Hire Panic at the Ceilidh | Ceilidh band in London

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From£900

1 hour

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About Panic at the Ceilidh

One of London's most exciting, innovative new ceilidh bands. Guaranteed to provide a fun night for all to enjoy!

Ceilidh band

London

Public liability insurance of £10 million

Verified profile

Panic at the Ceilidh are an exciting new ceilidh band on the London scene. Founded by a group of King's College London alumni, they have one goal for each and every ceilidh they play: providing an enjoyable and entertaining night for all! Our caller, John, has been involved with ceilidh bands from a young age, and can tailor a night to the more advanced dancers, or for complete beginners. The band have all worked as professional musicians for many years, and enjoy being creative and novel with their musical arrangements. The flexible setup of musicians we have also means we can cater for smaller, more intimate gatherings, or larger scale events. Whatever your requirements, do get in touch and see how we can help you have the best night possible!

Panic at the Ceilidh

5 out of 5

7 verified reviews

Satisfaction

5.0

Professionalism

5.0

Communication

5.0

Punctuality

5.0

Panic at the Ceilidh's Reviews

5 out of 5

Panic at the Ceilidh did a great job at our wedding - they were lovely and everyone had loads of fun! We particularly enjoyed their rendition of ‘don’t you want me’ by the human league

5 out of 5

A fantastic experience. The band were punctual and accomodating. They put on a great performance with professionalism and panache.

5 out of 5

We booked Panic at the ceilidh for our wedding on Saturday . They played two sets and they were amazing . They had our guests reeling on the dance floor and calling for more . They made our night . Would highly recommend them. Thanks guys !!

5 out of 5

Panic at the Ceilidh are brilliant! 5 Stars! They played at our Wedding Party and we were not disappointed. Not only are they fantastic musicians, but they also directed the dancing in a fun and professional manner. Many of the guests were asking about them, so book them in soon before they get inundated with requests.

5 out of 5

Panic at the Ceilidh’ did a brilliant job at our wedding reception. They were accommodating when we blunderingly described some dances we wanted, and when we didn’t know what we wanted they offered ideas and filled in the gaps in ways that suited us. They advised us on the timetable and venue, but happily fitted around what we chose. Communication, booking and paying was easier with Panic than with any of our other suppliers. There were no hidden fees, they liaised with the venue seamlessly: everyone was reliable and professional. On the day, they delivered a wonderful evening for 150 people aged 1-85, from people who didn’t know what a ceilidh was, to Scots who belong to a ceilidh club! We even asked them to play our first dance from just a youtube video, with a guest singer they wouldn’t meet until the day – and they arranged and performed it beautifully. Thank you ‘Panic at the Ceilidh’ for making our wedding ceilidh everything we dreamt of and even more fun!

Read all 4 reviews

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5 gigs

Experienced: 5 bookings through Encore

Saved the day!

Booked for an Encore gig with less than 24 hours’ notice

6th Anniversary

This act has been working with Encore for over 6 years

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Demonstrated expertise by completing the Encore Academy

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Panic at the Ceilidh's Song list

Below you'll find our regular selection of songs, tunes, and dances. Don't worry if you don't see some of your favourites, we're always happy to learn something new!

Songs

- Mairi's Wedding

- Parting Glass

- Irish Rover

- Wild Rover

- Auld Lang Syne

- Wild Mountain Thyme

- Fields of Athenry

- Irish Pub Song

- Waxie's Dargle

- Whisky in the Jar

- Galway Girl

- Foggy Dew

- Rocky Road to Dublin

- Finnegan's Wake

- Rattlin' Bog

- Star of the County Down

- South Australia

- Drunken Sailor

Tunes

- Jig of Slurs

- Simon Thoumire's

- Turkey in the Straw

- Staten Island

- Dashing White Sergeant

- My Love, she's but a Lassie yet

- Jump at the Sun

- Jam up the Nuts

- Mairi's Wedding

- Scotland the Brave

- Ireland the Brave

- Wales the Brave

- England the (not so) Brave

- Phil the Fluter's Ball

- Swedish Masquerade

- Highland Masquerade

- Drowsy Maggie

- Zycanthos

- Ashokan Farewell

Dances

- Circassian Circle

- Swedish Masquerade

- Strip the Willow (a big favourite!)

- The Sausage Machine

- Horses Brawl

- Dashing White Sergeant

- Cumberland Square Eight

- Canadian Barn Dance

- Gay Gordons

- Military Two-Step

- Eightsome Reel

- Ashokan Waltz

- Lucky Seven

- Bridge of Athlone

- The Flying Scotsman

- The Virginia Reel

- Three Around Three

- Orcadian Strip the Willow

- Highland Schottische

- Seige of Ennis

- The Packhorse Rant

- Hamilton House

- Reel of the 51st Division

- St. Bernard's Waltz

- Hooligan's Jig

Panic at the Ceilidh's Prices

Note: prices may vary based on travel distance. For an exact quote, click “Check availability”.

Performance duration	Price
Up to 1 hour	£900
Up to 2 hours	£1050
Up to 3 hours	£1250

Wedding Package - Evening4 musicians

We can provide a set of songs and tunes as a quiet background to an early evening drinks reception, followed by a lively ceilidh to get all of your guests involved, and then DJ set till close. Prices are for London based events - we are willing to travel but the price does not include travel expenses.

£2000

Customer questions

What do your clients love most about your performances?

People love our really authentic feel as a ceilidh band - we're a group of musicians that enjoy playing a few tunes well, and having some fun while we're doing it. We don't do clinical, corporate performances, they're always full of life. Also, our caller has a great kilt. Seriously, you should see it.

Which venues have you performed at in the past?

Kings College London - Great Hall Kings College London - Dining Hall Law Society Trinity House Perham Down military base Cannon Green A top secret technology company that we are not in a position to name Local Pub x45 A train A street in Chinatown

Which artists have you been most influenced by?

Lankum The Pogues Dubliners Alastair Roberts Hannah Jacobs Some guy at a folk festival that was pretty good Steam Chicken (not steamed chicken, they're a band) Blind Panic (not our playing style, they're also a band)

What is the most high profile gig you've performed?

We've played gigs at prestigious Central London venues, such as the Law Society, but we'll always pop along to the local afterwards and do a set or two - and we'll put just as much energy into every performance.

Can you perform covers?

We're used to performing covers of all genres. For every booking, we're happy to arrange and learn a specific song (for a first dance), however if you'd like more songs that aren't already in our repertoire then you can request the "Songs request" add-on, for which we will arrange and perform up to 5 songs of your choice.

Do you have different line-up options?

Our standard lineup for dancing is Fiddle, Guitar, and Cajon, with a caller to explain the dances and guide the dancers through them. For instrumental music, our called plays double bass/cello. We can provide a bigger band if you would like one.

What if my timings change after I've booked you?

We'll always do our best to be flexible with timings in the event of a change of plan, we're quite aware that things do sometimes change slightly.

Can you provide an iPod/DJ service before and between your sets?

We are happy to provide our background playlist through our PA system before and during breaks in our sets. Also welcome for your to provide your own playlist and we can play that too. For a DJ service following the event, there is an additional fee, viewable on our add-ons playlist.

How much time do you need to set up?

We need about 45 minutes to set the band up before the first set. If we need to set a large PA up, an hour or so would likely be required.

Do you provide a caller?

Indeed we do! Our caller is well versed in all the classic dances, but is happy to learn new ones if you have a special request. If you don't need a caller/dancing for the whole time, that's not a problem, our caller also plays in the band.

Can I pick the songs you play from the set list?

You're welcome to request certain dances/tunes we play, which we will incorporate into a custom setlist for your event, based on many years of experience planning ceilidhs/folk sets.

Is all of the equipment (e.g. PA) included in your quote?

We can provide a small PA system, but for bigger events/spaces we would either need to use a system that was already in place, or hire a larger system. Happy to discuss this before bookings are made.

Can you learn song requests before the event?

We're happy to learn songs that you may want, especially for something like a first dance at a wedding, but depending on the song and rehearsal time required, there may be a small extra charge for this.

Musicianship

Genres:

Folk, Ceilidh, Traditional English folk, Traditional Scottish folk, Traditional Irish folk, Scottish music, Christmas, Rock, World music, Light music, Easy listening, Latin

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Types:

Ceilidh band, Folk band, Celtic folk band, Folk-rock band, Cover band, Function band, Wedding band, Party band, Acoustic band

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Event types:

Wedding, Wedding proposal, Hotel / Restaurant event, Bar / Club / Venue event, Private event, Corporate event, Charity event, Burns night, Birthday party, Christmas party, New Year's Eve, Theatre / Show

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