control: I noticed that the rehearsal and live version of the song you did had the same tempo.

 

Also when the drums dropped out and only the guitars were playing - there was a TINY bit of drift on two notes of the lead but you all came in right on the beat - no speed ups either.

 

Nice relaxed, confident performance!

 

Good job mang.

 

This is what Lee Knight is talking about! Good, solid, unwavering tempo makes the difference!

[Vito Corleone]

Fun stuff. I like the "mini-doc" take. Never seen anyone really do that before. I like it.

 

If you're looking for input, my only criticism is that if you want to use this for marketing the band, 11-12 min is a bit long, so you might want to think about editing some of the live footage earlier into the video. Maybe start with a live song and then cut back to a "this is how the day began" and go to the setting up footage.

 

I'm sure you fan-base will love all the "doc" stuff, but not sure how well it will play with new/potential clients. But an enjoyable video over all. Good work!

[wheresgrant3]

 

Fun stuff. I like the "mini-doc" take. Never seen anyone really do that before. I like it. If you're looking for input, my only criticism is that if you want to use this for marketing the band, 11-12 min is a bit long, so you might want to think about editing some of the live footage earlier into the video. Maybe start with a live song and then cut back to a "this is how the day began" and go to the setting up footage. I'm sure you fan-base will love all the "doc" stuff, but not sure how well it will play with new/potential clients. But an enjoyable video over all. Good work!

 

 

Thanks for the compliments. No we're not using it for promo material and if we did we keep it under 3 minutes. It's more for the fans, and of course new fans who may check it out and say... "I gotta see these guys". We've been producing videos for the band for over a year now and usually put together 2-3 per month. It's time consuming but well worth the effort... especially considering the reaction we get. For years we've taken weekly gig shots and posted them in a gallery Pictures. I think last count we have 320+ galleries with over 10,000 pictures from shows. It's been our motto from the begining that any band can market themselves as a 'good time'... but there's nothing better than showing people. So now we have about 40 videos on our vimeo site... Nut's In a Blender's Video Site

a mix of promo's, and mini-webisodes... it just gives people something to watch and keep them engaged between shows. Something to rise above the 'noise' of bands posting 15 bulletin and facebook updates a day.

 

Here's another video that's probably entertaining to only those who follow our band and also listen to the local FM rock alternative station. Still if you get the humor behind this video, then you know exactly why the band is popular and what the band is all about. We've had a roadie/mascot for several years that the band's most loyal supporter named 'Zippy'. It just so happens that the radio station their own ardent fan who is nicknamed 'Wildman John'. So we filmed the two meeting for the first time... Zippy Meets Wildman John.

[Vito Corleone]

 

I think last count we have 320+ galleries with over 10,000 pictures from shows. It's been our motto from the begining that any band can market themselves as a 'good time'... but there's nothing better than showing people.

 

 

100% agreed. I think I've told you this before, but you guys have obviously been doing it right for a long time. Much kudos to you. I know the hard work that goes into reaching and maintaining a certain marketing and performance level. A lot of people dismiss the "party bands" as little more than bands that are willing to play the cheezy covers. Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

My band has just started to take the photos and videos thing seriously in terms of promoting the 'good time' factor. Luckily we've been able to book a fair amount of good gigs doing what we've done so far. But I know we'll book twice as many with a sizable video gallery. Should be there in another year.

[Blackbird 13]

 

For years we've taken weekly gig shots and posted them in a gallery Pictures . I think last count we have 320+ galleries with over 10,000 pictures from shows. It's been our motto from the begining that any band can market themselves as a 'good time'... but there's nothing better than showing people.

 

 

I remember the "Cover Band 101" book being adamantly against doing this.. but it's obviously working for NIAB, and I agree that it does a great job of showing a party.

 

The book's logic is that shots of your band at a bar makes it look like.. well.. a bar band, and less attractive to corporate, wedding, and college clients... but I would think that the pictures NIAB has up would just make it seem MORE attractive to those same clients.....

[Vito Corleone]

 

I remember the "Cover Band 101" book being adamantly against doing this.. but it's obviously working for NIAB, and I agree that it does a great job of showing a party. The book's logic is that shots of your band at a bar makes it look like.. well.. a bar band, and less attractive to corporate, wedding, and college clients... but I would think that the pictures NIAB has up would just make it seem MORE attractive to those same clients.....

 

 

I'm familiar with the Cover Band 101 book, and the author has a lot of great basic/general information in there. But one thing he may be missing is that as time goes on, the perception of what is and isn't acceptible for a wedding/corporate band changes also. And also, that it isn't QUITE as one-size-fits-all as that book leads one to believe. IMO, that book is a great starting point for a band just trying to break into the corporate/wedding market, but once you get there you find you still need to distinguish yourself. NIAB will not be the right band for every corporate gig or wedding, but they will be the PERFECT band for many. There's a lot of 20-something couples getting married who'd rather not have 4-guys and a girl in suits playing "Celebrate". There a lot bands doing all that very well. NIAB seems to be more intent on niche-ing themselves out to a bit more 'party' crowd.

 

At the same time it should be said that while there is more than one way to skin a cat, it's still a cat. The bottom line to the corporate/wedding/dance club scene is keep the audience dancing, entertained and involved. Exactly which songs or what style you play them in isn't important as long as you achieve the same result.

[Blackbird 13]

 

I'm familiar with the Cover Band 101 book, and the author has a lot of great basic/general information in there. But one thing he may be missing is that as time goes on, the perception of what is and isn't acceptible for a wedding/corporate band changes also. And also, that it isn't QUITE as one-size-fits-all as that book leads one to believe. IMO, that book is a great starting point for a band just trying to break into the corporate/wedding market, but once you get there you find you still need to distinguish yourself. NIAB will not be the right band for every corporate gig or wedding, but they will be the PERFECT band for many. There's a lot of 20-something couples getting married who'd rather not have 4-guys and a girl in suits playing "Celebrate". There a lot bands doing all that very well. NIAB seems to be more intent on niche-ing themselves out to a bit more 'party' crowd. At the same time it should be said that while there is more than one way to skin a cat, it's still a cat. The bottom line to the corporate/wedding/dance club scene is keep the audience dancing, entertained and involved. Exactly which songs or what style you play them in isn't important as long as you achieve the same result.

 

 

Oh, no question. I totally agree with you. I was just posting that because it was interesting to not that there is more than one way to accomplish the same goal. There's little question that NIAB is at the top of the heap as far as cover bands that posters here on HC play in! Likewise, I know bands I've been in and seen that book weddings and corporate events that are NOTHING like what the Cover Band 101 book suggests. Yet, that book is still pointed to by many musicians as "here do this", and there are a lot of solid pointers in it. Just thought I'd mention that "conventional wisdom" isn't always the way to go!

[wheresgrant3]

I'm not really familar with the book (although the author has posted here from time to time) however I'd bet he is right in some regards. I'm sure we lose some business because of the image and perception we have as a 'party' band. If we were looking to engage the professional market 100% that would be a problem. But instead we've taken a differen't approach: by deciding to work on building a following (something many corporate and professional bands don't do), build sponsorships with local radio, and beverage suppliers and creating a demand that continues to provide us with plenty of work. The cavet is that we still do a decent amount of wedding work... but as Guido said, we don't have to stray too far from our club setlist. After all most of our private work comes from people seeing our show in a club. So they are hiring us to 'bring our show' to their party. The last thing they want is for us to learn 'Tiny Bubbles' for Uncle Dominick. In fact this weekend we're playing a Bar Mitzvah for a couple that have been following the band for years. The kids at the Bar Mitzvah will probably pay attention to the DJ... instead all of the 30-40+ year old parents will be into the band.

 

We've established ourselves as the area 'event' band. Our approach has worked well in that we have steady club bookings making near wedding pay and because of our popularity and name recognition we are also hired out for private parties, corporate events, weddings (we played 8 weddings last year) for 2-3X's what we make in the clubs. On a side note: there's a wedding band in the area that has an excellent reputation. They play 3-6 weddings per month and charge what you would expect a wedding band to charge in my market and they have excellent players. The downside is, since they have no real following, so when they do book a nightclub gig, to showcase for prospective clients (or just to fill a few dates) they are at the bottom of the pay scale. They've actually approached us for a refferal to get into some better rooms.

 

And... we even have a demo for weddings (not the greatest... but it reassures prospective brides we won't show up in ripped T-shirts playing 'Killing In the name of"... unless they want us too.) Nuts In A Wedding Promo

 

 

-We've also been told never have the 'band' collectively invest in a PA and lights... the band owns the van, lights, PA.

 

-Never pay a manager to do what any band member could do... our manager makes equal share and books 100% of the gigs. He's also been responsible for raising our pay year after year.

 

-Never play gigs for trade or for free.... the band regularly does radio gigs in trade for on air advertising

 

So yes... we've took conventional wisdom and turned it upside down.

[Vito Corleone]

 

I'm not really familar with the book (although the author has posted here from time to time) however I'd bet he is right in some regards. I'm sure we lose some business because of the image and perception we have as a 'party' band.

 

 

No band can be all things to all people. If you lose some business due to your image and perception, you probably get some other business for the same reasons. The bottom line for any band is: "are you working as often (and at the pay scale you think you deserve) as you want doing the gigs you want to be doing"? If the answer to that question is 'yes', then you're doing it right. If the answer is 'no', then you need to look critically and what you could be doing differently and then implement those changes.

 

Every band and every market is different. I've taken my party band further down the strict corporate/wedding road than you have yours because A) we're probably 10 years older than you guys on average, which makes us less marketable to club gigs and B) there really aren't any good-paying club gigs where we live anyway. There's one decent club that pays $1100 a night for a 2-night gig, and the next good-paying club is 100 miles away on the other side of the Sierra Nevadas. So outside of that club and and a summertime beach bar/restaurant that pays next-to-nothing that we still do a few times a year because it's easy/fun and serves as a public showcase for us, we do strictly private parties and weddings at this point.

 

So for us, it's almost all about the marketing as we don't play enough public shows to book a ton of gigs from the reputation we get at those gigs alone. I'd say 75% of the gigs we book come from people who have never seen or heard of our band prior to finding us on Gigmasters or googling their way to our website.

 

So it becomes a fine line sometimes in terms of marketing the band as a "party" band that still cleans up nice for a formal event when required. I'm proud of the promo-pack I've put together for the band in terms of the bio, our "FAQ" page, and our customer feedback. Our video, although dated and very amateurish, works OK in terms of getting across the "audience participation" nature of our show. It's all worked well enough to get us a decent number of the gigs we want: we've booked 12-18 $2500-$4000 shows a year for the past 3 years. My goal for the next year is 24-36 $3500-$6000 shows. So we've got some work to do.

 

We're in the process of going through some member changes and format changes as a result. Our "utility man" who sings and plays sax, harp, keyboards and percussion, is leaving the band. We'll be replacing him with a female vocalist and thereby jettisoning most of the 70's classic rock stuff for 90's dance material (essentially trading "Long Train Runnin'" for "Gonna Make You Sweat") and maybe adding a sixth member who sings and plays percussion and keys so I can get some assists on the more keyboard-heavy dance tunes. Once that shift is made in the next couple of weeks, then its time for new pictures and video.

 

Always seems to be a work in progress. But what a great job to have!

[wheresgrant3]

No band can be all things to all people. If you lose some business due to your image and perception, you probably get some other business for the same reasons. The bottom line for any band is: "are you working as often (and at the pay scale you think you deserve) as you want doing the gigs you want to be doing"? If the answer to that question is 'yes', then you're doing it right. If the answer is 'no', then you need to look critically and what you could be doing differently and then implement those changes. Every band and every market is different. I've taken my party band further down the strict corporate/wedding road than you have yours because A) we're probably 10 years older than you guys on average, which makes us less marketable to club gigs and B) there really aren't any good-paying club gigs where we live anyway. There's one decent club that pays $1100 a night for a 2-night gig, and the next good-paying club is 100 miles away on the other side of the Sierra Nevadas. So outside of that club and and a summertime beach bar/restaurant that pays next-to-nothing that we still do a few times a year because it's easy/fun and serves as a public showcase for us, we do strictly private parties and weddings at this point. So for us, it's almost all about the marketing as we don't play enough public shows to book a ton of gigs from the reputation we get at those gigs alone. I'd say 75% of the gigs we book come from people who have never seen or heard of our band prior to finding us on Gigmasters or googling their way to our website. So it becomes a fine line sometimes in terms of marketing the band as a "party" band that still cleans up nice for a formal event when required. I'm proud of the promo-pack I've put together for the band in terms of the bio, our "FAQ" page, and our customer feedback. Our video, although dated and very amateurish, works OK in terms of getting across the "audience participation" nature of our show. It's all worked well enough to get us a decent number of the gigs we want: we've booked 12-18 $2500-$4000 shows a year for the past 3 years. My goal for the next year is 24-36 $3500-$6000 shows. So we've got some work to do. We're in the process of going through some member changes and format changes as a result. Our "utility man" who sings and plays sax, harp, keyboards and percussion, is leaving the band. We'll be replacing him with a female vocalist and thereby jettisoning most of the 70's classic rock stuff for 90's dance material (essentially trading "Long Train Runnin'" for "Gonna Make You Sweat") and maybe adding a sixth member who sings and plays percussion and keys so I can get some assists on the more keyboard-heavy dance tunes. Once that shift is made in the next couple of weeks, then its time for new pictures and video. Always seems to be a work in progress. But what a great job to have!

 

Agreed 100% I've been to your website a few times and you guys seem to be doing things exactly right for your market! I was just in Tahoe/Carson City/ Reno 8 months ago.

[rhat]

 

No band can be all things to all people. If you lose some business due to your image and perception, you probably get some other business for the same reasons. The bottom line for any band is: "are you working as often (and at the pay scale you think you deserve) as you want doing the gigs you want to be doing"? If the answer to that question is 'yes', then you're doing it right. If the answer is 'no', then you need to look critically and what you could be doing differently and then implement those changes. Every band and every market is different. I've taken my party band further down the strict corporate/wedding road than you have yours because A) we're probably 10 years older than you guys on average, which makes us less marketable to club gigs and B) there really aren't any good-paying club gigs where we live anyway. There's one decent club that pays $1100 a night for a 2-night gig, and the next good-paying club is 100 miles away on the other side of the Sierra Nevadas. So outside of that club and and a summertime beach bar/restaurant that pays next-to-nothing that we still do a few times a year because it's easy/fun and serves as a public showcase for us, we do strictly private parties and weddings at this point. So for us, it's almost all about the marketing as we don't play enough public shows to book a ton of gigs from the reputation we get at those gigs alone. I'd say 75% of the gigs we book come from people who have never seen or heard of our band prior to finding us on Gigmasters or googling their way to our website. So it becomes a fine line sometimes in terms of marketing the band as a "party" band that still cleans up nice for a formal event when required. I'm proud of the promo-pack I've put together for the band in terms of the bio, our "FAQ" page, and our customer feedback. Our video, although dated and very amateurish, works OK in terms of getting across the "audience participation" nature of our show. It's all worked well enough to get us a decent number of the gigs we want: we've booked 12-18 $2500-$4000 shows a year for the past 3 years. My goal for the next year is 24-36 $3500-$6000 shows. So we've got some work to do. We're in the process of going through some member changes and format changes as a result. Our "utility man" who sings and plays sax, harp, keyboards and percussion, is leaving the band. We'll be replacing him with a female vocalist and thereby jettisoning most of the 70's classic rock stuff for 90's dance material (essentially trading "Long Train Runnin'" for "Gonna Make You Sweat") and maybe adding a sixth member who sings and plays percussion and keys so I can get some assists on the more keyboard-heavy dance tunes. Once that shift is made in the next couple of weeks, then its time for new pictures and video. Always seems to be a work in progress. But what a great job to have!

 

 

 

 

Ditching the 70s stuff may prove out to be tough if you are a wedding band and lean toward corp. face it dad controls the checkbook to both weddings and corp events. Variety is great but cutting the guys music out of the set that writes the checks might not fly too well, especially if those checks are big ones.

[TrickyBoy]

 

Ditching the 70s stuff may prove out to be tough if you are a wedding band and lean toward corp. face it dad controls the checkbook to both weddings and corp events. Variety is great but cutting the guys music out of the set that writes the checks might not fly too well, especially if those checks are big ones.

 

 

Remember, dad these days was born in the late 60's early 70's, so your average 45 year old is going to remember the "good-old-days" as the 80's and early 90's. I find that people my age (around 40 - who are starting to emerge in corporate leadership positions as well) are going to be much more into 80's and 90's stuff than stuff from the 70's. YMMV

 

IMO - 70's is become "oldies" - not saying there aren't some good tunes that still play well today. Just saying that as an era, I think you might be better off moving to a more contemporary set.

[rhat]

 

Remember, dad these days was born in the late 60's early 70's, so your average 45 year old is going to remember the "good-old-days" as the 80's and early 90's. I find that people my age (around 40 - who are starting to emerge in corporate leadership positions as well) are going to be much more into 80's and 90's stuff than stuff from the 70's. YMMV IMO - 70's is become "oldies" - not saying there aren't some good tunes that still play well today. Just saying that as an era, I think you might be better off moving to a more contemporary set.

 

 

 

Yea the 45 year olds were 18 in 1983. but a 45 year old had to have gotten married in his early 20s to have the first kids hitting wedding age. I think thats still a little young for them to be throwing high zoot weddings. the big weddings are thrown more by 50 years olds. A 45 year old still has alot of things suckin their wallets dry ,, like houses , cars , college from other kids. etc. the odds of them poppin for a high dollar wedding band are slim. they throw DJ weddings with the rubber chicken dinners, from what I have seen going to a ton of them over the last bunch of years. The big money is still controlled by the 50 sumthings... they have more disposable income. Late 60s into the 80s music prolly is the meat and taters of wedding band fodder from lookin at the math. Some even feed in a DJ to hit the kids. For sure the music is shifting .... 90s were pretty much a dark hole of music too.

[wheresgrant3]

In 23 weddings we've done in 3+ years, not one was being paid for by the parents. All were being paid for by the bride and groom. Also the average age of these couples was late 20's to early 40's. Some were second (even a third marriage) but the majority we young working professionals, college educated, advanced degrees that just were getting married for the first time in their 30's. And that's just the way we like them. They have money (a few worked in finance) and they want a party, not a reception. Majority of guests were friends and not family. For us that's the perfect situation.

 

I think again it's a geographic/demographic situation. In the Northeast (NYC area) it's not uncommon to have two, career oriented, working spouses. In Nebraska things may be differen't.

[rhat]

In 23 weddings we've done in 3+ years, not one was being paid for by the parents. All were being paid for by the bride and groom. Also the average age of these couples was late 20's to early 40's. Some were second (even a third marriage) but the majority we young working professionals, college educated, advanced degrees that just were getting married for the first time in their 30's. And that's just the way we like them. They have money (a few worked in finance) and they want a party, not a reception. Majority of guests were friends and not family. For us that's the perfect situation. I think again it's a geographic/demographic situation. In the Northeast (NYC area) it's not uncommon to have two, career oriented, working spouses. In Nebraska things may be differen't.

 

 

I am not in Nebraska ,, more like michigan/ Indiana. Here dad still writes a check although not typically the whole thing. For sure the north east is different I am sure. I just said here is a check for 10 grand , if you want more wedding , pay for the rest yourself. We have alot of farms and we have alot of parents that are not what you call up scale spenders. The kids even with great jobs put the money into a house and not a big wedding and they tend to get married a little younger i would think. Most second marriage couples really go on the cheap since they are all tapped out due to the divorce and child support. your band would not be really considered a wedding band in our neck of the woods. Most of them have horn sections and can really belt out the soul music and key driven older stuff, and have really great harmony. Different markets for sure. Space Norman plays in more what we call a wedding type band in our area. Down in texas on the beach ,, its a totally different deal too. They actually have statutes on the books on the island banning ties. Down there ,, you get married on the beach or a boat or in a bay side bar ,, and its parrot head music and the booze flows like the rio grande. Wakes are the same way. Christmas dinner is eaten in a bay side dive polapa bar. Strange country we live in lol.

[Vito Corleone]

 

Ditching the 70s stuff may prove out to be tough if you are a wedding band and lean toward corp. face it dad controls the checkbook to both weddings and corp events. Variety is great but cutting the guys music out of the set that writes the checks might not fly too well, especially if those checks are big ones.

 

 

We always keep some old stuff in our back pocket to pull out when the oldsters are around. For the last few years this has been the 50s and 60s stuff, and now its cycling around to the 70s stuff. For weddings and corporate gigs, the 70s disco/dance stuff still works great and I expect it to for a long time to come. The classic rock stuff...not so much. A few years ago songs like China Grove or Roadhouse Blues packed the floor from the first few notes (we have a general guideline that if a song isn't recognizable to the crowd before the first two bars, it probably isn't a song for our band). Lately, the younger audiences have been less responsive to those songs. But if Dad really wants to hear "Evil Ways", we'll gladly pull it out for him. We won't take these songs off of our printed songlist, just move them out of our regular rotation.

 

Actually we offer a "we'll learn two songs of your choice" deal for weddings. Often Dad has some crusty old country song he wants to hear for the father/daughter dance or some old Sinatra song has been a family favorite for generations and the whole family wants to sing along to it...we're more than happy to provide that service.

[Vito Corleone]

 

Yea the 45 year olds were 18 in 1983. but a 45 year old had to have gotten married in his early 20s to have the first kids hitting wedding age. I think thats still a little young for them to be throwing high zoot weddings. the big weddings are thrown more by 50 years olds. A 45 year old still has alot of things suckin their wallets dry ,, like houses , cars , college from other kids. etc. the odds of them poppin for a high dollar wedding band are slim. they throw DJ weddings with the rubber chicken dinners, from what I have seen going to a ton of them over the last bunch of years. The big money is still controlled by the 50 sumthings... they have more disposable income. Late 60s into the 80s music prolly is the meat and taters of wedding band fodder from lookin at the math. Some even feed in a DJ to hit the kids

 

 

Those are probably good generalizations, but they are generalizations. You might be surprised how many under 50s have plenty of money to spend, and my band only needs to snag a handful of those weddings a year. Anyone with less than a couple of grand to spend on a band is probably going to hire a DJ anyway. And they'd likely be better served to do so, IMO. Most bands willing to play a wedding for $1000 don't have the variety of songlist or experience to handle a wedding properly. Doing weddings is something we take pretty seriously. Its the most important day in somebody's life and the last thing I want to have happen is be that the band was didn't deliver. So having a bit of material to cover all ages; learning a couple of extra songs; being able to MC the reception for them--these are all things that go into doing it well.

 

 

. For sure the music is shifting .... 90s were pretty much a dark hole of music too.

 

 

I think a lot of that is simply a time-thing. Come back in 5-10 years and see if the 90s are still considered a 'dark hole'. Most of the 80s songs that have become bar-band standards in the last few years were songs no respectible band would even have considered doing around about 1995. But people have a very strong attachment to music-of-their-youth. And 10-15 year olds by the millions bought records by groups like the Spice Girls and Hanson even if none of them would admit it 5 years later. Watch these millions of kids become very nostalgic for these 'guilty pleasures' as they turn 30-35.

[Vito Corleone]

 

In 23 weddings we've done in 3+ years, not one was being paid for by the parents.

 

 

I've done a lot of weddings where Dad is paying. But he's usually happy to get one or two songs he likes while the most important thing to him is that My Little Girl gets everything the way SHE wants it...

[rhat]

 

I've done a lot of weddings where Dad is paying. But he's usually happy to get one or two songs he likes while the most important thing to him is that My Little Girl gets everything the way SHE wants it...

 

 

 

well actually its more like the mother of the bride and bridzilla get everything they want .... dad is good to go if he gets a double shot and survived the whole thing without a second morgage on the house lol.

[wheresgrant3]

I am not in Nebraska ,, more like michigan/ Indiana. Here dad still writes a check although not typically the whole thing. For sure the north east is different I am sure. I just said here is a check for 10 grand , if you want more wedding , pay for the rest yourself. We have alot of farms and we have alot of parents that are not what you call up scale spenders. The kids even with great jobs put the money into a house and not a big wedding and they tend to get married a little younger i would think. Most second marriage couples really go on the cheap since they are all tapped out due to the divorce and child support. your band would not be really considered a wedding band in our neck of the woods. Most of them have horn sections and can really belt out the soul music and key driven older stuff, and have really great harmony. Different markets for sure. Space Norman plays in more what we call a wedding type band in our area. Down in texas on the beach ,, its a totally different deal too. They actually have statutes on the books on the island banning ties. Down there ,, you get married on the beach or a boat or in a bay side bar ,, and its parrot head music and the booze flows like the rio grande. Wakes are the same way. Christmas dinner is eaten in a bay side dive polapa bar. Strange country we live in lol.

 

Well we are certainly not a wedding band for sure. We're a rock/dance/party band that plays weddings. We do a great job though. We clean up well, alter the setlist a little, provide a DJ (to spin dinner music) and hire out an excellent MC to coordinate with the banquet manager, best man speech, and make the bride and groom feel extra special. We provide the best of both worlds. For that package we charge $3500. A little less if the perfer to hire their own DJ. That's mid-priced for my market. More expensive bands (with 9-12 person lineups) are getting $5000+. Less experienced bands trying to build their business are getting $1200-2000. We're able to ask and get $3500 because we have a packed club calendar and a well known name.

 

Now here is the cavet... we only play 2 hours of music. Our DJ spins from cocktail til after dinner is served, We play 45-60 minutes... then they have the cake cutting, additional events, and we play an addition 45-60 minutes. That's all.

 

Here... there aren't many working wedding bands with horn sections in this market. Most are 5-6 piece bands. That's because the emphasis here is more club music than classics. MC Hammer, 90's House.. hip hop, popular dance tunes. Play a wedding in New Jersey and don't play Bon Jovi or The Boss and you'll never book another wedding again.

 

An average wedding in the NY/NJ area is $25-40K Most halls charge $175+ per plate just for food. Good photographers charge upwards of $5K+. I got married 3 years ago, and I did it on the cheap... and mine still cost $18K. Gives you a little idea of the math involved.

[rhat]

 

Those are probably good generalizations, but they are generalizations. You might be surprised how many under 50s have plenty of money to spend, and my band only needs to snag a handful of those weddings a year. Anyone with less than a couple of grand to spend on a band is probably going to hire a DJ anyway. And they'd likely be better served to do so, IMO. Most bands willing to play a wedding for $1000 don't have the variety of songlist or experience to handle a wedding properly. Doing weddings is something we take pretty seriously. Its the most important day in somebody's life and the last thing I want to have happen is be that the band was didn't deliver. So having a bit of material to cover all ages; learning a couple of extra songs; being able to MC the reception for them--these are all things that go into doing it well. I think a lot of that is simply a time-thing. Come back in 5-10 years and see if the 90s are still considered a 'dark hole'. Most of the 80s songs that have become bar-band standards in the last few years were songs no respectible band would even have considered doing around about 1995. But people have a very strong attachment to music-of-their-youth. And 10-15 year olds by the millions bought records by groups like the Spice Girls and Hanson even if none of them would admit it 5 years later. Watch these millions of kids become very nostalgic for these 'guilty pleasures' as they turn 30-35.

 

 

 

 

Yea i know there are plenty of people that have major cake at 45. I worked in general aviation and flew those guys around and crewed on their corp planes. A solid wedding band in our area starts at a couple grand and goes up. But then you are talking pretty high zoot bands. Alot of people seem to hire their favorite bar band these days too. Depends on the wedding and the people. Weddings come in all budgets. the 90s music never did much for me cept for modern country.. That was about when I started getting into to tuning into that. It had all the major skill sets.. that I found missing in modern rock. I made a post on another thread about an exit song for a reception ,,, check that post out,, its what you would get from a couple of our top wedding bands. They are what you call heavy weights in the talent dept. ya get what you pay for i guess when it comes to wedding bands. People spend some crazy sums of money on a wedding. As for being the most important day in your life. I question that , but its a good sales pitch.

[MartinC]

I've played several weddings that cost over 100k. Of course I don't realize there are three bands and three hundred guests until I get there so I still get paid the same. And the pay is good-we have one this weekend for 625.00 per man. As good as the money is, I really don't like playing them. We have a 4:30 load in , be set to go by 6:00pm, downbeat at 7:00pm, play maybe three sets but break for speeches, toasts, etc, finish by 11:00pm That's a seven hour gig before travel, which in this case is minimal. So, that's 90.00 per hour-pretty good except you don't get that gig but six times a year. And it takes you twenty years to get to the point where you can get that kind of dough. The reality is that in my town the union wage for a carpet installer working on a weekend is 100.00 an hour including benefits. I know that because I own a flooring company. Of course it's harder to lay floors than play the guitar, but it takes more training to play the guitar.

 

At the end of the day, there is no money in playing music unless you are famous. Guys who say theyu are doing it for the money, I'd love to see your tax return and then tell me you are doing it for the money. If you acknowledge it ain't about the money, then why would you want to put up with wedding planners, bridezillas, mothers of the bride, etc? It's obvious, it's the money!

[Vito Corleone]

 

As for being the most important day in your life. I question that , but its a good sales pitch.

 

 

LOL--yeah it is a good sales pitch. But the bride usually THINKS its the most important day of her life at the time the check is being written....

[Vito Corleone]

 

I've played several weddings that cost over 100k. Of course I don't realize there are three bands and three hundred guests until I get there so I still get paid the same. And the pay is good-we have one this weekend for 625.00 per man. As good as the money is, I really don't like playing them. We have a 4:30 load in , be set to go by 6:00pm, downbeat at 7:00pm, play maybe three sets but break for speeches, toasts, etc, finish by 11:00pm That's a seven hour gig before travel, which in this case is minimal. So, that's 90.00 per hour-pretty good except you don't get that gig but six times a year.

 

 

The days CAN be long. We rarely play more than 2 hours at a wedding, but it could be hours before load in and the first downbeat. Especially if the ceremony is anywhere near the reception. But still good money.