Wedding season is in full swing, April is upon us and this would be the first three event weekend for SouthWestBand of the year.
Friday night and night one of our busy weekend saw us at corporate event in Leeds at the Northern Monk Refectory. A cool stylish event space near the city centre and popular destination for beer enthusiasts, offering a variety of craft beers and ales brewed on site
After hauling all our equipment up three floors, fully setting up and sound checking in the function room we had worked up a sweat and were ready for a well earned feast!
After a brisk walk into Leeds City centre we sat down in a Thai restaurant (always a firm favourite in SouthWestBand) ‘Mommy Thai’. A brief 18 mins later we had already ordered, wolfed down our tasty meal, settled the bill and were power walking our way back to the gig!
As many corporate events go we performed one large set to the guests around 9.30 with many indie classics, from Arctic monkeys to Sam Fender on the bill. We even threw a bit of ‘Kaiser Chiefs’ into the mix, when it Leeds right?
Live music over we hit the decks and DJ'd for the last 15-30 mins to close the night. But after an receiving unorthodox last song request of ‘Gasolina’ by Daddy Yankee we took the gamble and gave it a spin, surprisingly it went down a absolute storm!
Night one over we packed down, hauled our equipment back down the stairs, enjoyed a swift celebratory pint from the bar’s excellent selection and headed home, ready for round two the next evening!
Day 2 - Lodge Farm Weddings, Thirsk
Night two and a first time for SouthWestBand at ‘Lodge Farm Weddings’ in North Yorkshire. Saturday night was a wedding for Lauren and Craig. Looking round the venue it was a beautiful space, modern with rustic charm. Its always a pleasure to bump into our friend Laura Calderwood at a wedding too. A good friend of the band and a fantastic wedding photographer!
(some of her pics of the day below)
Unfortunately for us as can happen at some venues the council had imposed strict sound limitations on the venue which can be very difficult for a live band. After a long stressful soundcheck it was clear that the limit put on the venues sound system was far too quiet for a live rock band. In the end we brought in extra speakers from the band van to compensate which helped but was far from ideal.
Once we were set up and ready to rock the crowd more than made up for the sound restrictions and were full of energy all night.
For this wedding Craig and Lauren requested to not have a traditional bride and groom first dance. Instead they had the great idea of requesting a ‘group first dance’, where everybody at the wedding would be involved. As we gathered all the guests on the dancefloor both the newlyweds and their families and friends all danced to our SouthWestBand version of ‘Give a Little Bit’ by Supertramp at the couples request.
Other highlights of the night included a large conga round the room, some outrageous dance moves to a song request of ‘Tiger Feet’ by ‘Mud’ on the DJ and the grooms request of our ‘Hip Hop Medley’ which we hadn’t performed in some time but gladly dusted off for the occasion! To our great surprise we forgot none of the lyrics, even to a Flo-Rida rap!
A large circle around the dance floor was formed a last song of the night kicked in ‘Nothings Gonna Stop Us’, the 80s classic by 'Starship', a fantastic choice by the bride and groom.
It was a rollercoaster of a night for us as a band. The stressful lows of the overly strict sound limitations overcome by the fantastic audience, the energy they brought to the dancefloor and the lovely friendly couple!
With equipment back in the van it was time to head home and get ready for the third leg of the the trilogy.
Sunday - Wedding: The Venue, Halifax
Sunday night was another wedding and this time in one of our favourite Yorkshire Wedding Venues round our neck of the woods, the aptly named ‘The Venue’.
The Venue - An old repurposed mill in the heart of Halifax, with stunning natural surroundings, beautiful interior filler with charm and recent and deserved winner for best wedding Venue at a the wedding industry awards!
It was the special day of Dee and Daniel. There were many familiar faces in the audience for the event which is always a great sign of an awesome night to come!
After soundcheck we headed out to grab a quick acoustic cover video in the stunning surroundings, we chose the beautiful small lake next to the venue!.
After a quick outfit change we were ready to rock. Dee and Daniels first dance for the night was a fantastic choice and one of our most requested songs ‘Baby I’m yours’ by Arctic Monkeys. The couple performed a beautiful routine to the song (Dee owns her own dance studio) and the crowd went wild as they both strutted their stuff on the dancefloor.
The crowd were as we expected and fantastic all night! Some highlights included Dee getting up onstage to rock out with us to an Arctic Monkeys song, guests literally 'Rolling' on the dancefloor to Proud Mary ('rolling on the river') and a huge circle of friends and family around the bride and groom for a special request of ‘Iris’, an absolute tune by the Goo Goo Dolls!
After the night was over we packed our equipment and headed home. A fantastic end to a weekend full of ups and downs. We had learned that we could still manage three events in a row without any burn out and look forward to the busy summer ahead!
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