There’s an old saying that goes something like this: “There ain’t no party like an S Club party”. But whoever said that had clearly never attended at farmers’ wedding. The stuff of legend in the annals of the wedding industry, it’s a brave live band who says “yes” to such an event. A farmers’ wedding is not for the faint hearted – it’s a heady mix of bodies on the dance floor, bodies and beer flying in all direction, bodies hurtling towards musicians, the beguiling aroma of the countryside and much more. We have heard of wedding musicians running screaming into the night rather than agreeing to play a farmers’ wedding, and those who did exhibiting PTSD (performers’ traumatic stress disorder) for years afterwards.
HARD TO HANDLE BAND are made of sterner stuff however. We have played in prisons, on open boats, caves, on cranes suspended 50ft in the air, at funerals. We have driven 11 hours non-stop (apart from the channel tunnel) to play in France. We have played at a survivalist festival clad in deerskins. We have played naked in a nudist colony. Call us mad, but we once even played in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Luckily this particular wedding was in Ludlow, Shropshire for the lovely Fiona and George. Fiona chose to hire us through an entertainment agency (which is fine, but remember that it will always be more cost effective to hire us direct through this website as agencies add a commission onto what you would normally be charged), based on our huge multi-genre playlist, our exuberant energy as seen in our performance videos, our sense of fun and our innate ability to take charge of 200+ farming party animals.
In this environment, lesser Shropshire wedding bands would wilt, but on a stage in a marquee there is nowhere to hide, so you have to bring your A game, go all out, be loud and play music that’s energy-laden, unsubtle and instantly recognisable. Apart from the first dance, there’s no room for sensitive, introspective songs about unrequited love (as it happened, Mr and Mrs’ Vivians’ first dance was “Accidentally in love” by Counting Crows, an upbeat party song, so that was all good). You’ve got to open with “All the small things”, follow quickly with “Dakota” and carry on as you mean to continue. Just about the only breather you can take is for a little bit of country as requested by the bride and the groom, which naturally took the form of Luke Combs, after which it was Back to full on live music entertainment – rock, pop and indie, with our DJ keeping up the pressure with Ibiza sets, dance, R n B and more until 1am when a loaded and sated group of young farmers and their partners finally flaked out.
Yes, there was carnage, but it was good. HARD TO HANDLE BAND + DJ commanded the evening, providing a structure to the chaos like lords of misrule until friends, family and loved ones of Fiona and George could take no more, but not before we found lovely bride and groom to ask them what they thought of our performance. “You’ve been excellent!” sounds like a win to us!
Not all Shropshire wedding bands are the same. If you think your guests are hard cases and you can’t find live entertainment for your Shropshire wedding that will hit the spot, hire HARD TO HANDLE BAND. We dare you.
Hard to handle wedding band – 2 hours of killer indie, rock, pop and more +live DJ!
E: info@hardtohandleband.co.uk
Tel: 0796 433 5657
https://hardtohandleband.co.uk/live-wedding-bands-shropshire/