Let me start out with the great parts…read more..
They did an amazing job playing at our wedding last week. They are very good musicians, and everybody had a great time. They even learned my wife and I's own song and played that for our first dance. Very professional and smiling group of people - all our guests loved it.
But the reason why I had to give only 2 stars was, that they charged us for the few hours between setup and the actual gig. I've never heard about any band doing this before (and I've been a pro musician for 15 years, with over 1500 gigs behind me, 12 platinum selling records and a major label deal with Sony Music). I've heard about getting payed a bit extra if you need to stay at a location for an extra night, because of travel logistics (overlay nights), but never for a few hours.
The worst part was, that they didn't communicate this at all. In the contract it says that they play for up to 4 hours - not anything about that these 4 hours include potential waiting time.
For us, the issue was, that we had to have them setup their gear 2 hours prior to the banquet, because the guests would arrive and walk through this area at 7pm, and the banquet would then start at 9pm... This means, that while we thought they would play at 1am, they now wanted to finish at 11pm - two hours into the banquet... They didn't tell us this, until the banquet already started, and my wife and I was taking photos with our family.
He also said I had asked him for another speaker for the ceremony, where I myself delivered the microphone. That is true - but he never asked for any payment for this. I asked if he could bring one, and he said yes. Normally, if you want extra payment for this, then you say it, and don't just use it as leverage in a dispute later.
So I ended up having to spend an additional $500, to make them play the extra two hours. I of course did that, because who want's to deal with this on their wedding day - or even worse, have no music after two hours?
Also, he didn't want to take the $500 as a check, so we had to borrow them from our wedding planner. He said it was because he didn't trust us now.
I've NEVER heard about ANY band in the world doing this, and I can't think of any more unprofessional.
When I look at the contract, it says "Dinner: 9pm" - which is what they were hired to play at.
Additionally, when I now look back at my emails with the band leader, there's absolutely NO reason for confusion here - the timeplan was given 3 months ahead, and approved by him, but on the wedding night he wanted more money. See the following:
Mar 31st 2015 - From me:
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Hi Tony,
Here's some details - let me know if you need more:
Date: August 8th 2015
Address: ### ### Road, Glendora, CA
Ceremony: 7:51 (sunset)
Cocktail hour: 8:15 to 9pm
Dinner: 9pm
We would like you to play during the dinner, and then pick it up a bit after for some dancing. It's a very intimate party - we only expect around 40 guests.
We're having the party at my fiancé's parents house in Glendora.
We're making a 1920'th themed party.
We would like to add both your singer and a trompet to the band.
Aug 3rd 2015 - From me:
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Hi Anthony,
Just wanted to follow up to make sure we're all set for Thursday?
Did the wedding coordinator reach out about set up time and general timeplan yet?
Aug 2rd 2015 - From the band leader:
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hi peter, you did mean saturday... correct?
i was planning on setting up around 6ish if that works.
Aug 3rd 2015 - From me:
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Sorry, yes Saturday of course!
Guests arrive at 7pm, and will go through the front of the house where the reception will be, so you have to be done setting things up by 6:45 - does that work?
Aug 3rd 2015 - From the band leader:
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whew... i got nervous!
actually then i will set up at 5:30. see you soon!
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As you can see, he's only pushing back the setup time by 30 minutes, but still demand payment for additional 2 hours.
So my advise, be careful when hiring this band - they will try to get more money out of you, than first agreed. When that's said, they do have a low price, and I would have paid extra to have them play in the first place, if they had just asked for it. I just don't like being treated like this - especially not on my wedding day. It's just too shady.