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Monthly Archives: June 2012

A Spectacular Wedding at Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire

Tonight saw the band play a beautiful wedding at Eastnor Castle, Ledbury in Herefordshire – the rural west of the West Midlands. It’s a wonderful part of the world – some of the more dramatic scenery in the southern half of England… Though I suspect that has something to do with it’s proximity to Wales!

Spectacular Wedding Venue

It has to be said; Eastnor Castle truly is amongst the most spectacular wedding venues we’ve had the privilege of playing. As a wedding band, we get to tour the UK and beyond playing for happy couples in some wonderful surroundings… but few match this Eastnor Castle – not least for it’s amazing armour collection (which you can see some of in the photos below!).

Excellent First Dance

The bride and groom tonight had planned a choreographed routine to When You Say Nothing At All by Ronan Keating. While we could have played the song live, and would have done so happily, the couple chose to use the familiar version that they had rehearsed to. It makes a lot of sense when the routine is planned, to use the version of the song that you’re used to. Any band, however well rehearsed will sound different to the recording live, and in those circumstances the last thing you want is to be thrown by a missing cue!

Multi-national Audience

It was mentioned in the planning that the audience was going to consist largely of people not from the UK. A big part of us choosing songs to play in the live set is making sure that they will be known widely enough so as to entertain the most diverse of crowds – and this certainly was that! As you can see however, their diversity was no match for our song choice; the dance floor remaining packed start to finish!

A Swift Exit

Due to licensing restrictions the set was curtailed at exactly midnight. Time had flown by, and we hadn’t even allowed time for an encore – and playing one song beyond midnight was a no-no, sadly! And so it was that we packed, and were on the road shortly before 12:45am.

Tonight saw the band play a beautiful wedding at Eastnor Castle, Ledbury in Herefordshire – the rural west of the West Midlands. It’s a wonderful part of the world – some of the more dramatic scenery in the southern half of England… Though I suspect that has something to do […]

30/06/2012

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Holding a Torch For The CoverUps

The CoverUps enjoyed another great live show tonight at Coventry’s Windmill Village Hotel; full of energy and dancing people. As we looked out over the packed dance floor we spied different flashes of color than normal… “there’s GOLD! In them there hills ladies and gentlemen!!”… as the official Olympic torch bearers for the West Midlands and Warwickshire area bedded down for the night in our same hotel.

The trusty CoverUps line-up of course spent the break thinking of songs to play with ‘gold’ in the title! Spandau Ballet’s track at the fore, with Black and Gold by Sam Sparro, Fields of Gold, Fool’s Gold… the list goes on – and on!

An Event of Olympic Porportions

Back strong after the break, the band served up another medal winning performance to a very happy bride and groom who genuinely seemed to be delighted with their marraige’s opening ceremony. It’s great to be there at the start, and we certainly wish the couple the happiest of futures ahead!

Home Turf, Home Time

Being so close to home always keeps a smile on the band’s face through the set down, and with the Olympic torch making it’s way through Coventry tomorrow, it’s great to be so close to where it’s all happening!

 

The CoverUps enjoyed another great live show tonight at Coventry’s Windmill Village Hotel; full of energy and dancing people. As we looked out over the packed dance floor we spied different flashes of color than normal… “there’s GOLD! In them there hills ladies and gentlemen!!”… as the official Olympic torch […]

30/06/2012

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DJ, Dancing and Diligent Planning: Marquee Wedding Just South Of Birmingham

Tonight’s wedding took place on the grounds of the bride’s parents – and quite a spectacular example of West Midlands horticulture they were too! A remarkably grand marquee with a bar as the centrepiece, stage at one end and seating for over 100 guests; they really had gone the whole hog!

Band And DJ

We were working alongside long standing colleague and friend, Paul Kavanagh. When we arrived at 6pm, starters were only just going out, so we had a chance to catch up briefly before loading in. It makes quite a difference working with people you know and like on weddings like this, so this brought a smile to the whole band’s faces. We haven’t worked with a DJ – certainly not one as good as he – for quite some months. It seems that in these days of belt tightening, evening entertainment for weddings is restricted to either a DJ or a live wedding band.

Carefully Planned Timings

As is so often the case, timings were running late on our arrival. Never an issue from our end, the wedding coordinator tonight was pulling out the stops to bring things back on track – but to no avail! Our stand point is this: if the guests, and chiefly the bride, groom and bridal party are having a good day, then all is well. There’s a well known saying about the “best laid plans“, and it could hardly be more appropriate for weddings – but who cares when people are having such a great day! The speeches were the culprit tonight; the father of the bride giving a lovely, heartfelt address. There really is nothing wrong with that. After the wedding ceremony itself, the speeches are probably the most intimate and personal part of any wedding day – so they’re to be enjoyed, and the timings can wait!

Beautiful Live First Dance

We had a brief word with the bride just before the first dance – she was a little worried that they hadn’t had long to practice and asked if we could play the song (Bruno Mars – Just the Way You Are) a little slower. We did what we could our end; it’s got a deceptive feel that one, and even playing it slow can feel fast! Regardless, the bride and groom danced beautifully, and shrouded in an almost dry ice mist from the smoke machine really added an air of elegance to the whole dance.

From there we had a packed dance floor the whole night – buffet allowing! A really happy, enthusiastic, lively group of wedding guests made the most of having both a live wedding band and a DJ – and it was great to see.

Little Surprises

The father of the bride had added his own little surprises throughout the day, the final one being a set of fireworks that went off as the couple left for the evening. All these little touches made a wonderful day, and last we saw of the happy couple they were beaming ear to ear.

So, a job well done – as you can see from the photos! Thanks to Paul for taking these… Enjoy!

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Tonight’s wedding took place on the grounds of the bride’s parents – and quite a spectacular example of West Midlands horticulture they were too! A remarkably grand marquee with a bar as the centrepiece, stage at one end and seating for over 100 guests; they really had gone the whole […]

16/06/2012

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Brand New Acoustic Songs – Drinks Reception Music Anyone?

Hot out of the studio are these three brand new acoustic tracks we’ve just recorded. Booking an acoustic act for the early evening, to play over a meal or drinks reception can really tie the whole of your wedding day or party together. The CoverUps are happy to send along their lead singer to play a some relaxed acoustic music during your wedding day – just ask when booking the band!

Acoustic Songs

So, without further ado – here’s the acoustic demo! If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

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What Do You Think?

Let us know what you think of these by hitting the buttons below!

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Hot out of the studio are these three brand new acoustic tracks we’ve just recorded. Booking an acoustic act for the early evening, to play over a meal or drinks reception can really tie the whole of your wedding day or party together. The CoverUps are happy to send along […]

14/06/2012

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Fun with Friends at Hintlesham Hall, Ipswich

Update: Just had this lovely e-mail from Monday’s bride:

I just wanted to say (again) how incredible the band was on Monday night. It was the perfect end to an wonderful day. You were brilliant! The best wedding band I have ever heard!

It’s always a delight playing for friends; and in the words of the groom himself, tonight’s live performance “knocked it out of the park!” The sister of the bride has known the band from their earliest live performances back in the early 2000s – so while not a night for an extensive catch up, it was a pleasure to cross paths again.

The whole wedding day took place at Hintlesham Hall in Ipswich – an ornate, manor with exquisite grounds. The food was fabulous, the venue was beautiful and the staff couldn’t do enough to help… If we were going to find something to improve, we’d just move it closer to Coventry! Ipswich is’t a hard journey, but it can’t be called a short hop from the West Midands.

Fun, Friends and a Fantastic First Dance

We heard from the venue staff that this wedding crowd was a lot of fun – easy going, close knit and really up for it. It was exemplified by the fact that despite things running a little later than planned, there wasn’t a hint of stress in the air. We got on as soon as the staff were happy that the room was ready for us, and managed to shave a ittle time off our usual set-up duration.

The first dance tonight was Chuck Berry’s Johnny B Goode. It’s actually a surprisingly recent addition to our live set, but such a fun, lively song. This time, however, we didn’t play the track, as the couple had chosen to choreograph a routine to the track. Rightly, they recognised that subtle cues from the original recording that they would use to orient themselves wouln’t necessarily make it to a live version (you’ll notice this if you listen to any band’s own live albums). As you can see from the photos below, the whole routine went fabuously. Sadly, our car was so full today, we couldn’t even squeeze the camera in, so these photos are the only ones for the blog tonight.

Long Nights of a Live Wedding Band

After a late start, we ended up playing until just after midnight. It now (3am) seems a long time after the 2pm when we started loading the car – but the live show was so much fun this evening it really flew by. It’ll be 4 or 5am before we see our beds, but such is the life of a live wedding band. Night night!

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Update: Just had this lovely e-mail from Monday’s bride: I just wanted to say (again) how incredible the band was on Monday night. It was the perfect end to an wonderful day. You were brilliant! The best wedding band I have ever heard! It’s always a delight playing for friends; […]

04/06/2012

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Wonderful, if Wet, Wedding at the Windmill Village, Coventry

Tonight’s wedding took place at a venue we’re coming to call ‘our local’ – The Windmill Village in Coventry. Only an 8 mile round trip from the band’s HQ, it’s always a joy to play.

Rain Doesn’t Stop Play

Wedding venues like the Windmill Village are brilliantly set up for the British weather. The Windmill Suite itself is a great room, providing everything the guests need for a great night all under one roof; no traversing car parks or out door paths to get from one area of the venue to the next. On a day like today this is much appreciated. From our point of view, carrying a full live band’s worth of equipment straight into the venue’s large double doors made for the start of an ideal load in… no carrying equipment through the rain!

No Live First Dance

The first dance tonight was Elton John’s Your Song. It’s a lovely track, and one we’ve played live a number of times in the past year. However, tonight the couple opted for the recording rather than have the band play the song live. This is never a problem from our point of view, and it gave us the chance just to enjoy watching the couple’s moment, and encourage the rest of the bridal party onto the dance floor.

The Irish Contingent

There was a large Irish contingent at the wedding tonight. As such, we were handed an iPod with a few Irish playlists for in between the sets. This made quite a nice change for us, as we hear our own background music week in, week out! It’s always nice to recognise guests who have travelled to a wedding, especially when there’s a large group like there was tonight.

Late Finish

Now, despite being only 10 mins from home, the night is only just over, as the bride and groom booked a 1am finish. As is often the case, the guests had run out of energy by the end of the band’s last live set, so the recorded music served to maintain an atmosphere, rather than encourage extra dancing.

A good night was had by all, and the happy couple seemed chuffed to bits with the evening music, so that’s all good! Photos below are a little blurry thanks to some funny camera settings, but you get the idea – if you squint – that the dance floor was lively the whole night through!

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Tonight’s wedding took place at a venue we’re coming to call ‘our local’ – The Windmill Village in Coventry. Only an 8 mile round trip from the band’s HQ, it’s always a joy to play. Rain Doesn’t Stop Play Wedding venues like the Windmill Village are brilliantly set up for […]

02/06/2012

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