Starting a covers Band

[38thBeatle]

Ive done a couple of weddings over the last year and we didn't get anything like that- but we got a pretty good fee though. I am doing another is about three weeks.

[dave_mc]

yeah, i was shocked by how much that was (that was for the whole band, just to be clear, but it's still a lot for one day of work). Kind of strikes me that weddings are a bit like christmas, they completely distort the market/true value of stuff, because people feel that they "need" to buy something, and will look cheap if they don't, so often are willing to pay ridiculous sums of money... :(

[nfe]

Depends where you are and how good you are obviously, but when I was doing weddings and functions I never played with a band who took less than a grand, and I played with plenty who took two to three.

I was always depping with really good bands, but I don;t know of any wedding or function bands who go out for less than £900.

As for gear, I got through all those gigs, pretty much three a week for 4/5 years, with an amp, one guitar, a wah, a delay and a phaser/chorus. The particular models varied. That was covering pop, jazz, blues, funk, disco, rock, soul...

[JDC]

if you do a wedding gigs, does it make you a hit with the ladies? as they'll probably all be jealous of the bride

[nfe]

There is a tendency to get hit on by spinsters.

Occasionally yeah, you'd get some chat, but bear in mind you are working at the time putting a show on for someone's big day, it's not really social networking time and it's kinda bad form to hang about after you're finished.

Of course, if it's a local gig...

[mikeluke]

We would love to get some wedding gigs but are struggling to get known in these circles - any suggestions?

[Ratrod]

Wedding gigs suck.

Tough crowd, hard to get out of their seats, you're always too loud and they only want to hear dumbass music.

[nfe]

Wedding gigs suck.

Tough crowd, hard to get out of their seats, you're always too loud and they only want to hear dumbass music.

Maybe it's because all my wedding gigs have been in Scotland, but in my experience they're the easiest crowds who always want to dance start to finish  :lol:

With the exception of the really fancy dos. Where everyone's too up their own arse to lower themselves far enough to actually have any fun. Dancing is what the help do on their time off.

[hamfist]

I think my current band is possibly a bit too "rock" for weddings, but when I played in a 60's soul band for years, the wedding gigs were always the best - people were just seriously up for a good time, and drank loads !  This is down south too.
  I think one needs to be playing a certain type of music to go down well at weddings. I'd guess that aguitar-based band could certainly quite easily be too heavy for an average wedding gig unless they were careful with song choice.

[mikeluke]

"And this is a number by Megadeth to get you moving...."