Same important as a good dj is to choose appropriate band or other performing artist for your event. Read on for more info…
People often ask me, what is better? A DJ or a band? From my experience, the answer is simple. If your budget allows you to hire both, then that’s the right combination. A band will deliver an element of live music to your event – thus creating a better ” live feel” to it and will also create an artistic element. Band can be there for background music – for this task you can hire a trio or quartet of classical music, jazz or easy listening band that plays simple background versions of well known songs or pleasant jazz/ soul. If you would like to dance to the music of your hired band, you need to hire a band that plays known songs from a large variety of styles with enough energy and quality for people to dance to it, or you can hire a very good bigband – a financially demanding measure. I don’t recommend bands that play their own repertoire on events like weddings, corporate events or celebrations – the songs are not well known and people will get bored soon. An exception is of course if you hire a well known individual (for instance Vondráčková, Chinaski, Lucie, Madonna etc…) but of course, we are talking about much more funds needed for such names to appear. You should note that any band, be it as good you want it to be, has a very limited repertoire in comparison to a DJ. If you compare what a band can do and what a DJ can do, the DJ is a winner. You need to take into account that a band plays all their songs with the same set of musicians – so vocals are the same and instruments stay in the same hands – after a while, the band can get monotonic – because all the songs are sang by the same singer and the instruments are played in the same manner. Band also needs to take multiple breaks – which is something that DJ doesn’t need to do. Bands take breaks after about 40 minutes of their play and they can range from 15-20 minutes. Also, the length of their production is limited and that is not only because of their limited repertoire, but also because of the physical capabilities of the musicians. Average band plays for 1-2 hours. Some bands can play up to for 4 hours with breaks, but that’s about it. DJ can play without a break and for much longer – 10 hours for instance is not a problem. I need to admit that the DJ is also exhausted after a 10 hour production and if the production takes more than 8 hours, I recommend that you hire two DJs that can switch; you are securing your level of quality this way. An exhausted DJ doesn’t have to same output as a fresh one of course.
An ideal combination, that I recommend you to hire for events with sufficient budget, is a simple background music at the start – Be it a piano, a combination of a piano and a sax or a DJ sax, or in some instances a trio/quartet of classical music or an easy listening band that plays a background or jazzy music. After dinner, a party band is ideal for a two hour production, or a well known band that plays its repertoire that everybody knows. Breaks of the bands are covered by a DJ that stays on the stage till the end after the all live programme and bands finish. An example of a time schedule: 18:00 – 20:30 a quartet of classical/easy listening music till dinner, 20:30-22:30 party band suitable for dancing. From 22:30-02:00 DJ. This combination is ideal, but if the bands and DJs are to be very good we are talking about a costly matter. If the event organizer has limited funds, then it’s a party band DJ without the trio/quartet in the beginning. However, if the budget still won’t allow these measures and you will have to choose if you want a DJ or a band, I would go with the DJ for reasons I have stated earlier in this article.
How much does a band cost? This question is of course difficult. Same as always – the prices differ and it depends on the quality, fame and demand of the band/artist. Solo artist – a Pianist or a Saxophonist will cost you around $150-$500 in case that we are talking about a two hour production. Duo sax piano will cost you $500-$650. Trio/quartet of classical music will cost you around $500-$800. Party band in full size of 4-6 musicians will cost you $1150-$2250. The more known bands like Žlutý pes or Katapult will cost you $2250-$5000. Bands like Chinaski will cost you anything between $5000-$10000. Artists like Michal David or Helena Vondráčková can cost you tens of thousands of dollars. You need to consider that most bands will require some sound systems and sound engineers, lighting and a stage. These items will raise the price even more. The sound will cost you around $350 for a basic level suitable for small bands, but can climb up to thousands of dollars for the big sharks. If we were to talk about the big and popular bands, the cost can climb up to $5000 – The venue, client’s needs, the band, the number of guests and the length of the production – that all matter.