About
A Wee Dram Ceilidh Band is a Celtic band for hire in Melbourne, VIC.
Nobody needs to know the steps. At a Wee Dram ceilidh every dance is explained and walked through before the music starts, so complete beginners end up doing Strip the Willow and the Gay Gordons alongside the veterans. It's Scottish social dancing built for weddings, parties, festivals and corporate nights, full of partner swapping and group dances that break the ice fast, across every generation in the room. Guests join in as much or as little as they like. The Melbourne based band scales from a caller with a playlist through to a full live line-up, and they can bring their own PA if the venue doesn't have one. Expect big smiles, and feet that feel it the next morning.
Watch
The show
Somebody talks you through each dance, then walks it through, and only then does the music start. That's the whole trick, and it's why people who have never done a ceilidh in their lives end up mid floor swapping partners with strangers. Getting the steps right is not the point. Joining in is. Grandparents, kids and the mates who swore they wouldn't dance all end up in the same circle, which is a fast way to break a room open. And you can sit one out whenever you like. The pace and the choice of dances shift depending on who's in front of them, so a wedding runs differently to a work do.
On the day
You'll need a PA that takes four instruments plus a microphone. If the venue hasn't got one, the band can bring theirs instead, just flag it when you enquire. Give them a performance area of roughly 4m x 3m, more if you have it. And they'll want at least two power outlets sitting as close to the stage as you can manage.
Performance options
The Wee Dram works three ways. The Wee Dram is a caller working with a playlist, which suits rooms where space or set up time is tight. The Half Pour puts two live musicians in, caller included, for a smaller line-up that still sounds properly acoustic. The Full Dram is the live band with the caller, and it's the one that fills a floor.
Insurance and paperwork
Public liability insured
Song list
Gay Gordons / Virginia Reel / Dashing White Sergeant / St. Bernard's Waltz / Pat-a-cake Polka / Military Two Step / Canadian Barn Dance / Flying Scotsman / Circassian Circle / (Orcadian) Strip the Willow / Auld Lang Syne / more to come....
