Wedding band recommendations - Devon and South West

Hey

It's very tricky to catch wedding and function bands live outside of private events unfortunately. Every so often venues will have showcases and you might get lucky and catch one there but I wouldn't rely on this.

If a bands promotional video isn't convincing enough or don't give you what you need to make the decision then reviews are incredibly valuable. Instead of high star ratings and numbers, see if you can find any examples of other couples who have had the band and can vouch for their presence. It can usually fill in any gaps that the promotional material is lacking.

I would also advise scouting out any potential bands on social media etc. They don't often place live performance clips on their website or profile as they are most of the time phone footage taken from someone at a wedding! However these clips are always popping up on Facebook and Instagram for bands I follow and can give you a good idea of what to expect.

Lastly I would take a trip through the world of real wedding blogs if you haven't already. So many sites have this as a section (Hitched included) and you can treat it like one massive review of your potential band as they are usually included heavily.

Good luck

I saw a band in Devon a couple of months ago called Joey The Lips - they were awesome! I would assume they do weddings too, but have no idea how much they would be!

I'd defo recommend going to check them out - have fun!

We have booked Joey the Lips for our wedding next August, they are awesome! They are a very big band though so weren't cheap, my other half is a big music fan so we have splashed out on an amazing live band because that's what's important to us. I'd recommend them for sure!

Hi,

We don't really play Motown or Funk so not touting!!! Lol.

My biggest advice would be to look for 100% live footage. As you mention there are lots of videos that are studio recorded which will not sound like the actual band.

Look at Facebook to get original reviews. You can also message people to ask them about a band.

A lot of bands don't play open public gigs so expect this to be quite tricky.

James

We don't travel outside of the North West so I'm also not touting, but I'd just like to agree with you on how hard it is to know exactly what a band is going to sound like live when the bands have to produce multiple - take studio recorded audio and massively edited video demos just so that they can compete with each other!

I think your approach should be as follows depending on whether you want fantastic value for money along with a good band, or whether money is no object.

Option 1) Will pay for the best + agency fee:

Go to one of the top uk agency sites (e.g. alive, warble, live music management, entertainment-nation etc) and find your favourite bands based on their carefully produced promo material. Bear in mind that it's still more likely that a band will be superb if they have gone to the trouble and expense of being professional in how they market themselves. However - it is not a guarantee, so try and see if the bands are playing live at any public gigs. This might be tricky if they use a band name alias on the agency site that is different to their actual name (and many agencies insist that they do). You could also ask whether you can see them live before booking them when you make the enquiry. They might even go so far as letting you pop your head round the door of another wedding they are playing at (though that is something we have done only once in 8 years as we do play public gigs throughout the year fortunately). Bear in mind that if you book the band through one of these sites you will probably be paying about 20% more than you would if you just found a similar band and approached them directly. The agency obviously needs to take a cut for it's work or it wouldn't stay in business, so you pay this (the band's are supposed to lower their fee to compensate but I don't think many do).

Option 2) Looking for best value for money (though still possible to get a great band).

Browse band websites looking for local bands that have been established for a good few years and have a back catalogue of lots of weddings with testimonials, reviews, lots of web presence, but that perform public gigs from time to time too. Go and see them live at a public gig - it'll probably just be a pub or club local to the area that band is based in. Not only do you see how they perform, you also get to chat to them about what they could provide for you and you get to discuss budgets etc. We get most of our private bookings after couples come to see us perform.

I wish I could advise you on some great venues to go and watch bands in Devon, but as I said before we're North West Based and don't travel that far. Hope this helps though.

All the best

Dave

LeFunk! Wedding and Party Band

Hope you found a great band to hire! Anyway, my dad once hired The White Keys Music LTD for his wedding day with my stepmother, and everyone enjoyed it and danced the night away. Some of the guests also said that the music was great. I’m even thinking of hiring them for my wedding day lol.

View quoted message How much did joey and the lips cost?

View quoted message Hi Josh


We paid £2500 but did have our own PA system and lights which saved money as my now husband is a musician and we also had a friend who owns a lightening company for music events.
They were amazing though and they went down well with the crowd. Best band around!