amateur bands NO

Amateur bands are thriving in this current economic climate. As clients try to find a way of cutting back on costs right across the board it is inevitable that they will look for a way to cut costs with the entertainment. One way to achieve this is through using an amateur band isn` it? WRONG!!!!

Whatever the economic climate your wedding is being held under, you are still fixing up a very important day. For some people THE most important day. It can be ruined by bad music and an amateur band with a poor attitude. Below are a few misconceptions and half truths about about amateur bands and the supplying of music for a wedding.

1. "We are a band of Semi Professionals" No you are not. You are amateurs who cannot a. play well enough to cut it professionally b. have retired from your day job as a Building Society Manager and therefore are earning a few bob to supplement your pension or c. Have limited repertoire (the band know loads of songs that are favourites of theirs....unfortunately they may not be favourites of yours.)

2. "We`ll play all night, we love what we do" Yes this may be true. You, on the other hand will be glad when they stop! Amateur bands play the tunes that they enjoy. Professionals play the tunes you want to hear and play the tunes that will get you and your guests on the floor. Oh, and they will play them to a far higher standard.

3. "Oh yes, we play lots of music for dancing" ......not in my experience they don`t. A lot of amateur band players are music fans and purists. They may love jazz or blues. They may have one or two songs that may just be perceived as floor fillers. A good experienced pro band will keep your guests on the floor all night. Can you imagine some bunch a well meaning amateurs blarting away with some obscure tune whilst you and your guests look on aghast? (This is at eight in the evening, you have another four hours of this torture)

4. "We saw a band in the pub, they were brilliant, we are booking them for our wedding, they only cost £300" Ouch. They turn up late. They drag their gear through the marquee dressed in jeans with their backsides showing, one is worse the wear for drink (after all, don`t forget it is a night out for them, they are having fun....it`s their hobby, they are not working) One of the band insults your mother. Then when they set up they tune up and sound check for half an hour. When they finally get started (Dressed wrong, too loud, minus one player who has been kept back at work)they launch into their own heavy metal repertoire. It is loud, impossible to dance to, you and your guests hate it, they refuse to turn down. No we don`t play any Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Blues Brothers songs etc etc.

5. "I am saving a fortune on the band that quoted me from London. the local band are less than half the price." Er, yes, and why? Most professionals live and work out of the London area. Most of the work is based in London, most of the industry is based in London, most of the colleges are based in London. London professionals have to eat, put food on the table for the family, buy musical gear, buy stage clothing. In otherwords they are just like you! They also have to drive from London to where you are (maybe 200 miles away. They have to set up, get changed, play brilliantly and then break the gear down....all with a smile on their face.....jump back in the car and drive 200 miles home. (You haven`t paid for a travel lodge...why should you?)

6. Understand the worth of your professional band. Here is a bit of simple maths. How many guests are you having? 80? How much are you paying for your starters? £8.00 each? Ok so £600 is being spent on a first course that you and your guests will derive 10 minutes of pleasure from......see where we are going with this? A three piece band in London will give you two one hour spots for the same fee! Does it look like good value now? A 6 piece amateur band could give you two hours of misery for £300!

7. "I think its a lot of money for two hours work" Yes it may seem so, but how is it broken down? Musicians who play for a living practice every day. Two maybe three hours. They have to maintain instruments, they have to have clean suits, smart shoes, good stage wear. They have to pay for reliable cars. (You don`t commute to work as a drummer or keyboard player)When you are playing in Thetford and have finished at midnight you can`t drag your bass down to the local tube....there isn`t one!!! Professionals have trained for three or four years. They travel abroad to see specialists. I have just come back from studying with an old Duke Ellington band musician. Professional musicians are like accountants, lawyers, doctors and surgeons. A little bit different to the local amateur bands who have never committed to a musical craft.

To sum up: If you are ill, need your car repairing, need an extension built to your house, require dental work, sort out a divorce or a myriad of other services, do you get a professional to help and advise or do you go with some bloke down the pub? If you go with the pub option then I suspect we are not for you and your wedding day is not that important. Amateur bands.....the musical version of the Lada car!!

Jeff Williams 01.04.09

Jeff Williams is a professional trombonist and singer who has played professionally for many years both in England and abroad. He has appeared on televison, on film soundtracks, records, radio and in many concert halls both at home and on the Continent. He runs the Jazz not Jazz live music agency very successfully using the finest London professionals. His musical colleagues have worked as side men to such artists as Van Morrison, Tom Jones, Eric Clapton and Billy Ocean.