Review Centre: Barn Dance Bands

"My legs are still aching because I danced so much! The band arrived on time and were very friendly and helpful and the music was delightful. It was a mixed crowd, many of whom had never met each other before but with one thing in common – they had never done ceilidh dancing before! The caller was absolutely brilliant – it didn’t matter that most people had no idea how to dance the reels! Everyone joined in and thoroughly enjoyed themselves."

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"The girls loved the Ceilidh and asked if I was having another party next year!"

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"Hi Gordon, Just wanted to say a huge thank you for everything on Saturday. The Ceilidh was a huge success and we have had so many compliments from people who enjoyed it immensely! You managed to get everyone from 9 - 88 years old on the dancefloor! Please thank the whole band on our behalf, you were all brilliant. Thank you again! "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Another musician recommended Rachel, and I'm so pleased that he did! Rachel was joined by Matt Coyte (percussion), and their duo was perfect for our mini festival. The music was mainly fairly recent covers, 90's/00's, from Pink to Katy Perry to Snow Patrol. They turned up on time, very friendly and professional. They were very accommodating to our guests - from kids having a sing along on their mic, to well oiled grown ups joining them too! The booking process and communications before hand were easy - all over email, and very efficient. Absolutely 10/10 - we will book for next year if we can! Thanks Rachel!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Thank you Blue Jewel for making the night so memorable! Everything we hoped and more. We hired a barn in the middle of nowhere for our wedding anniversary, and Blue Jewel came and made the night something special to remember. The band were so easy going and they sounded brilliant live. The caller made it so easy to follow we had 8 year old children dancing with grans and granddads. My aunt said afterwards 'it's impossible NOT to have a smile on your face as you to this!'. I can't put it any better than that. Everyone had a great time. I would 100% recommend, we hope to see you chaps again in the future at our next gig! x"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"The Shooglers showed up and showed out for our wedding!! Everyone was raving about how fun the ceilidh was and my father in law is still talking about how the band was his favorite part of the day. Thank you to all the members of The Shooglers for an epic ceilidh party and being so patient with a bunch of Americans who couldn’t understand your accents. "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Thank you all so much for playing for our son’s wedding -  we have received so many complements on your playing and Jill’s calling. Even people who did not want to take part in the dancing said that they so enjoyed watching and listening to the music. Basically you wore most people out and they definitely faded when the disco came on, but we soldiered on until midnight! "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Hired for a Ceilidh at our wedding. Super easy to organise and on the day the band and callers were lovely. Adapted very quickly when everyone was getting too hot and we managed to do the rest of the sets outside which was amazing."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"They played at the company Christmas party. Very professional. The music was fantastic, they got the room involved and so many people up dancing. We have had a lot of really positive feedback from our guests, and will definitely look into having the Shamrock Experience back in the future. "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"We had a fantastic night out listening to the Country Chicks. Each musician is so talented and the combination of vocals makes a truly beautiful sound. Thanks so much, we will be looking out for another date."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"These guys provided such an awesome ceilidh at our wedding. We had a lot of in experienced and multinational guests and the caller did an incredible job of getting everyone involved and having fun. It was a real highlight of the night for us and we can't recommend these guys enough!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"The band entertained the whole party throughout the evening and had loads of people on the dance floor which their great selection of music"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Absolutely fantastic. We would definitely come and see them again."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"One of the hidden treasures of London is the range of talent that exists on the folk and acoustic scene that rarely get the acclaim they deserve. Three London based bands that excel at performing Eastern European/Balkan Music are Szapora, Mukka and Beskydy, each of whom are worth looking out for. Nine strong Beskydy perform songs and tunes from across Eastern Europe and beyond, in fact looking at the sources on their cd listing is almost like a tour around that part of Europe, from Macedonia to Hungary via Galicia and Bulgaria and taking a detour through Slovakia. The bands name itself comes from the range of mountains that run through the centre of former Czechoslovakia which according to the band has heavily influenced their musical choices whilst they turn their hand to music from a range of sources (excellantly). The first track is a Macedonian song, Jovano, Jovanke (click here to hear the song) and the range of Joanna Fosters vocal skills are further displayed in the three Slovakian songs that make up track 4, from the slow Janosik to the more up beat cheery Anicka Dusicka and A Ja Taka Dzivocka although Foster and the band manage to intertwine the tunes with sufficient skill so the songs merge as one. Again Track 9 is a duet with Accordian player, Peter Murphy, joining Foster on the Macedonian song Iz Dolu, along with some damned fine fiddling. The range of Beskydys musical skills are illustrated well by the instrumental tracks ranging from the delightful Slovakian Waltzes (Track 5) to the slightly more manic Tropanka from Bulgaria (track 10) and onto the ordered upbeat and furious synthesis between sax, fiddle and accordian that is Tantz, Tantz Yiddelekh (a wonderful Galician Jewish tune), yet again garunteed to result in limb movement, a delightful fusion of fiddles and saxaphone, furiously creating a wonderful atmosphere one that demands a physical response. One very minor complaint is the sleeve of the CD, it would be nice (or do I just lead a very shallow empty life) to have some information/lyrics or even translations of the songs, something about the origins of the tracks. That said its more than possible for bands with large bank accounts to produce nice extensive sleeves but not so easy for bands whose talents lie in their music rather than some slick marketing agencies. It would be impossible to identify one part of this cd that could be said to stand out more than the rest. The band have produced an album that is thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish - the question that comes to the fore when listening to this is when is the follow up going to be available?"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"We very much enjoyed having The Blue Jewel Celidh Band at our Platinum Jubilee Hoe Down event. Marquee based. Fantastic, lively tunes and the caller made sure everyone was included and were able to follow. They played us off our feet! Much fun was had by all! Throughout the planning they were easily contactable and very accommodating. Highly recommended!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review: