Tag Archives: hiring

What to look out for when booking a band

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Booking a band for any event can be tricky. What type of music, what size of band, and what price should I pay? These are the most common questions a person asks themselves when they have been given the task of booking a band. Yes these are important questions but there are a few small things to look out for when booking a band. Here are 5 things to look out for when booking a band- 

1- Always sign a contract – More often than enough we hear the ever dreaded horror stories of bands. Whether it is the band hasn’t showed up at all, the band has double booked or the band has got a flat tyre and can’t make it to your event. Well this is why you need to sign a contract; if any of these unfortunate circumstances happen then at least you have the right to get your money back. So always ask for a contract and make sure that it covers you under all circumstances. 
2- Reviews- These are the Holy Grail of bands and also for customers. You can look for testimonials on Facebook pages, the bands own website and even on online forums. Also ask friends and family if they have heard of any good bands in the local area. Word of mouth is one of the most powerful sources so use it, it is free!
3- Price wisely – This is where you’re budget comes into play. Please stop everything you are doing and read this part as this is extremely important… You are not going to get a fully live 4 piece band for £200!  At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. So be realistic with your budget. A live 6 piece band would cost you between £800 – £1200 so if this is the size you would like, and then expect to pay the higher bracket of money. If you find a 6 piece band and they are charging less than this then as the saying goes, it is too good to be true!
4- Past Clients – Bands styles can change in various events. Music that perfectly suits a wedding ceremony may not be so well suited to an awards ceremony. Make sure that the band you are after fits your event and music style perfectly. Therefore if you are a corporate event organiser ensure that your band have had vast experience playing at corporate gigs. Same goes for weddings, birthday parties, award ceremonies etc. So always research the bands past clients and this will be able to give you an insight into the bands history. 
5- Local Bands v Further Afield Bands – This is a secret tip within the entertainment industry… if you have an event and need a band hire a band within a 30 mile radius. This means you are not paying extravagant amounts of money for extra travel and most entertainers will have the first 30 miles free. Some bands will even charge £2 a mile, after you already pay for your band I’m sure that £100 for travel alone will just not be worth it. So source out some great local bands that will play the exact music you like without the crazy travel costs!

Questions to ask your hired entertainment…

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We know that many of you have never planned a party before. Perhaps you’re planning a wedding or your husband’s 40th Birthday Party. This list is a product of many years of providing private event entertainment (but this list is applicable to most forms of entertainment). These are the questions you should be asking your performers before you sign on the dotted line. 

1. Where (and for whom) do you do the majority of your shows?
What you are trying to find out is how experienced and equipped the performers are for working private events. Many bar performers represent themselves as event entertainers but may not have the experience working with venues and professional event planners, or they may lack the equipment or insurance that is necessary, especially for larger venues.

2. Can you show proof of insurance?
While I’m not convinced that this is always necessary for event entertainers, this speaks to the professionalism of the entertainer. If the entertainer does a lot of private events in nice hotels and country clubs, they will be more likely to carry liability insurance, as many of the higher-end venues require this. If you entertainer is not insured, then perhaps they are not working many of these venues, which could mean that they are not attracting the top end private event clients.

3. What is the cancellation policy?
Most entertainment acts will penalize you for cancelling a performance that has already been contracted. They look at dates on the calendar as inventory. If you reserve your date, they can’t sell it to anyone else. So if you cancel, they may not be able to rebook. It’s similar to how event venues or photographers view their calendars. If you think there may be a need to cancel or change your date, discuss this with the entertainment BEFORE signing a contract and see if there is any flexibility on their policy. I’ve written contracts for clients that allowed them to cancel up to 4 weeks after entering the contract to suit a particular situation. 

4. How much is the deposit and is it refundable?
This goes hand in hand with the previous question. Usually deposits are not refundable. This serves as incentive for a client not to cancel or reschedule. A common deposit structure is 50% upon signing and 50% upon arrival at the venue. 

5. Do you bring stage lighting?
A pretty standard thing for entertainers to supply, but some of the smaller groups won’t have this, and some of the higher-tier entertainers may expect that this would be supplied by an outside production company. You should ask. 

6. How long do you need to set up?
Make sure you coordinate this with your venue. If the venue is using your space for another client prior to your time slot, you want to ask the venue ‘what is the earliest time that the entertainment can load in’.  Then verify that this is sufficient with your entertainment.

7. Ask the venue if there is specific wording they require on the performer’s insurance certificate.
Some venues just want to know the entertainer is insured, but many require that they, the venue, (and sometimes the parent company) are listed on the entertainer’s insurance certificate as Additional Insured. 

8. Ask for space (and staging) requirements from your entertainers. This includes length, depth, height and placement. Verify with the venue that this can be accommodated. If it can’t, find out how flexible your entertainers are regarding these dimensions and placement. Many performers can do their show with no staging platform at all if necessary but they will all need a certain amount of space to set up. Know what this is.

Celebrity lookalikes

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Everyone wants their party to be memorable. One fun idea is to hire celebrity lookalikes to mingle with your guests. Nothing loosens up a stuffy corporate crowd quite like sharing cocktails with Gaga or Elvis.

A couple of months ago a friend of mine who happens to be a pianist was hired for a corporate party. What he didn’t know was that they had hired Michael Buble, Bette Midler and Elton John impersonators to work the party as well. Before he took the stage, he spoke with all three and asked if they would mind singing with him. He figured out what songs they could all do, and then they began their act. After the act the impersonators were mingling with the guests. The acts continued doing the show again and then 30 minutes later Elton took over the stage with a medley of his greatest hits,

I thought that the choices of Michael Buble and Elton John impersonators were particularly inspired because they are both over-the-top personalities and you can’t help but have a good time and smile in the face of such flamboyance. I think Lady Gaga, Tina Turner, Prince, Beyoncé and other larger-than-life entertainers would all be great choices too.

Of course there are brides have been hip to this for decades. Just think of the many marriages in Vegas that have been officiated by Elvis. But you don’t have to be in Vegas to get married by the likes of Cher or Sharon Osborne. Just look on our list of celebrity lookalikes and see who could be at your party!!

International party ideas

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At Red Masque entertainment we are always on the lookout for interesting and unique party ideas for our blog. This week’s post is about using international themes for your event. Every culture has its traditional outfits and performers, and many of these performers are available for hire.  Here are some ideas:

1. Moroccan nights with belly dancers, snake charmers, hukas and waiters dressed in caftans. Drape the place in beautiful Moroccan fabrics; add candlelight and torches and you’ve got yourself something special.

2. Bollywood theme with traditional Indian Marquees (think an extravagantly decorated tent with lots of throw pillows and fabrics), beautiful Indian ladies in lovely silk saris, Henna artists and Yogis.

3. A sushi night with Japanese geishas dancing and playing traditional instruments such as the shamisen or shakuhachi, and singing. If you want a more hearty fare, hire Tepanyaki chefs to cook in front of your guests. What could be better than a fire-shooting volcano made of onions?!

4. Argentinian Tango night with costumed dancers/instructors, plain wooden tables with candles or lanterns, low lights, bottles of Malbac, tango posters or paintings on the wall. Remind the guests to dress in black and red.

5. A Queen’s Jubilee with royal footmen, cockney tourists, and a royal court. High tea anyone? If that’s too high-brow, just add a Beatles tribute band.

6. Brazilian Carnival with costumed stilt walkers, samba dancers, Brazilian bands, and vibrant carnival costumes and statues.

7. Chinese Circus with fire performers, Chinese circus acts, martial art dancers and extreme martial art performers. Throw in some body painters and origami and calligraphy artists just for fun.

We sure you have some of your own ideas, and at Red Masque Entertainment we are sure that you will be able to hire exactly what you had in mind.

Casino Night…

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One of the most popular events we’ve seen used for corporate team building “entertainment” is a Casino night. Each attendee is given a set number of chips and one raffle ticket at the beginning of the night and at the end of the night they can trade their winnings in for tickets towards a raffle. The more they win “gambling” the better the chances are of winning a prize in the raffle. If there are sponsors of the overall event, you can ask them for raffle donations. Otherwise, corporate branded items, M&S Vouchers/Amazon gift cards, etc. can be used. I’d suggest one raffle item for each 10-15 attendees. They don’t need to be high value, although it’s nice to have one “grand prize” type item. Keep in mind if people have flown in for the event, size matters.

As you watch you’ll see alliances being formed and a lot of teamwork and coaching as more experienced players assist other players and players strategize with each other to defeat players deemed to be winning too often.

Sometimes there may be a few people not want to participate for religious/cultural reasons, and you should always have alternates for them–usually a couple of games suitable for two such as checkers and Uno to start, but they are always joined by people who have lost all their chips fairly quickly and you can have Pictionary with white boards set up for team play.

If you’ve ever been to Las Vegas, you’ll know that Illusionists is a wildly popular form of entertainment that dovetails with the Casino party environment. This also works as an additional team building activity, as a good Illusionist show offers opportunities for group participation, and interaction both with the entertainers and among the participants.

Famous classical music composers

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Find the best in Classical Music available for hire in the UK today. From solo performers to full orchestras, the performance of classical music repertoire demands a significant level of technical mastery on the part of the musician.

Classical music may not enjoy as much popularity as it used to in its golden age from 17th to the early 20th century. But it continues to impress and inspire, especially the works by the greatest composers of all times. Some of them may have lived hundreds of years ago but their masterpieces simply remain unsurpassed.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

German organist, composer, violist and violinist is widely regarded as one of the best classical composers of all times. Best known works by Bach include the Brandenburg Concertos, Air on the G String, Toccata and Fugue in D minor and Arioso, to mention only a few. 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Austrian composer impressed his contemporaries already as a child. At the age of 5, he mastered keyboard and violin, Some of most famous and most widely performed Mozart’s works include Requiem, Symphony No. 40, operas The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro, Piano Sonata No 16 in C Major, Symphony No. 25, Piano Concerto No. 21 and Piano Sonata No. 11 (Mov. 3 – Turkish March).

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

German composer and pianist was the most outstanding figure in the transition between Classical and Romantic periods, some of his best works including the 9th symphony were created after he became almost completely deaf. Other notable works by Beethoven include Sonata No. 14 (Moonlight Sonata), 5th Symphony, 6th Symphony, Bagatelle No. 25 (Für Elise) and Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op.73.

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

The celebrated Italian composer is best known for his operas that remain popular to this day. Verdi established himself as the dominant figure of the 19th century Italian classical music. Verdi’s most famous operas besides Nabucco include La traviata, Rigoletto, Aida, Don Carlos, Othello and Falstaff.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Most famous Russian classical music composer wrote in a variety of genres. He composed symphonies, operas, concertos, chamber music, sacred choral music, overtures, suites and ballets. Some of his best known works include his three ballets The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and the Sleeping Beauty, Marche Slave, First Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Overture 1812, Symphony No. 6, Fantasy Overture (Romeo and Juliet), Serenade for Strings and opera Eugene Onegin. 

Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)

Just like Mozart, Chopin was a very gifted child and established himself as one of the foremost Polish composers at a very young age. Some of his best known works include Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2, Funeral March (Prelude in C minor), Minute Waltz (Waltz in D-flat major), Revolutionary Etude (Op.10, No.12) and Fantasie-Impromptu (Op. Posth. 66). 

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

Italian Baroque composer and violin virtuoso continues to be admired throughout the globe for his works, especially for his instrumental concertos for violin. His greatest masterpiece is a series of violin concertos called Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons). 

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)

He is widely referred to as “the greatest Italian opera composer after Verdi” and “the last of Italy’s great opera composers”. His works – La Boheme, Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Il trittico and Turandot are indeed masterpieces and are among the most widely performed operas in the standard repertoire. The mentioned operas also contain a number of outstanding stand-alone arias including Mi chiamano Mimi, O soave fanciulla, Che gelida manina, E lucevan le stelle, Un bel di vedremo, O mio babbino caro and Nessun Dorma. 

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

German-born British composer is widely considered one of the greatest masters of the Baroque era and one of Britain’s foremost classical composers. His greatest works include the Messiah, Sarabande, Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks, to mention only a few. 

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

Russian born French and then American composer, conductor and pianist is one of the most outstanding and influential 20th century composers. He was and still is admired worldwide for the novelty of his works which, however, also caused a great deal of controversy in his time. Stravinsky’s greatest works include The Firebird, Petrushka, The Rite of Spring, A Soldier’s Tale, and The Song of the Nightingale, Mavra, Oedipus Rex, the Symphony in C and the Symphony in Three Movements

If you are having a very classy affair that demands the very best, or having a theatrical evening that needs a full orchestra to make your play even more dynamic then hiring our Classical music artists will be a very good decision on your part.

A History of the Crystal Ball

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Find the best crystal ball readers available for hire in the UK today. Have a question? Want to know the future? Have a clairvoyant at your event and open up your guests to a whole new level of entertainment. Every reading is unique and the psychics use their expert judgement and intuition to interpret the messages being sent through.

It is very common that most of the persons associate to the crystal ball with the witches and the fortune tellers, since as well we know, the crystal ball is one of the methods of prediction and clairvoyance more used in the world. 

Basically it is a question of a crystal sphere that uses the reflex of the light to create an images effect in his interior, but the fundamental thing to manage to use this type of clairvoyance, it is necessary that the person who realizes his this one under a deep concentration. 

The origin of the use of the crystal ball dates from the Celtic tribes who were living in the island of Great Britain from 2.000 B.C. and they were unified on the part of the druids, who were one of the group’s first in using the crystal ball as a clairvoyance method. In fact, if it is analysed deeply we will be able to realize that the druidic religion had many resemblances with the megalithic religion of the ancient Great Britain, for this reason it is possible that thanks to them the crystal ball took so many relevancy in the world of the divination and the clairvoyance.

During the middle age in Central Europe many wizards, clairvoyants, magicians, gypsies and psychic began to use like inevitable instrument, to the crystal ball, so much to see the past as the present and the future of the clients and the consultants. Due to his transparent nature, the beryllium was one of the materials most used to make the crystal balls to make the crystal balls, and many escocia mountain-dwellers began to name it like the “stone of energy”. Anyway although the first crystal balls were made by this element, at present the rock crystal is used since it turns out to be many more hialina. Now then, it is said that the crystal ball “invented” a lot of time before the Celtic tribes, and was in the ancient Egypt, several millenniums previous to the Christian age, although also there are affirmations that they indicate us that the crystal ball has his origins in the Mayan civilization. 

Some information that turn out to be very interesting with regard to the use of the crystal ball is that for example, in the island of Fiji, when something bad happens or a crime happens, one always resorts to the crystal ball since it is decided that the same one has the aptitude to show the happened events and this way there can be obtained the tests of the one who was the culprit; this method was used by the Aztecs and the Incas. One of the uses most known in the history of the crystal ball is that of the astrologer Dee, who was using it in order to Reina Elizabeth I showed him the events of the past. Although many people doubt the credibility of this method of clairvoyance, we cannot deny that in the ambience of the magic it is the resource most used by witches, magicians, wizards and fortune tellers.

Whether they admit it or not, everybody likes to be told what going to happen in the future. A Crystal ball reader can be very popular at an event and will guarantee to be a crowd pleaser which will be a talking point for weeks to come.

You may be organising a charity event, local fete, launch party or corporate event. Whatever your event a Crystal Ball Reader will be very well received.

The beginnings of Opera…

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Find the best Opera singers and performers available for hire in the UK today. From solo artists to a large scale celebration of classical music. Enjoy the perfect assortment of arias from the world’s most famous operas such as Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” and Verdi’s “La Traviata” to perfectly complement your event.

Opera was born in Italy at the end of the 16th century. A group of Florentine musicians and intellectuals were fascinated by Ancient Greece and opposed to the excesses of Renaissance polyphonic music. They wanted to revive what was thought to be the simplicity of ancient tragedy. In the first operas (400 years ago), the intention was to make music subservient to the words. They were made up of successive recitatives with a small instrumental accompaniment, punctuated by musical interludes. After Florence and Rome, Venice rapidly became the centre of opera, where the first commercial opera house opened in 1637, thus making the art form accessible to a wider public. Opera soon spread throughout Europe, and in 1700 Naples, Vienna, Paris and London were major operatic centres.

In Italy, the voice remained predominant. The bel canto tradition went on, combined with opera buffa characters and themes. Examples are Rossini’s The Barber of Seville (1816), Bellini’s Norma (1831) or Donizetti’s The Love Potion, 1832). Giuseppe Verdi was the last great Italian composer of the 19th century. In a passionate and vigorous style, he wrote pieces which allied spectacular show and subtle emotions (La Traviata, 1853, Aïda, 1871).

The 20th century: the rise of individuals;
The beginning of the 20th century continued the trends of the late 19th. Puccini was the last great Italian composer, who wrote among others Tosca (1900), Madam Butterfly (1904) and Turandot (1926). Other famous operas of the time were Pelleas and Melisande by Debussy (1902), Salome by Strauss (1905), and The Cunning Little Vixen by Janacek (1924).

Later, individual works rather than general trends appeared. Alban Berg’s operas (Wozzeck, 1925, Lulu, 1937) contrasted with Kurt Weill’s works, inspired from jazz and other popular music (The Threepenny Opera, 1928). Benjamin Britten composed ‘traditional’ operas like Peter Grimes (1945), but also chamber operas.

The 21st century: a score still to be written…
Today, the operatic offer is more varied than ever. Staging and settings have become key elements of new productions. The great pieces of the repertoire are repeatedly reinterpreted and still very successful. They are presented next to new contemporary operas and earlier rediscovered works. In this way, opera is in permanent evolution, for the enjoyment of the widest public.

A brief history of the Harp…

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Find the best harpists available for hire in the UK today. The harp is known as the ‘instrument of the gods’ and dates back to ancient times. The magical ‘fairy tale’ sound of the harp will enchant any audience and it is capable of transforming a ‘run of the mill’ event, into an elegant, emotional experience. 

The harp is one of the oldest musical instruments in the world. The earliest harps were developed from the hunting bow. The wall paintings of ancient Egyptian tombs dating from as early as 3000 B.C. show an instrument that closely resembles the hunter’s bow, without the pillar that we find in modern harps. 

The angled harp came to Egypt from Asia in about 1500 B.C. It was built from a hollow sound-box joined to a straight string-arm at an angle. The strings, possibly made of hair or plant fibre, were attached to the sound-box at one end and tied to the string-arm at the other. The strings were tuned by rotating the knots that held them. 

During the middle Ages the pillar was added to support the tension of extra strings. Stiffer string materials like copper and brass were used and these changes enabled the instrument to produce greater volume and a longer-sustaining tone. Paintings of these harps appear in many early manuscripts and their shapes hardly differ from those of the Celtic harps that are still played today. 

The earliest known depiction of a frame harp in the British Isles is on an eighth century stone cross. Music was an important part of life in ancient Ireland and the harp was an aristocratic instrument, played in the courts of kings and before the chiefs of clans. Harpers were required to be able to evoke three different emotions in their audience by their music: Laughter, tears and sleep. With the Anglicisation of the Irish nobility, the traditional harpers became minstrels and street musicians reciting poetry and singing folk songs to the accompaniment of their harps. 

The single action harp achieved great popularity throughout the rest of the 18th century as was evidenced in the French Court by Marie Antoinette; perhaps, the most famous player of this instrument. The harps of this period were magnificently decorated with relief carving, lavishly gilded and hand painted. Besides being musical instruments they were undoubtedly prized as object d’art when displayed in the gilded salons of the era. 

As music evolved it was also necessary for the harp, if it was to maintain its popularity, to move with the times. Instead of only being limited to eight major keys and five minor keys, it had become vitally important for the harp to be able to play in all keys. As a result of this need, Sebastian Erard obtained a patent in 1810 for the Double Action pedal harp. 

This ingenious invention revolutionized the harp and is still in use today. The harp has since continued to evolve and has had many significant improvements made to it over the past two centuries. In the late 1800’s Lyon and Healy, a Chicago based company which is still building harps today, began building harps in America with greatly strengthened frames and many important improvements to Erard’s double action mechanism. 

The 21st century holds great promise for continued popularity of the harp as is evidenced by the myriad festivals, conventions, societies, harp builders, music, performances and career opportunities available to harpists. 

From Medieval to Modern, from Classical to Jazz, from Acoustic to Electric. The harp is an instrument steeped in tradition yet open to change and for many it is more than a mere instrument, it is a calling.

Surprising uses of stilts

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Most people think that stilts are something for circuses and children’s parties but they have been used in a number of strange ways since ancient times, in fact stilts have a long proud history of weirdness that continues today. 

In the 19th century, Landes, France was a brushy wasteland that turned swampy whenever it rained. Locals dealt with this harsh environment by walking on stilts—everyone, from housewives to the mailman, had a pair.

Landes shepherds used these changes, or “big legs,” to direct their flocks. Wearing sleeveless fur jackets and berets, they maneuverer over the landscape with ease, using their walking sticks as a crook. When they rested, they sat on a tripod of the stilts and walking stick so they could watch their sheep from on high. To pass the time, they knitted.

Not surprisingly, Landesians were adept at stilt walking, able to pick up pebbles from the ground and run at fast speeds. 

2. Stilt Marathons

In 1891, a Landes shepherd named Sylvain Dornon stilt walked from Paris to Moscow in 58 days. It was the first of many stilt marathons. Others include 12-year-old Emma Disley scaling Wales’ highest mountain on stilts in 1977, Saimaiti Yiming in China stilt walking 49 miles in one day in 2003, and Neil Sauter crossing Michigan to raise money for cerebral palsy in 2013.

The record for the longest stilt walk goes to Joe Bowen, who walked 3008 miles from LA to Kentucky in 1980. 

3. Stilt Jousting

For 600 years, Namur, Belgium has held a stilt jousting tournament called the Golden Stilt. Teams of jousters in red-and-white costumes try to take each other down by shoving, shoulder butting, poking, kicking, and knocking out their opponent’s stilts. The person still standing at the end wins.

Namur’s stilt jousting is all in fun, but there’s evidence it started out violently. In the middle Ages, locals took to using stilts whenever the rivers flooded. At some point, stilt fighting became so common that the city banned it in 1411. Apparently, the ban didn’t stick and stilt jousting became an event, with stories of thousands of people competing in the town square. It’s a long tradition that Namur continues today.

4. Working on Stilts

Fruit pickers, window washers, and dry-wallers all use stilts to avoid messing with a ladder. And then there are the stilt fishermen of Sri Lanka.

For decades, these fishermen have climbed on stilts sticking up in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Suspended above the coral reef on a thin perch attached to the stilt, they use rods to catch herring and mackerel. This practice started after World War II, when fishermen began hanging on discarded iron pipes from the war to avoid disturbing the fish.

Although stilt fishing is attracting tourists to the region, the fishermen only make pennies per fish. That’s low pay by any standard, and many say stilt fishing is disappearing as the men find more lucrative work in other industries, like, say, tourism.

5. An Extreme Sport

Powerbocking is a sport that has popped up around spring-loaded stilts. Invented by German engineer Alexander Boeck in the 1990s, jumping stilts have fiberglass leaf springs that are attached to a curved aluminium frame that tapers to a footplate called the hoof. They let you jump 3 to 5 feet, take 9-foot kangaroo-like strides, and run 20 miles per hour. It’s like a trampoline is attached to your feet.