80s cover band hire in Australia: the complete guide

The eighties is the one decade almost every Australian function crowd agrees on. The choruses are enormous, the songs are short, and a room that has been sitting politely through dinner will be on its feet three numbers in. That is why so many bands here specialise in it rather than treating it as one section of a longer night.

Every act and figure underneath is drawn straight from the current listings. What this guide is really about is the gap between a band that has the decade in its bones and one that has added a handful of eighties hits to a general set. They quote similarly. They do not sound similar.

The range on the table below is tighter than the tribute categories, and that is a good sign. Most acts in this bracket are working four and five piece bands doing a standard function night, so the quotes cluster. The lower end is a smaller lineup on a shorter booking. The higher end usually means more musicians, a bigger PA and lighting, or a full wardrobe.

The eighties premium, where there is one, tends to buy production rather than extra songs. Neon lighting, wigs, a keyboard player who actually owns the right sounds. Decide early whether you want the look or just the songs, because that is the main fork in the pricing and it is easy to pay for a costume budget you did not want.

The decade is defined by its keyboards. Gated drums, stacked synth brass, that particular bell-like electric piano. A four piece with guitar, bass, drums and a singer can play the songs, but a lot of the material will sound thin because the part carrying the hook is missing. If the band has no keys, ask how they cover it.

Some bands solve it honestly with a backing layer alongside the live playing, which is standard practice and nothing to worry about. Others pick a setlist that suits a guitar band and avoid the synth-heavy end of the decade entirely. Both work. What does not work is a band that has not thought about it, and you can hear that in ten seconds of any live clip.

There is a scale here and it is worth choosing deliberately. At one end, the band dresses smartly and plays the songs. In the middle, a nod: a jacket, some colour, maybe sunglasses. At the far end, full period wardrobe with wigs, and the band commits to the joke for the whole night. A corporate audience in business clothes can find the far end alienating. A fortieth birthday usually loves it.

My view, for what it is worth, is that the middle is the safest booking and the far end is the better party when the guests have been told to dress up as well. A costumed band in front of a room of suits is doing all the work alone. Tell the act what your guests will be wearing and let them match it.

The eighties covers new wave, synth pop, stadium rock, early hip hop, big ballads and the last of disco. Two bands both billed as eighties acts can share very few songs. One might lean guitar and anthemic, another electronic and danceable, and your guests will have a strong preference even if they could not name it.

So read the song list before you read the price. If a band publishes one, that is the most useful thing on their profile. Look for the balance of fast and slow, and check there is enough material for the hours you are booking, with room for a couple of songs from either side of the decade when the floor asks for them.

Is there a keyboard player in the price? How much of the set is strictly eighties and how far either side will you go? What is the costume level, and can you dial it up or down? Do you bring lighting, and does it suit the look? And what are your set lengths across the hours I am booking?

One more that saves arguments later: ask whether the band will learn one specific song for the night. Many will if given enough notice, some charge for it, and a few will say no. All three answers are reasonable. The surprise is what you want to avoid.