Pub band hire in Australia: the complete guide

Half the people booking this category run a venue and half are throwing a party. Those are opposite jobs. The publican needs bodies through the door and money over the bar until close, and is buying a room full of people, not a performance. The party host wants that same band's easy, unfussy way of playing to a crowd that didn't come specifically to watch.

Both are served by the same acts, which is why the category exists. What follows covers the venue side first, because that's the harder brief and almost nothing written for weddings applies to it.

Takings, not applause. A band that draws forty regulars and keeps them drinking until close is worth more to a publican than a technically better act that empties the room at ten. The best signal of that is a history of repeat bookings at similar venues, which is worth asking about directly.

Ask what the band does to bring people in. Some post their gig list and genuinely move a crowd between venues. Others turn up and play well and nothing more. Neither is wrong, but you should know which you're paying for before you set the fee.

There are three common shapes. A flat fee for the night, which is simplest and what most acts prefer. A door split, which suits acts with a following and venues testing a new night. Or a guarantee with a bonus if the bar hits a number, which shares the risk and is more common than people think.

Decide before you negotiate which one you're offering, because the fee that looks right in one model looks insulting in another. And whatever you agree, put the finish time and the number of sets in the same message. Those two get remembered differently by everyone.

A pub night is usually longer than a private booking. Three or four sets across an evening is standard and the breaks are when the bar does its best work, so they're not dead time to be minimised. Talk about the shape of the night rather than just the hours.

Solo and duo versions matter here too. Plenty of acts on this site do a quiet early set as two people and bring the full lineup out later, which fits a venue with a dinner service before the late crowd arrives.

You're getting a band that plays every week, which usually means no rehearsal cost and a set they can perform in their sleep. That's the value, and it's a real one. Working acts are often the sharpest price in the market for a private booking.

What you should check is gear. A band used to plugging into a venue's own sound system may not own a PA big enough for a hall or a backyard. Ask what they bring and whether the quote includes it, because hiring sound at the last minute is expensive and stressful.

Where have you played regularly, and for how long? Do you bring your own sound, or use the room's? What's your smallest and largest lineup? How do you handle requests from a crowd that's had a few? And will you play past the advertised finish if the room is still full?

The request question separates experience from everything else. An act that has done hundreds of pub nights has a graceful way of saying no, and it doesn't involve stopping the song.