My wedding reception will have a mixed crowd of Irish and British guests, can you provide entertainment that will play Irish traditional classics and modern day pop covers, rock and roll, etc?
Yes, the most popular and practical way of doing this at weddings and private parties is to have a good lively Irish duo or band performing for the first 2-3 hours of the evening's entertainment followed by a Brady’s disco which can be tailored to your exact musical tastes and requirements.
>Top What doe's a typical Irish band consist of? Our Irish bands typically consist of a guitar-vocalist, Irish fiddler and another instrumentalist such as a Banjo player, Accordian player or keyboard player, with a versatile selection of Irish songs of all kinds, eras and genres. That often includes many of the classics such as 'The Fields of Athenry, 'Leaving of Liverpool', 'Dirty old Town', etc. They'll also be able to play a selection of covers recorded by such Irish musical icons as The Dubliners, Christy Moore,
The Pogues, The Wolfe Tones and many more besides. As well as that most of our acts can also perform a selection of country and contemporary numbers where needed. >Top Can your Irish bands play traditional Irish music and songs as well as disco type songs and rock music, Abba, U2, etc? Irish music is played with different instruments compared to pop cover and function bands. Electric guitars, keyboards and rock drummers don't generally really work with Irish songs. It's quite a tall order expecting an Irish band to switch from 'The Fields of Athenry' to 'Dancing Queen' just as it would be to get a pop cover band to do likewise. If you want to have live Irish music and rock and pop covers why not consider booking a live Irish act to be followed by one of our excellent discos? >Top What doe's a typical Irish Ceili consist of? A Ceili band is more Irish Traditional music based, usually featuring a guitarist along with a minimum of two melody instrumentalists such as an Irish fiddler, Banjo player or Accordian player. They'll be able to provide a good and lively selection of Irish Jigs, Reels and Hornpipes to provide the backing for Ceili dances such as 'The Siege of Ennis', 'The Walls of Limerick' etc. Where requested we can supply a Ceili band that also features songs. It's also a good idea to have a 'Caller' at a Ceili and we can
organise that for you too. Whatever your preference we'll discuss that with you when you make your enquiry and ensure that we supply you with something to match your needs. >Top How long does an Irish band play for at a wedding? A typical booking is for 2 -3 hours including breaks. This can vary depending on the needs of the booker. >Top What areas do you cover and do your acts travel? We cover almost anywhere. Many of our acts are based in the London and home counties but we have others based in various regions of the country. We can send acts literally anywhere to venues and functions in both the UK and abroad. We work on the principle of 'distance is no object'. We've recently assisted with the supply of Irish entertainment for a venue in Chengdu in China! >Top Do they supply their own PA system? Yes. All acts are self contained and provide all of their own equipment. In some cases where a venue already has an in house sound system they will use this provided it's all arranged and agreed beforehand. In some bookings the musicians perform acoustically without any PA. This is typical with Irish traditional 'Sessions'. >Top Can I go and hear your Irish acts perform before I book them? If it's possible we'll arrange that for you but it depends on various factors such as how far ahead the date of your function is. If it's soon then probably not. Where possible we'll try and arrange for an MP3 sampler to be sent to you. You can however hear many of our popular acts on our samplers page. You also have to peace of mind from knowing that Brady's Irish music agency has been specialising in supplying Irish entertainment for over 30 years! >Top Do your acts play their instruments live or do they use backing tracks? Because Irish music is essentially an acoustic based type of music the use of 'Karaoke' type backing tracks is almost unheard of. With pop orientated Irish bands for some functions such as weddings they are sometimes used but only sparingly and more to augment the act rather than substitute real live music. >Top My wedding is obviously a happy event and I don’t want a lot of sad and dreary songs played nor too many traditional jigs and reels, can you make sure they keep it lively and happy? >Top Yes, of course. Although many popular and classic Irish songs are sad and slow, (Fields of Athenry, Grace, Four Green Fields, etc,)they need to be played sparingly along with all the lively stuff for parties such as 'Whisky in the Jar', 'The Irish Rover', etc. Traditional music such as Jigs and Reels is also something that works better with a crowd when played sparingly. Our acts are all used to playing to a crowd so they are aware of this issue and arrange their sets accordingly. Most good acts watch the crowds reaction and keep it all lively and flowing. >Top I will have lots of English guests at my wedding so I don’t want to offend anyone with any Rebel songs, can you make sure this isn’t an issue? Rebel songs are not played at any functions or gigs by our acts unless the booker has specifically asked for them, so rest assured that won’t be a problem! >Top Do the acts play requested songs on the night? Certainly, however if it's essential to you that a specific song is played on the night it's best to let us know at the time of booking ands we'll organise (where possible) for the act to perform it for you. We can't of course guarantee that all of our acts will have every Irish song available on their songlist! >Top Would I have any say in the general list of songs played on the night? Yes, it’s a good idea and normal procedure for the act to consult the booker on an appropriate playlist for the night. For example, it wouldn't be advisable to play Irish rebel songs at a wedding! Neither is it a good idea to play too many slow and sombre ballads, although the night probably wouldn't feel the same without the odd tearjerker classic such as; ‘Danny Boy’ or ‘The Fields Of Athenry’.
>Top Do you take bookings at short notice? Yes, we can often arrange to get an act for you within 24 hours of a booking or even on the same day!. We do of course prefer more notice but if your booking is urgent call us right away on 0845 226 5324. >Top How do they dress when performing? Depends on the event. Smart dress or casual is the norm. If it's a 'dressy' occasion the act will dress aptly. >Top How is my booking confirmed and paid for?
Once your booking is made and the details of your needs clarified, we will put all of the details on a simply understood agreement which is normally ratified by a deposit and signed copy of the agreement. This constitutes a legal contract between you and the act that will give you the peace of mind that everything is confirmed in writing. We normally accept payment via cheque or bank transfer. We can also accept deposit payments via credit cards, switch, solo or maestro. The balance of the contracted fee is normally paid in cash on the day to the act.
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Are your fees all inclusive? Are there any 'extras'? The fees quoted are what you will pay in total unless there is an extra travel cost involved, in which case you will be advised of this at the time of booking and it will be included clearly in your booking agreement. Travel costs are kept to a minimum. If the booking is long distance and an overnight stay is required for the act then this will also be negotiated separately with the booker and included in the agreement. We have no hidden costs and we do NOT charge any booking or arrangement fees. VAT is NOT applicable unless the act is VAT registered, which is rare and if they were we'd advise you of that at the time of booking.
>Top How far ahead do I need to make a booking? There's no set time but it's always best to book up as far ahead as possible. We do however, often arrange bookings at short notice.
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How do I make a booking? Just call us on 0845 226 5324, fill out our online enquiry form or email us . Either way we promise to respond to your enquiry very promptly! When you make the booking we provide you with a 'plain-speak' agreement that will include all of the terms and conditions applicable to your booking. You simply check it through, assuming it's all correct then sign and return it to us either by scanning and emailing it or via post. We'll normally ask for a deposit that's deductible from the agreed fee of which the balance is normally payable on the night.
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I may also need Irish dancers and or an Irish disco and or an Irish bagpiper, can you arrange it all for me? Absolutely. We can coordinate the event for you and take the hassle and headache out of it all by arranging everything. We can also provide a PA for hire at the function if required.
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Do you charge me an extra fee for arranging the booking? No. As an agency (in the vast majority of cases) we make our cut via commission paid to us by the act from their overall fee. If there were any booking or management fee involved this would be negotiated by separate arrangement with you and included clearly within the terms and conditions of any such agreement.
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I need to discuss this with you, can you call me? Yes, we'd be glad to. If you wish to make a booking enquiry please either fill out our enquiry form which asks you for your telephone number or call our office on 0845 226 5324 (Local call rate). You can also email us directly with any specific question you may have.
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