Part I – to be considered at the booking stage

1Book well in advance - we recommend booking us at least 3 months in advance if you are able to set a rigid event date to make sure we are available for your event.

2Confirm your venue allows music - confirm with your reception venue that live music of our style is permitted. Collect any guidelines from the venue which may need to be relayed to our band.

• Once this initial consultation with your venue is complete, get a contact name and number to pass on to our band so that we can speak with the venue once booking contracts are exchanged.

3Check your choice of live band – ensure that our band will be suitable for your event by consulting with friends, family or colleagues.

4Sign contracts – secure our band before we're booked by some one else. Please read BookingTerms and Conditions very carefully before booking us.

Upon signing your contract you will need to confirm:

• Full venue address
• Contact name and number for the venue
• Exact date of event and changing room
• Our band performance start and finish times
• Our band arrival times and load-in/ sound check times
• Any additional options you may wish us to provide (CD’s between sets, additional sound/lighting equipment etc)

5Confirm our band details with your venue - ensure venue make appropriate notes on your booking agreement regarding the following:

• Trolleys or helpers for band if load-in includes stairs or 50+ yards distance
• Band size and space required
• It may be that if your event involves a sit down meal and space is limited, you’ll require that the room is re-arranged after the meal to remove tables, and make sufficient space for our band. This is common practice and the venues will also use this time to lay down a dance floor in front of the band.
• Book good sized dance floor
• Check that your venue provides an adequately sized dance floor if you’re hiring a party band or if you plan to be dancing. We will get all your audience up and dancing so a good sized dance floor is essential.
• Check electricity supply for the band
  • Check that the venue has at least 3-4 standard plug sockets in very close proximity to the bands performance area. We will bring extension leads and multi-plug adapters as required, but it is useful if easy access to power is available.
  • If you’re holding an event in a Marquee, arrange with the Marquee hire company that sufficiently powerful generator be provided, or that a dedicated outdoor electricity supply with at least 6 plug sockets is made available exclusively to the band. This supply should not be shared with any one else or over overloading may occur.

Part II – to be considered in the run up to your event

1Keep a record of changes – list any changes made to your event schedule which may affect PROBABLE CAUSE band such as meal times, arrival times, booking other types of entertainment etc. Relay any major changes to our band immediately.

2Put together a preferred play list – by viewing our band's repertoire information you can start to put together a preferred play list. One 45 min set contains approx 12 songs. Relay your selection directly to our band as soon as you have it.

3Confirm preferred attire – if required, specify to us what attire will be most fitting for our band to wear at your event.

4Double check band payment method – which in most cases should be CASH on the night, unless other wise agreed in advance.

Part III – to be considered on the day of the event

1Arrival and set up/sound check times – check with your venue which times will be most convenient to them. Every venue has their own preferred method. It may not be possible for our band to sound check earlier in the day if other rooms close by are in use by other venue guests, even if this is your preferred schedule.

Sound check time is required by the majority of bands to mix instrument volume levels, fine tune equipment settings and get the show prepared. We require approximately 30 – 60 minutes for sound check. When planning the arrival time with your venue, please take into account set up time required and ask your venue to offer feedback on how this might affect their plans.

On the day of the event either you or your venue’s event coordinator should check the following:

• One member of staff to greet our band and show to us the performance area/ changing room
• Performance area and size to be explained to all venue staff
• Venue staff asked to help band load-in equipment or provide trolleys if load-in includes stairs or 50+ yards distance
  • If our band cannot park and unload the equipment within 50 yards of the room, or if we must carry equipment up more than one flight of stairs, please ask the venue to provide trolleys and specialist lifting equipment as required. Alternatively, please arrange with the venue that several strong male members of the venue staff are made available to help the band load in.
  • If lifts are to be used to move equipment, please have the venue arrange that they are to be used exclusively by PROBABLE CAUSE band for the period required to finish loading in and out. Some busy venues can have lift systems which take 20 minutes or more to return, pushing our band way off schedule for setting up.
• A changing room is made available to the band
• Please arrange with the venue that the band have a room to change in. This should be well lit, private and secure with enough tables and seating for all the band.
• If our band is required to arrive early and wait more than 60 minutes before their performance, it is essential that we have access to refreshments.
• Our band should be shown their room upon arrival and should have sole access to the room from arrival until the time when we depart.
• The band's food and drink ryder
• Bar staff are aware the that band are on a ryder
• It is important that arrangements be made with bar staff so that should additional soft drinks or bottled water be required, the band don’t have to queue up for them, or explain to the bar staff that their drinks are on a ryder.
• An average band ryder will include: soft drinks as required, mineral water as required, tea and coffee as required, one hot meal per band member and crew.
• Suitable and sufficient electricity supply is available to the band on arrival and for their exclusive use all night
• One senior member of staff appointed to liaise with band at set up/ sound check time to ensure agreeable volume levels and to discuss use of any smoke machines, strobe lighting etc

2Introduce yourselves to our band – the event is all about you, help our band get in the right frame of mind for your event.

3Keep the band updated – especially if the event runs behind schedule.We are very flexible with changes to start times but we may need to make changes to our show if performance lengths need to be changed.

4Keep an eye on your guests – the last thing you want is for our band to be struggling with an over enthusiastic auntie or picking up broken equipment, knocked over by one of your guests.

5Appoint a party spokes person – vital if there are any issues with volume or minor complaints. Please do not allow mother–in-laws or grandfathers to wander on stage and demand our band turn down or play Vera Lyn. Should a problem arise, please ensure that a sober, level headed person be appointed to raise any issues discreetly with our band.

5Finish times – You’ll need to discuss with your venue what time your event must finish at. It is usual for our band to perform 1 - 2 encores but much beyond this could be breaking the terms of the venues entertainment license.

6Payment to the band – usually made in cash at the end of the night. Please ensure a representative of your party speaks with our band on arrival (or passes a message on via the hotel events coordinator) to confirm who will be paying us.

Contact us today to Book Us for your next event