I sort-of know really, just asking for more stories.......played one last night, we were scheduled for 2 hours and had lost so much audience after an hour-and-a-half that I okayed it with the groom to hit it on the head - wasn't our fault, honest guv, some people had come from a long way away ( London !, so had I ! ).
The hall was an old barn, clean and tidy but in a very prissy village, with a sound meter set at 95 d - it went off if the audience got excited, ( early on in the dance ) so how I could set my callers' mike higher than the band and have enough volume to make the audience want to get up and boogie I'll never know. The best thing was we got paid in advance. We didn't get fed, usually a perk of the job. Came home and raided the fridge as compensation.
Had a great one in someones' back garden in July, so you can never tell.....
Best gig I ever had was to be part of the "atmosphere" along with a fiddler and a piper at a wedding in rural Sussex, about 1992. We just sat in the corner, played to our hearts' content for almost two hours while the guests milled about chatting, eating, drinking, some actually politely listening for a while.
For the couple's entrance, the lads played "an Phis Fluich"!
We got fed and wined, and went home happy!
And we got well paid for it too!
Biggest problem with weddings is the amount of time spent sitting around because they over run
The worst we did was in a barn with holes in the roof in February. It snowed.
When the posh portaloos were switched on the power went and the electricity board had to come out.
The caterers had washed all the crockery in something resembling TCP and all the food and drink tasted of antiseptic.
The heaters caught fire - twice -lovely sight watching the bride plough through the band to get a fire extinguisher.
The barn was so damp that I started a piece and the bow wouldn't make a note on the fiddle - and I had big tuning problems.
I forgot to mention - the bride was an events organiser by profession!!
It's because the people have come to a wedding, not to a dance. It's as simple as that.
If you're playing at something billed as a dance, the people have come to a dance, but if they've come to a wedding, then they have come to meet people, and/or show off, and/or get drunk.
We did a gig the other week which was a huge family reunion - we only got about two dozen people on the floor for a couple of dances and that was it. Again - they hadn't come for a dance, they'd come to see people they'd not seen for years.
When people don't want to dance, we just play whatever we fancy.
We even had one wedding a few weeks back where we had been booked by the bride and groom, who had seen us elsewhere. When we were playing the grooms father started grumbling that it was not the sort of music he wanted - I had to take him aside and explain that if he didn't shut up he would upset the bride, and if he did that I'd take him outside and thrash him.
We're lucky in that respect Tarantella, cause we usually play at the Ceremony or for the drinks Reception, which are usually OK time wise, although the reception can run on a little some times.
However, when I'm heading for a Wedding Ceili I always get there on time, knowing that it will always start late!
Playing for the ceremony Pete, can have it's own pressures, like having to learn how to play some special pop or classical piece & the pressure is always on to play without any 'obvious' mistakes on their big day.
I did see a minister forget the bride's name one day, which was not what she wanted.
On another occasion, as we played for the bride, she entered with her Dad, & as they walked past us, his trousers fell to his ankles & hew just stood there!
Of course we just kept playing as one of the guests dashed over & covered him up again.
At a Wedding you have to be prepared for anything!
The other factor is how much the couple want the band to be part of their day - often we have to set up quietly while the dinner is going on, no possibility of a sound check, often we're fed in a separate room - usually the same meal but at one wedding we had pizzas in the kitchen but the chef smuggled out starters and desserts to us! Often a ceilidh is slow to start because the guests have just finished a big meal with a lot of alcohol. Most of the guests are unsuitably dressed - always fun watching girls totter through dances on their high heels!! And an energetic Cumberland Square Eight revealed how many girls didn't want to ruin the line of their dresses with underwear!!
However, the last wedding we did, we were given our own table and ate with all the wedding guests and encouraged to stay on for the rest of the evening after playing for the ceilidh.
Mickray that is the right attitude to have, I have a wedding comming up the guy is a policeman and his wife is a right ugly cow but apart from that he keeps on phoning me like some sort of weirdo saying can you do lots of pop songs as there is really only a few irish people coming and can you do the DJ thing with an i-pod thru the PA and have you got a lighting rig as the church hall flourescent lights are a tad too bright.
My beef is this, he approached me at a gig at an irish bar where it was the usual jigs, reels, dirty old town, and loads of songs with whiskey fields and rover in the title. He asked me if we were available for his wedding night I said yes and put it in the diary. He then starts the silly phone calls trying to morph me into a band that I clearly am not, beatles stones rod stewart oasis stereophonics etc. To top it off he wants to see me play another few gigs for assurance and wants me to blend more pop music in the set just to see how it works ???? this guy is a jerk and is in the met police it really says it all about the kalibre of people they employ
We tend to ask a lot of questions before accepting wedding bookings now - to make sure that they really know what they are booking and that the venue etc is suitable!
A decent ceilidh really doesn't work on the pocket size dance floor of most hotels!!
I presume you mean playing as though it was a barn dance? In the good old days I did a number of these in England, and they were great, because the majority attending the wedding were up for it. Nowadays weddings are well over the top, and are regimental in regard to schedules.
There is a bride and groom arriving for the meal "Ceremony", a "cutting of the cake "ceremony", a first dance "ceremony", a last dance "ceremony", and every five minutes the "official" photographer is ordering everyone outside for a photo.
And given that everyone is now invited, it would be impossible to get a form of entertainment to please all, so perhaps a barn dance does not work anymore.
What usually happens with us is that we are booked to provide "wall paper" music, either for the two hours between arrival at the hotel and the meal, or between the ending of the meal and the disco. Due to the fact that weddings are never on time, because there is so much crap "ceremonies", you never play more than an hour.
We did one last Friday afternoon. Possibly soul destroying, but easy money. And we were lucky at that one as a group of about 10 people actually sat around us, to listen.
Laying aside the notion that weddings just make people crazy (or bring out hithero unrevealed craziness)...
As a harpist I run into more wedding "problems" than when the whole band plays, so I plan for them. Aside from there being more safety in numbers, I think it's because people hire me for different reasons that they hire the band. They hire a harpist because you're "supposed" to have a harpist at your wedding. They hire the band because they like celtic music and/or they like the band and/or they and many of the guests are prepared to dance. The band seems to be treated more like a performance, but the harpist is often just another piece of decoration (well-paid decoration, to be sure), and presumed to be just as easy to move or adjust. Of course, mileage does vary from gig to gig, but I've found it so much more relaxing to treat playing a wedding as providing decoration rather than providing music. I even make a point of asking what the wedding color scheme is so I can dress to blend in. Wedding coordinators in particular are charmed by my thoughtfulness.
It's not just weddings, of course, but haven't you noticed that more and more, live musicians are treated as if they weren't even there -- as if the music were just a recording. Recorded music is so pervasive today that people, especially younger people, really don't perceive the difference. I'm used to people at receptions talking to me while I'm playing, but we've had people walk onto stage while 8 musicians were blasting out jigs and reels and try to start a conversation! That's beyond clueless!
Tracie, that does sound like unbelievable rudeness - and I thought i'd seen it all.
I think weddings are hard work because of the sheer amount of talking going in - you have to put in tons of energy to overcome the noise level. And if you have your speakers near the band, the loudest people will be sitting right in front of you (they have to, to hear themselves talk). I find them really tiring to play for - but then, if you get paid, that always makes up for it.
We've ended up charging more for weddings than we used to - if we get a gig at least it's worthwhile.
Oh yes, and they NEVER run to time - but then, it isn't a military operation...
Just some confirmations of my general experiences and feelings.
I actually reckon if you, the band, are the only music you might have a chance of getting some action on the dance floor, the split gig witha disco drives me mad because it polarises the audience and the older people go home/stay seated; do have a letter from a bride and groom thanking us for our part and wishing they just had us the whole evening, as the disco was rubbish ! Yah !
Other factors; you arrive towards the end of a long day for most of the people there; you may have to work with three different social groups: - the two families and the friends of the couple, with little connection; and, yes, the timetable; the closer it's timetabled the sooner it goes out of the window in my experience; the hall managers may have no idea of how much room you could do with for the dance, as opposed to a disco.
And yet some gigs have been joyful experiences for even the band; at one a little while ago the bride and groom walked hand-in-hand up to us just as we had arranged the tunnel of guests out of the hall, and bowed and curtsied to us before heading off down the tunnel. They were nice people.
Ripthecalico has hit one of the nails on the head. People book you for a wedding, to be the only band, telling you that "everybody loves that sport of stuff". You try telling them that everybody wants to dance at a wedding, but they will not listen. Then on the day they expect you to suddenly turn into a wedding band, mixture of 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and modern popular songs, and a bit of the old "nonsense" songs, such as the "Hokey Cokey" or whatever.
I have seen us do a couple of these, but never again. Ended up playing Fields of Athenry and the Galway Shawl for waltzes for the dancers.
And Tracie hit the next nail. The hotel or pub always put you in the most useless place, as they are used to piped music, and we do not use electrics for our wedding "sessions". They also have this "oh, it's just the musicians" attitude. Two weddings ago the prime playing spot was occupied by a table with a photo of the bride and groom, which "everybody" had to sign before the night was over. I moved the table and put it in the corner, which is where the hotel people wanted to put us. This caused much shock and horror, "you can't move the photo" so I solved the problem by tearing the photo up.
I had a great time last weekend playing at a nieghbor's wedding, (now mind I wasn't the one getting paid,but still). They had booked a couple of thier friends who played bluegrass and as soon as the groom's brother heard i played fiddle he wanted me up there too. played a couple of bars of some irish reels for the banjo player, ("is this in A? I think it's in A!! hmmm.. sounds like it's in A. ok, fine, it's A) and played through Sligo Maid, Paddy O'Brien's and a couple of other ones, and they strummed along and you know it sounded pretty darn cool! I backed them up on a couple country songs.... playing some kind of cheesy "bluegrass fiddle" type stuff..you know, slides and whatever but they thought it was great! and it was funny cuz I was wearing cowboy boots that night and people kept going, "she's a real country girl" and hahaha i really don't think of myself as a country girl and i'd never played bluegrass befor in my life- but it was all good!
The strangest wedding experience I had in our band was one I played for last summer. The people who booked us were really nice and they had a big garden with a swimming pool. We were in a marquee - we had a whole side of it to ourselves. They looked after us really well, supplied food / booze etc - and made sure we were thanked as we played each "half" of the gig. So....
One of the things they said is (it being hot) that we were welcome to use the pool. Well, during the break it was getting dark, and there were a few speeches near the pool. But no-one in the pool, and it was hot and the pool was nicely-lit. Too tempting, especially as I'd bought my shorts. So I nipped behind a bush and changed into them, expecting to do a quick few lengths and then dry off before the second half.
Well, it was great. And I did my usual swimming-pool thing of seeing how far I could get underwater - could I get from one side to the other? I pushed myself off the side - and my glasses (well, OK, I was still wearing them) came off and floated down into the murky water. A bummer, especially as it was at this point that I discovered the pool was really deep - the end I was in was designed for diving into. I managed to swim downwards but there was no way I could touch the bottom, and it was pretty hopeless since I couldn't really see clearly. I needed to find them - not least because we were about 50 miles from where I live and was giving three band members a lift. Time was getting on and the band had to start again. I could hear them playing as I got out of the pool in a bit of a panic to see if I could find anything like a net to fish for my glasses - everything looked a bit furry to me. I found a snorkel mask. So I put that on and spent the next ten minutes, getting more and more breathless, diving down to the bottom and scrabbling around trying to find my glasses - and every time I got near the surface I could hear the muffled, watery sound of the band playing. I did eventually find them - so we all got back home. But it was a gig I won't forget in a hurry.
Sadly, there was no shark!! However, it did (even at the time) have that surreal quality of a scene from "Spinal Tap". I bet all bands have those moments!
Best wedding was when the bride beat up her brides maid for sleeping with the Groom a couple of nights before. Total mayhem, brides maid on her back, bride astride her, one hand holding up her dress, the other hand giving her bridesmaid a right old walloping, with the Brides sister shouting " Now come on everyone, rememeber, it's Cherels special day. Let's not ruin it"
Second best, the groom arrives with a black eye and brocken nose. Seems the brides brothers didn't like him getting their sister pregnant so they gave him a hiding the night before.
A wedding reception in Glasgow is in full swing, the best man gets up on stage and announces – “On yer bikes, you lot. The wedding’s off. Somebody’s f**ked the bride!” Five minutes later he get’s back up on stage – “OK, it’s on again. He’s apologised!”
We do Scottish weddings more or less permanently, the plus side is that many of them have been to dancing class in their youth. Points to watch
Band rule # 1 - no disco
We refuse to play alongside a disco unless it is on our terms i.e. the first flashing light or sound from the disco and the band finishes.
Band rule #2 - play to furniture
you have to have a huge repertoire so that if needed, you can play to furniture all night. We have done gigs where no one danced but we were booked back as everyone enjoyed sitting and listening
Band rule #3 - no temporary floors
We refuse to use a 2 yard square piece of wood as a dance floor - H&S risk - use the whole of the carpeted area and ignore the plank
Band rule #4 - be professional
Confirm all details in writing and get a deposit. Don't accept gigs at short notice without at least email confirmation.
We have lost count of the number of weddings spoilt by loud discos, the number of brides mothers in tears because the evening has been spoilt and they have had to pay for the disco as part of the package despite not wanting it.
We have, in the past, been payed off (with apologies) as the disco frightened everyone away to bed.
Most dreadful gig ever - no disrespect to anyone with deafness, but the bride, groom and all the guests but 6 were deaf - the bride insisted it would work, but sorry, but it was a non-starter. We ended up putting some rock and roll cds on and miming to them for an hour, for the benefit of the 6 people.
Don't have a lot of wedding experience, so I don't have any horror stories (yet).......
I don't sweat the receptions as much as I do the ceremonies. Perhaps because I have religious tendencies, I feel more pressure to make any music during a church service absolutely perfect.
One thing we do is make perfectly clear up front, when we play receptions, we are there to play music, not to be master of ceremonies for a number of events, cake cutting, etc.
We don't mind playing before disco music and DJs start their work, but as Geoff says, wouldn't want to play alongside them.
This is a high-stakes event for everyone involved, so it is ABSOLUTELY required to have everything clearly defined up front.
Since we're descending into bad language ( what, us lot ? ), I always like the story about the most unpopular guy on the football team, has to ask all 10 of them before one agrees to be his best man, as he always plays unfunny practical jokes, never buys his round, etc.
Anyway, day of the wedding, best man checks the grooms' jacket pocket, memorises his lottery ticket numbers, steps up to the microphone halfway through the evening and announces the winning numbers. Groom exultant, new wife steps up to him and asks what they are going to do with all "our money ?". Groom replies "What do you mean, OUR money ? It's MY money. And anyway I've been ****ing your sister for three months......" .
Actually, and quite seriously, I've come in my old age to realise the importance of ceremony and ritual on various occasions, but SO and I ran away to the Registry Office and never told anyone, then went straight on to Padstow for Mayday. Now, that was a party......
Done lots of weddings in North Scotland, and they're usually fine although can be very long.
Important to take the role of MC quite seriously and talk everything up, and be prepared to explain all the dances. Just announcing a dance and waiting for them to get on the floor doesn't really work.
And ALWAYS grill whoever's booking you if they're absolutely certain they definitely want a ceilidh band. Any hint of playing 'a bit of everything' and you should turn it down.
Had no problems sharing the gig with a disco. We do our bit - they do theirs.
Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
I sort-of know really, just asking for more stories.......played one last night, we were scheduled for 2 hours and had lost so much audience after an hour-and-a-half that I okayed it with the groom to hit it on the head - wasn't our fault, honest guv, some people had come from a long way away ( London !, so had I ! ).
The hall was an old barn, clean and tidy but in a very prissy village, with a sound meter set at 95 d - it went off if the audience got excited, ( early on in the dance ) so how I could set my callers' mike higher than the band and have enough volume to make the audience want to get up and boogie I'll never know. The best thing was we got paid in advance. We didn't get fed, usually a perk of the job. Came home and raided the fridge as compensation.
Had a great one in someones' back garden in July, so you can never tell.....
# Posted on October 9th 2006 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
My sympathies.
I have developed sort of a standard reply (or mantra, more like) to the well-meaning question, "So, how was your gig?"
I just say, "Nothing got broken or stolen, nobody got arrested, we played, and we got paid--so it was absolutely perfect."
("Had a great one in someone's back garden in July"--Yes, that's nice--but how was the gig? ;>} )
# Posted on October 9th 2006 by mickray
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
...but not always.
Best gig I ever had was to be part of the "atmosphere" along with a fiddler and a piper at a wedding in rural Sussex, about 1992. We just sat in the corner, played to our hearts' content for almost two hours while the guests milled about chatting, eating, drinking, some actually politely listening for a while.
For the couple's entrance, the lads played "an Phis Fluich"!
We got fed and wined, and went home happy!
And we got well paid for it too!
# Posted on October 9th 2006 by RockyRoader
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
Biggest problem with weddings is the amount of time spent sitting around because they over run
The worst we did was in a barn with holes in the roof in February. It snowed.
When the posh portaloos were switched on the power went and the electricity board had to come out.
The caterers had washed all the crockery in something resembling TCP and all the food and drink tasted of antiseptic.
The heaters caught fire - twice -lovely sight watching the bride plough through the band to get a fire extinguisher.
The barn was so damp that I started a piece and the bow wouldn't make a note on the fiddle - and I had big tuning problems.
I forgot to mention - the bride was an events organiser by profession!!
# Posted on October 9th 2006 by Tarrantella
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
We get this a lot at weddings.
It's because the people have come to a wedding, not to a dance. It's as simple as that.
If you're playing at something billed as a dance, the people have come to a dance, but if they've come to a wedding, then they have come to meet people, and/or show off, and/or get drunk.
We did a gig the other week which was a huge family reunion - we only got about two dozen people on the floor for a couple of dances and that was it. Again - they hadn't come for a dance, they'd come to see people they'd not seen for years.
When people don't want to dance, we just play whatever we fancy.
We even had one wedding a few weeks back where we had been booked by the bride and groom, who had seen us elsewhere. When we were playing the grooms father started grumbling that it was not the sort of music he wanted - I had to take him aside and explain that if he didn't shut up he would upset the bride, and if he did that I'd take him outside and thrash him.
All part of the service.
# Posted on October 9th 2006 by showaddydadito
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
We're lucky in that respect Tarantella, cause we usually play at the Ceremony or for the drinks Reception, which are usually OK time wise, although the reception can run on a little some times.
However, when I'm heading for a Wedding Ceili I always get there on time, knowing that it will always start late!
Playing for the ceremony Pete, can have it's own pressures, like having to learn how to play some special pop or classical piece & the pressure is always on to play without any 'obvious' mistakes on their big day.
I did see a minister forget the bride's name one day, which was not what she wanted.
On another occasion, as we played for the bride, she entered with her Dad, & as they walked past us, his trousers fell to his ankles & hew just stood there!
Of course we just kept playing as one of the guests dashed over & covered him up again.
At a Wedding you have to be prepared for anything!
# Posted on October 9th 2006 by Ptarmigan
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
The other factor is how much the couple want the band to be part of their day - often we have to set up quietly while the dinner is going on, no possibility of a sound check, often we're fed in a separate room - usually the same meal but at one wedding we had pizzas in the kitchen but the chef smuggled out starters and desserts to us! Often a ceilidh is slow to start because the guests have just finished a big meal with a lot of alcohol. Most of the guests are unsuitably dressed - always fun watching girls totter through dances on their high heels!! And an energetic Cumberland Square Eight revealed how many girls didn't want to ruin the line of their dresses with underwear!!
However, the last wedding we did, we were given our own table and ate with all the wedding guests and encouraged to stay on for the rest of the evening after playing for the ceilidh.
# Posted on October 9th 2006 by Tarrantella
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
Mickray that is the right attitude to have, I have a wedding comming up the guy is a policeman and his wife is a right ugly cow but apart from that he keeps on phoning me like some sort of weirdo saying can you do lots of pop songs as there is really only a few irish people coming and can you do the DJ thing with an i-pod thru the PA and have you got a lighting rig as the church hall flourescent lights are a tad too bright.
My beef is this, he approached me at a gig at an irish bar where it was the usual jigs, reels, dirty old town, and loads of songs with whiskey fields and rover in the title. He asked me if we were available for his wedding night I said yes and put it in the diary. He then starts the silly phone calls trying to morph me into a band that I clearly am not, beatles stones rod stewart oasis stereophonics etc. To top it off he wants to see me play another few gigs for assurance and wants me to blend more pop music in the set just to see how it works ???? this guy is a jerk and is in the met police it really says it all about the kalibre of people they employ
# Posted on October 9th 2006 by Ripthecalico
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
We tend to ask a lot of questions before accepting wedding bookings now - to make sure that they really know what they are booking and that the venue etc is suitable!
A decent ceilidh really doesn't work on the pocket size dance floor of most hotels!!
# Posted on October 9th 2006 by Tarrantella
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
I presume you mean playing as though it was a barn dance? In the good old days I did a number of these in England, and they were great, because the majority attending the wedding were up for it. Nowadays weddings are well over the top, and are regimental in regard to schedules.
There is a bride and groom arriving for the meal "Ceremony", a "cutting of the cake "ceremony", a first dance "ceremony", a last dance "ceremony", and every five minutes the "official" photographer is ordering everyone outside for a photo.
And given that everyone is now invited, it would be impossible to get a form of entertainment to please all, so perhaps a barn dance does not work anymore.
What usually happens with us is that we are booked to provide "wall paper" music, either for the two hours between arrival at the hotel and the meal, or between the ending of the meal and the disco. Due to the fact that weddings are never on time, because there is so much crap "ceremonies", you never play more than an hour.
We did one last Friday afternoon. Possibly soul destroying, but easy money. And we were lucky at that one as a group of about 10 people actually sat around us, to listen.
# Posted on October 9th 2006 by bodhran bliss
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
Laying aside the notion that weddings just make people crazy (or bring out hithero unrevealed craziness)...
As a harpist I run into more wedding "problems" than when the whole band plays, so I plan for them. Aside from there being more safety in numbers, I think it's because people hire me for different reasons that they hire the band. They hire a harpist because you're "supposed" to have a harpist at your wedding. They hire the band because they like celtic music and/or they like the band and/or they and many of the guests are prepared to dance. The band seems to be treated more like a performance, but the harpist is often just another piece of decoration (well-paid decoration, to be sure), and presumed to be just as easy to move or adjust. Of course, mileage does vary from gig to gig, but I've found it so much more relaxing to treat playing a wedding as providing decoration rather than providing music. I even make a point of asking what the wedding color scheme is so I can dress to blend in. Wedding coordinators in particular are charmed by my thoughtfulness.
It's not just weddings, of course, but haven't you noticed that more and more, live musicians are treated as if they weren't even there -- as if the music were just a recording. Recorded music is so pervasive today that people, especially younger people, really don't perceive the difference. I'm used to people at receptions talking to me while I'm playing, but we've had people walk onto stage while 8 musicians were blasting out jigs and reels and try to start a conversation! That's beyond clueless!
# Posted on October 9th 2006 by Tracie
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
Tracie, that does sound like unbelievable rudeness - and I thought i'd seen it all.
I think weddings are hard work because of the sheer amount of talking going in - you have to put in tons of energy to overcome the noise level. And if you have your speakers near the band, the loudest people will be sitting right in front of you (they have to, to hear themselves talk). I find them really tiring to play for - but then, if you get paid, that always makes up for it.
We've ended up charging more for weddings than we used to - if we get a gig at least it's worthwhile.
Oh yes, and they NEVER run to time - but then, it isn't a military operation...
# Posted on October 9th 2006 by Mark Harmer
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
Just some confirmations of my general experiences and feelings.
I actually reckon if you, the band, are the only music you might have a chance of getting some action on the dance floor, the split gig witha disco drives me mad because it polarises the audience and the older people go home/stay seated; do have a letter from a bride and groom thanking us for our part and wishing they just had us the whole evening, as the disco was rubbish ! Yah !
Other factors; you arrive towards the end of a long day for most of the people there; you may have to work with three different social groups: - the two families and the friends of the couple, with little connection; and, yes, the timetable; the closer it's timetabled the sooner it goes out of the window in my experience; the hall managers may have no idea of how much room you could do with for the dance, as opposed to a disco.
And yet some gigs have been joyful experiences for even the band; at one a little while ago the bride and groom walked hand-in-hand up to us just as we had arranged the tunnel of guests out of the hall, and bowed and curtsied to us before heading off down the tunnel. They were nice people.
# Posted on October 9th 2006 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
Ripthecalico has hit one of the nails on the head. People book you for a wedding, to be the only band, telling you that "everybody loves that sport of stuff". You try telling them that everybody wants to dance at a wedding, but they will not listen. Then on the day they expect you to suddenly turn into a wedding band, mixture of 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and modern popular songs, and a bit of the old "nonsense" songs, such as the "Hokey Cokey" or whatever.
I have seen us do a couple of these, but never again. Ended up playing Fields of Athenry and the Galway Shawl for waltzes for the dancers.
And Tracie hit the next nail. The hotel or pub always put you in the most useless place, as they are used to piped music, and we do not use electrics for our wedding "sessions". They also have this "oh, it's just the musicians" attitude. Two weddings ago the prime playing spot was occupied by a table with a photo of the bride and groom, which "everybody" had to sign before the night was over. I moved the table and put it in the corner, which is where the hotel people wanted to put us. This caused much shock and horror, "you can't move the photo" so I solved the problem by tearing the photo up.
That's leadership for you.
# Posted on October 9th 2006 by bodhran bliss
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
Because there are always drink old lads coughin and spluttering on ya and shouting up "Play the lonesome boatman there like a good lad" at ya!
# Posted on October 9th 2006 by Conzer
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
I had a great time last weekend playing at a nieghbor's wedding, (now mind I wasn't the one getting paid,but still). They had booked a couple of thier friends who played bluegrass and as soon as the groom's brother heard i played fiddle he wanted me up there too. played a couple of bars of some irish reels for the banjo player, ("is this in A? I think it's in A!! hmmm.. sounds like it's in A. ok, fine, it's A) and played through Sligo Maid, Paddy O'Brien's and a couple of other ones, and they strummed along and you know it sounded pretty darn cool! I backed them up on a couple country songs.... playing some kind of cheesy "bluegrass fiddle" type stuff..you know, slides and whatever but they thought it was great! and it was funny cuz I was wearing cowboy boots that night and people kept going, "she's a real country girl" and hahaha i really don't think of myself as a country girl and i'd never played bluegrass befor in my life- but it was all good!
# Posted on October 9th 2006 by BE
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
The strangest wedding experience I had in our band was one I played for last summer. The people who booked us were really nice and they had a big garden with a swimming pool. We were in a marquee - we had a whole side of it to ourselves. They looked after us really well, supplied food / booze etc - and made sure we were thanked as we played each "half" of the gig. So....
One of the things they said is (it being hot) that we were welcome to use the pool. Well, during the break it was getting dark, and there were a few speeches near the pool. But no-one in the pool, and it was hot and the pool was nicely-lit. Too tempting, especially as I'd bought my shorts. So I nipped behind a bush and changed into them, expecting to do a quick few lengths and then dry off before the second half.
Well, it was great. And I did my usual swimming-pool thing of seeing how far I could get underwater - could I get from one side to the other? I pushed myself off the side - and my glasses (well, OK, I was still wearing them) came off and floated down into the murky water. A bummer, especially as it was at this point that I discovered the pool was really deep - the end I was in was designed for diving into. I managed to swim downwards but there was no way I could touch the bottom, and it was pretty hopeless since I couldn't really see clearly. I needed to find them - not least because we were about 50 miles from where I live and was giving three band members a lift. Time was getting on and the band had to start again. I could hear them playing as I got out of the pool in a bit of a panic to see if I could find anything like a net to fish for my glasses - everything looked a bit furry to me. I found a snorkel mask. So I put that on and spent the next ten minutes, getting more and more breathless, diving down to the bottom and scrabbling around trying to find my glasses - and every time I got near the surface I could hear the muffled, watery sound of the band playing. I did eventually find them - so we all got back home. But it was a gig I won't forget in a hurry.
# Posted on October 9th 2006 by Mark Harmer
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
Och Mark, what an anti-climax! What about the SHARK!
# Posted on October 10th 2006 by Ptarmigan
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
Speaking of strange gigs, not a wedding gig but this one takes the biscuit!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha1Af1_X0EE&mode=related&search=
I believe they are looking for a new Fiddler - anyone here interested?
# Posted on October 10th 2006 by Ptarmigan
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
Sadly, there was no shark!! However, it did (even at the time) have that surreal quality of a scene from "Spinal Tap". I bet all bands have those moments!
# Posted on October 10th 2006 by Mark Harmer
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
Best wedding was when the bride beat up her brides maid for sleeping with the Groom a couple of nights before. Total mayhem, brides maid on her back, bride astride her, one hand holding up her dress, the other hand giving her bridesmaid a right old walloping, with the Brides sister shouting " Now come on everyone, rememeber, it's Cherels special day. Let's not ruin it"
Second best, the groom arrives with a black eye and brocken nose. Seems the brides brothers didn't like him getting their sister pregnant so they gave him a hiding the night before.
# Posted on October 10th 2006 by woops
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
Story from Billy Connolly:
A wedding reception in Glasgow is in full swing, the best man gets up on stage and announces – “On yer bikes, you lot. The wedding’s off. Somebody’s f**ked the bride!” Five minutes later he get’s back up on stage – “OK, it’s on again. He’s apologised!”
# Posted on October 10th 2006 by Kenny
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
We do Scottish weddings more or less permanently, the plus side is that many of them have been to dancing class in their youth. Points to watch
Band rule # 1 - no disco
We refuse to play alongside a disco unless it is on our terms i.e. the first flashing light or sound from the disco and the band finishes.
Band rule #2 - play to furniture
you have to have a huge repertoire so that if needed, you can play to furniture all night. We have done gigs where no one danced but we were booked back as everyone enjoyed sitting and listening
Band rule #3 - no temporary floors
We refuse to use a 2 yard square piece of wood as a dance floor - H&S risk - use the whole of the carpeted area and ignore the plank
Band rule #4 - be professional
Confirm all details in writing and get a deposit. Don't accept gigs at short notice without at least email confirmation.
We have lost count of the number of weddings spoilt by loud discos, the number of brides mothers in tears because the evening has been spoilt and they have had to pay for the disco as part of the package despite not wanting it.
We have, in the past, been payed off (with apologies) as the disco frightened everyone away to bed.
Most dreadful gig ever - no disrespect to anyone with deafness, but the bride, groom and all the guests but 6 were deaf - the bride insisted it would work, but sorry, but it was a non-starter. We ended up putting some rock and roll cds on and miming to them for an hour, for the benefit of the 6 people.
# Posted on October 10th 2006 by geoffwright
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
Don't have a lot of wedding experience, so I don't have any horror stories (yet).......
I don't sweat the receptions as much as I do the ceremonies. Perhaps because I have religious tendencies, I feel more pressure to make any music during a church service absolutely perfect.
One thing we do is make perfectly clear up front, when we play receptions, we are there to play music, not to be master of ceremonies for a number of events, cake cutting, etc.
We don't mind playing before disco music and DJs start their work, but as Geoff says, wouldn't want to play alongside them.
This is a high-stakes event for everyone involved, so it is ABSOLUTELY required to have everything clearly defined up front.
# Posted on October 10th 2006 by AlBrown
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
Since we're descending into bad language ( what, us lot ? ), I always like the story about the most unpopular guy on the football team, has to ask all 10 of them before one agrees to be his best man, as he always plays unfunny practical jokes, never buys his round, etc.
Anyway, day of the wedding, best man checks the grooms' jacket pocket, memorises his lottery ticket numbers, steps up to the microphone halfway through the evening and announces the winning numbers. Groom exultant, new wife steps up to him and asks what they are going to do with all "our money ?". Groom replies "What do you mean, OUR money ? It's MY money. And anyway I've been ****ing your sister for three months......" .
Actually, and quite seriously, I've come in my old age to realise the importance of ceremony and ritual on various occasions, but SO and I ran away to the Registry Office and never told anyone, then went straight on to Padstow for Mayday. Now, that was a party......
# Posted on October 11th 2006 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Why are weddings such hard gigs sometimes ?
What countries are all these c**p gigs in?
Done lots of weddings in North Scotland, and they're usually fine although can be very long.
Important to take the role of MC quite seriously and talk everything up, and be prepared to explain all the dances. Just announcing a dance and waiting for them to get on the floor doesn't really work.
And ALWAYS grill whoever's booking you if they're absolutely certain they definitely want a ceilidh band. Any hint of playing 'a bit of everything' and you should turn it down.
Had no problems sharing the gig with a disco. We do our bit - they do theirs.
# Posted on October 18th 2006 by CWGordon