Blue Moose

02/13/21 • 20 min

Who are Blue Moose?
On this week's episode of the wedding band show, I chatted with Tony Ward from the Blue Moose band. Tony started Bluemoose about 21 years ago with a friend called Bobby O'Hara. They met while working in a hotel in Wexford and quickly discovered they both had a love for playing music. Shortly after that, they entered a local music competition. They won the competition and left the hotel business behind! Even though the band started out as a covers band they also started to play at weddings from about 2007. Because the Blue Moose fanbase was getting older they now wanted them and as their wedding band!
- Cover band to wedding band?
In recent times there is a very thin line between a cover band and a wedding band, so Blue Moose didn't have to change their set too much. After one bad experience early on the band went into rehearsals and put a wedding set together that would suit all types of crowds. As Tony explains, some bands don't like to play waltzes because they think it's not cool, however, it's always great to have them in case the wedding guests want to waltz on any particular night.
As Brian says, a little waltz mix is always nice to give the rest of the guests a 5-minute break from dancing!
- What kind of music will you get with Blue Moose?
If a couple contacts Blue Moose and asks what type of music do you play, Tony’s answer is usually anything from Abba to AC/DC! The band doesn't have one set that they play every night and they change it up depending on the wedding guests. Tony goes on to say that a wedding band shouldn't hit the crowd hard for the first 30-minutes because then there will be a big lul. It's always better to keep the floor full all night instead of just some busy parts.
Bluemoose has a very broad setlist and in the initial consultation with a wedding couple, Tony or Bobby get a good feel for the music they want at their wedding. Tony and Brian both agree that one of the most important jobs for any wedding band is to read the crowd!
- Blue Moose Showcases?
Because of the current situation wedding couples are finding it hard to view wedding bands live. One great thing about Blue Moose is that they recorded some live wedding showcases a few years ago. This means that any bride or groom can hear precisely what the Band sounds like even without seeing them live!
- Blue Moose Wedding Packages?
As well as the live band Blue Moose now offers an all-day wedding package. They introduced this package in 2020 and it runs from the ceremony music up until the disco.
They bring in a female vocalist for the ceremony music. The drinks reception is an acoustic set with guitar, piano, sax, and clarinet. You can even add percussion and bass too if you’d prefer. Another option on the Bluemoose all-day package is to include a sax player with the DJ set.
- How to contact Blue Moose?
For information on Blue Moose use these links,
Website - https://www.bluemoose.ie/
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr8uTwqw-Nt23WbxfdSf7-w
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/bluemooseband
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/bluemooseband/
To find out more information about The Brian Mc Dermott Band use these links,
Wedding Band - https://thebrianmcdermottband.ie/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thebrianmcdermottband/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brian_mc_dermott/
Video Work - https://pixelproductions.ie/

Previous Episode

A Christmas Message 2020

End of year message!

Hi everybody I hope you're keeping well just wanted to put out a short podcast to wish everybody Happy Christmas and a great New Year from everyone at The Brian Mc Dermott Band.

It's definitely been a weird year and has had a really bad effect on a lot of businesses especially in the wedding industry but hopefully, things will be back to normal in the next 6 months.

I want to say a big thank you to all the wedding couples who have us booked and in fairness, every one of the couples who has had to move their wedding has been super nice to deal with. To any of the couples who are having their wedding in the first half of 2021, my advice would be to see what January brings and get in touch then if you think you might need to move again. Hopefully, this Christmas lockdown and vaccine arriving will mean that bigger numbers can happen in early 2021.

We are still working away behind the scenes or a few projects and we have a new song that we're going to release in January, we're just trying to think of a video idea.

The wedding band show will also be back in January, I was hoping to get a few more episodes in before the end of the year but it’s just super busy on the video side with Pixel Productions.

I don't like putting out the episodes just for the sake of it...I prefer to plan the episodes so we get to learn more about the guests!
I want to also say a big thanks to the guys in the band Kiev, Mick, Marie & Miki...It's been a terrible year but they’re still always ready to help and do everything they can.

Have a great Christmas and here's to an amazing 2021, Brian

Next Episode

Moving Your Wedding Date

How to move your wedding suppliers to a new date...with Blue Moose
On this episode of The Wedding Band Show, I talked with Tony Ward from Blue Moose Wedding Band about the easiest way to move your wedding suppliers to a new date!
The first step?
So if you are a wedding couple that has to move your wedding because of restrictions what's the first thing you should do? Tony breaks down the three categories of wedding couples.
- 6 Wedding Guest
The first category is couples who want to go ahead with the wedding even if there are only 6 guests. In this case, they won’t want live music and should just contact their band to inform them of the cancellation. Usually, this means that you lose your deposit.
- 25 to 50 Wedding Guests
The second category is people who are waiting to see if 25 or 50 guests will be allowed. The best thing to do in this case is to wait until the next official announcement. It's not a bad idea to have a ‘Plan B’ in place in case the restrictions are not lifted in time.
- 100+ Wedding Guests
The third category is couples who just want to postpone and don't want the stress of worrying about their guest list numbers. In this situation, the best advice is to go to your venue first and get a list of four or five available dates. Once you have the available dates Tony suggests you send one email by cc’ing all your wedding suppliers on it.
Then all you have to do is sit back and wait for the replies. Once every supplier has emailed you back you can look at everybody's available dates and move to do date that most of your suppliers are available for. One major advantage to this is that you get to keep most of your preferred suppliers that you've already worked hard to source. You also won't lose as much money in terms of deposits which are usually non-refundable!
The wrong way to move a wedding date?
The alternative to this is to pick one date and then email every supplier individually to check they're available. In this case, there is a great chance that you are going to lose some of your preferred wedding suppliers and also deposits! It also means that you have to go back to stage 1 and research wedding suppliers who are available for your new date.
Wedding Band Association Deposit Scheme
Blue Moose is also a member of the Wedding Band Association which means that if they are not available for your new date your original deposit can be transferred over to another band in the WBA. https://weddingbandassociation.ie/
A Wedding Band For 25 Guests?
On the point of wedding couples worrying about having a band for 25 guests Tony still recommends that you should have bands when it's allowed. He explained that if it's a case of a budget problem because you're having a smaller wedding just talk to your suppliers and they might be able to help you out. He is also aware of the fact that everybody thinks of Blue Moose as a big rock band but they will adapt to suit a smaller crowd.
How to contact Blue Moose?
For information on Blue Moose use these links,
Website - https://www.bluemoose.ie/
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr8uTwqw-Nt23WbxfdSf7-w
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/bluemooseband
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/bluemooseband/
To find out more information about The Brian Mc Dermott Band use these links,
Wedding Band - https://thebrianmcdermottband.ie/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thebrianmcdermottband/
Instagram -