How To Choose The Perfect Live Band For Your Event

Planning an event can be fun and exciting. Planning an event takes intense coordination, and ability to focus on fifteen different things at once, and the ability to envision what everything is going to look like when it all comes together. There’s food, drinks, music, decor, coat check, bathrooms, venues, venue guest limits, budgeting, and the purpose of the event to consider. And that list is only the beginning—each element has endless tasks within that tidy bullet point. The following will attempt to help you out with just one aspect of event planning—the music. In particular, we’re going to look at what goes into choosing the perfect live band for your event.

Figure Out What’s Appropriate

First things first: depending on the purpose of your event, some things are going to be off-limits. Sometimes swearing is a bit of an issue with one crowd and is completely fine with another; sometimes, songs contain graphic descriptions of violence or intimacy; break-up songs aren’t great for weddings—you get the idea. Figure out what type of music is appropriate for your audience before you begin searching for a specific brand. This can help you start with a much more narrow pool which can speed up the process. It will also leave you with some important criteria that you can discuss with the band of your choice before you make a deal.

Set Your Dates

This is another key feature of your event planning that needs to come before you start seeking out bands. If you know what date (or dates) you need some live music, you’ll be able to have that part of the conversation nice and early when talking to potential bands or band managers, or booking agencies. This way, anything that isn’t going to work scheduling-wise doesn’t end up sucking away too much of your time. If the dates don’t work, you can thank someone for their time and move onto another possibility.

Develop Your Budget And Include Band Perks

You might have done this step already as you began event planning, but if you haven’t, now is an excellent time. Figure out how much you’re willing to spend (and how much is ideal to spend). You’ll likely end up with something between these two numbers, but it’s good to know early on in a conversation whether a band is in your price range or not. Part of this calculation should include any perks needed for the band: things like extra meals and drinks for each member. This is crucial, especially if your event runs longer.

Think About Energy

A good jumping-off point once the above is sorted is to think about the vibe of your event. Do you want a band to liven things up with well-known songs and keep the high energy flowing? Do you want something that’s going to add a romantic ambiance to the event? Will people be dancing or seated during the performance? Are people coming to watch the live music, or is there something else they need to focus on at points?

Listen To Samples Before You Being The Interview Process

This seems like a simple point, but you’d be surprised. It’s an excellent idea to listen to a handful of their samples before you take a meeting or make a call. Listening to live music performances is good for you, but the wrong style or vibe for your event might cause more problems than it solves. The more samples you take in, the better idea you’ll have of whether or not the band is right for your event and styles.

Consider An Agency

There are entertainment booking agencies that can give you a wide range of musical options—sometimes more options than you’d even thought possible and at Green Light Booking, for instance, there are over 100 bands within the roster. You can have a conversation with the agency about the energy, dates, and event purpose, and they’ll be able to put forward several options that suit your event. This route has the added benefit of having the bands vetted and vouched for by a third party. Agencies don’t send out bands who’ve shown up late previously or made a mess of things at another event. They have their own reputation to protect and those of their other entertainment acts.

The above tips should help you filter through the countless options there are for live bands. Be open to finding something a little outside of the genre you’d been expecting. There are countless remarkable bands out there, and you never know what you might find.