Hire The Department | Rock band in Leeds

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From£900

1 hour

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About The Department

The Department - your perfect rock party band. Many genres, top quality musicianship and equipment, complete client control.

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Rock band

Leeds

Public liability insurance of £1 million

The Department formed in 2015 since when they have become one of the North's premier rock covers bands. Extremely experienced across a range of bands and genres, Daz Clark (lead) and Sam Barrett (bass) met Dave Ball (guitar, vocals) and Phil Gregory (drums, vocals) after they'd been studying performance and music at university. Time without number venues have said "You're the best band we've ever had". The Department give a great show. Apart from the highly professional sound and presentation, venues say that what they appreciate is the variety through the night as many genres and eras are visited. Audiences also love the way the material is played properly – The Department have the ability to play the dual lead solo in Hotel California or the incredible high octane ending to Paradise City and even tackle the vintage glory of Highway Star. Bands frequently simplify or miss those bits out and having the musicianship to play them properly gives The Department a real edge.

The Department

5 out of 5

10 verified reviews

Satisfaction

5.0

Professionalism

5.0

Communication

5.0

Punctuality

5.0

The Department's Reviews

5 out of 5

Very professional, really responsive to messages. Thoroughly enjoyed by everyone

Reply from The Department

1 month ago

Thanks very much for your review Gaynor. The band really enjoyed playing for you and your guests - and in such a great venue. Pleased that you liked the band's professionalism and the comms too - we put a lot of effort into those aspects so really appreciate you mentioning them. Hope to see you again one day. Regards, Sam

5 out of 5

The Department were absolutely brilliant, we can't recommend them enough! The vibe was perfect, they had people up dancing all night, we got so many compliments on the band from our guests. The music was great, all songs that people knew and loved, with a nice rock tone to it. They learned 2 songs specifically for our party and it really made our night! If you are considering a band, get these guys!!!

Reply from The Department

2 months ago

Hi Kate and Emily We had a brilliant night and loved the gig. The marquee and the lights around it looked beautiful as the night drew on and it felt really magical to play under the stars. Great song choices for us to learn too - we had a blast with them. You guys, your family and all your guests made the band feel really welcome. Thank you for looking after us so well and hope to see you again one day. Kindest regards Sam

5 out of 5

We had The Department for our wedding reception, and we cannot praise them enough. They were the most efficient out of all the suppliers we had, communication was amazing and they really helped us when things got a little tricky with venue restrictions (which they managed to help with significantly!). As big music fans, the band was important for us to get right, and they did not disappoint whatsoever. They are all extremely talented and not your average wedding band, they’re better! Thank you again for making our evening so great!

Reply from The Department

3 months ago

Thank you Megan for your kind review. It was great playing for you, Mike and your lovely guests. We really enjoyed the gig. I'm so glad you guys had a good night too. Hope to meet you (and your fabulous dog) again one day. Kindest regards Sam

5 out of 5

The Department were completely amazing, blasting out rock classic after rock classic for 2.5 hours. They sounded spot on and really knew how to work the crowd with great interaction and got everyone on their feet dancing away. They have a great catalog of songs to choose from and also let you pick 2 of you own favourites on top of that. The amount of guests that asked up how we managed to find such a top band to play is credit to just how good these guys were- thank you Paul& Donna

Reply from The Department

5 months ago

Hi Paul and Donna Glad you had a good night. We had a blast playing for you and your guests. Thanks again for booking the band and here's hoping we'll meet again sometime. Kindest regards Sam

Read all 10 reviews

The best band we've ever had here.

I love booking you guys. I always have such a great night myself.

Read all 3 reviews

Encore badges

10 gigs

Experienced: 10 bookings through Encore

Saved the day!

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

7th Anniversary

This act has been working with Encore for over 7 years

The Department's Song list

1000 years (Christina Perri)

1985 (Bowling for Soup)

99 Red Balloons (Nena)

Ace Of Spades (Motorhead)

Are You Gonna Be My Girl? (Jet)

Are You Gonna Go My Way? (Lenny Kravitz)

Bad Moon Rising (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

Bad Romance (Lady Gaga (Halestorm version))

Bat out of Hell (Meatloaf)

Bed of roses (Bon Jovi)

Born To Be Wild (Steppenwolf)

Breathe (The Prodigy)

Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)

Can't live without your love and affection (Nelson)

Careless whisper (George Michael (Seether version))

Crazy Horses (The Osmonds)

Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne)

Dance the night away (Van Halen)

Dancing In The Dark (Bruce Springsteen)

Don't let the bells end (The Darkness)

Don't Stop Believing (Journey)

Don't Stop Me Now (Queen)

Don’t You Forget About Me (Simple Minds)

Easy Lover (Phil Collins)

Epic (Faith No More)

Everlong (Foo Fighters)

Faith (George Michael)

Feeling Good (Muse)

Fix You (Coldplay)

Footloose (Kenny Loggins)

Ghostbusters (Ray Parker Jr)

God Gave Rock And Roll To You (Kiss)

Here I Go Again (Whitesnake)

Highway Star (Deep Purple)

Hotel California (The Eagles)

Hungry Like The Wolf (Duran Duran)

I believe in a thing called love (The Darkness)

I Just Died In Your Arms (Cutting Crew)

I wish it could be Christmas everyday (Wizzard)

I'm A Believer (The Monkees)

If You Want Blood (ACDC)

In the air tonight (Phil Collins)

It's my life (Bon Jovi)

Jump (Van Halen)

Little Wing (Jimi Hendrix)

Long Tall Sally (Little Richard)

Long Train Running (The Doobie Brothers)

Marry me (Train)

Misery Business (Paramore)

Mr Brightside (The Killers)

My Sharona (The Knack)

Never going to give you up (Rick Astley / Foo Fighters)

Nothing else matters (Metallica)

Paradise City (Guns n' Roses)

Place your hands (Reef)

Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry)

Pretender (Foo Fighters)

Purple Rain (Prince)

Radar Love (Golden Earring)

Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin)

Rosalie (Thin Lizzie)

Should I Stay Or Should I Go? (The Clash)

Shut up and dance (Walk the moon)

Superstition (Stevie Wonder)

Take what you want (Ozzy Osbourne and Post Malone)

Tennessee Whiskey (Chris Stapleton)

The Chain (Fleetwood Mac)

The Power of love (Huey Lewis and the News)

Thunderstruck (ACDC)

Time Is Running Out (Muse)

Tonight, tonight (The Smashing Pumpkins)

Valerie (Mark Ronson / Amy Winehouse)

Waiting For An Alibi (Thin Lizzie)

Walking On Sunshine (Katrina And The Waves)

What's the story morning glory? (Oasis)

Word Up (Cameo / Gun)

You Give Love A Bad Name (Bon Jovi)

You to me are everything (The Real Thing)

You're in love with a psycho (Kasabian)

Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)

The Department's Prices

Last updated: 2024

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	£1125
Up to 3 hours	£1250

Customer questions

What do your clients love most about your performances?

The Department give a great show led by one of the best front men in the business. Apart from the highly professional sound and presentation, venues appreciate the variety through the night as many genres and eras are visited. Audiences also love the way the band has the musicianship to play songs, high notes & difficult solos, exactly as they were written.

Which venues have you performed at in the past?

Collectively and individually the band has performed at festivals, parties, media work, music pubs, clubs - many, many hundreds of gigs played in many, many different types of venue.

Which artists have you been most influenced by?

The Department's aim is always to be influenced by the song being performed. One of the advantages of being a rock covers band is the joy of meeting the needs and styles of presenting each song properly.

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

Radio shows covering the North, podcasts followed across the world.

Will the singer be the same as who I see in the videos?

The band has a fixed line-up, so the singer will be as shown on the videos and as heard on the recordings on Encore.

Do you have different line-up options?

The band has a fixed line-up, so you can be sure the singer will be as shown on the videos and the musicians will be the same high quality musicians as heard on the recordings on Encore.

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

The band can accommodate any reasonable request and will certainly be as flexible as possible. This is YOUR event and we want it to be as fantastic and successful we can help make it.

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

We provide a recorded music service before our set, as soon as the basic PA is set up. Between sets we can also provide DJ services. All of this is included within the price. We can also provide a continuing DJ service for a reasonable extra fee after the band has finished.

How much time do you need to set up?

Setup takes between 1.5 and 2 hours. As soon as the PA is set up we can provide an music service to start the atmosphere rolling. This is free.

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

You are welcome to pick the songs from our set list or the band can play a set that they already know works brilliantly (or any combination of the two). The Department will also learn and perform two songs of your choice. This service is included in the fee..

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

All PA, lighting, backline, sound processing and instruments are included in the quote. All of these are of the highest professional standard.

Can you learn song requests before the event?

The band will learn two songs of your choice for free. The Department are also happy to learn extra songs - there is a fee of £30 per song after the first two.

Musicianship

Genres:

Rock, Alternative rock, Classic rock, Hard rock, Power rock, Heavy metal

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Types:

Rock band, Rock n roll band

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Event types:

Private event, Birthday party, Bar / Club / Venue event, Wedding, Hotel / Restaurant event, Corporate event, Concert, Recording session, Theatre / Show, Cruise, Christmas party, New Year's Eve

See all event types