Pointers on Choosing the Best Available Band For Your Wedding Reception

For pricing and booking call Ron at 512-507-0589

Many bands are well known for their great versatility at making a wedding reception successful, but how do you find the right one out of the huge selection of bands? A cover band is always going to be far more successful than an original band at a wedding reception and hiring the best cover bands is going to be your mission for a successful reception. The following paragraphs will tell you exactly how to pick your band, just make sure your band has all the features that I've described in each paragraph and you will come out with a great band for your wedding reception.

For starters, you should check out the list of songs the band performs. Does the band have a huge selection of tunes to play from all eras? Remember, you will have everyone at your reception from your young cousins and nieces to your grandparents, so music from the fifties on up to current is needed. Another thing to think about is that even if the band has a ton of variety in the their song list, each of these songs needs to be one that all age groups can enjoy. Another point is when your guests are eating dinner during the reception, the band needs to have a softer set with more standards and slower music during this time, so check the band's song list to see if they have the right tunes for this.

Next, after the band passes the variety song list test, take a listen to the band's demos. Most professional bands will have a live video to view and it's a great way to see and hear what the band sounds like live at the same time. After making your decisions to three or four bands, check their schedule and view a live show. This is the most critical test of all.

A little know secret is that it's important that the drummer is playing electronic drums in a wedding band. When a drummer is playing an acoustic kit, his volume is extremely loud and this causes all the rest of the band to turn up to hear themselves over the den of the acoustic kit. Next thing you know, the band is at an incredibly loud volume and your guests are being deafened and the old folks are running for the door. A band with this trouble is unable to perform a set during the dinner hour as it will drive everyone out of the ballroom and seeking the nearest drug store to buy some ear plugs. Unless the drummer is a very light hitter on the acoustic drums (a rarity) electronic drums are far superior for weddings as they are far quieter and sound a lot better at a lower volume than acoustic drums.

Fourth, does your band have a female vocalist? It's important to have a female vocalist to sing all the favorite tunes sung by women that your crowd is going to want to hear. Having those tunes in the band's arsenal can prove to be the key to a successful evening.

The end thing to look at and probably most critical in most people's opinion is what the cost of the band is. Most pro musicians are very talented and the cream of the crop is going to cost more than the bottom tier bands but in this arena, you get what you pay for. Wedding bands that earn less money usually get less money for a reason. There are few reasons that professional wedding bands command the higher dollar than amateur bands. One is that they simply sound incredible and often sound exactly like the record when they perform songs by the original artist which will always awe your guests and the compliments on your band will be coming for months to come after your reception. The second reason is that an experienced band will have a huge song list that allows them to judge crowd response to the tunes they play and use that to decide which styles they perform most during the night. This insures that the dance floor stays packed and your guests don't leave half way through the reception.

To add it all up, the group needs a large number of popular radio tunes, have an awesome sound, have lots of energy while they are performing, have a drummer with electronic drums or a light hitter, come with a female vocalist and be the most professional band you can afford. Also, go out and see some of the live entertainment at some live music venues.

Ron Ronhaar is the owner and band leader of the "The Grooves" which is one of the well-known local Houston bands, well known for their ability to keep the dance floor packed all night with hit favorites from all genres. He has performed with his group for a living in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas and throughout Texas for weddings, corporate parties, society parties and fund raisers. After Ron started the band in 1991, the band rocketed to the peak of Houston musicians and then took the state of Texas by storm. Ron and the Grooves Band are now in strong demand across Texas and are considered the finest of all Houston bands available for any event.

For pricing and booking call Ron at 512-507-0589