Hire The Frank Reid Scottish Dance Band | Ceilidh band in East Sussex

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From£1100

1 hour

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Frank Reid Scottish Band | Ceilidh Band

Frank Reid Band at Whitehall

Frank Reid Scottish Ceilidh Band at Westminster Cathedral Hall

About The Frank Reid Scottish Dance Band

The Frank Reid Scottish Ceilidh Band are the top traditional Scottish Ceilidh band outside of Scotland.

Ceilidh band

Wadhurst

Public liability insurance of £5 million

Verified profile

Frank Reid has been playing Scottish music on the accordion for most of his life. At first the band played almost exclusively for enthusiast Scottish dancers but since then have evolved into a Scottish Ceilidh band offering a package including calling the dances for novice audiences with little or no knowledge of Scottish dancing. We get great reviews for this people often mentioning getting the level just right for the audience and enjoying the humour thrown in. The band has played at over 4000 gigs mostly in England but also 23 other countries of the world including many high profile gigs at venues such as the Whitehall banqueting suite, The Brewery in the City of London, One Marleybone Place and Buckingham Palace. Rebookings include 40th 50th and 60th birthdays for one actress and 50th 60th and 70th for another. We played at Robert Lindsay's wedding to Rosemarie Ford plus several other occasions for the family. Obviously we've been around a while but occasionally recruiting from my daughter's generation of musicians at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow to where we relocated in 2017. We operate in and around both cities by keeping a car and equipment in both places. We get great testimonials and the word that crops up most of all is 'professional'.

The Frank Reid Scottish Dance Band

5 out of 5

12 verified reviews

Satisfaction

5.0

Professionalism

4.8

Communication

5.0

Punctuality

5.0

The Frank Reid Scottish Dance Band's Reviews

5 out of 5

Wonderful! Very helpful band who made our wedding evening so special. Great communication, able to tailor the evening's seclude to suit us. Highly recommend

5 out of 5

Excellent ceilidh for our wedding really broke the ice and got everyone up and dancing together. We had lots of first-timers who now can’t wait to ceilidh again. Frank & Co were lovely too. Very professional and really didn’t need a lot from us. We had another band coming on afterwards which complicated matters but they communicated in advance about the changeover and it went smoothly on the day.

Reply from The Frank Reid Scottish Dance Band

1 year ago

Thanks Hannah. It was lovely to meet you, Ruaridh and your friends. Also the small contingent from north of the border who seemed to really enjoy themselves. Nice bit of rapport re Skye where we were married! Lots of nice comments as we were leaving and also really appreciated help in the changeover from the other band Sexy Rumours. Great professional band and kit. Hope we meet again !

5 out of 5

We are very grateful to Frank Reid and his bandmates Richard and Maddie for stepping in at the last minute to play at our wedding when our original band could no longer play due to unfortunate circumstances. Frank was flexible and accommodating to our timing, and detailed in his responses and advice to ensure our first dance and the ceilidh went smoothly. Our first dance is a memory to treasure for the rest of our lives and Frank and his bandmates were instrumental in making it happen. The music was fantastic and our guests thoroughly enjoyed the Ceilidh (whether seasoned dancers or first timers). Thank you so much!

Reply from The Frank Reid Scottish Dance Band

1 year ago

Edith So sorry not to have seen this review before. Glad you enjoyed it. We hope to strike the right balance between 'seasoned' and 'novice'. We had a ball too! Looking forward to another Cambridge trip soon!

5 out of 5

Great time had by all and good calling kept everyone moving. Band sounded brilliant and judged the crowd well, as well as helping to rope in new couples on a couple occasions. Would definitely recommend.

Reply from The Frank Reid Scottish Dance Band

2 years ago

A Great evening when in spite of the heat everybody pitched in and had a good time. Would love to play for them again sometime!

Read all 6 reviews

5 out of 5

Your music was absolutely fantastic! Best band that have played for us, we would love to have you again!

5 out of 5

Thank you so much for putting on another brilliant ceilidh. We had three days of exciting events throughout the conference, but the only thing the girls would talk about in the debrief was how much they enjoyed the ceilidh! It was such a terrific event - down to your brilliance in calling the dances and the quality of your band. You make things so easy for an event organiser in communicating before the event, adapting to our plans and setting up without fuss. I am hugely grateful - as always. It really was a fantastic evening.

Read all 9 reviews

Encore badges

10 gigs

Experienced: 10 bookings through Encore

Saved the day!

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

8th Anniversary

This act has been working with Encore for over 8 years

The Frank Reid Scottish Dance Band's Song list

Gay Gordons

Dashing White Sergeant

Canadian Barn Dance

St Bernards Waltz

Eightsome Reel

Flying Scotsman

Waltz Country Dance

Boston Two Step

Strip the Willow

Mairi's Wedding

Duke of Perth

Virginia Reel

Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh

Hamilton House

Military Two Step

Flower of Scotland

The Nothern Lights

Skye Boat Song

For these are my mountains

Will you go lassie go

Cailin mo ruin sa

Morag of Dunvegan

Lovely Stornoway

Black Velvet Band

Forty Shades of Green

The County of Armagh

Westering home

The Frank Reid Scottish Dance Band's Prices

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

Performance duration	Price
Up to 1 hour	£1100
Up to 2 hours	£1200
Up to 3 hours	£1400

three piece 4 musicians

Three musicians including calling

£1200

Customer questions

Can you perform covers?

No we don't. We're a top Scottish ceilidh band and we stick to the knitting!

Do you have different line-up options?

Yes we do. The standard line up is accordion,fiddle,flute and drums. We can add keyboards or another fiddle. Or we can drop the flute for a three piece. Or offer a two piece of fiddle and accordion. Any of these smaller options still come with the PA for the whole band so you get an awesome sound with even just accordion and fiddle.

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

Nearly everbody's timings change from what they first thought. It's no problem!

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

Yes we can. We have a theatre quality Bose PA including bass bins so we're well set up for a quality sound at all levels up to 200 people (and beyond with prior notice). We have a Sony broadcast quality CD player within our rack. We also have dedicated channels set aside for your ipod or whatever including direct from lightning socket

How much time do you need to set up?

We usually arrive an hour before we're set to play. Some of this time is used to get the kit out of the trailer and get to the nearest point of entry. Because most of our kit is already wired up in a rack unit we can actually set up in as little as 30 mins.

Do you provide a caller?

We have a fantastic caller within the band. Many of our reviews mention the quality of calling. It's a really important element so its not something we like to leave to chance. If you want dances tending towards the reeling spectrum we would advise a separate caller of which we have three to choose from.

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

Our program is crafted from years of experience and we invariably do the same dances. The order is important as some of the moves build on what has gone before. However if you specific requests these can of course be catered for. In particular we have a first dance medley we can teach the bride and groom if they're up for it.

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

In addition to the high quality PA which is included in the quote we have wireless mics which can be used for speeches etc. We calso carry a table mic stand which is useful at Burns suppers for instance. We have LED lighting which adds atmospehere but can also be used in sound to light mode for the DJ sets.

Can you learn song requests before the event?

It's quite common (at a wedding) for us to play the couple's choice of first dance through our PA. We're sometimes asked to learn a particular song which we're happy to do provided it fits our style and instrumentation.

What do your clients love most about your performances?

The comments that recur most often are 'quality of the music' 'swingy' 'toe-tapping' 'getting the calling just right' and 'professional'

Which venues have you performed at in the past?

With over 4000 gigs behind us its hard to list a fraction of them but some that we've played at often are: The Caledonian Club Whitehall Banqueting Suite Middle Temple Hall Islington Town Hall Cheltenham Town Hall St Columba's Church Pont St Hammersmith Town Hall Wandsworth Civic Suite Wycombe Abbey Achool Eton College Down House

Which artists have you been most influenced by?

Alasdair Fraser (who used to play with us) Calum Kennedy Andrew Rankine Iain MacPhail The Proclaimers The Corries Capercaillie and out of genre: Michael Bublé Diana Krall Jamie Cullum