Three one hour films which are being transmitted in March 2013 on BBC2. ‘A Very British Wedding’ is an observational series looking to explore the subject of weddings among different religions and cultures. Our contribution to the series was our performance at a Jewish Wedding (episode 3), showing the first dance and Israeli music discussions with the happy couple Ben and Natalie.

As one of the leading Jewish wedding bands in the UK (see our Jewish Wedding page)  it really was an honour to be asked to take part in the TV series. The focus is going to be on our Israeli dance sets which is such a big part of a Jewish wedding.

A Very British Wedding

You can see Lucy (our Keyboard player) being filmed by the BBC camera crew talking with Alan Shalks the wedding planner before our band performance.

‘A Very British Wedding’ is an observational Series looking to explore the subject of weddings among different Religions and Cultures in the UK today, through their planning, whether this is organized through more formal Planners, family members or the couple themselves.

It has been commissioned by Religion And Ethics at the BBC. Within the Series, they aim to give an intelligent understanding and insight into the practices, customs and traditions which each Culture and Religion approach weddings and in turn allow an insight into contemporary multi-cultural British life. They follow, in detail, the planning of weddings and the events themselves.

A photo from the braodcast off 'A Very British Wedding' for BBC2

A photo from the broadcast of 'A Very British Wedding' for BBC2

‘A Very British Wedding’ should be a great TV series – hope they get my good side!!

Any couples planning their wedding for next year look no further than The Choice the UK’s No 1 Jewish wedding band, to Israeli Dancing to our our acclaimed party sets.

In the spirit of transparency I’d like to point out that you are reading this blog from our band’s website www.thebandchoice.com so clearly we have a vested interest in the subject matter. Hopefully you’ll find this blog interesting however as it does offer a perspective from a band’s point of view –  from people like us that actually work in the industry! 

It’s also important to us (and our industry) that the right sort of bands get booked for the right events because a bad experience with a “not so suitable” band can ruin future gigs for all of us.

Before the internet took such a stranglehold over our lives, to book a band you would have had to contact an entertainment agency. These agents became the voice of recommendation. You would tell the agent what style of band you were looking for and he/she would then recommend the most suitable band for your event.

Importantly the bands that were recommended would have a working relationship with the agency. To continue that relationship the band would have to create great feedback and generate more work (future gigs). So the circle would go on, the agency would book a band they would in turn get more work for the agency….. a level of quality guaranteed.

This third person recommendation has all but vanished from the scene unless you have been personally recommended a band from a friend or colleague. If you do have a recommendation then tip number 1 go with that recommendation!

As a band ourselves we get a lot of referrals and of course some of the time we are not always available. In this situation what we always try to do is to recommend colleagues that run similar bands to us and are of equal quality.  It’s that third person recommendation again that’s all important, we want to make sure that the gig gets covered properly with a great band that will do a great job!

There are lots of agency websites on the internet these days and indeed we are on a few of them but do beware. We know of occasions where bands turn up for the event and the collective musicians involved  haven’t even met each other before!  These bands are not necessarily bad but certainly not experienced at working and jelling together as a professional band should be, also these “put together” bands tend to have a very limited repertoire.

I think it’s really important to make sure that if it’s a “wedding band” you’re after for example make sure the band is performing at weddings regularly. How do you know this – well most established bands have a Facebook page. Whether you like Facebook or not it is very informative. It’s also  much more transparent as far as testimonials are concerned, it’s very easy to write a lovely testimonial page on a website but it’s not so easy to have lots of comments on a Facebook page.

You will also find that bands will always post gigs on their Facebook page so it’s easy to see just how much a band is working – the more work generally the better the band.

That’s it from my first blog on the subject, next time I’ll talk about band website content and reading between the lines.

Good luck with your hunt for a great band – if you’re in any doubt email me or just book  The Choice and be done with any worries!!

What does make The Choice one of this country’s leading Party Bands?

Well…..if you’ve had a chance to look around our website you will see all the different types of Functions and Events The Choice perform for – (see our Appearances page)

All these events have one thing in common, they all want to party, they all want to dance, they all want their guests to have a night they will never forget.

To ensure all this happens they book one of the best Party Bands on the circuit today – The Choice.

The Party Bands party band!

The experience of performing at so many different type of events does give us a unique insight into what makes a night a success.

Party Bands are a rare breed, well good ones are anyway because they need to be ready with a repertoire large enough to cover any eventuality. They need to be able to switch musical gears to bring an audience up and down according to the flow of the night. Reading an audience is essential to how successful a night can be, reacting to what songs are going down well with the crowds. However, when you do get that awkward Corporate crowd, that shy wedding audience that’s when you really find out what a great Party Band is really all about!!

A taste of the music we play:

From ‘Kings of Leon’ to ‘Adele’ to ‘Snow Patrol’ to ‘Beyonce’, rock, motown, soul, funk, and classic disco anthems. With the advantage of both male & female lead vocals, our extensive and varied setlist caters for all musical tastes – you can be absolutely sure that guests of all ages will enjoy our music and will be up dancing and singing all night long!

Make sure you book one of the best Party Bands in the UK for your next big Event – The Choice!

Well….there are a few things that need to be thought of before we can answer that question:

1. How much space do you have for the band to set up in?
2. What sort of budget are you looking to spend?

The Choice perform from a 4 piece line up through to the ‘ultimate’ 8 piece combination and every size in-between – (see the line-up page)

The nucleus of the band has always been the 4 piece combination.  It is also worth pointing out that we are one of the few 4 piece bands to boast two girls in their line up plus both male and female lead vocalists.

From this ‘classic’ 4 piece line-up all other options are added: Alto Sax, Trumpet, Tenor Sax, Second Female Vocalist or Percussion.

Our most popular line up at the moment is the 6 piece: to include Sax and Trumpet.

The brass adds another layer to The Choice sound and to the visual look of the band as well.

A great feature is when Andy our lovely sax player performs the classic Madness song  ‘One Step Beyond’ – where he goes out into the audience playing and doing the Madness dance – usually joined  by the audience! – certainly something your guests will remember.

We have recently, following repeated requests added a Trio line-up, click here to listen:

The Trio specializes in Rock, Indie and all those great classic band songs – music with attitude. The Trio is an ideal solution for those on a tighter budget and for those wavering between booking  a disco or band. With the Trio you can usually afford to have both! – we can also supply the disco which we like to call  “Best of Both Worlds Option!”

Whatever line-up option you go for rest assured a great night will be had by all.

Through our experience and ability to read an audience The Choice is second to none, and our enthusiasm is without question the single most important feature what ever size line-up you choose!