Top 10 Mistakes To Avoid In A Function Band Artist Advice

Most people involved in regular function band gigging learn the top ten mistakes to avoid the hard way: through bitter experience. That's definitely the way it worked for us. But it doesn't have to be like that! Take these tips to heart - they were drummed home by fifteen years of hard slog at weddings and corporate functions across England.

10) Spares are not optional!

As the plane lined up for the final descent into Rome airport, our bassist casually dropped into conversation that he hadn't bothered to bring spare strings, because they "never broke". Soundcheck that afternoon was in a sleepy private estate halfway up a mountain in Umbria. In the first chorus of the first song the bassist broke his 'D' string - and then spent the next three hours driving around dusty towns with the PA crew trying to track down a music shop that was open on a Friday afternoon in August in Italy.

Lesson learned: no matter how unlikely the chances of it going wrong, cover yourself for any eventuality and carry spares for all of your equipment!

9) Are you sure you packed it?

This is a speciality of drummers it seems: after a string of mishaps, including turning up in Oswestry with no sticks, and arriving at a country house in Yorkshire with no bass drum pedal, our drummer now has spare sticks in his glove box, and a list of all the kit he needs sellotaped to the dashboard of the van. He also tries to make a point of counting things into his car to make sure he doesn't leave anything behind at the end of the night. This is an obvious challenge for a man whose engagement with maths doesn't usually go beyond the number four.

Lesson learned: never trust your drummer with anything you wouldn't task a small child with ..... and get in the habit of being methodical when it comes to packing and unpacking your equipment. As basic as it sounds, an equipment check list tapped to the inside of your van might be all you need to avoid any nasty surprises when you arrive at a gig.

8) PA wars

Our "standard" PA rig used to be vast: speakers that took four people to lift, full-size 64parr stage lights that could melt a 13amp plug socket into the wall, a 32-channel mixing desk (for an eight piece band), an arsenal of outboard gear stuffed into heavy rack cases ....... so much equipment that we needed to buy an ex-AA van just to move it around - and 2 hours to set it all up when we got to a gig. Although an excellent PA system is vital to providing a high quality live sound, modern systems have become much more compact and so the desire to look like Pink Floyd must be balanced against practicalities such as space and mobility.

Lesson learned: Buy the best system you can afford based on the average audience size you play to. Never compromise on sound quality, but carefully consider the weight, size and mobility of the system you choose.

7) Tonight's band will mostly consist of ....... deps

Most bands allow their members to occasionally arrange a "dep" to cover for them if they have an unavoidable prior commitment. However, there is a huge difference in quality between a band made up of musicians who play regularly together and a band consisting nearly entirely of deps (however individually talented) who just met for the first time in the car park of a venue. The best-sounding bands are the ones where the core musicians do nearly all the gigs; so it's really important that all the musicians in your band are committed and make space for it in their diaries. Also bear in mind that if you gig with a line up which is considerably different to the one your customer booked, unless you previously made the customer aware that the line up they get might be different from that which was advertised to them - then you might leave yourself open to legal action for false advertising and breech of contract.

Lesson learned: for the best quality band get a regular line of core band members. If you need to use a flexible line up you must make it clear to customers which members might change.

6) We can't play that

One of our most "difficult" gigs was for the Parachute Regiment at Catterick. Somehow wires had got crossed, and the top brass had booked a band (us) offering "an explosive blend of soul, funk, and disco" ... whilst the regular soldiers we were playing for were expecting a mixture of Oasis and AC/DC. That was probably the closest we've come to re-enacting the scene from the country club in Blues Brothers. These days I spend a lot longer on the phone to the client before the gig to make sure both of us are clear about what they expect.

Lesson learned: Talk to your customers in detail about what they want and don't ever assume they already understand what you do - even if they've seen your web site and listened to your demos. Not all customers are music savvy and so might not understand that your party band specialises in one specific type of music.

5) Keep calm and carry on

You might have spent three hours stationary on the M25, the audience might not be the biggest you've ever played to, you might have a cold / flu / embarrassing medical condition, or yet again your lead singer may have conveniently found a 'potential client' to schmooze right before the van needs to be packed. None of that is the audience's fault and you can't let your mood show through your cool, calm, professional exterior.

In the early days we had good gigs and bad gigs, and that largely depended on what mood the band was in when we hit the stage. Now we're a bit more grown up, we've learned a crucial skill: switching off from everything else that's going on, and focussing on the playing. In the words of Nigel Tuffnell from Spinal Tap: "It's not gonna affect my performance... I'm a professional, I'll rise above it."

Lesson learned: It's a job - and you're expected to act professionally at all times. Make sure every band member understands this, and also that they understand what's expected of them once they're at the gig. Save arguments for a separate band meeting away from the gig.

4) It's not a dictatorship

One of the things we've done since the very early days of the band is to have an AGM where we work out (by majority vote) what we want our aims to be for the next year. More corporate? More weddings? More club gigs? Lower our prices? This helps to improve our performances as well - the energy you get from a band where everyone feels like they have a say and a "stake" is very different from what you get if a bandleader calls the shots on everything without consulting the other musicians. We also arrange an annual Christmas night on the town for the band, but that's another story.

Lesson learned: Your band might be 'work' but it's important to enjoy it. The music will benefit and you'll put on a better show. You'll get more commitment and effort from band members if they feel involved, so as much as most wedding bands really need a band leader, try to ensure everyone gets a say and that big decisions are democratic.

3) Leave the sheet music at home

Like many bands, we started out with a set of charts and played on a stage littered with music stands. Thankfully, that's now a thing of the past. We expect our regular musicians to know the set off by heart. You're never going to get the best performance out of people who aren't making eye contact with each other or the audience, so put the time in and learn the set properly.

Lesson learned: Learn your parts!

2) Stay away from that free bar!

This is one issue where every band I know has more than a few good stories to tell, usually starting with "remember the time when...?" A quiet pint before the show can do wonders for people's confidence, but the advice here is:

Lesson learned: Know Your Limits.

The need to exercise caution with free drink would obviously make it to Number One in this top ten if it weren't for...

1) Don't kill your audience

Now, I have to say that this has never happened to us - but we know another bandleader who had a very unfortunate experience when a very drunk audience member went outside and fell asleep in a dark field with his legs under the wheels of the bands van. Ouch!!

Lesson learned: Whether it's properly testing your electrical equipment, ensuring your PA speakers are stable, gaffa taping down your leads or checking the underneath of your van for pickled tramps - there's no excuse for killing your audience. Be safe!

Written by Howard Peacock from Pop Soulution - An outstanding 5-8 piece pop, rock & disco function band based in London.