The best bands in Hobart
Hobart's rooms are harder on a band than the mainland equivalents. Sandstone walls, timber floors and low ceilings throw the sound straight back at the crowd, and a rig set up for a carpeted function room is unbearable in one of the old warehouse spaces down near the water. Tell the band what the room is made of and how high it goes, and a group that gigs here every weekend will bring the right amount of gear instead of the most.
The second thing worth knowing is that the water changes the maths. Anyone coming from the mainland arrives with flights, freight for the backline and a bed to pay for before they have played a note, which is why the local names are worth working through properly first. Send the same message to several on one afternoon, and ask each what a smaller version of the group would look like.
Top picks in Hobart
Top picks are the acts in this category in Hobart, without a review, rating or premium ranking: all these sort keys are tied.
Questions people ask about bands in Hobart
How much does it cost to hire a band in Hobart?
Count the chairs first. Every player is a professional giving up a Saturday, so going from three to five is a real step in cost and a real step in sound. After that it is hours, then travel out of the city, then whether the band owns a sound system big enough for your room or you are hiring one on top. Each act sets the starting figure shown beside it here, so read those, then put your date in front of the ones you like.
How far in advance should I book?
Sooner than instinct suggests, because in a market this size the same players turn up in two or three different groups and one of them being busy takes the others with it. Summer is the pinch, and the stretch either side of New Year is close to impossible without a long run up. A date outside those months generally lands you the band you wanted rather than whoever happened to be left.
Will a Hobart band travel to a country venue?
Regularly. Richmond, the Coal River Valley, the Huon and the east coast are ordinary work for these groups, and a run up the Midland Highway is not unusual either. Name the venue rather than the region so the drive is priced once at the start, and ask what time they would need to arrive to set up in daylight.
What should I ask when no band here shows a review?
No band here shows a rating, so the footage and the correspondence are your only evidence. Ask for something filmed recently with the sound untouched, a readable song list, and a straight answer about illness in the week before your date. That last question separates the working groups from the occasional ones faster than anything else, because the busy ones already know exactly who they would call.
Booking tips
Lead with the date, then the room
Availability sorts a shortlist faster than anything else here, because the same players turn up in more than one band. Send the date first, then the venue, the guest number and what the night is doing.
Ask who is actually in the quote
Bands scale up and down, and in a city this size the four piece and the six piece are often the same core with guests added. Confirm the exact number of musicians on stage at nine o'clock so nobody is surprised.
Sort the power on a valley or coastal property
A vineyard shed in the Coal River Valley or a place down the Huon usually runs a band, the lights and a caterer off one domestic circuit. Ask what the band draws and have the venue confirm it holds, because a blackout in the first set is a long night.