BOOKING TERMS

Here are a few things that are worth considering when choosing which sized band is suitable for your occasion:
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‍VENUE CONSTRAINTS
Does the venue have a noise (decibel) limiter present or any other rules set on noise levels? If so, please let us know as it could render a performance from certain line-ups very problematic (or in certain cases impossible) – see more below.

ACOUSTICS OF THE VENUE
If you are still choosing your venue and are set on booking the favourite or flagship band, it’s worth considering the acoustics of the room in which you intend to have the band perform. Big open halls with high ceilings and wooden floors tend to reverberate and can mean that a large band will sound much louder than it would in a more acoustically friendly space (such-as a marquee).If you have any questions or concerns about your venue, please do get in touch – we are always more than happy to contact the venue direct to discuss any details/logistics.

‍PERFORMANCE SPACE
If you are providing a stage (recommended) then our stage size requirements are as follows (assuming standard 8' x 4' sections of staging are used):

Flagship band (12-14 piece): 24' x 16'
Favourite band (9-10 piece): 24' x 12'
Reduced band (6-7 piece): 16' x 12'
PJ Trio: 12' x 8'

If the band are setting up on the floor (Favourite and Reduced only) then minimum space requirements are:
Favourite band (9-10 piece): 6.5m x 3.5m
Reduced band (6-7 piece): 5m x 3m
PJ Trio: 2.5m x 1.5m

NOISE LIMITERS / RESTRICTIONS
A noise limiter is a device that bands/DJs are required to plug all of their equipment power leads to. There is a microphone in close proximity to the performance area which monitors the volume of the band/DJ in the room and if the volume exceeds a certain level, it will cut the power supply switching everything off. As you can imagine, this can be rather disruptive to the performance unless managed very carefully.

Firstly, it's important to say that we aren't in the business of deafening our audiences! Achieving a very high level of sound quality is priority number one for Pandora’s Jukebox.

However, with any live band, you do need a certain amount of volume/level to give the performance energy and create the proper party atmosphere. If the band have to 'play down' from their normal level, the energy is lost and the whole show can suffer as a result. Indeed, some noise limits are so restrictive that, in our opinion, the venue space is rendered rather unsuitable for a live band to perform at all – and unfortunately we have found some venues have not been particularly forthcoming with the truth when it comes to outlining just how restrictive their noise limit is.

In theory, we are able to work with some noise limiters / restrictions but it's not always that simple. There is no 'industry standard' by which noise limiters must to be set-up and calibrated - it is left up to the installation company to assess based on their best judgement.

More details on noise restrictions here

As such, we have a few parameters that will need to be met in order for us to work with a noise limiter:
• For the reduced band (6-7 piece), we will not be able to work with any noise limits less than 90 decibels
• For the favourite band (9-10 piece), we will not be able to work with any noise limits less than 100 decibels
• For the flagship band (12-14 piece) we will not be able to work with any noise limits less than 110 decibels

All of the above limits assume that the limiter is set back at least 6 metres from the front of the stage.

‍VENUE PA SYSTEM / IN-HOUSE AV ENGINEERS
‍If the venue requires the band to work with an in-house (or hired in) AV company then usually this is not a problem provided that they are able to meet our technical requirements (we will happily liaise with them direct).

If it is a case of a venue requiring the band to run through their own PA system for the purpose of limiting the volume (due to strict noise restrictions) then we unfortunately are not able to work with this. We're happy to explain in more detail - just drop us an email. Often, venues with these types of requirements also insist on the use of electronic drums - regrettably we are unable to work with this either.

Read more about how noise restrictions might affect you and your event.

ELECTRICITY
With our standard PA system and lighting (including the premium lighting upgrade package), we do not draw more than 32A at 240V. (If we are bringing in a larger PA system we will contact you separately with the power requirements).

We therefore request a 32A supply that is not being used by anything else requiring substantial power (i.e. catering ovens, fridges, heating, air conditioning etc). Led fairy lights and other low-power items will be fine to share – but main lighting (i.e. chandeliers and uplighters in a marquee) will need to be on a separate supply.

Just to put this into context:

‍For generator supplies (marquees / outdoor events)
‍If a separate generator is being supplied for the band, we will require a 10KVA diesel genset as a minimum.
If a much larger single generator is being supplied for the whole event (more likely) then we will require a 32A supply for the sole use of the band. We will run all our PA, instruments and lighting from this supply.
Power must be supplied to the stage / performance area and terminated in at least 4 x domestic 3-pin 13A sockets (we do not carry our own distribution or 32A cabling).

‍For venues with mains supply
‍We will require at least three 13A mains socke at least a 32A ring main) not being used by anything else (other than low power devices like led fairy lights etc).These must be separate wall sockets and not 3 sockets on a 4-way extension lead.

If the sockets are not next to the performance area / stage – then the client / venue must supply the necessary extension leads to ensure the power is where the band will be setting up (we do not carry multiple extension leads).
Please note, there will need to be 1 extension lead per wall socket.

‍LOADING & PARKING
Please bear in mind, that we cannot start setting up until all our equipment is at the performance space and all vehicles parked. Therefore, the closer the loading-point (where we can pull up our vehicles) to the performance space the better.If the loading-point is far from the performance space, please let us know in advance so we can alter the timing to suit otherwise it may cause a delay to the start time, which could mean a shortened set.

We would also need to know in advance if there are any stairs (and no lift) as this could add significant time to our load-in.

All musicians will try to share lifts where possible to reduce the number of vehicles, but as they are generally based all over London, the assumption must be that a parking space for every member of the band needs to be available at the venue or close-by. Any charges incurred for parking would need to be covered. (For central London bookings, parking and congestion charges will already be accounted for in your quote).

‍CENTRAL LONDON / CITY CENTRE BOOKINGS (CITY SURCHARGE)
We don’t use a van for the transportation of our equipment – we use a car towing a box trailer.
As most of central London and major city centre areas have controlled parking zones covering all streets, it is not possible for us to park the trailer on the street during restricted hours (as trailers are not permitted to use pay & display parking bays or car parks).

Provided your venue has a place where the trailer can be left onsite and off the street, then this won’t be a problem. The trailer has a footprint of 3.3m x 1.8m (length x width). The car can be parked as normal on the street using P&D bays or in a car park.

If however the venue is not able to accommodate this, then there may be an additional fee payable to cover either a yellow line dispensation or van hire. This will not exceed £150 + VAT.

‍WIRELESS MICROPHONES, IN-EAR MONITORING & WI-FI
For our performance, we use wireless microphones and in-ear monitoring.

Some venues have their own wireless microphones and so there is the risk of interference if our equipment is set to the same radio frequencies as the venue equipment.

Therefore, we ask that you check with your venue if any of their equipment uses the following frequencies – as we will need to liaise with them beforehand. (Usually it’s just a case of the venue turning off their equipment during our sound-check and performance).
• The entire of UHF Channel 38 (606-614 MHz)
• 3 x microphones in UHF Channel 70 (823-832 MHz)
• 3 x microphones in UHF 1800MHz

‍HEARING LOOPS
We have had several occurrences of hearing loops causing problems with our guitars and amplifiers due to the electro-magnetic interference with the pickups. Please ensure that should the venue have such a system in place, they will be cooperative in switching this system off should we encounter any problems during the sound-check.

The main bulk of our setup can be done quietly and discreetly (the loading in and setting up of the equipment) but the final part will require us to make noise at the same volume our performance will be at (the sound-check).

‍Reduced and favourite bands (6 – 10 piece)
Setup requires 2.5 hours from start to finish with sound-check usually taking up the last 30 minutes.

‍Standard schedule:
16:30 – Band arrive, load in, set-up and sound-check*
19:00 – Band clear from stage, eat dinner and get changed
20:00 – Band ready to perform

‍* We can delay sound-check if necessary so that it doesn’t clash with speeches / dinner.

Flagship band (12-14 piece)
Setup requires 4 hours from start to finish with sound-check usually taking up the last 45 minutes.

‍Standard schedule:
15:00 – Band arrive, load in, set-up and sound-check*
19:00 – Band clear from stage, eat dinner and get changed
20:00 – Band ready to perform

‍* We can delay sound-check if necessary so that it doesn’t clash with speeches / dinner.

‍Upgraded premium lighting
Adds 1.5 hours to the setup (we will arrive 1.5 hour earlier than advertised times above when the upgraded premium lighting package is added).

BAND PERFORMING IN SEPARATE ROOM
Usually when the band are performing in a separate room, we can just set up and sound-check in one block without any problems as there will be no-one else in the room when we do this.You can specify exactly what time you would like the band to do this (between 5pm – 9pm). If for any reason this isn’t the case, please see below.


BAND PERFORMING IN SAME ROOM AS DINNER/RECEPTION
If we are performing in the same room as where guests are dining, then there are a few options available as to how we work around this.

With some smaller venues, it’s often not possible for the band to set up until some of the dining tables have been removed to create space.This would not be an issue except there is then limited time for the band to set up from scratch – often only 60 minutes – which is not enough time for us.

Where this is the case, it will be necessary for us to set up some equipment in an adjacent room or corridor (this will need to be agreed with the venue) prior to the quick turnaround of the main room. (Please note, the adjacent room or corridor can not be on another floor or far away – any stairs involved or considerable distance will seriously slow the process down.)

‍We will then be able to swiftly move the equipment through to the main room once the space becomes available and finish our set-up and sound-check in 60 minutes.

‍Same room but with Partition / Reveal Curtain
If the band are setting up in the same room as dinner but in a separate section of it and the venue or marquee company are able to visually partition off the performance space from the dining space, then we can set up quietly and discreetly whilst dinner and/or speeches are going on. Alternatively, if the room is very large and the place where the band will be performing is sufficiently ‘out of the way’ of where guests are dining, a partition may actually not be necessary. The important thing is just so we can set up equipment without providing a visual distraction (particularly during speeches).

Then, once dinner/speeches are finished and whilst guests are getting a drink and stretching their legs, we can do our sound-check and the partition can then be removed ready for the performance.

If the venue can’t partition off the performance space from the dining space, and you would rather not have the band setting up whilst dinner is happening, then it may be necessary for the band to arrive earlier in the afternoon to set up. This is usually only necessary if the band are right in the middle of the room.

Please note, there are extra fees associated with early setup. Please click the link below for details on the varying early setup options.
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EARLY SET-UP TIMES AND RELEVANT COSTS – CLICK HERE FOR COST CALCULATOR
If you would like more information on the costs associated with early set-up, please click the link above to use our online cost calculator.


PERFORMANCE TIMES
Our standard performance package includes 2 x 1 hour sets or 3 x 40 minute sets any time between 8pm and Midnight. Of course we can start later than 8pm and finish earlier than midnight – we will just arrange our set times so that we get the full 120 minutes of performance in.

It is worth just bearing in mind that if you would like the band to finish at midnight, if the band starts at 8pm you will have rather long gaps between the bands sets. We will of course fill these gaps with music from an ipod or Spotify playlist (or you can book a DJ – please see point 4 below) but you may wish to consider having the band start a little later. We’d usually recommend a 9pm start time.


FINISHING TIMES
As standard our latest finish time is Midnight, but we do offer later finish times for an additional charge. There are quite a few different options available, so please let us know if this is something you are interested in and we’ll discuss it with you directly.

There are a few ways in which we can handle the music during the gaps when the band aren’t playing (this includes before the band start performing, during their breaks and sometimes after the band finish).

‍OPTION 1 – YOUR SPOTIFY PLAYLIST
You create / collate your own spotify playlist and then email the link over to us. We will then load this playlist onto our system ready to play on the night so you don’t have to worry about bringing a device with you.
The benefit of this option is that you can choose all the music we play during the bands breaks meaning you can get yours and any of your guests requests in there.
‍Please note:With this option we are not able to offer changes or requests on the night. If this is something you would like, we recommend the addition of a DJ into the booking (see below).

‍Spotify playlist until 1am
‍We offer an ‘add-on’ to extend the use of our PA and lighting for an extra hour after the band have finished performing so the party can continue until 1am.
This is charged at a flat fee of £150 + vat.
‍Please note:The band will pack away the rest of the equipment whilst the playlist is playing.


‍OPTION 2 – OUR GENERIC PLAYLISTS
We always have generic playlists that we can play to fill the gaps between the bands breaks when we are not supplied with a spotify playlist.
It is important to say though that if you opt for this, we are not able to offer requests / changes to the playlist either in advance or on the night. The playlists are very much as is - due to the time it takes to collate, arrange playlists for each client, this is very much a job for a DJ and so if this is something you require, we recommend the addition of a DJ into the booking (see below).


‍OPTION 3 – ADD A DJ TO THE BOOKING
The benefit of having a DJ is that they will do the work for you in collating your requests and genre choices and they can also take requests from your guests on the night.We’ll always put you in touch directly with the DJ so they can look after you personally.

ARRIVAL AND PERFORMANCE TIMES
A sound-check is not necessary for the jazz add-on performances. We allow 45 minutes from point of arrival to be set ready to start the performance.Please note that jazz add-on performances booked at the discount rate have an earliest performance start time of 3pm.
If you require an earlier start time than this, please get in touch with us to discuss options.

FOOD
Due to the time of day our musicians will need to leave the house and the amount of time they will be out before they get home, we will require that a substantial hot meal be provided for all musicians and DJ (if a DJ is present).
This can be similar to the food provided for the guests (if you are providing a hot meal for your guests) or something separate. Cold buffets and/or sandwiches would unfortunately be insufficient.
We ask that the bands meal be served immediately following the set-up and sound-check, (usually 7pm) before the performance starts.If you are worried you would not be able to provide this, there are alternative solutions that we can offer – please just ask when enquiring.


‍DRINK
We would ask that a free supply of soft drinks and water be supplied to the band for the duration of the evening.


‍BACKSTAGE
We ask that a heated, dry and lockable 'green room' with a table and enough chairs be provided for the sole use of the band. This will be for the band to change in, eat in and leave bags, cases and other valuable belongings in whilst performing. If this isn’t possible, please do let us know when booking as we can usually work something out if there is a problem.


‍SAFETY
The safety of our musicians and their equipment is of paramount importance at any event. Therefore, it would be your responsibility to provide suitable supervision of your guests to ensure that at no point during the event does anyone touch any of the bands equipment or instruments. Should a guest damage any equipment or instrument, it would be your responsibility to cover the bill for repair.

SCHEDULE CHANGES
We will always endeavour to be flexible on the day to suit unavoidable schedule changes provided that there is still at least 60 minutes available to eat, a minimum of 20 minutes break between each 40 minute set (30 minutes break between 1 hour sets) and the schedule changes do not affect the contracted finishing time.
In the case of the event running so late that we cannot perform the full 120 minutes, we would shorten our performance set times to suit.

CONTRACT & PAYMENTS
Upon accepting our quote and agreeing the details of the booking via email, we will issue a contract via Adobe Sign (online contract agreement signing service) for you to check through and then sign (simple click to sign).

We have a 3-stage payment system:

• Payment 1 – 25% due upon signing the contract.
• Payment 2 – 40% due 4 months before the date of event.
• Payment 3 – 35% final balance due 1 month before the date of event.

Each payment will have a payment deadline date outlined in the contract by which the amount must have cleared into our account (so any transaction times set by your bank will need to be taken into consideration). Our system sends automatic payment reminders two weeks before each deadline.

Normally, payments are made via ‘Faster Payments’ or ‘BACS’. We are able to accept credit and debit card payments but these will be subject to a 4% transaction fee (to cover Paypal fees).

The reason why we have this three stage payment system is that the closer we get to a date of event, the more liable we become to cover our musicians fees should a booking be cancelled for any reason. We get about 30 enquiries every week, and in order to hold your date secure in our diary, this of course means turning down other bookings. In addition to this, our musicians are holding the date for us and as such are turning down other freelance work. If for any reason you have to cancel your booking, we have to be in a position to cover our musicians’ losses as a result of this and pay them a fee.It is extremely rare that bookings get cancelled, but this system ensures sensitivity in such situations as it avoids the need for us to chase for cancellation fees.


CANCELLATION
There is a 3 calendar day 'cooling off period' from the date you sign the contract whereby the agreement may freely be cancelled by either party.
In the event of cancellation during the 3 day 'cooling off period', we will refund any relevant fees paid.

After the 3 day 'cooling off period' the contract/agreement cannot be cancelled unless both parties give mutual consent in writing. In the event of cancellation after the 3 day ‘cooling off period’, there wouldn’t be any refund (for the aforementioned reasons).

Please note, for bookings made less than 3 months prior to the date of event, there will be no ‘cooling off period’.


‍ALTERING THE BOOKING
The contract cannot be modified unless both parties give mutual consent in writing.In this case, a contract amendment notice (detailing the changes to the contract) will need to be signed by both parties.


‍STANDARD POSTPONEMENT POLICY
For similar reasons to our cancellation policy, it is not possible to postpone or reschedule your date of booking once the cooling off period has expired. In the event of changing the date of booking, we would not be in a position to refund you any monies paid already for the existing booking (due to our cancellation policy). Our standard cancellation policy would apply and a new booking contract (and fees) would be drawn up for the new date of event.

COVID-19 CANCELLATION / POSTPONEMENT POLICY
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Pre-covid, with most weddings and events suppliers, their general terms would state that it’s not possible to offer refunds / cancellation once they have been booked for a date. This is because they are comprised of freelancers and once a date is booked out, other work is turned away. Most of the time it’s not possible to re-book a date with another client due to the large level of planning and time involved.
‍It’s for this reason that our cancellation policy has always been a no refund policy - as we are liable to cover loss of earnings with the freelance professional musicians that we book to perform.
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‍Pre-covid this was not a worry for most couples getting married because it would be completely covered by their wedding insurance. So if they had to cancel last minute for any reason and did not receive a refund, the money would be refunded by their wedding insurers.
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‍Unfortunately wedding insurance will not cover any cancellation due to COVID-19 and so suppliers such as ourselves are having to work out ways of offering flexibility should the worst happen.
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‍Our policy is that we will allow re-scheduling / postponing of bookings up to 2 months in advance (subject to availability) if the government put restrictions in place due to Covid-19.
‍If a last minute government mandate is put in place preventing the wedding/event from going ahead up to 7 days in advance of the date of event, then you would be entitled to a full refund.
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‍Please see more details below:
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‍Cancellation due to government mandate
Should your event be cancelled due to a government mandate banning events in the UK (due to coronavirus) within 7 days of the date of event, then you would be entitled to a full refund. We would always encourage a postponement rather than a cancellation though and would work with you to find a new date (for which we would simply roll over your existing booking without any further charge).

Pre-emptive Cancellation
Unfortunately we are not able to offer cancellation of an event made with a view to predicting/managing future unknown eventualities. In other words, unless there is a government mandate preventing the event from taking place on the date of event in question, our standard cancellation policy would apply. We would instead encourage a postponement rather than a cancellation and would work with you to find a new date (see more on postponement below).

Postponement
As mentioned above - if you have had no option but to cancel your event (due to government mandate in place within 7 days of your event) but have opted to postpone, we would work with you to find a new date and then simply roll over your existing booking without any further charge.

If you are thinking of pre-emptively postponing your booking due to uncertainties surrounding coronavirus, we have some additional terms:

• The band must be available on your new date
If we already have a booking and are unable to postpone to your chosen new date, then unfortunately our standard cancellation terms would be applicable. We are of course happy to work with you to find a new date where the band are free.

• Postponements cannot be made any more than 2 months in advance of the date of event
If you wish to postpone any earlier than 2 months before the date of event, our standard postponement / cancellation policy would apply.

• If you opt for a new date where not all members of the band are available, partial cancellation fees apply
For any member of the band that is not able to make the new date of event, we will need to pay them a cancellation fee (as they will lose a complete booking).
The cancellation fee is 75% of their individual fee. For e.g. if a band member’s individual fee for the booking is £300 and 3 band members can’t make the new date, the partial cancellation fee would be £675 + vat.