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Author Topic: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?  (Read 14049 times)

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Theo

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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #20 on: December 08, 2009, 09:14:28 AM »

My feelings are that the client is getting a raw deal with a three-piece with the caller as one of the band. You therefore have a duo plus caller and certainly the caller should NOT be lead musician. The caller needs to be able to get down on the floor and to be completely in touch with what is going on. Many people in our experience greatly appreciate the rapour and immediate contact they make with the caller who, after all, is the front man.
Oi! That's my band. You shouldn't criticise our line-up without hearing us and seeing what we do.  >:(


Steve, I think Tony's comment has to be read in the context of his band.  There are not many callers who are good enough to call and play, clearly your caller is good.   I know of two other people who make a good job of calling and playing, and several who don't! 
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Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

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Lester

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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #21 on: December 08, 2009, 09:36:43 AM »

My feelings are that the client is getting a raw deal with a three-piece with the caller as one of the band. You therefore have a duo plus caller and certainly the caller should NOT be lead musician. The caller needs to be able to get down on the floor and to be completely in touch with what is going on. Many people in our experience greatly appreciate the rapour and immediate contact they make with the caller who, after all, is the front man.
Oi! That's my band. You shouldn't criticise our line-up without hearing us and seeing what we do.  >:(
And mine, our caller is our drummer. If demos are needed one of the rest of the band turns too. We are either 4 piece (Melodeon, guitar, recorder, drums) or 5 with the addition of a fiddler.

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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #22 on: December 08, 2009, 02:03:32 PM »

Quote from: Tony Gibbons
Many people in our experience greatly appreciate the rapour...
« Last Edit: December 08, 2009, 02:05:34 PM by Steve Jones »
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Tony Gibbons

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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #23 on: December 09, 2009, 12:55:41 AM »

"Oi! That's my band. You shouldn't criticise our line-up without hearing us and seeing what we do." 

Steve! Lester! no offence meant and it was not a dig at either of you personally but an opportunity to raise an issue that bugs many people including myself. I strongly stick with my opinion, obviously, irrespective of the calibre of the caller/band member. My premise is that the caller has his role to play and the musicians their's. There was a time, many years ago, when I had to take over the calling role due to the sudden breakdown and walk out of the booked caller. (I hasten to add that he was going through a rough emotional patch and couldn't cope with the situation). I'm lead musician and managed on that occassion but only because the people involved knew what they were doing and I did not have to leave the stage for any reason. I know my dances but felt extremely uncomfortable doing it. I love playing and it's not easy talking at the same time and quite often when working with inexperienced dancers the caller has to be ready to help out whenever and that includes being amongst the dancers.
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Owen Woods

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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #24 on: December 09, 2009, 01:11:12 AM »

Oi! That's my band. You shouldn't criticise our line-up without hearing us and seeing what we do.  >:(

It was my understanding that the real issue was lead musicians calling, which I agree is a bad idea. Rhythm players is not so much of a problem and with a radio mic it could be quite effective as you suggest.
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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #25 on: December 09, 2009, 09:46:58 AM »

Steve! Lester! no offence meant and it was not a dig at either of you personally but an opportunity to raise an issue that bugs many people including myself.
Thanks for the clarification, Tony.
In many ways I agree with your point of view, but there are always exceptions, and in our band we seem to have got it right. Our formula works for us, so we shall stick to it. One point I did not mention earlier is that our fiddle player also has a radio pick-up on his instrument and is also able, if needed, to go in amidst the dancers and sort out any misunderstandings. So that's two out of the three band members who can interact directly with the dancers at short notice. It's only me, being tied to my stand mics, who can't do this. But I can keep the music and drive going, on my own if necessary although that's never been needed.
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Howard Jones

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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #26 on: December 09, 2009, 10:40:48 AM »

Liam Robinson springs to mind as someone who can both play lead instrument and call very well, and entertainingly, for both practised and inexperienced dancers.

Personally, I am incapable of coherent speech while playing.

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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #27 on: December 09, 2009, 11:40:49 AM »


What happens if you agree to do a gig without a caller, and you arrive at the event and the dancers need called?
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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #28 on: December 09, 2009, 11:47:35 AM »

Liam Robinson springs to mind as someone who can both play lead instrument and call very well, and entertainingly, for both practised and inexperienced dancers.

Personally, I am incapable of coherent speech while playing.

Some bloke called Kirkpatrick does it as well (Mr Gubbin's Bicycle) seemed to be quite good  ;D

Theo

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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #29 on: December 09, 2009, 12:09:17 PM »


What happens if you agree to do a gig without a caller, and you arrive at the event and the dancers need called?

English bands never go out without a caller in my experience, so the question doesn't arise south of the border.  Even at big festivals like Whitby where there are loads of very experience dancers there is always a caller.  There is a facebook group with discussion about new ideas for Whitby where I suggested a dance without a caller.   Lead baloon!
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Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #30 on: December 09, 2009, 12:26:29 PM »


What happens if you agree to do a gig without a caller, and you arrive at the event and the dancers need called?

In Scotland it's quite normal for dances not to be called, but that isn't the case over the border, so we would never play for a dance without a caller.
We do music only gigs, though, and sometimes it turns out at these that a few people would have liked a dance. What we can do then is teach them an easy dance and let them get on with it with no calling. It's helpful when the wives of the band members turn up because they can get stuck in (and even do a bit of emegency calling if necessary).

ps   I wrote this while Theo was writing his post, which I've just seen!
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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #31 on: December 09, 2009, 12:31:35 PM »

ganderbox

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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #32 on: December 09, 2009, 12:57:32 PM »

I think the ones we saw were a bit bigger than that....and probably included the chocolate, too.*

  *Although the Argos ad doesn't actually say "chocolate not included".....
« Last Edit: December 09, 2009, 01:02:07 PM by ganderbox »
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Pauline from Cornwall

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Theo

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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #33 on: December 09, 2009, 01:05:14 PM »

Perhaps we should advertise as "Chocolate fountain with free ceildh band"!!!
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Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

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Ellie

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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #34 on: December 09, 2009, 01:34:55 PM »

I'd rather just have the ceilidh band...!

ladydetemps

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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #35 on: December 09, 2009, 01:53:03 PM »

Perhaps we should advertise as "Chocolate fountain with free ceildh band"!!!
Or you can name your band Chocolate Fountain... ;)

Chris Brimley

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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #36 on: December 09, 2009, 03:15:35 PM »

Going back to Clive's original question, I must say I'm a little uneasy about the way the market seems to operate for weddings and barn dance bands.  It would seem to me that the amount you can charge should depend on what the client is prepared to pay, and that in turn will depend on how good they perceive you to be.   And that is where we get into difficult territory.  The client's main criterion for selecting a band is going to be whether they believe you are going to get the guests to enjoy themselves, and how much you charge, and let's be frank, little else.  It really doesn't matter much to the happy couple how experienced and technically proficient the band is, only whether the whole thing works at getting them, their friends and relatives to have a good time.

The trouble is, how can the client find out in advance how the band and caller will meet their expectations?  And what if they really don't know much about what they are booking anyway, because they have only a vague idea of what it's all about?  Many of us look at this whole issue with a certain amount of prickly disdain, but can we actually blame a potential client who doesn't know what he is going to get, from just selecting the cheapest?

Perhaps the answer is actually to market our services in the same way as any other business, we shouldn't be too sniffy about commercialism.  We need good video recordings of our whole product, to demonstrate what it is, to the confused punter.
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GuyWyatt

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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #37 on: December 09, 2009, 03:39:17 PM »

I am sorry but I dont understand why some of you are uncomfortable with being asked to quote for a gig. Of course my perspective is possibly skewed by the fact that no-one in their right mind would ever pay me to play music. As a lawyer I am frequently asked to give an advance indication as to what I might charge for a particular job. That is just the way of the world. What makes music any different from clearing the drains or doing a route canal on someones teeth? It doesn't reflect any lack of respect on the professional. If I wanted a plastic surgeon to give my wife a new nose (and as some of you know, her nose is already lovely) I would want the best surgeon to do it, but I would want to know in advance if I was going to have to take out a mortgage or just turn out my pockets.  The only time I have commissioned a ceilidh band was for my wedding and in fact they did it as a wedding present so I have no idea what they would have charged.  Of course they drank their own weight in beer (Dedic, are you out there?) so there was a cost of sorts.....
Guy
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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #38 on: December 09, 2009, 06:41:03 PM »

I agree with Guy. Our band always quote, as well as charging a non-returnable deposit.  >:E
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Re: How much to charge for a wedding barndance?
« Reply #39 on: December 09, 2009, 07:26:57 PM »

Quote
The trouble is, how can the client find out in advance how the band and caller will meet their expectations?  And what if they really don't know much about what they are booking anyway, because they have only a vague idea of what it's all about?

If we have "first time" bookers, we often invite them to a gig before they book (weddings seem to book well in advance), or point them to our MySpace page, where we have pictures and sound clips.  It all helps.  We will also spend quite a bit of time working out exactly what they want, and trying to fit it in (and saying no when it isn't possible!)

We also use a contract that can also act as a kind of instruction leaflet, so that they know what we need (power points, breaks etc) and what to expect (timings etc) and they they send us details of hall (size etc)

Sometimes people find it isn't for them, but more often than not they go for it and really enjoy it.  One of the best comments you can get after a wedding is "that's much better than a disco!"
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