Best entertainers in Pelican
Pelican has one act of its own, and it's a cabaret show. That sets the tone for a small strip of houses between the lake and the Swansea channel, where the next card is a duo at Blacksmiths, one suburb over, and then the list wraps the water: singer-songwriters at Toronto and Eleebana, a wedding band at Sunshine, a country band at Bonnells Bay, a drag act at Summerland Point, a blues band up at Dudley on the coast side. All ten are close as the pelican flies. For the western shore acts, though, it's half an hour around the lake by road, not a hop across it, so read the kilometres with that in mind.
Behind the ten sit two bigger pools, and Pelican is where they overlap. Newcastle's acts are twenty-five minutes up the highway and supply most of the wedding bands and cover bands in the mix; the Central Coast's come the other way, up the coast road past Lake Munmorah, and they're a real option here in a way they aren't at the top of the lake. So a club function at Swansea, a boat ramp birthday or a backyard wedding on the channel can shop in both directions, and the trade mix, singers and bands first, then duos and wedding singers, is the same whichever way the act drives in.
Top picks in Pelican
Top picks are the nearby performers with the most visible reviews, then rating, then the closest; further afield the closest come first, and premium listings break remaining ties. Distances are straight-line from Pelican. Ask each act whether they travel to your venue and what that costs.
Questions people ask about entertainers in Pelican
How much to hire a band near Pelican?
Pick the size before you pick the suburb, because nothing on the lake ring is far enough away for travel to change a Pelican quote. A full band doing three sets with its own PA is the top of the range; the same afternoon from a duo costs a good deal less and fits a deck. The from-prices beside the band cards above are what the Lake Macquarie acts are asking right now, and a Newcastle band will usually quote Pelican the same as it quotes Belmont.
Can I have live music at a party on the Swansea channel?
Yes, and the lake acts do it every summer, but water carries sound a long way and the houses on the channel are close together. A singer or a duo with a small PA, done by ten, keeps the neighbours on side in a way a drum kit doesn't. If the party is on a boat or a jetty, tell the act, because balance and power on the water are different jobs.
Will Central Coast acts travel to Pelican?
Pelican sits at the top of their usual run rather than outside it. Lake Munmorah, Budgewoi and the northern lakes are twenty minutes down the road, and the motorway exit at Doyalson puts a Wyong act on the coast road straight through Swansea. Ask anyway, because some price by the hour of driving and some simply turn up.
Booking tips
Say which side of the bridge
The Swansea bridge lifts for boats, and an act stuck on the wrong side of the channel with a seven o'clock start is a real thing around here. Tell them you're at Pelican, north of the bridge, so a Central Coast act allows for it.
The cabaret show wants a room
A Moulin Rouge-style show needs a stage area, somewhere to change and a proper sound system, which means a club function room or a hall rather than a deck. For a backyard fiftieth, the duo next door at Blacksmiths is the easier fit.
Country and blues are the lake's own sound
A country band at Bonnells Bay and a blues band at Dudley sit on the first screen because the lake's pubs and clubs have booked that kind of act for years. If the crowd is over fifty, either may suit them better than a top-forty cover band.