At weddings, graduation, birthday, anniversary, corporate, and other social parties, live bands always make a great source of entertainment. Whether you go for a professional band or a bunch of local cover artists, what matters most is how entertained your guests become. But then again, not all local bands will give your guests the best entertainment. Moreover, some bands will cost you more than others per performance night or day. But how do you know the right group of music entertainers to hire? How do you ensure that the musicians you hire won’t turn your party or event into a boring scene that half your guests feel like that ought to be elsewhere? Well, its all about proper planning, conducting a lengthy research and asking the right questions. This having been said, here are 3 tips to hiring a local live band.
- Plan in advance
When considering hiring a local band, it is evident that you have an upcoming event with invited guests that you’d like to keep entertained. The other way to look at it is that you own a new club and are looking to keep your clients entertained. Planning ahead is highly important for a couple of reasons. Some of these include the following:
- Different bands play different kinds of music – Jazz, Rock, Covers, Pop, Quartet etc.
- Some bands require you to book them some weeks or months ahead.
- The charges vary
- Your venue may need some preparations
The above 3 points bring us to the next important point – you have to conduct research carefully.
- Be smart in your research
As earlier iterated, different bands charge differently for their performances. It is important to conduct research carefully on all the local live bands available in your area, considering their charges, availability, reputation, genre specialization, event specialization, and much more. You can get this information from event organizers, entertainment agencies, friends, family, colleagues, and the internet. Just be thorough on your research as you don’t want to end up upsetting your guests with some boring music from the fifties performed by amateurs.
- Know the questions to ask
Most of the important questions to ask have actually been hinted earlier on in the article. However, hiring a good local live band requires proper vetting. From your research, you will most likely come up with a list of prospective groups to hire. Some of the most important questions to ask the band or their managers when vetting them, however, may include the following:
- What’s your availability?
- What kind of music do you play most?
- How experienced are you?
- What kind of events do you specialize in?
- Do you have all the necessary sound equipment?
- Do you include special effects in your live performances?
- Can I get a demo performance or a video of your past performance?
With the above questions answered, you’ll literally have all the information you need to make a suitable decision on which local live band to hire.
And there you have it. Before hiring a local live band, be sure to run a background check on them and see if they suit your needs. Plan, conduct research and ask the right questions and you’re good to go.
