9 hour wedding gig - oh my

[Blaster]

Played at a wedding gig on Saturday at 4 pm. Well, the gig went on to 1:30 with extra compensation that is. Man, since I have gotten older that gig just about did me in. The good thing about the gig was my band. It seems as though we went on overdrive and did a great job and kept mostly everyone there until the end.

If it wasn't for the quality people I play with, I would have gone nuts. If I was younger my feet and poor back would have been better, but it was actually kind of fun.

BTW - sorry to hear about Spanky. He was one great guy and I will miss him. I actually had tears in my eyes when I read the post. Spanky - your in a better place and your home. Hope to see and jam with you one day!

[Baard]

Weddings can be the hardest gigs, two groups of people, that does not know each other. Silver weddings are more fun....


Baard

[90wreck]

I like weddings. Good pay,good food, good drinks,everybody is there to have fun,everybody showerd up, and generally out of there in just 3 hrs!
How much do you charge for additional hrs?

[Wahwax]

The thing about wedding I hate most is you have such a diverse group of people that you can't please everyone. Some want to hear Bob Seger while others want to hear Ozzy, still others want to hear Billy Ray Cirus, the kids want to hear Beyonce and gramma wants to hear a show tune.

I used to run a sound system and I HATED weddings.

[telemann51]

and I had to play during the ceremony only. They had someone else for the reception. I enjoyed it - easy in, easy out, good pay.

I haven't come close to playing a 9-hour gig. Four hours is about my longest gig. That's too hard on my ol' tired back.

[Tylercaster]

Either REALLY good, or REALLY bad. No in-between in my experience. I played a nice..kicked-back wedding this weeked. I had to play an hour.

Do we have time for a wedding story?

A few years ago I went out to meet the soon-to-be newlyweds couple the night before we were supposed to play their reception to go over details, times, etc... They INSISTED on paying me the night before. (This was a very well paying couple) We were supposed to play for at least 3 hours. The next night we show up, and wait. Finally they come out, we play their song, 1 more, and then they made us take a break while the couple left. When people started coming back in, we kicked off again. The father of the bride waited until the song was over, then came over and said, "Pack your %@!&....Yall are done." I told him we were paid for 3 hours. He shook his head and again said, "ya'll are done" "yes sir!" 3 songs and about 45 min. in all, we were on our way back home....already paid. Don't see those too often at all!

[Brad]

I've played my fair share of weeding over the last 25 years. I always enjoyed them ( except getting dressed up! ) due the diverse group of people, good food & drink and great pay. I quit playing in bands in 1990, so memories are all I have left! My nephew got married 2 weeks ago. He asked me to bring my guitar and amp so I could play with the band. Now, being in many bands over the years, I know there is nothing worse than "Hey, my Uncle Brad want's to get up and jam with you guy's"! I hated it when some drunk relative wants to get up and play his version of Johnny B. Goode with the band. Anyway, at the reception, my nephew say's "are you going to play"? I asked him if he had mentioned this to the band. No, he says...but they are cool so it's no problem. I asked him if he would talk to them and if they did not want anyone sitting in, I would understand. Well, they were very nice about it and I wound up playing two sets with them. It was great! I had a blast and so did my relatives....many of them from out of state who had never heard me play or did not even know that I play. Nothing like a relative on stage to get the dance floor rolling. After we were done, the bass player invited me to join a blues band he has on the side! I played in a weekend 50's 60's band years ago for kicks & some extra moola. We did a wedding and some obnoxious drunk kept yelling "PIPELINE...PLAY PIPLINE." The leader of the band, and older gentleman who fancied himself as
( you will never believe this.. ) Elvis just kept ignoring him. After 20 minutes of this, the drunk comes over to me, pulls out a $50 bill and say's, "I'll gvsh yo fiddydollas iffa ya play pipeline. I snached the $50 out of his hand and went dododododododododod dum dum dum dum dum dum..the band followed suit, we did a 2 minute version of pipeline followed by wipeout. The place went nuts and the guy actually gave me another $50! We would up playing two hours over the contracted time. They passed the hat. We would up making $300 each that night.

[joshigh]

[quote="Tylercaster"]The father of the bride waited until the song was over, then came over and said, "Pack your %@!&....Yall are done." I told him we were paid for 3 hours. He shook his head and again said, "ya'll are done" quote]



Was the guy upset? Did he have a reason why he wanted you gone?

[Tylercaster]

My band was hot at the time. We were very well rehearsed and had a great show that fit in with the crowd. Our songlist was approved with the couple, we used minimal PA, etc... I'm assuming we were at his house and was tired of people being there dancing, and he knew as long as we were there, they would be too!

[Doug R]

We played one 2-weeks ago. Very cool.
A doctor's daughter, outside reception at their country home. Seven groomsmen, seven bridesmaids! Huge! During the vows, three deer wandered across the field behind them.
They had a keyboard player and singer during the ceremony - two songs and they went home.
They had a flute and harp during the food and cake part. About 30 - 45 minutes and they left. (wimps!)
Then we took over for four hours of classic rock on the patio. Big (rented) hardwood dance floor. We rocked 'em and socked 'em and got three other gigs out of the deal. Plus a great catered dinner and free drinks all night (it was so hot I went through about a galon of ice water and lemonaid).
The Doctor paid us before we started. It was booked for $500. and he gave us an extra hundred for coming early and setting up before the guests all got there!
Then when we wrapped it up around 11:30 he slipped us another hundred tip. He said we really made the party great. What a nice guy.
I love wedding receptions.

[Blaster]

First of all, everyone is happy and that makes for a good night

Second, the receptions don't last long - with the exception of the last one we played at

Third, the pay better. When my band plays in town we charge $600 and $800 if we travel. That price will cover 4 hours of playing. We have some exceptions that we charge more if it's an out-of-town gig and we have to wait around after we set up, or we might charge less if it's a 2 hour reception in town.

We usually charge $100 for every additional hour that we go beyond 4 hours (with exceptions of course). We also get 1/2 up front when we book it.