1. How much do you charge?
This is dependant on so many factors such as location, date, set length, equipment required, venue size and type of event. For example if you run a pub or venue in the Glasgow area and you want us to play through the house PA with a supplied backline for 2x45 min sets of blues and classic rock plus some original material, this will carry a reduced price tag compared to a 4 hour wedding reception in Inverness where we would take our entire rig and play whatever keeps your dancefloor jumping all night, no matter how cheesy the requests :-)
2. When do we need to let you know our first dance?
Up to two weeks before your date is enough time for us to learn your first dance.
3. How many songs can we ask you to learn that aren't already on your online repertoire? - www.coastentertainments.co.uk/band/three-card-trick/set-list
Your first dance is a given, and if you have a particular father/daughter song we can always accommodate that too. Any other requests are welcome, but unfortunately not guaranteed to be played on the night. Of course we will do our best to get through them, but if we had to learn 10 new songs for every booking, we might as well move in to the rehearsal studio!
4. What time will you arrive?
We normally arrive 45-60mins before our start time (which is usually 8pm).
5. How long do you take to set up?
Depending on the load in and whether the stage area is ready for us it only takes us about 45 mins to set up. If the night is running late due to speeches etc we will be ready to start 45 mins after we are granted access to the stage area.
6. Can we extend your playing hours?
"It's better to burn out than fade away" - Neil Young.
Every Scottish wedding needs a big climax at midnight. Having us play til 1am means that a lot of your guests in the "mature age group" would have hit the hay by the time we get round to the big circle round the dancefloor for Loch Lomond etc. If you really need the extra hour I would recommend a DJ set which I provide for a lower cost than the full band playing. Email us for DJ set prices.
7. Do you take requests?
Hell yeah! If there was an MTV Award for being able to play almost anything that's requested by an audience, you can bet your last Rolo we'd be going home with a silver planet on a wobbly spring. In my opinion there's two types of covers bands - bands who have a repertoire of 100 songs which they play EXACTLY like the record (which is an incredible talent in itself), and then there's bands like us who can instantly put together a very recognisable arrangement of almost any song ever! If I've ever heard of it, we can play it. Last week we busked Dancing Queen, Call Me Maybe and All the Single Ladies... That was a fun night!
8. Can our friend sing with you?
If you let us know in advance then of course! We try to avoid having people get up spontaneously on the night as in our experience if you let one drunk uncle get up to ruin Mack The Knife, the best man then decides to try and top it with an even worse rendition of Wonderwall and the whole night descends into some Jaeger Bomb poisoned X Factor rejects mess. But like I said if it's arranged in advance even just before we start playing, and the singer is sober (enough to hold a mic at least) then yes by all means!
9. My pal plays drums/guitar. Can he play with you?
Again, if it's arranged in advance and they bring their own guitar then yes that would be fine. Unfortunately Keith Moon wannabes cannot be accommodated. Cymbals are expensive. If they wanted to bring their own kit that would be fine though haha :-)
10. Can we pick the setlist you will play on the night?
Of course - feel free to email me a list of songs from our repertoire you'd like to hear on the night! However I often get emails from couples who say "We saw you rocking out at Box on a Thursday night - play that set at our wedding!" We love that music, you love that music, but your aunties and grans might not appreciate a 20 min version of Voodoo Child by Hendrix haha! Most of the time, you're better off taking advantage of our experience of what packs a dancefloor all night. Brown Eyed Girl, Shang A Lang etc are dead certs. If you really want a particularly hard rocking set (Foo Fighters, ACDC etc) then we would be overjoyed to turn your wedding reception into a scene from T in the Park, but in reality due to the mixed age groups at weddings, very few people dance to this type of music.
Ultimately though, you are the boss! I was chatting to a bride on our break last week and I said "I don't think some of the older guests are digging the Rage Against the Machine and Led Zeppelin songs you picked for us to play..." She just said "So? It's my night and I'll mosh like a crazy person if I want to! You got any Limp Bizkit?" Haha I moistened my briefs. Turned out to be a great night - we even had a 90 year old jumping around to "Killing in the Name"!
11. Dance floor hits aside, what's your favourite song to play?
Good Love is on the Way - John Mayer Trio
12. What's your favourite song to play that we might have heard of?
Purple Haze - Hendrix
13. No seriously...I only listen to Capital FM
Ah that's a shame. Wake Me Up by Avicii then...
14. Where can we see you play live?
Always check with us or the venue before you head out.
Howlin Wolf, Glasgow most Tuesdays 10pm-midnight. It's a very bluesy set mind featuring awesome guest performers joining us onstage for a jam.
Whistle Binkies, Edinburgh every other weds from midnight. Quite a mixed set.
Box, Glasgow most Thursdays from 11.30pm. Be warned, this one gets a bit crazy sometimes. Classic rock, pop punk, long guitar solos and quite a bit of banter. If you do make it to one of these shows I apologise in advance if I accidentally kick your drink over while I'm walking along the bar with my guitar :-)
Scotia Bar, Glasgow most Sundays 5-7pm. Mixed classic rock/blues with a few wedding type songs.
Big Box Jam most Sundays 10pm. We host the jam here and it's a jam in the most literal sense of the word. This is in no way a showcase for the band, so we wouldn't advise it if it's the first time you're checking us out for a wedding. It's a 6 piece jam band with a varying quality of guest performers who can sign up to join us on stage. Mostly blues and classic rock.
We also play every Coast Entertainments wedding band showcase which is every 8-10 weeks and usually at the Gailes Hotel Irvine. Check their website for details of the next one.
15. How far will you travel?
We have recently been signed by Coast North West which is an expansion to the territory they cover, so we are now available for bookings not only anywhere in Scotland but also North West England which covers everywhere from Carlisle and Newcastle to York and Manchester. Travel fees apply for bookings outwith the central belt of Scotland.
I hope that's answered some of your questions. Message me if there's anything I haven't covered. Thanks for your continued support and for keeping us one of the busiest bands in Scotland, if not the UK! We hope to see you at a show soon.
Click on the link below to checkout the Three Card Trick Profile
https://www.coastentertainments.co.uk/band/three-card-trick