Archive for August, 2011

Last Minute Bookings For Freshers Balls

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011


For over twelve years LMM have been supplying DJs and bands (and even peripherals like stilt walkers,rodeo bulls,hot tubs and snow machines) to student nights and university balls throughout the UK.

As the weather turns distinctly Autumnal thousands of students are making last minute preparations for the next University year. At Live Music Management we have a vast amount of experience supplying live acts suitable for University Balls and student nights . Some of the biggest student nights in the UK are hosted by an LMM DJ and our live bands have played at most of the major University Balls over the years.

For our major high street clients like Walkabout and Bar Risa the next six weeks will see them becoming the  place to be for a new generation of students . We are currently working alongside the managers of these venues to work out which nights need which DJs .

For University Ents bookers LMM is a reliable and trustworthy source for DJs and bands and we are happy to talk to you about the requirements for your one off event or weekly night.

I will finish today’s blog with comments from the Entertainment Manager at Aberstwyth University about Lucas (one of LMMs party bands and  featured on the video above.)

“Great set of lads who really know how to get the crowd going. They’ve almost become our resident band we ask them back that often!
Can’t recommend them highly enough.

-Steve, Aberstwyth Uni”

Big Thanks To The Bands And DJs Working Aug Bank Holiday Weekend

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
Aug Bank Holiday 2011-It Rained A Bit!

Aug Bank Holiday 2011-It Rained A Bit!

Well the final bank holiday of 2011 has passed and it just calls for us to say a big thank you to all our function bands and DJs who worked hard this weekend to bring the party to city centre venues , weddings ,parties and the rest.

It was a big festival weekend and we had a number of friends, family (and the Strokes crazy LMM account person) all attending the Leeds Festival. Reports from the front line said simply “the wettest festival yet.” That aside they all appear to have had a good time.

Wigan Warriors won the Challenge Cup against Leeds Rhinos at Wembley and our great live band Hollywood entertained the players and staff at a party in the Park Lane Hilton.

Friday night I helped out some friends over in Chesterfield at a Charity function. Country Rock band Calico Fever had organised a fund raiser for a little girl who is seriously ill in order to raise money to take her on holiday. This target was £1000 but with a number of money raising efforts from a variety of supporters the final total was over £2000. I was very happy to be able to make a small contribution by playing some acoustic sing a long material as the support act on the night.

Not quite the weekend but on Thursday New Zealand Roots Reggae act Katchafire played a show at Shepherds Bush Walkabout resulting in a sell out concert with a celebratory crowd in good spirits enjoying some great sounds in an intimate (for a band of Katchafires status back in New Zealand) environment. This followed the acts shows at Homelands.

Besides the above we had our great team of DJs playing Walkabouts,Highlights,Bar Risa , TPs ,etc etc and so far they have reported back that they all had good weekends with some great atmospheres in the venues. The live band events happening in the High Street this weekend also all seem to have gone well.

Finally a big congratulations to all our clients who either got married or celebrated a birthday or anniversary this weekend. Hope the weather didn’t spoil anything for you .

When speaking to my sixteen year old nephew about his first festival experience over in Leeds I asked if the wet weather had affected him. “Well I have never been as soaked through as I was on Friday night but I have also never had such a great time either so I can’t complain.”

Thanks again to everyone who worked for us this weekend.

Gods Of Rock-No Ordinary Party Band

Friday, August 26th, 2011


High energy. Rock stars on stage (but nice guys off.) Tongue in cheek stage presence. The ability to take a crowd and make it party. Brilliant performers. Amazing musicians.

These are just a few of the recent comments we have had from clients , venues and fans about the Gods Of Rock.

The Gods Of Rock are in many ways a unique act. Young guys playing old school style rock (with some new tunes thrown in the mix for good measure.)

They appeal to venues looking for a crowd rocking band. They are loved by private clients looking for something different for a party or wedding. They are much loved by military functions , student balls and festivals.

When Alex auditioned them in Shepherds Bush Walkabout last year he was excited by the fact that the band treated the venue as if it was Wembley Stadium (this was early evening on a Monday when there were around 50 to a 100 people present on site.) They play for the love of playing as much as anything else. They have since played to a packed house at the Shepherds Bush Walkabout and blown the place apart.

If you are interested in booking The Gods Of Rock for your event then please call 08454 900515 for further information.

Postcards From Orlando

Thursday, August 25th, 2011
Postcasrds From Orlando

Postcasrds From Orlando

We were a little quiet with the blogs over the last couple of weeks and that’s mainly because I tend to write most of the updates and I was on holidays in Florida (lucky old me.)

It is understandable why many entertainment or service driven companies send their staff to Orlando and to the Disney parks in order to gain experience and training. Disney deliver every little aspect of their business with style and panache and offer their guests a great experience right from the get go (although it has to be said that the quality of their welcome is marred somewhat by the 60 to 90 minute queues for the rides.)

Back in the 1990s when I first traveled to Florida I was blown away by the quality of the cover bands playing in the parks and clubs over there. At the time there was very little over here that seemed to be in the same league. The UK bands could deliver creativity (noticeable that many of the covers played by the American bands were of songs written and recorded by UK acts) but when it came to function bands we were way behind.

I am pleased to say that this doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

The standard of live bands I have seen on my last two trips over to Florida has been very high but nothing that the likes of Sugar Shack , Jade, After Dark, Brainscape , Electric Mayhem or dozens of other acts on LMM’s roster cannot touch. The UK party bands have raised their game tremendously in the last fifteen years.

They do put on a brilliant show over there  and sat in the Shamu show at Seaworld watching the pyrotechnics and the slick presentation of the Shamu Rocks show I was very proud that one of our DJs was running this very show himself until recently. Paul Shaw had worked for LMM for five years when he relocated to Florida with his American wife and took the show manager job at Seaworld. He is now back in the UK working for LMM at Walkabout venues and at the Highlight bars.

It is also worth noting that another of our DJs,Matt Stevens,got his first break working at Disney when he was resident in Florida and spent sometime at the Disney Training Academy.

There is no doubt that the parks and entertainment services in Florida are second to none and watching some of the acts over there is a lot of fun but also an education .

If you are looking for advice on booking a cover band or DJ for a wedding or party please give our office a call on 08454 900515.

Lucas Perform On “Show And Tell” Sky Living TV Programme

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011


The fantastic party band Lucas were asked to perform on Sky TVs “Show And Tell” programme last week.

Filming for Sky TV took place last Thursdayin Walcott Hall Shropshire for a piece featuring a bride singing with a live band. Lucas are one of the UKs premier Rockaoke/Bandeoke/Live Karaoke Bands and so this was all in a days work for the boys. The bride really rocked out choosing a couple of out and out anthems to sing .The results will be seen in September when Show And Tell is aired on Living TV.

Lucas are no strangers to the glamour of the TV cameras having toured as backing band for two Neighbours stars (Alan Fletcher aka DR Karl Kennedy and Ben Nicholas AKA Stingray.) They perform party sets at holiday parks, weddings, parties, nightclubs and events and as one of the UKs original Live Karaoke Bands they have performed at some of the best venues in the country with hundreds of guest singers.

The video above features Lucas on stage in Cyprus performing for the troops. I am sure you will agree that they are one of the most exciting function bands in the country.

Wigan Warriors VS Leeds Rhinos = LMM Party Band

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

LMM Supply Band For Wigan Warriors

LMM have a long history of supplying live bands and DJs to sporting events and we have been very proud of our involvement in booking the on the pitch entertainment for Wigan Warriors and Bradford Bulls. You can read a little about this here http://www.lmmuk.com/agentblog/?p=51

This Saturday Wigan Warriors will be playing in the finals of the Challenge Cup against Leeds Rhinos. These titans of the Super League will be battling out at Wembley Stadium in a fixture which will attract thousands of Rugby fans down to the capitol. LMM will be supplying the entertainment for the official after match party.

The great four piece  party band, Hollywood, will be providing the live music at the party which is taking place this Saturday (August 27 2011) and the guys in the band are really looking forward to playing for the Super League champions.

LMM would like to take this opportunity to thank the Wigan Warriors for choosing Live Music Management as the supplier of their entertainment for this prestigious event and to wish the Wigan Warriors all the best for this Saturdays fixture at Wembley. LMM will be supporting  you all the way.

For Wigan Warriors fans who cant make it down to Wembley for the final this Saturday there will be a warm welcome for you in the Walkabout in Wigan where the match will be showing on the big screen followed by two floors of LMM DJs (Mad Matt and Mat Munroe) bringing you the best on party,chart and RnB with some high jinx party games thrown in. Likewise  if you are in Leeds on Saturday afternoon the next best thing to watching live at Wembley will be watching on the big screen at the Leeds Walkabout.

Booking A DJ From LMM-Further Praise For LMM DJs

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011
DJs For events weddings and nightclubs

DJs For events weddings and nightclubs

“Well if you could clone Dean and locate him around the country it would be very much appreciated:)

It was a pleasure to have him come down, help out and embrace ……..with his undeniable enthusiasm that I’m sure you’ve witnessed on many an occasion.  Really has inspired me to continue pushing …….knowing that it would be in safe hands when we eventually turn that corner and start to use the LMM services properly.  Its not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’ this will happen so bare with me and hopefully we’ll start getting some gigs booked in very soon.”

We received the above feedback from a client today (I haven’t mentioned the name of the client for reasons of confidentiality but it’s a genuine email.) It isn’t unusual for us to receive great feedback for our DJs but it was great to get this particular email which relates to some nationwide event activity.

LMM began booking DJs into nightclubs and pubs (starting out as the sole booker for the Walkabout,Bar Risa and Jongluers brands) twelve years ago. We have a net work of superb DJs from Scotland down to Devon which we have been able to build up over the past decade or so. Around six or seven years ago we began booking DJs into weddings and events and more recently started supplying some other household names like Pitcher And Piano, Wahoo,TPs,Sports Cafe and Blu with DJs. We also supply DJs to festivals and themed weekends.

We are very proud of the standard of our DJs and pride ourselves on supplying top quality DJs suited to the bar or event they are booked for. We have also been very involved over the years with brand building for some of our major clients writing or being involved with formulating music policies suitable for venues and events.

If you want a good quality DJ for your event or party,wedding or venue then speak to LMM we are the experts in the field.

In Praise Of Music Teachers Who Play In LMM Bands

Monday, August 1st, 2011
Can You Play Smells Like Teen Spirit in G?

Can You Play Smells Like Teen Spirit in G?

The standard of musicianship amongst young people has definitely improved over the past ten or fifteen years and this can be attributed to the high standards of music teaching now taking place in schools,colleges and private tuition throughout the UK.

Many of our party bands are run by people who also teach music in schools or private sessions and it is fair to say that music tuition has become quite an industry in the past fifteen years. With schools opening up to teaching rock and pop music as well as classical and jazz this field has become music more attractive to young people.

One of my best friends began piano teaching way back in the late 80s when classical was the norm and jazz was considered outre. I was talking to him this weekend about a course he runs in secondary schools based around modern composition where he is just as likly to find people sampling and programming as playing standard instruments.

Re instruments there is now the opportunity for young players to take up bass guitar,eletcric guitar and drums in a way that just wasnt open to the musicians of a generation ago. Brilliant workshop groups like Nottinghamshires Eleventh Session (which one of my daughters attends) offer the chance to “jam” via different genre workshops so you might get a drummer playing with a rock band,a swing band and an orchestra all in one morning.

I know from conversations with many of our musicians that they value the teaching work that they carry out and many of the younger ones have gained their own skills through the new schools music system. As a booker of live bands this has led to a professionalism and higher standard of musician than ever before and as a parent I can see the confidence and character building that playing music has given my kids.For these reasons….music teachers…we salute you!