Concert Venues

Four Crucial Ingredients get together Planners Must Know

Involving live music into any business get together isn’t as simple as it seems. Besides deciding on the band, there are four facets you must contemplate in order to have a hope of having a successful event. They are, in the order of importance:

1) Venue
2) Agents
3) Technical  set Up
4) band Character

In a moment I’ll tell you the details of the crucial issues that could aggravate and potentially ruin an otherwise beautifully accomplished occasion. It will just take a few minutes, but as you read this page, more and more, you will start to feel better and better about engaging live music for your next business or social event. Virtually all vital ly is . . .

Venue Selection

As an get together planner, your ability to keep numerous things in mind when engaging musician s. Selection of the optimum Venue is the 1st ingredient you’ll need. This ability alone could distinguish you as a professionals in an industry filled with amateurs.

When selecting the Venue, be certain the room size is in proportion with the number of people in attendance who will be attending.

I got into this business as a singing piano player. When I am performing I need to connect with the fans. Assuming that the room size is proportionate to the crowd size, I could do my job successfully. Assuming that the room is too ample and there are not enough warm bodies in attendance, the fans will feel too intimidated to approach the band. When you keep the band close enough to your people in attendance will feel comfortable enough to interact with the musicians and vice versa.

Have you noticed yet that keeping the Venue small so the band may be close to your people in attendance will increase your occasions of having a successful event? Depending on the act, you could leave a little dance floor in front of the band. But all in all, keep the crowd near the band and allow the band to be an integral part of your event.

I have often worked with get together planners who are clueless when it comes to what size stage is necessitated for a band.

“If you fail to plan ahead, then you’re getting ready ahead to fail.”

Here are the stage specs for various sized bands:

3 Piece – 8 feet by 16 feet
5 Piece – 16 feet by 24 feet
12 Piece – 16 feet by 32 feet

With the is newly acquired information, experienced event planners will always prefer to go with a room with a stage rather than just placing the band on the same level as attendees. Proper getting ready for stage requisites avoids major headaches the day of the show. also, having the band on a stage allows them to be seen by any person even by the individuals in back.

When selecting the Venue, you’ll also need to keep in mind the acoustics of the room. High ceilings and flat walls with lots of windows and no curtains to muffle the sound are not optimal environments for bands. Work with an experienced sound person to mix the band and equalize the room and eliminate feedback.

Agents

There are only a handful of wonderfully few good professional bands anymore. If you don’t know a good booking agent, you’ll be hard pressed to find them. A good agent will be the one to endorse you thru the minefield of mediocre, amateurs with amps that have no volume control knobs.

As an get together planner you need to figure out your get together theme and then contact a skill booking agency to see Assuming that the re are bands that fit.

The most popular bands performance a expansive  variety of styles. A good group of musicians knows tunes from the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Frank Sinatra has never gone out of style. So make sure the band plays what  all of us  call “Jazz Standards”. Depending on your get together and your geographical location, it is either “Country Music is King!” or “Classic Rock and Roll Rules!”. Know your demographics before engaging a band.

As with any vendor, you get what you pay for. Let’s talk about budget. I wonder, even as you continue to read this report, if you realize the amount of time a band puts in before receiving a paycheck to practicing their instruments, learning and memorizing repertoire and coordinating lights and choreography. Virtually all bands require anywhere from $1,200 to $45,000 per gig. Experienced booking agents will be able to place the right band for the get together. With any event, experience wins every time. Ask for references and testimonials.

Technical  set Up

Once your musicians are booked, you now need to cover logistics. Tech  set up includes the movement and placement of equipment and sound checks. Bands often bring their personal equipment.

Amplifiers, instruments, a PA system for vocals, lighting towers all the way down to carpet for the drums need to be  set up and placed and checked and moved and double checked again. Allow enough time for all of these details to be adequately addressed well before show time. Because it isn’t IF something goes wrong, it is WHEN something goes wrong. And it always does with a band. Give them enough time to fix it.

Sound check must take place no later than 3 hours before the show start time. Load in should occur 1 or 2 hours before that. The sound check should take no more than an hour, and after that, let the band go back to their rooms, freshen up, take a nap, grab a meal. They should return NO LATER than 30 minutes before their performance.

Band Character

Musicians have traditionally had a reputation for being evil practitioners of any number of wonderfully colorful vices. It has been my experience, however, that  all of us  are no diverse than any other industry be it stock brokers, medical person nel or city workers.

Use these simple rules and you’ll notice you could keep any group of performers in line.

* Band members should not eat any food in buffet lines or inside the ballroom area. They should have a separate area or a “Greenroom” where they could eat, drink, warm up their vocal cords, stretch out and generally prepare for the gig.
* During a performance, bands should not consume alcohol or smoke. Assuming that the y can’t wait a few hours to partake of their favorite libation, fire them on the spot. You will avoid headaches and embarrassment down the road. In addition, you will get the reputation you will not tolerate any such behavior. Trust me. Word will get out you’re a professional get together planner.

Ultimately remember :

Treating musicians with dignity and respect translates into a happy band which brings you happy clients and people in attendance who find pleasure in the entire get together no matter what the occasion.

You are now armed with the four significant ly critical ingredients for success that you did not have before. If you have learned this information through the school of hard knocks, you can feel assured that you’re a true professional.

Now picture the night of the event. After dinner (if it is served), lights should be dimmed, the band is introduced, they hit the 1st chords and the excitement ripples through the room. individuals move towards the dance floor and the smiles appear on any person in the room. Why? Because you did your job and offer d an exquisite ingredient that every business get together needs: Live Music.