Best entertainers in Rye
Read the Rye list in two halves. The top card is a cover band from Cheltenham, an hour and more up the freeway, sitting first because it's the only act in the ten with a review record, and the eight below it are the Rye and Rosebud locals: a singer-songwriter in Rye itself, three more at Rosebud alongside a jazz singer and two duos, a DJ at Sorrento, and a duo and a singer at Safety Beach. Every one of the local eight is a solo or a two-piece, and the bands are a freeway drive away. So is that enough for a wedding at a Rye holiday house?
For the ceremony and the long afternoon, easily. Rye has two coasts and they want different gear: the front beach on the bay is calm, with power close to the foreshore, and the back beach on the ocean side is surf, wind and a car park at the end of a dune track, where nothing but a battery rig and a singer who's done it before will work. For a dance floor at midnight, the cover bands and the DJs are up the Peninsula at Mornington and Frankston or across in Melbourne's bayside suburbs, and from Christmas to the end of January they price the Point Nepean Road crawl into every quote.
Top picks in Rye
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 Rye. Ask each act whether they travel to your venue and what that costs.
Questions people ask about entertainers in Rye
How much is a DJ for a wedding at Rye?
Ten minutes along the road at Sorrento is the nearest DJ, and it won't add travel; the rest of the Peninsula's DJs come from Frankston and the south-east and will, especially on a summer Saturday. The number moves with hours, ceremony sound on a beach and whether the reception is a marquee on a lawn with no power. Their from-prices sit on the DJ cards on this page; the Sorrento act hasn't given one, so ask.
Why is a Cheltenham band at the top of the Rye list?
Because it's the only act in the ten with visible reviews, and reviews come before distance in how the top picks are chosen. It's a fair way to travel, more than an hour on a clear run, so read it as a band with a track record that will do the Peninsula run, not as a local. The kilometre figure on every card is there so you can tell the difference.
Can a duo play a ceremony on Rye back beach?
It can, with the right gear, and the Rosebud and Safety Beach duos on this list have done ocean-side ceremonies before. The back beach means a battery-powered speaker, a mic that copes with wind and a walk in from the car park with everything on a trolley, so ask what they carry and what they charge for the setup. A calm morning is your friend; by mid-afternoon the sea breeze is usually up.
Booking tips
The back beach is national park
Rye Ocean Beach and the stretch to St Andrews have no power, big wind and a walk in from the car park. If the ceremony is on that side, book a soloist with a battery amp and say so plainly in the enquiry: no roof, no plug.
Holiday-house parties have neighbours
A New Year's or Australia Day party at a Rye or Blairgowrie house is the local trade, and the streets are close together. Tell the act the finish time and whether it's inside or on the deck; the Sorrento DJ has done this a hundred times and will say what's realistic.
Say which end, and which side
Rye on an enquiry could mean a bayside house, a back beach car park or a property up at Tootgarook or Boneo, and Point Nepean Road is one slow road. Give the street and the act can tell you honestly whether it's a local job.