We’ll do everything we can to make your event a success!
As every event is different, we will work together with you to understand your requirements. Our bassist Luigi will be your lead point of contact. Luigi will liaise with you, ensure we provide the very best solution, and help you to promote the event.
Check out our ‘Information for Event Organisers’ below. And, if you’re looking for a band for a wedding, take a look further below at how we can help.
Useful Information for Event Organisers.
- The Band: We are a full big band with 5 saxophones, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, rhythm section and vocalists – 19 people in total. For smaller venues or additional music we also have a 4-8 person band.
- The Music: We play a wide range of swing and dance music from the 1930s to the present day and will tailor the music for your event. For example we will provide more Glenn Miller music for a 1940s dance and we have even sung in French for a dance to celebrate a town-twinning. We also provide a growing range of music for strict-time dancing. Our small band provides a complementary repertoire to the big band including rock & roll and Blues Brothers–style music which always get people dancing !
- Duration: We are flexible about how long and when we play and will fit in with your plan for the evening. We typically provide two sets of 45-50 minutes which fits well when there are other performers or attractions during an evening. We can also provide the full evening’s entertainment by adding a set from our small band of 20-25 minutes.
- Dancing: We have worked in partnership with a local dance teacher who provides basic swing and jive dance tuition and demonstrations at the start of the evening. This is great to get everyone in the mood for dancing. Let us know if you are interested in this for your event.
- Space: A big band requires quite a big stage space. Around 8m x 5m is an absolute minimum, bigger is better. We also require power and lighting to the stage. We are happy to come to look at a venue’s stage space to confirm that we would fit.
- Outdoor Venues: We are happy to play outdoors and our music works well for garden parties and picnics etc. We ask that event organisers provide a marquee / gazebo of at least 8m x 5m with side covers, mains power and lighting to the stage. Good vehicular access close to the stage area is important as we have lots of sound and musical equipment to unload. We also need five chairs (without arms). Our PA desk needs to be set up away from the stage and will need a separate 3m x 3m gazebo (or 2mx2m if it has covers to three sides). The desk can be a cable run of up to 27m from the stage and we will need to run the cable where it is unlikely to cause a trip hazard.
- Publicity: We will support you in publicising and marketing your event. We have a loyal group of followers who attend most of our events and we will publicise your event on our website, through social media and with the band’s friends and families.
- Fees: There is no standard fee as this depends on the event type and location so please get in touch to discuss options. We want to support charities through our music so we do offer substantially reduced rates for events where all the proceeds are for charity. In addition to our fee we ask event organisers to pay the actual costs of us providing our own PA system and sound engineer (see below). This is usually around £200 although it can be up to £500 if our preferred supplier is not available. Booking a long way in advance helps to secure the best price.
- PA: We will provide our own trusted PA system and sound engineer. If your venue has a professional quality sound system that can deal with a full big band (3-6 area/instrumental mikes, 4 vocal mikes, monitor speakers etc) and someone to sit at the sound desk and provide sound engineering all the time we are playing then we are happy to discuss using your equipment and sound engineer.
- Food and Drink: While the band doesn’t expect to be fed or provided with drinks it is very much appreciated especially as our band members do not get paid to play!
- Insurance: The band has Third Party Liability Insurance and can provide the certificate if needed.
- Liaison: Luigi Caludi will be your lead point of contact with the band. He will work with you to understand your requirements and make sure that we provide the best possible solution for your event. We’ve found that it works best if you also provide us with a single point of contact who can coordinate things from your end too.
- Next Steps: This covers most of the general questions we are asked but every event is different so please get in touch with us to discuss your specific requirements. We look forward to hearing from you. You can contact us here.
This information is also available for download:
It is difficult to put into words how wonderful last evening at Armstrong Hall was, everyone was so impressed with your musicians, and I’m sure you could tell by the reception you had, that we all had a really great evening… AGAIN sincere thanks for last evening, your band is just excellent and a credit for all the ‘back room staff’ and all the practising and presentation to detail you all made. I sincerely hope we can book you again.
Carole, Event Organiser
Music to make your wedding swing!
A full big band is a great way to help make your wedding magical – getting people of all ages on their feet and dancing.
The Bands…
The full band: We can deliver a full evening of entertainment with our 17-strong classic big band.
The small band: For smaller venues or weddings where the full band would be just too big, there’s a smaller band – complete with a rhythm section of drums, bass, guitar, and keys, horn sax section, and vocals.
We can..
- Provide our own high-quality PA
- Perform a first dance request from our repertoire
- DJ a first dance request if not from our repertoire
- Perform 2 x 60-minute sets of live big band music
- Provide background music before, between and after our live sets.
Surprisingly affordable…
Because we’re a ‘not-for-profit’ band, we’re more affordable than you might think.
This information is also available for download:
We look forward to helping make your event a great success!
Thornbury Swing Band 