Review Centre: Celtic Groups & Ceilidh Bands

"Lilac, Remko and all of the band are simply brilliant!! Wholeheartedly recommended! We hired Funk With Us to play at our wedding party. From the very first enquiry Lilac was super friendly, very considerate of what we wanted, flexible and always there to answer our questions and offer good suggestions on the song lists, set-up, etc. And the performance on the night was amazing!! High quality sound and musicianship, but more importantly the whole band did a fantastic job in creating a fun party vibe which got everyone dancing for hours. All of our guests commented for days afterwards how great they were! Thank you Funk With Us, you guys rock!!! ?"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"I just wanted to write and thank you SO much for everything you did for our choir on Saturday night. I have heard incredible feedback from them, and that everyone was up and dancing. Thank you so much for fitting it in and please pass on our thanks to your band members, many of whom, I know, changed their plans at the last minute in order to accommodate this booking. "

Rating: 9 / 10 Share this review:

"What a great time everybody had. The Reverend and The Willow St Wanderers where amazing two very nice young men with great voices guitar and harmonica also had a shot on piano I would recommend them anytime. Thank you boys and Sarah for organise everything. They where amazing everybody loved the them and the music they played was just perfect."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"We had a fantastic joint 30th birthday party for 60 people and the Black Velvet Ceilidh Band did an amazing job of making the evening a huge success! Mike gave me a call a couple of weeks prior to the event to confirm all arrangements such as timings, location, numbers, and the experience of the party goers (very mixed - lots of complete beginners). Mike was really enthusiastic on the phone and I felt very confident all was going to go well. At the beginning of the evening, we were pretty disorganized and neither James or I were there to meet the band on arrival, but our friend saw them into the venue and they were very flexible and happy to go with the flow and got set up really quickly. The whole band were keen to help and happily agreed to start the ceilidh a little later than planned, as well as letting me use the mic to make announcements! The 2 x 1 hour sets of ceilidh dancing were amazing and both the calling and music were fantastic - our guests absolutely loved every moment of it and have all said how much they enjoyed the music and dancing. Thank you very much to the whole band for an excellent evening, we would recommend you to anyone! "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Davie, I just wanted to contact you to say, ‘thank you VERY much, indeed’ to you and your band members for performing last Friday evening at the annual Grange Dyvours Tennis Club ‘Snow Ball’ and making it the tremendous success that it was. I have been to many weddings, ceilidhs and parties over the years and danced to many bands and I can tell you, without a shadow of a doubt, that ‘The Big Shoogle’ stands head and shoulders above the rest. Who would have thought that weaving in Pink Floyd and Deep Purple tracks in the middle of a Dashing White Sergeant would have worked but it did! You were an absolute pleasure to deal with, before our event; you all drove a considerable distance to arrive, at exactly the time requested, to set up all your equipment then, after our dinner, you returned to put on the most amazing performance. Some of our (non-Scottish) members had never danced some of the dances before but you made sure to talk everyone through what was expected, as a warm up, before the mayhem began. My face was sore laughing, at the end of some of those dances. Just brilliant. Our ‘Snow Ball’ on Friday evening was an astounding success and we have you to thank for that. Absolutely first class. P.s. Also, thanks for taking our booking for our ball, next Christmas. I wanted to get in quick to secure you as I know how much in demand you are! "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"It is difficult to capture just how fabulous Lisa was before as well as on the day. She is such a lovely, fun and friendly woman. We really enjoyed working with her in planning the day and her singing down the phone to us as she explored various song suggestions will be a fond memory for us both... leaving us very excited for the day itself. We both love music, as do our families and put a lot of effort to line up some fantastic musical acts in addition to Lisa, including a 6 piece band and a solo guitarist we flew in from abroad. We also had a number of first class entertainers and performers....however despite this, the number one comment we had from every guest during the day and since has been the dramatic and hugely positive impression Lisa had on everyone. We almost felt bad our guests were giving her so much attention and trying to book her for their own events, including a lot of people who had already booked their musicians and were now having second thoughts!! We wanted the wow factor and Lisa certainly provides that. We can’t think of anyone we’ve ever seen musically who is so versatile and yet consistently high quality, indeed... top class. From classical church performances (she is very knowledgable and comfortable in working with you and your ceremony) ... she also learnt a particular piece for us that we’ve never heard covered and yet she delivered it as if it was her favourite song while also very much making it her own. Switching to a top class contemporary set during the drinks reception took everyone by surprise....and her true personality really came out when she switched into a medley of her own hip hop / original numbers blended with a traditional Irish music session, a sing off and an Irish dance combo. There is little to add to what others more qualified have already said in terms of her pure and incredible voice. Beyond this... to give you a sense of her capability... she was able to jam with another musician she only met on the day... to pick up, tune and play a new instrument (family heirloom banjo) as a special request.... to captivate 150 guests of all age ranges and from across the globe, and was able to keep our guests enthralled and enchanted with her for over 6 hours. We’ve met someone who we will enjoy following and listening to for the rest of our lives and who we will always feel lucky we were able to have share our special day. I suspect we will be going to see her gig and perform again very soon (if our guests don’t beat us to it first!). "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"No one talks about our wedding without mentioning the Blue Jewel Ceilidh Band. These talented musicians provided the perfect end to the perfect day. Somehow everyone, even the shyest of our guests, got up and danced the night away with the infectious enthusiasm of the band. The ceilidh provided a relaxed, fun way for all of our guests to mix and meet one another, and allowed us to dance with everyone! Both myself and my husband adore folk music, and we could not have chosen a friendlier, more talented band than the Blue Jewel Ceilidh Band. A particular highlight was when the band performed a traditional wedding piece, where all of our guests danced around us who were sat in the middle! I cannot recommend this band enough, wonderfully warm people with superb talent. Obviously we were on a budget paying for a whole wedding, but these guys are very reasonably priced and deliver much more than the price we paid. Thank you all very, very much for giving us the wedding reception we dreamed of."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Black Velvet Band Ceilidh Trio – Amanda’s 60th Birthday Ceilidh – December 2025 Black Velvet Ceilidh Trio played at a ceilidh to celebrate my 60th birthday. It was actually the fourth time they have played at events for my family over the last ten years, and I’m hoping to have them again in future. It was a wonderful afternoon. The band’s music was cheery and infectious and soon got people dancing enthusiastically, including guests aged from five to 85 and those who had previously warned me that they wouldn’t be able to dance because of knee problems! Phil is a fantastic dance caller who makes ceilidh dancing easy and a pleasure even for those who have never done it before. We all really appreciated his clear instructions about each dance. This, together with Black Velvet’s expert musicianship made the ceilidh very enjoyable and huge fun. I can’t wait to do it again! Thanks so much."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Thanks for the fantastic entertainment. Our students loved the ceilidh."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Well done and thank you to all of you for making our Excellence Awards night at the Cafe de Paris such a success. We were flooded with compliments about the night and in particular the entertainment - absolutely brilliant! Apart from that you were one the nicest group of people we have ever worked with - you were all a pleasure and talented too! if there were more like you in corporate entertainment my job over the years would have been so much easier! I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend you all. "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Dermot was incredible!! Himself and the two other musicians were absolutely fantastic and were the highlight of the night! They even let me sing with them which was a real honor. Everybody was asking me where i found the band and how they could book them for future parties. Highly recommended :)"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"We just wanted to say a massive thank you to you and your band mates in Ceili Max for Sunday! You’re very talented musicians and created exactly the atmosphere we’d hoped for!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Great musicians! Got everybody up dancing! would use them again! They also were happy to do a request where Steve had to call and play - brilliant dance! Troika! My favourite! Thanks guys! "

Rating: 9 / 10 Share this review:

"Kindred Spirit Duo are very entertaining and always guarantee to lift your spirits with their lively and unique style of folk/rock music. Elaine's guitar playing is excellent and she has a beautifully melodic voice. Martin's violin playing is exhilarating & energizing. Together they play some great cover versions and originals. They are guaranteed to get you up on your feet dancing and singing along to their tunes! "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Thanks guys, you were absolutely brilliant last night, everyone was commenting on how good you were. Cheers guys! "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review: