Back in Easter we took a trip down to the Rec House Recording Studio in Bath to record some new tracks that didn’t quite make it into our 5-piece demo late last year. Choosing which songs to record is always a tough decision, so we were really glad to get the opportunity to add these songs to the demo.
Vocal recording, mixing and production was courtesy of our good friends at Push Record.
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Below are some photos from the day – we had a great little road trip!
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Check out the rest of our demos on the ‘listen to the band’ page.
Back in Easter we took a trip down to the Rec House Recording Studio in Bath to record some new tracks that didn’t quite make it into our 5-piece demo late last year. Choosing which songs to record is always a tough decision, so we were really glad to get the […]
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Shustoke Farm Barns is a brand new wedding venue based only a stones throw from the CoverUps Coventry HQ. While the West Midlands and Warwickshire have their share of good wedding venues, it’s great to see a new one of such a high standard.
Background Of Shustoke Farm Barns
Shustoke Farms Barns is actually run by Cotswolds based wedding firm, Cripps Kitchen. Their other wedding venues, Cripps Barn near Bibury and Stone Barn on the Oxfordshire/Gloucestershire border are classic English countryside wedding venues set in the heart of the Cotswolds. We actually visited Cripps Barn only last year – you can read our blog of that night here: Cripps Barn Wedding.
On With The Show!
The band arrived at 7pm. This is later than the usual 6pm start, but the way the timings worked out (including being so close to home) we were able to eat at home and arrive at the venue just as the wedding breakfast finished. A handy feature of Shustoke Barns for us is that there’s an area directly behind the stage. All our gear could be loaded in there, and certain bits set up ready to move into place when the area was cleared. It was about 45 mins before we were set and ready to go from the time the area was available, so a good way to keep things slick!
The bride and groom were a delightful couple to work with – really excited about their day. Since the groom was a wheelchair user they decided not to have a first dance and just crack straight into the dancing all together. Can’t Buy Me Love was their choice as first live song and it’s lively, upbeat feel definitely got the room going from the off!
Rocking Party Band
The couple made lots of choices from our rockier end of the set. From Stereophonics towards the end of the first set to The White Stripes and Fratellis later in the night it was a fantastic opportunity to break from the normal wedding tunes. Teenage Dirtbag, which had been missing in action for the last few months made a reappearance to a lively dance floor – and as you can see from the photos below the was a big hit!
Return To Shustoke Farm Barns
Despite being a brand new wedding venue, the diary at Shustoke Farm Barns was filling up nicely already. With any luck we’ll have the pleasure of working there again in the future. For now though just enjoy the photos from the night!
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Shustoke Farm Barns is a brand new wedding venue based only a stones throw from the CoverUps Coventry HQ. While the West Midlands and Warwickshire have their share of good wedding venues, it’s great to see a new one of such a high standard. Background Of Shustoke Farm Barns Shustoke […]
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In all the years on the road playing at wedding venues up and down the UK we’ve never encountered one quite like The Devonshire Dome in Buxton, Derbyshire. As we were told on numerous occasions, it’s Europe’s largest unsupported dome. We think you’ll agree from the photos below that it is spectacular wedding venue! (check out our photosphere of the Dome!)
Early Arrive And Set Up
In spaces like this, where we’re playing in the same space as the guests are eating, it’s often desirable for us to set up early. To avoid the expense of the entire band arriving early we offer a partial set up arrangement. This time lead vocalist Mike and drummer Andy arrived at 3pm to get the majority of the equipment set up before the guests arrived at 4:30pm. This way only a quick line check is possible (checking that all the equipment is working) and full band live sound check takes place when the rest of the band arrive.
Personal Touches
We never got to the bottom of the nautical decoration on the tables, but as you’ll see from the photos below there was a definite theme! We loved the name cards – each one a photo of the name written in sand. Beautiful! We enjoyed finding our own names in the decorations – check them out below.
Another 5-Piece Wedding Band
The 5-piece line up of the band has proved a popular option this year. The extra female lead makes a real difference, particularly when the first dance is by Alicia Keys! Distance And Time was the choice for this couple, a song reflecting the long distance nature of their relationship. Rach did a great job delivering the vocal and the track was a lovely start to the wedding reception music.
Highs That Reached The Top Of The Dome!
Being in such a spectacular venue always inspires an energetic performance. Tonight was a set of many highs – Rolling In The Deep was great fun, Rule The World that ended the night was epic (helped along by the massive reverb of the enormous dome!) Here’s hoping we get a chance to return to the dome soon, but for now enjoy the photos!
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In all the years on the road playing at wedding venues up and down the UK we’ve never encountered one quite like The Devonshire Dome in Buxton, Derbyshire. As we were told on numerous occasions, it’s Europe’s largest unsupported dome. We think you’ll agree from the photos below that it […]
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There’s certainly no rule that says weddings have to be on a Saturday, or Friday, or Sunday – but for many obvious reasons the weekends are popular amongst couples planning their big day. So to be asked to a wedding on a Thursday night was a rare treat. Not only that, but the reception was right on the band’s doorstep in Leamington Spa – ideal!
Live In Leamington Spa
The band used to live in a house in Leamington Spa back in the early days! Warwickshire plays host to a variety of excellent wedding venues and hotels. The Ashorne Hill Centre is set in beautiful grounds – exceptionally well kept gardens and fantastically traditional buildings. Surprisingly, access to the bar we played in was excellent, so after a timely arrival, set up was straight forward, leaving us fresh for the performance.
First Dance And Song Choices
Tonight saw the band play Tiny Dance by Elton John live for the Bride and Groom’s first dance. It’s a beautiful track and the live piano (well, a midi-keyboard with an excellent piano-simulator!) really set the first dance off.
From there we ploughed on, playing to a bustling dance floor (as you can see from the photos below) all night long. Other tracks requested by the happy couple included Girl From Mars and the 1975’s Chocolate. Girl From Mars is an old favourite of the band’s, growing up in the 90s and being inspired to a career in music by the britpop greats or Ash, the Bluetones, Dodgy, Oasis, Blur and many others. Chocolate isn’t a track we were familiar with before the request, but I can imagine that it’s this type of band that will inspire the next generation in the way we were back in the 90s.
The Band Play On
Otherwise, the set list took fairly typical form – and the dance floor the same! Highlights included Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor and Livin’ On A Prayer, and Place Your Hands, which had taken a little sabbatical from the regular set, but returned to a lively response!
Enjoy the photos, and we’ll see you next time!
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There’s certainly no rule that says weddings have to be on a Saturday, or Friday, or Sunday – but for many obvious reasons the weekends are popular amongst couples planning their big day. So to be asked to a wedding on a Thursday night was a rare treat. Not only […]
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The Cotswolds represent classic England – beautiful rolling hills, centuries old Cotswold stone buldings, winding roads and green and pleasant land as far as the eye can see – it’s no surprise that so many come to the Cotswolds for their weddings. This time we were in the little village of Cranham, nestled between Cirencester, Cheltenham, Stroud and Cheltenham; an idyllic setting for a wedding.
Pub Grub!
Due to catering restrictions at the marquee, we had a table booked at The Royal William, a local and very fine pub. Preordered food meant allowed us to walk in, eat, and head on – all very slick. The band well fed, we were in great spirits arriving at the venue.
We arrived in plenty of time at the marquee, and due to some unforseen circumstances the wedding was running a little late, meaning we had a great opportunity to enjoy the fabulous views and take a few photos (see below!) – really quite stunning!
Beautiful Day For A Marquee Wedding
The British summer is so unpredictable, you never quite know what to expect. This day couldn’t be more what the couple wished for – glorious sunshine making the most of those spectacular views. With the day running slightly late, we made the most of the handy load in backing the cars right up to the marquee to give us a speedy set up.
The couple had given the band free reign over the set list, giving us the chance to pull out a whole set of classics from the off. From the gentle start of Van Morrison’s Moondance – following directly on from Everything by Michael Buble – to the rousing finale of Summer of 69 into Don’t Look Back In Anger the dance floor remained bustling, the international wedding crowd busting all kinds of shapes!
Farewell To The Cotswolds
This summer hasn’t seen us in the Cotswolds as often as in previous years. It’ll be December before we return (to one of our favourite wedding venues, Barnsley House). Until then, enjoy these photos of our last Cotswolds summer wedding of 2013!
… Oh, and the celebrity connection? Apparently this was the same location as Lily Allen got married last year!
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The Cotswolds represent classic England – beautiful rolling hills, centuries old Cotswold stone buldings, winding roads and green and pleasant land as far as the eye can see – it’s no surprise that so many come to the Cotswolds for their weddings. This time we were in the little village […]
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A return to our favourite Oxfordshire wedding venue is always welcome. This wedding gave us the first opportunity this season to showcase to The Tythe Barn our 5-piece lineup with Rachel as our awesome female front – a nice upgrade from the 4-piece show we’ve been playing there for years!
Great Music Choices
The musical choices by the couple started with their first dance, Can’t Take My Eyes Off You by Andy Williams. It’s always a great choice for a first dance, the lyrics summing up the way most couples feel about one another on their wedding day. Not only that, but the song also has both ballad and more upbeat, lively sections. As such it makes a great choice for anyone stuck trying to decide between a lively first dance or more traditional slow dance.
From there on there were some great additions to the regular set chosen by the bride and groom. From Hard Day’s Night early in the evening through to Rule The World – a particular favourite of ours – at the end of the night, the live performance by the band was packed with classics, both modern and from generations gone by. By the time we got to Chasing Cars as the encore, the crowd were in great spirits from a night packed with dancing!
5-Piece Wedding Band
It was great to have a chance to play out again as a 5-piece wedding band. Our repertoire extends significantly in a pop direction, with tracks by Rihanna, Carly Rae Jepson (Call Me Maybe if you weren’t sure!) and even some Jessie J bringing the set right up to date. Additions by the likes of the Jackson 5 and Amy Winehouse keep the set list really well balanced, and dancing all night long. Really looking forward to the rest of the 5-piece wedding shows this year!
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A return to our favourite Oxfordshire wedding venue is always welcome. This wedding gave us the first opportunity this season to showcase to The Tythe Barn our 5-piece lineup with Rachel as our awesome female front – a nice upgrade from the 4-piece show we’ve been playing there for years! […]
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Only about 50miles due north of Coventry, Hartington Hall lies in the wilds of Derbyshire. Up hills and down dales the band drove the nearly two hours of almost exclusively country lanes to one of Derbyshire’s best kept secrets – Hartington Hall makes a beautiful wedding venue.
A Beautiful Evening For An Outdoor Performance
On arrival we were surprised to hear that the proposed ‘stage’ for the band was out doors! When the weather’s as consistently wonderful as it had been of late, it’s never a problem to set up outside, and we saw immediately why this was the chosen spot. The gardens of this YHA hostel are immaculately kept and the guests in all the finery gave the atmosphere of an almost pre-war refinement.
Alternative Music Choices
From the first dance (Lay Lady Lay – Bob Dylan) to the choices for the main set (including Fat Bottomed Girls by Queen and Monster by the Automatic) – this wedding’s music choices were distinct from the norm! It made a great evening for us! Playing in the open air is great fun and always makes for an energetic atmosphere. The choices of music seemed to reflect the audience’s taste to a t – all the ladies getting up for the aforementioned Queen track: great fun!
The Night Draws In
Despite the sun leaving the garden by the end of our first set, we all remained warm through the night with a combination of a mild evening and some energetic dance moves. As you can see, we all had a great night!
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Only about 50miles due north of Coventry, Hartington Hall lies in the wilds of Derbyshire. Up hills and down dales the band drove the nearly two hours of almost exclusively country lanes to one of Derbyshire’s best kept secrets – Hartington Hall makes a beautiful wedding venue. A Beautiful Evening […]
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Often the remit for our bookings is to play something for everyone, or something similar, which made this night all the more fun! An 80s Party for Redgate Studios in Cambridge – Redgate Says Relax – meant choosing tracks from just one of the 7 decades our repertoire dips it’s toes into and brushing up some new tracks to bolster the set list!
Fun Day!
The band’s live set was the finale to a family fun day that the guys at Redgate were putting on for all their hard working programmers. It looked like a great event with a inflatables adorning Anstey Hall’s elegant grounds and staff and their families dressed as everything from 80s fashion icons to members of the A-Team.
In-House Bands
When we arrived the stage was playing host to one of Redgate’s home grown bands. As graduates ourselves, it harked back to our University days and the mathematicians and computer programmers letting off their steam by thrashing out some prog, metal or folk (it was mostly those genres – not a great deal of pop coming out of those departments!)
The CoverUps Say Relax
And so, after quickly throwing our equipment up on stage, we set to work on our best 80s impersonations. The set contained some great tracks we’ve not had a chance to play before, including:
- Beat It
- Tainted Love
- A Little Respect
- Addicted to Love
- Don’t You Want Me Baby
- Jump
- Come On Eileen
These are all tracks we’ve had on our radar for a while, just waiting for the excuse to get them ready for a gig. Beat It was a great track and one we’d reckon could make it into a slightly more regular set list. Beyond that, Jump was a particular favourite, featuring as it does synth and guitar solos!
Photos from the back of the stage don’t really show the full glory of the 80s costumes, but we hope you enjoy a quick look at the show!
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Often the remit for our bookings is to play something for everyone, or something similar, which made this night all the more fun! An 80s Party for Redgate Studios in Cambridge – Redgate Says Relax – meant choosing tracks from just one of the 7 decades our repertoire dips it’s toes […]
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