You have been searching for a band for your wedding. You have an idea in your head of what your looking for, good music, full dancefloor, a fun night of dancing had by you and your friends, it seems so simple! Of course you have been to other weddings where the band weren't great, so you probably have an even better idea of what your don't want!
I have spoken with numerous brides and grooms who had witnessed some dodgy weddings before they got married themselves and these are the most common things they wanted to avoid in their wedding band:
- Some bands didn't read the crowd too well and just seemed to play their own set.
- While other bands were not entertaining and didn't interact with the crowds at all!
- Another common observation is that some bands seemed to be zoned out on auto pilot.
- Some have less than stellar singers.
- Some bands play the "wrong stuff".
- Some bands were late, or took too long to set up and had everyone waiting.
- Some bands turned up with different crews than the musicians who were booked!
- Some looked amazing in their video's but we totally different live.
- Some were way too loud, and drove people from the dancefloor.
- Some sounded plain old cheesy.
- Some took long breaks in between songs and the dancefloor cleared.....
Thats a long list of things you don't want to happen on your wedding night!
But surely these are the exceptions, a few less than average bands? That depends on who you ask! Ask an Italian person where to get good coffee or pizza in Athlone and you will be in for a 10 minute tirade about what makes real pizza and real coffee... real! At The Good Hustle, we are those Italian coffee snobs when it comes to music, and to wedding entertainment.
To do it right, there are so many things that we must work very hard to acheive. Firstly, we must be entertaining, we must interact, we must give your wedding night serious energy! Energy is the number one ingredient needed to make the night special!
Secondly, we must be professional, punctual, set up quickly and be ready to go when the guests are.
Thirdly, we have to play the room. That means playing at the appropriate volume, knowing what music will work for different crowds, and keeping that dancefloor cooking all the time is our measure of that.
And lastly, and possibly the most succint point for us, is that we play and sing the music authentically, with passion, with skill and with love! Does that sound over the top? Well, for us, its not. Its what we beleive. We love music with a passion, that is why we are good. That's why you can hear the difference between our band and a band who doesn't care.
So I urge you, don't let glossy photo's or smooth marketing video's cloud your judgement. Don't look for the cheapest band either. There is a deluge of wedding bands in Ireland now: they are NOT all the same!
We all know the difference between quality and well, err, not quality! Let your gut guide you, speak to the bands on the phone, see them in person, and don't settle for second best!