Connect with The 145s
Costs & FAQs | Entertainment Ideas
Obviously, as musicians, first on our list of recommendations for entertainment is "live music". But what else can you do?
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As a band, and as guests we have been to many events - so we thought we'd share some of the things we've seen with you.
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Not all of these necessarily need to involve live music - but we'd be more than happy to assist in anyway we can with these or other ideas.
If your guests have a chance to get involved in the entertainment, it's going to be more memorable for all sorts of possible reasons. As a band we always encourage a bit of audience participation (dancing along to shake a tail feather for instance) but these ideas take it one step further...
What is it?Rockaoke is, in a nutshell, Karaoke with a live band. Your guests sign up for a song and get up on stage to sing with the band. Typically the band will play a few songs before Rockaoke to warm up the crowd, but then its the turn of your guests to strut their stuff. Once the Rockaoke is over, the band will then carry on an play another whole set (or two - depending on timings). If you want to up the stakes - Rockaoke nights are often run as a competition... adding excitement and a natural climax to the evening (and you don't just have to award prizes for best singer...)
How can we help? Aside from providing the band (obviously!), we'll organise everything else you'll need and run the night as well. Providing song lists & lyric sheets, managing "sign ups", compering the evening &, if you so choose, judging the competition. We'll also share the songlist with you ahead of time, allowing you to request additional songs.
Cost? We charge an additional £200 for our rockaoke services on top of the usual fee.
What is it? This is a popular way to add energy to an event and kick things off with a bang. Hire professional dancers to kick things off on the dance floor with an exhibition and then to run a short simple class for your guests. It's a fantastic way to get people up on the dance floor early in the evening, breaking down inhibitions and setting your night up for success (especially at corporate events!).
How can we help? As a Blues, Soul & Rock 'n' Roll band - we could easily work with a dance coach in the jive / swing genres and either pick up where they leave off or actually provide the music for the class. We could also support a salsa class - though our set in that area is more limited. Of course if you have other ideas we'd be happy to discuss.
If you are hiring us, and need help sourcing the dancers - let us know what your looking for, and your budget and we'll see what we can do to help.
Cost? Variable - dependent on what exactly you want to do / who you want to hire.
Special performances of different kinds provide a highlight of the evening, and as with "getting people involved" can also provide a bit of a catalyst and make your event that bit more memorable. Especially when people are caught by surprise, seeing their friends / colleagues demonstrating previously hidden talents...
What is it? This one is quite simple: you or a particular guest well known to the bulk of the attendees get up and join in with the band for a prearranged song / set. They/you can be a singer, musician, dancer or some other form of performer. Doing this can give you a way to add a bit of mystery to the event promotion ("featuring a surprise special guest"), as a way to keep people at the event a bit longer (scheduled in the middle or near the end), or to get people going near the start of the event (a complete surprise first up which engages the audience).
How can we help? We're more than happy to work on this with you - we just ask that the performer comes along to at least one of our rehearsals before the event. Previously we've had a bride and groom join us for 3 songs - they took over bass & keys!
Cost? No extra fee
What is it? As you may have seen in many thoroughly entertaining videos online - it is increasingly common for people to organise surprise performances from a group of people strategically placed around their event (just like in the opening wedding sequence of Love Actually).
This could be a dance or song (or even a sketch...?). The key thing is trying to be original or to do something meaningful for the person(s) you are trying to surprise / entertain. The performance could either be people known to the guests or professional performers posing as guests. But whatever you decide to do - don't forget to catch it on film!
How can we help? If we're going to be at your event, and you'd like to try something like this then we can help you plan & choreograph what you want to do, and obviously get involved in the performance itself if you wish (whether as the band - or by posing as guests to begin with). We are also able to provide you with a camera for filming and can help you with any video editing afterwards.
Cost? Dependent on how much help you need and what you want us to do. Most of the time there'd be no extra fee for playing the music for your performance, but certain things like choreography, extra rehearsals, or video editing would cost a small fee.
Aside from the sorts of entertainment discussed above which are very much "features" of your event - when you have a band playing at your event it's also important to think about what happens before / between / after the band's sets.
What is it? Exactly as it sounds - a cheaper alternative to hiring a DJ for between / after the band has played, and more adaptable than just sticking a fixed playlist on. Simply create a spotify playlist on your laptop / phone / tablet and then make sure you have someone responsible for "managing" it. Ideally you'll need wifi as well. (For the record - obviously this isn't as good as a real DJ - but hiring a band AND a DJ can get expensive).
How can we help? Obviously you can continue using our PA system, but beyond that, we can and often do create a custom playlist for our clients. One of us can also remain behind to be your Spotify DJ (so one of your friends doesn't have to). If we do this for you - we'll handle requests and actively manage the playlist to keep people dancing.
Cost? If you ask us to do it there may be a small charge depending on how long you'd like us to stay for (previous this has been around £50).
What is it? A fun and simple way to keep the guests entertained and engaged with your event, and more likely to dance once the band has finished. A jukebox has novelty value (more so than a spotify DJ for sure!) and is probably still cheaper than a regular DJ. It also gives your guests control of the music, so you don't have to worry about anything at all. Just plug it in and let the music roll.
How can we help? If your Jukebox needs to run through a PA system - you are welcome to use ours. No need to hire a separate one.
Cost? Jukeboxes can cost around £300 or more. We won't charge you extra unless one of us has to stay significantly later to take the PA system away at the end of the night. As above, the fee for this will depend on timings but in the past has been around £50.
What is it? If you're hiring a band anyway, for a small extra cost why not have them provide background music? It could just be the pianist by himself, or it could be the whole band doing an extra set or more laid back swing / soul / blues.
How can we help? We regularly do this - particularly at weddings. The number of musicians involved varies but most commonly we play instrumental swing, funk and blues. For more detail on what we can do here - check out our Dinners & Receptions page.
Cost? We charge an additional fee for this - usually £200 but it depends on how long you want us to play for.
