• How do I book a premium live band?

Firstly, click on the city closest to the location where your event is likely to take place, then browse the shortlist of bands for that area, and click on the band links to hear all their audio tracks, read their band biography, and get a general idea of their suitability for your event. Then, either click “book this band” to pay a deposit to secure the band for your event right away (and we’ll then send you the paperwork and details to confirm), or use our Shortlist feature to make a favourites list of the bands you like. Once you’re done, just email your Shortlist to us with any pertinent event details, and we’ll get back to you immediately with all the results you need, including availability and price, among other things (band set times, arrival times etc).

Then, once you’re decided on which act you prefer, we email you a booking agreement form, which you sign electronically, then email back to us along with your 25% booking deposit. Once that payment clears into our account, your band is fully confirmed, and from that point on, they will refuse all other offers to perform at other events on your date.

• How much do bands charge for their performances?

All band performance fees vary quite a lot, based usually on the distance the band has to travel to get to your event, the day of the week of your event (mid-week dates are much cheaper than weekend dates, because the bands aren’t as busy mid-week). Fees also depend on the size of the band – the average size for most corporate function or wedding bands is between 3 and 6 band members. Fees can also vary based on the size of lighting and sound production the band needs to provide for you. As a general rule, indoor events are cheaper to provide sound systems for, as the sound is contained inside the room. Outdoors, however, require a bigger sound system to cover the larger area (not to be louder in volume – just to cover sound dispersal correctly), so fees may be slightly higher for outdoor performances.

• I thought it would only cost a few hundred dollars for a good band. Why is this not the case?

All the members that make up our live acts have dedicated their lives to the pursuit of excellence in their chosen live entertainment field, and often supply up to $50,000 worth of premium equipment for their performance, along with the requisite public liability insurances required, plus years of focused experience. This expert service provided is a vastly different provision entirely to something say, an amateur music enthusiast with an instrument might provide – a learner/up-and-comer musician, who wants to be like the professionals, but isn’t, due to: lack of dedication, practice, skill, talent, courage, experience or any other combination of non-negotiable factors that over time have forged a genuine, expert performer. It takes years to become a confident, COMPETENT stage professional, who knows their craft inside out, and can galvanise and then manipulate a large audience with ease, to a point where he or she generates a spectacular night that hundreds of your guests will rave about for years to come. The best stage professionals are in high demand, and just like any profession in society, fees reflect it. Consider it this way – you’ll be guaranteed to enjoy the money you spend on your live act far more than that time you called out a plumber after hours on a Saturday night to fix a leaky loo!

• How much time and space do the band need to set up for their performance?

The band will aim to arrive two hours prior to their first set start time. Most evening performances will revolve around an 8pm to 11pm time slot, so for this, the band would aim to arrive for 6pm, to setup and soundcheck, and be done within around half an hour, by about 6.30pm or so (but all bands vary slightly on time-length of setup).

Regarding stage size, a three-piece band (for example) will need a minimum performance area of 12 feet x 6 feet (4metres x 2 metres), but will gladly accept more space if it is available. Likewise, regarding a physical stage – every performance is far more effective if the band is on a stage. While all our bands will be happy to work without one, they’ll always gladly accept a stage if it is available at your venue, to make the presentation of their performance much more exhilarating for your guests!

• What happens if I need to re-arrange the booking, or worse, cancel it?

This is generally possible, but depends entirely upon the closeness of your event date, and how much time left we have to make either minor or major changes. In the instance of simple amendments, these are often not problematic so are easy enough to affect. With cancellations, given enough notice, these may be possible also, but once a band is fully booked and confirmed, both parties (The Act and the Client) are bound by the clauses set out in the booking agreement contract we organise for you when you accept and book your band for your event. Please refer to this form for full details.

• Is the Act allowed to cancel once I’ve booked them?

No – generally, once an act is confirmed and booked for your event, they are bound by the same booking agreement form as you, the Client, is. We understand sometimes things happen that are out of our, or the act’s control, so if changes need to be made, we make sure to work on a suitable alternative that the Client is likely to be just as happy with, to make sure their evening continues on without a hitch.

• Can I see the act I like perform live before I book them?

We can try to arrange it, but in actual fact, in professional terms, it’s usually difficult to find live gigs that are open to the public for viewings, because, being a top quality, professional function band, the act is in a somewhat fortunate position of always being offered mostly wedding or corporate company events, which are always private affairs and not open to the public in any way. But of course we can ask the band and see if they have something coming up available for public viewing and let you know.

• Can we choose the songs the band will play, just like with a DJ?

Regarding song selections, no problem, though in actual fact, regarding the actual songs selected for the band to play on the night, because this one particular aspect is by far the most important factor for the whole night, in getting the best reaction possible from the audience, we always strongly advise that you allow the band to professionally pick the best songs for the night – through experience, they know fantastically well which songs work best in all professional environments.

Just so you have a good idea of what the guys always play, they always find the best combination to play at most private events is a good mixture of the best songs from different eras – some classic ’60’s hits (Beatles etc), maybe a few 70’s & 80’s (Brown Eyed Girl, Walkin’ On Sunshine, Livin’ On A Prayer etc) if they’re not too dated or too cheesy!, right up to today’s modern releases, so that then everybody in your audience gets a bit of everything. They are experts at this, and would never play anything dull or inappropriate. They only choose songs they know ‘work’ for a crowd, with a focus on great fun for everyone. They will have an accurate idea of which songs to play, and in which order to play them before they start, then will flip a few songs round here and there based upon how your guests are reacting as they go through the sets live.

They’re brilliant at this, and at keeping things fresh! So it is always best to let them do their thing professionally, to maximise the results for the night for you, but of course, feel free to send us songs you simply can’t stand, and we’ll make sure the act stays clear of those ones! A DJ is of course a different story though – feel free to ask our DJs any requests on the night that you are keen to hear – they’ll usually have them ready to go.

• Is the act able to learn our first dance song request, if we have one?

Yes of course, generally, if it’s not something abstract that they’ll never likely play in public again! Or as long as it’s not Bohemian Rhapsody! Given enough time, most of our bands are happy to learn a song for you for your first dance if you’re having one – some bands may charge a small fee for getting together to learn it, to cover rehearsal studio costs etc, but others will do it for free as a charitable gesture, knowing how much it means to you and your guests. Just let us know and we’ll organise it for you!

• Will the band let us use their microphone for speeches if we need to?

Of course – they may provide you with a wireless microphone, or failing that, will attempt to get one of their corded microphones to wherever you need it, providing it’s not too far from where they are set up to perform (usually no more than 20 or 30 feet/10 metres) for corded mics – wireless are up to 120 feet/40 metres.

• How far in advance do I need to book, generally?

Most good, professional acts are in high demand, particularly in the high wedding season, and Christmas. You should normally aim to have secured an act AT LEAST 6 months in advance – 12 months is better. Whilst you can still find good bands available with as little notice as three months, some bands are booked for certain dates more than a year in advance. So it’s best to act sooner than later.

• Can we deal directly with the act before my event arrives?

Regarding dealing directly with the band, it’s generally not something we support, simply because once a third party becomes involved with planning and details for your event, it then becomes impossible for us to guarantee what we’ve organised for you previously. We speak with our acts every week on a regular basis, so anything you need sorted, we can arrange it, and make sure it becomes set in stone, so that there’s no doubt what has been arranged for you. Every query MUST come through us, no matter how insignificant, so that then, there is no confusion in any way about what has been discussed. It helps us to make sure that your event runs very smoothly, just like it’s supposed to!

• How loud will the act be?

All our professional live entertainment acts know the evening is about you rather than them – they ALL work diligently and honestly to make sure every aspect of their performance is geared to gaining the best possible result for you that they can – this includes the volume they play at. They all know it’s not the 1980’s anymore where any loud volume was acceptable! Most live performances these days are moderate in volume, often with Council noise limits in place; therefore the act plays within these limits. Loud band complaints seem all but extinct these days – our acts play just loud enough to make an exciting buzz, but certainly not to a point where it becomes uncomfortable. It’s a pleasurable volume, and the bands are aware of venue requirements at all times. (See note about sound limiters below).

• Our venue has a sound limiter – can the act still play with this in place?

Sound limiters have been a thing at Australian venues now for almost twenty years.. our live bands have immense experience in working with them all, so they are never an issue anymore. Our bands have worked in venues with sound limits as low as 75dB in place (that’s roughly the volume of, say, chatting crowd noise), and are still excitingly engaging. Volume restrictions are rarely an issue for our professional artists.

• What is the main difference between a regular party cover band and a tribute cover band?

A regular cover band will perform any number of contemporary hit songs from the past 50 years by all artists imaginable, and will play for at least 3 hours. A tribute band is an act that literally plays solely the music of the band they are paying tribute to – e.g. An Abba tribute band will only play Abba songs. Also, the tribute band will normally only play for around two hours, similar to the real artist’s concerts they are replicating. Tribute bands may cost a lot more also, due to the major show they are attempting to replicate from the original artist.

• Is there a “band rider” (provisions) I need to prepare for the band for my event?

A band rider can include a few things, particularly for major artists, but generally for the smaller cover bands, it means a room for the band to change and prepare for the show, and some hot food. So generally speaking, yes, a band rider is appreciated. If possible, the act will need a room – just somewhere secure to drop their things that aren’t required on stage with them, and to also sit and prepare in between sets as their performance evolves for the evening – somewhere they can relax when they’re not on stage, and also organise the aspects of their upcoming sets. Essentially, just somewhere to manage the behind-the-scenes aspects of their evening performance as it evolves, so they can sit and refuel for the sets that follow in the evening.

Also, as all our acts will have been away from home for at least 8 or 9 hours (sometimes more) whilst they are at your event, they will require access to one hot meal per person while on site, and also to a supply of bottled or fresh water and/or soft drinks. In the absence of a hot meal, a reasonable buffet option will be fine. Sandwiches alone aren’t acceptable as they’re not likely to sustain the members for the duration of their vigorous performance time length at your event. Please let us know if catering for them is problematic.

• I feel uneasy about booking an act I haven’t seen before.

This is understandable, but please consider the logic that all our bands stand to lose too much in their careers if they were to let us down, or let the client down.. all of our live bands are invested in their careers, and are eminently professional, which means they have a reputation to uphold – they would never jeopardise their good standing with us, nor with clients, as they would potentially lose the reputation they’d worked hard for years to achieve. As a professional music agency, if we represent them, they’re of a high, genuine professional standard, so we, and they, will always perform to a high level to uphold ethics and quality, to make sure your event is a swinging success! Neither they, nor we, will ever let you down. We’re all invested – we all work hard.

• What safeguards do I have with my booking?

Every artist booking comes with a booking agreement contract, which legally binds all parties together, in the event of disputes or changes/cancellations. Our contracts are laid out in a very simple-to-follow form, and are transparent and effective in wording. It lays out exactly what has been agreed to by both parties. We speak with our bands constantly to reconfirm all details, and do so right up until the day before your event, when we run final checks with the act, to make sure everything is locked, loaded, and ready to roll. We are thorough, so you can just turn up knowing everything is covered, and organised.

• What is the meaning of life?

The meaning of life is, quite simply, to hire one of our premium live bands, wait for them to hit that lovely big GO button, then maniacally dance like no-one’s watching. If you can manage it, sing along as loudly as the person beside you can tolerate too – this is definitely the meaning of life, and we’re sure it’s written in the bible somewhere..

Further questions? That’s cool! Just call us on 0432917200. Or, shoot us an email: loading...