3rd March 2009
Our new website is now up and running so if you would like to see what Scarlet Angel are like check it out
http://www.scarletangel.co.uk/
If you like the website it was done by my company's inhouse designer and she is available for freelance work. Her contact e mail is:- helenfrankel@btinternet.com
Thursday 12 March 2009
Bad news
28th February 2009
Hi, the recession is really hitting hard (stating the obvious) but its seriously affecting our work right now. Being a corporate band in this present climate is most challenging. Over the last three weeks I have had four large corporate Balls cancelled. The companies are making too many people redundant and therefore are not able to go ahead with plans for jolly parties.
I havent told the band yet and this will come as quite a blow.
We should have been playing at a Ball being held at the York Race Course in a couple of weeks time. It was being held to raise money for the NSPCC. Sadly the NSPCC will suffer a loss of £20,000 - £30,000 from that night which makes a huge difference to their income especially as most of the events for the NSPCC are either being cancelled or those that go ahead are raising a fraction of what they usually raise.
Wearing a different hat I am a member of the council for the NSPCC and have been organising large events for them (voluntarily) for over 25 years. I am only too aware that right now the charity is suffering greatly as their income is being reduced almost daily. This will mean that the child support services, sadly, will eventually suffer.
Soo if anyone that reads this blog can afford to do so please give a donation to the NSPCC by visiting their website www.nspcc.org.uk
Thank you.
On that miserable note I shall go and contemplate how to tell the band that a number of gigs have been cancelled .......
Hi, the recession is really hitting hard (stating the obvious) but its seriously affecting our work right now. Being a corporate band in this present climate is most challenging. Over the last three weeks I have had four large corporate Balls cancelled. The companies are making too many people redundant and therefore are not able to go ahead with plans for jolly parties.
I havent told the band yet and this will come as quite a blow.
We should have been playing at a Ball being held at the York Race Course in a couple of weeks time. It was being held to raise money for the NSPCC. Sadly the NSPCC will suffer a loss of £20,000 - £30,000 from that night which makes a huge difference to their income especially as most of the events for the NSPCC are either being cancelled or those that go ahead are raising a fraction of what they usually raise.
Wearing a different hat I am a member of the council for the NSPCC and have been organising large events for them (voluntarily) for over 25 years. I am only too aware that right now the charity is suffering greatly as their income is being reduced almost daily. This will mean that the child support services, sadly, will eventually suffer.
Soo if anyone that reads this blog can afford to do so please give a donation to the NSPCC by visiting their website www.nspcc.org.uk
Thank you.
On that miserable note I shall go and contemplate how to tell the band that a number of gigs have been cancelled .......
Wednesday 11 March 2009
Doh!!
Saturday 8th February 2009
Hi, Somehow one of Marks small drums got left at the hotel. It wasnt used on the night and still in its case got put under a small table at the side of the stage by one of the roadies.
When the van was being packed up no-one checked to see if we had all the gear. We dont usually check in any way other than have a good look around. This was done but of course no-one looked under a table and no-one remembered it had been put there. So the van left without it... Doh!!
Guess who offered to go and get it ... yep, me.
Difficult for Mark as he has no vehicle and has a day job.
I thought it would be quite a nice drive and I would like to see the hotel management and persuade them that we would be a good wedding band for their clients that book weddings or indeed a good function band. The hotel holds lots of events where they need to book a corporate band so it would be great if they could pass some of that work onto a good Yorkshire band ... ie us.
Good job that the drum isnt needed straight away so I will go sometime in the next couple of weeks.
Today is my sons birthday so Robin and I are taking our son and his wife and our daughter and her husband out to dinner.
It will be relaxing not to have to think about band work for a few hours.
I am off to get ready now .....
Hi, Somehow one of Marks small drums got left at the hotel. It wasnt used on the night and still in its case got put under a small table at the side of the stage by one of the roadies.
When the van was being packed up no-one checked to see if we had all the gear. We dont usually check in any way other than have a good look around. This was done but of course no-one looked under a table and no-one remembered it had been put there. So the van left without it... Doh!!
Guess who offered to go and get it ... yep, me.
Difficult for Mark as he has no vehicle and has a day job.
I thought it would be quite a nice drive and I would like to see the hotel management and persuade them that we would be a good wedding band for their clients that book weddings or indeed a good function band. The hotel holds lots of events where they need to book a corporate band so it would be great if they could pass some of that work onto a good Yorkshire band ... ie us.
Good job that the drum isnt needed straight away so I will go sometime in the next couple of weeks.
Today is my sons birthday so Robin and I are taking our son and his wife and our daughter and her husband out to dinner.
It will be relaxing not to have to think about band work for a few hours.
I am off to get ready now .....
it runs like clockwork
6th February 2009 Friday
Hi thought you would like to know the gig last Friday ran like clockwork. It was fantastic and wearing our corporate band hat everyone was very pleased with the evening and the performance. Apart from the food and refreshments but as I have mentioned before this often creates horrendous problems when it should just be very simple. Anyway the details about our food experiences are worthy of a whole blog on their own so I will enter that shortly.
Our sound engineers who act as roadies and drive the van are fantastic lads they are supplied to us by JSS Audio, York (link to them on our website) and I would recommend anyone to use this company as it is very ably run by Jem who likes everyone to think he is a real toughie but I think he is a big pussycat really .... gosh, if he reads this he might not be so nice to me next time ... eeeeeek.
Our roadies picked up all the gear and then I drove Helen and Ann to the gig whilst the boys came in Mikes car.
When we arrived at the hotel we were suitably impressed, it was a large hotel overlooking a beautiful lake. The Ballroom was at the back of the hotel with doors leading straight into the carpark for loading all the gear directly onto the stage. We love it when the loading and unloading is easy, you would'nt believe how difficult it can be sometimes and what people expect us to do. It has been known for punters to expect us to lug gear up two flights of stairs in a building with no lift. Nowadays we dont accept gigs like that, too much like hard work. Besides the boys would have a fit if I even dared to suggest they did that. The PA system and all the monitors are very heavy!
The hotel very kindly gave us two bedrooms for changing which was most welcome. Often we have 4 - 5 hours from setting the gear on the stage to actually playing the gig. So to have a nice place to sit for that time is essential but sadly doesnt always happen. But this night it did. Sooo hooray to the Hotel for that.
We have two female lead singers that we use and this night they both performed. We finally got on stage at about 10.30 having finished setting up at 5.30 .... long night. The band at this time sometimes feel like going to sleep from boredom, just as they are expected to go on stage, but the minute they are on stage and playing the adrenalin kicks in and they could play for hours.
The band was so well received everyone loved them and you can always judge the success of a band by how full the dancefloor is and that night the floor was full all night long.
Our sound engineers did a wonderful job for us a usual and a good time was had by all. We finished at 1.30 a.m. and because the loading out was so easy we were in our cars and on our way home by 2.10 a.m.
It should have taken us about an hour to get back to Boroughbridge but unfortunately the A1 maintenance people had decided to close a large section of the road that night and we were sent on a huge detour which we were not familiar with at all and in typical British fashion the detour signs ran out after the first few miles ... we could have been anywhere ... hooray for Sat Nav ... it found our way home for us.
A very weary band but a good night behind us. Well worth all the effort.
I crawled into bed at about 3.45 a.m. trying very hard not to wake my husband and thinking is this all worth it maybe its time I stopped being a 'rock chick' but it took me all of 45 seconds to decide ... Nah, I love it far too much to even consider not doing it.
Goodnight everyone .....
Hi thought you would like to know the gig last Friday ran like clockwork. It was fantastic and wearing our corporate band hat everyone was very pleased with the evening and the performance. Apart from the food and refreshments but as I have mentioned before this often creates horrendous problems when it should just be very simple. Anyway the details about our food experiences are worthy of a whole blog on their own so I will enter that shortly.
Our sound engineers who act as roadies and drive the van are fantastic lads they are supplied to us by JSS Audio, York (link to them on our website) and I would recommend anyone to use this company as it is very ably run by Jem who likes everyone to think he is a real toughie but I think he is a big pussycat really .... gosh, if he reads this he might not be so nice to me next time ... eeeeeek.
Our roadies picked up all the gear and then I drove Helen and Ann to the gig whilst the boys came in Mikes car.
When we arrived at the hotel we were suitably impressed, it was a large hotel overlooking a beautiful lake. The Ballroom was at the back of the hotel with doors leading straight into the carpark for loading all the gear directly onto the stage. We love it when the loading and unloading is easy, you would'nt believe how difficult it can be sometimes and what people expect us to do. It has been known for punters to expect us to lug gear up two flights of stairs in a building with no lift. Nowadays we dont accept gigs like that, too much like hard work. Besides the boys would have a fit if I even dared to suggest they did that. The PA system and all the monitors are very heavy!
The hotel very kindly gave us two bedrooms for changing which was most welcome. Often we have 4 - 5 hours from setting the gear on the stage to actually playing the gig. So to have a nice place to sit for that time is essential but sadly doesnt always happen. But this night it did. Sooo hooray to the Hotel for that.
We have two female lead singers that we use and this night they both performed. We finally got on stage at about 10.30 having finished setting up at 5.30 .... long night. The band at this time sometimes feel like going to sleep from boredom, just as they are expected to go on stage, but the minute they are on stage and playing the adrenalin kicks in and they could play for hours.
The band was so well received everyone loved them and you can always judge the success of a band by how full the dancefloor is and that night the floor was full all night long.
Our sound engineers did a wonderful job for us a usual and a good time was had by all. We finished at 1.30 a.m. and because the loading out was so easy we were in our cars and on our way home by 2.10 a.m.
It should have taken us about an hour to get back to Boroughbridge but unfortunately the A1 maintenance people had decided to close a large section of the road that night and we were sent on a huge detour which we were not familiar with at all and in typical British fashion the detour signs ran out after the first few miles ... we could have been anywhere ... hooray for Sat Nav ... it found our way home for us.
A very weary band but a good night behind us. Well worth all the effort.
I crawled into bed at about 3.45 a.m. trying very hard not to wake my husband and thinking is this all worth it maybe its time I stopped being a 'rock chick' but it took me all of 45 seconds to decide ... Nah, I love it far too much to even consider not doing it.
Goodnight everyone .....
rehearsals..you think it would be simple
January 28th 2009 Wednesday
Hi Everyone
We try to rehearse once a week, it is very important to keep the band 'tight' as in playing with perfection. Everyone knows this and we try hard to keep it as Wednesday night. Sometimes this has to be changed because one of them cant do the Wednesday but generally its Wednesday night. We learn new music every week which adds to our endless list of songs. When you offer yourselves as a Wedding band, corporate band, dance band, covers band, party band and function band, playing live music, you have to be completely up to date with your music and also we want to continue being the best Yorkshire band there is.
Mark stores all the equipment and it has to be picked up by other members of the band and taken to the rehearsal room. If you think this is easy...you are wrong. Firstly, men dont like talking to each other and they all wait for the other to ring and arrange a time ....Doh!! When each of them doesn't hear from the other I then get a phonecall at the eleventh hour saying 'I havent heard from anyone whats happening with the gear'. When you consider we have been doing this for a very long time when I get the phone call at the eleventh hour I feel like giving the whole thing up. A couple of calls from me and the whole thing falls into place.
Now, I think maybe I should do the calling in the first place then I think, no, dont interfere .... Hmmmmmmmm I live in hope that one day everyone will talk to everyone and the whole thing would be so simple!!!
We have a gig on Friday night near Durham at a top notch hotel for a building company who have heard we are the best corporate band in the area. We will not disappoint.
Rehearsal tonight and I have just had the call ..... 'I havent heard from anyone.......' Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Hi Everyone
We try to rehearse once a week, it is very important to keep the band 'tight' as in playing with perfection. Everyone knows this and we try hard to keep it as Wednesday night. Sometimes this has to be changed because one of them cant do the Wednesday but generally its Wednesday night. We learn new music every week which adds to our endless list of songs. When you offer yourselves as a Wedding band, corporate band, dance band, covers band, party band and function band, playing live music, you have to be completely up to date with your music and also we want to continue being the best Yorkshire band there is.
Mark stores all the equipment and it has to be picked up by other members of the band and taken to the rehearsal room. If you think this is easy...you are wrong. Firstly, men dont like talking to each other and they all wait for the other to ring and arrange a time ....Doh!! When each of them doesn't hear from the other I then get a phonecall at the eleventh hour saying 'I havent heard from anyone whats happening with the gear'. When you consider we have been doing this for a very long time when I get the phone call at the eleventh hour I feel like giving the whole thing up. A couple of calls from me and the whole thing falls into place.
Now, I think maybe I should do the calling in the first place then I think, no, dont interfere .... Hmmmmmmmm I live in hope that one day everyone will talk to everyone and the whole thing would be so simple!!!
We have a gig on Friday night near Durham at a top notch hotel for a building company who have heard we are the best corporate band in the area. We will not disappoint.
Rehearsal tonight and I have just had the call ..... 'I havent heard from anyone.......' Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Tuesday 10 March 2009
A bit about the band
January 4th 2009
Hi .. thought I ought to tell you a bit about Scarlet Angel. They are a covers band which means (for those of you who dont know) they play songs and music that other people have written or recorded. Popular music from the 60's to current day. They are a rock band and put their own rock edge on everything they play. Yorkshire based but will play anywhere in the country.
The types of events they play at are corporate parties/Balls, weddings, charity Balls and anywhere a good band is needed to make a party go with a swing. If Scarlet Angel play at your event you are guaranteed to have your dance floor full all evening. They have played at 5 star London hotels like, the Savoy, the Park Lane Hilton and the Marriott on Grosvenor Square. They have played at some wonderful weddings in large country houses and numerous high class establishments throughout Yorkshire.
I am a very hands on Manager and try to go to all the gigs with them. I like to think I am useful at these events but maybe the band would say otherwise .. ha ha .. I hope not! I know they appreciate me for one of my main functions which is to ensure they are well fed and watered. This should be very straight forward but I will enlarge on that in another blog.
Check them out at www.scarletangel.co.uk
They are all very experienced, have been together for quite a while and have become good friends so the on stage chemisty between them all is electric.
All for now as its about 3 a.m. ... another bad night of sleeping for me but a great time to write the blog.
Hi .. thought I ought to tell you a bit about Scarlet Angel. They are a covers band which means (for those of you who dont know) they play songs and music that other people have written or recorded. Popular music from the 60's to current day. They are a rock band and put their own rock edge on everything they play. Yorkshire based but will play anywhere in the country.
The types of events they play at are corporate parties/Balls, weddings, charity Balls and anywhere a good band is needed to make a party go with a swing. If Scarlet Angel play at your event you are guaranteed to have your dance floor full all evening. They have played at 5 star London hotels like, the Savoy, the Park Lane Hilton and the Marriott on Grosvenor Square. They have played at some wonderful weddings in large country houses and numerous high class establishments throughout Yorkshire.
I am a very hands on Manager and try to go to all the gigs with them. I like to think I am useful at these events but maybe the band would say otherwise .. ha ha .. I hope not! I know they appreciate me for one of my main functions which is to ensure they are well fed and watered. This should be very straight forward but I will enlarge on that in another blog.
Check them out at www.scarletangel.co.uk
They are all very experienced, have been together for quite a while and have become good friends so the on stage chemisty between them all is electric.
All for now as its about 3 a.m. ... another bad night of sleeping for me but a great time to write the blog.
a new start
January 1st 2009
A new year a new start. Last year the band had a really bad accident where the van was written off and all the gear was wiped out and all because some joyriders, travelling at 120 mph, at 3 a.m. happened to be on the same motorway as we were and on a totally clear road lost control and smashed into our van. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt but only because the gear in the back of the van took the full brunt of the hit.
However, we are now fully geared up again and cannot wait to get into the rollercoaster of gigs in the corporate world.
I am the manager of the band and must be totally mad. I love the band to bits and are very proud of all of them, they are fantastic and the best band I have ever managed. The punters cant get enough of them. Ann and Kate lead vocals, Helen on bass, Mark on drums, Mike on guitar and Daniel on keyboard.
This blog will give you an insite into what managing a band is really like and how totally mad musicians are. Thats why I say I must be totally mad because if I was sane I wouldnt be in this world of Rock.
Now I have introduced us all, watch this space!
A new year a new start. Last year the band had a really bad accident where the van was written off and all the gear was wiped out and all because some joyriders, travelling at 120 mph, at 3 a.m. happened to be on the same motorway as we were and on a totally clear road lost control and smashed into our van. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt but only because the gear in the back of the van took the full brunt of the hit.
However, we are now fully geared up again and cannot wait to get into the rollercoaster of gigs in the corporate world.
I am the manager of the band and must be totally mad. I love the band to bits and are very proud of all of them, they are fantastic and the best band I have ever managed. The punters cant get enough of them. Ann and Kate lead vocals, Helen on bass, Mark on drums, Mike on guitar and Daniel on keyboard.
This blog will give you an insite into what managing a band is really like and how totally mad musicians are. Thats why I say I must be totally mad because if I was sane I wouldnt be in this world of Rock.
Now I have introduced us all, watch this space!
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