Though not uncommon at Reel Time, we had another very busy week recently with 5 Scottish band events in just 3 days. 2 events were for one incentive group, our stage show and rock band Tartanium performed twice, there was ceilidh dancing and a wedding. All of this took place at some great venues for entertainment in Edinburgh and St Andrews.

First up were the Scraggly Cats, accompanied by 3 mini-kilted Highland Dancers, at the Kimpton Hotel in Charlotte Square, Edinburgh. The rocking ceilidh band entertained an Incentive group of Americans from Spectra DMC, fresh off of a long haul flight from the states. As they relaxed and unwound from the travel, the Scraggly Cats played background pop covers during dinner, sort of like a live lounge. This was our first of two events with this group. At the second event, we’d be doing a full on ceilidh with them. In preparation for that, we introduced them to Scottish dancing with a brand new service we offer clients: Strictly Come Ceilidh Dancing. The 3 mini-kilted dancers and the band helped teach guests some dances, then couples and group were judged by the professionals – the Highland Dancers – and non-professionals i.e. a panel of senior members of the company. A fun and novel way to get to grips with ceilidh dancing, and not too taxing an evening on the heels of a long day of travel.

At the same time, just a few streets away, the 5 piece Tartanium band entertained a top-secret corporate client at a gala dinner event. The band – bagpipes, drums, guitar, keyboard, and a singer – plus three mini-kilted Highland Dancers, put on their raucous stage show for some after-dinner entertainment at the National Museum of Scotland. They were followed by a Pipeband, who emerged from one of the museum’s galleries and marched in procession through the main hall to surpise the guests with ‘Beat the Retreat.’

The next night, Tartanium was back on the road for a function at the Eden Club in Pittormie Castle, near St Andrews. Reel Time provided all sorts of entertainment for The Founders Dinner of a Private Members club. The Members had enjoyed golfing during the day on the Old Course, then returned to the Eden Club for dinner, during which Reel Time provided a Guitar and Accordion Duo and Roddy the Piper performed the Haggis Address. Then a 6-piece  Tartanium, adding a fiddle to the previous night’s setup, plus 3 mini-kilted dancers performed their whirlwind show.

On the third day, at the Assembly Rooms on George Street in Edinburgh, the Reel Time Ceilidh Band performed for the same Incentive Group of Americans hosted by Spectra. Having had a taste of ceilidh dancing, they were ready for the full event, this time without the pressure of judges.

And, finally, the Scraggly Cats were in St Andrews for a wedding. The Happy Couple both went to St Andrews University, where they met, and shared a love of ceilidh dancing which they later incorporated into their wedding. They left a lovely review here.

A busy week of Scottish Band Events for our bands, who were shortly back out in force for 5 scottish events in just one night!

If you need help finding the right band or for your Scottish Event or wedding, get in touch!

 

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Modern Ceilidh Band

Our modern ceilidh band, Tartanium, rocked up this Glasgow conference.  The 10 piece band along with the Tartanium dancers, helped hundreds of delegates ceilidh dance. This was the first dance! 

Scottish Show Video

Scottish show by the Tartanium 10 piece band. A modern funky Scottish band perform a Scottish show with contemporary dancers. The show piece combines bagpipes and fiddle with a driving rhythm section, (kit drums, keys, bass and electric guitar,) along with a horn section of sax, trumpet and trombone. The band rocked the Glasgow conference hosted at the SEC and Glasgow Hilton. The audience: 500 guests at a Nursing conference. 

The modern Scottish show can be anywhere between 15-30 minutes. This can be paired with an interactive modern ceilidh segment of up to 60 minutes. The Tartanium dancers mix contemporary choreography and traditional Highland dance steps to provide a spectacle for guests to watch. They can also help with the ceilidh segment, which helps massively!
The band also perform pop and rock covers to keep the dance floor moving all night.
The Tartanium band have also been called in to entertain opening and closing ceremonies for conference audiences. Sometimes accompanied by dancers or a pipe band. High impact modern Scottish performance for all events!
Find out more about the Tartanium Scottish Show

Scraggly Cats: Ceilidh and Covers at EICC Conference

The Scraggly Cats had a cracking gig at the EICC in Edinburgh last year. With 1300 delegates at the conference, the ceilidh was always going to be epic. Have a watch of the video for the end of the Strip the Willow, along with pop covers from the band.
We were lucky to have 6 Highland dancers on the floor to help us manage this massive conference crowd. They did well!
Have a look at more from the ceilidh and covers Scraggly Cats band 

If you are wanting to book the band for your event or conference, please drop us an email or call the events office.

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What is a ceilidh? While some people are very familiar with the idea of a Ceilidh…. others are not so.  Let’s start at the beginning:

Traditionally it is a gathering or social event, and it didn’t necessarily involve any dancing.  These days a Ceilidh is a sociable way to bring people together involving Scottish music and dance.

Children ceilidh, old people ceilidh, people with disabilities ceilidh.  It is an inclusive Scottish past time. It’s fun. It’s good to stimulate your blood flow and coordination.  It makes you more attractive (probably!).

How do you pronounce the word?

For those unfamiliar with a ceilidh, just the thought of asking about a ceilidh can be a little daunting!  How do you pronounce it?  Simply put, it is said, “Kay-lee” or ‘K LEE’. It is a Gaelic word meaning a gathering.  To ceilidh you will need: some coordination, a sense of fun and a bit of energy (various dance intensities for different energy levels)

Why might I choose to have a ceilidh?

A ceilidh is much more than simply enjoying Scotland’s musical heritage.  It is a great way to get people up and dancing.  It is a fantastic way to meet people and interact in an informal way.

What is its role in Scottish culture?

Most people in Scotland know how to ceilidh dance.  We were taught in gym lessons at school.  It is often used to bring together two sides of a family at a wedding to start the party, or as a celebration at a work, Christmas or corporate party.

Where can we listen to ceilidh music? 

Watch our modern ceilidh video of Contemporary Scottish Music Over 160000 other people have! 

Listen to funky ceilidh band audio at our ceilidh soundcloud

Online:  Have a look through our ceilidh band website for pictures, audio and media streams. 

To Download a track for non commercial use.  Watch this space! coming soon!  

Where can I find ceilidh music for commercial use?

If you are working in TV, radio, advertising, and are looking to license or commission a piece of ceilidh music then get in touch.  We have worked with various brands, TV shows and films to help create the Scottish mood.  We even scrubbed up pretty well to feature on ‘This September’ with Charles Dance!

My boyfriend is taking me reeling, what should I do?

Watch some videos, get yourself a reeling partner and let them know that this is your first dance! Also see ‘what shoes’ below.  Please note that reeling and ceilidh dancing although similar, are different.  More on that in our next blog post! 

Can anyone get involved in a ceilidh?

Anyone can ceilidh dance. It’s simple, but fun and energetic.  The key to ceilidh dancing is having a band that has a caller. There are various types of ceilidh band, from traditional ceilidh bands (usually with accordion or fiddle (violin) leading the sound)  to modern bands with bagpipes, synthesizer  and kit drums.  The most important thing for a beginner ceilidh audience is getting a ceilidh caller ( this is the person who explains the different dances to the guests).

There are lots of different ceilidh dances, from Gay Gordon’s to the Dashing White Seargent.  Some are fast, some are slow. Some are for couples (or two friends!!) and some are done as group dances.

The key is getting a balance of dancing, fun, crowd participation and team building.

How many ceilidh dances will we do? 

The answer is different depending on your audience. Some groups will ceilidh dance all night long, under the right ceilidh instruction. Some conference groups, who may have never experienced ceilidh before may like 4 or 5 dances.  There are some bands, such as the Scraggly Cats, who are well versed in mixing the evenings entertainment up between our traditional ceilidh dancing, and Modern pop and rock.  This gives the event organiser the flexibility on the evening to vary between the traditional Scottish element, and guests letting their hair down at a conference or incentive event.

What is the most appropriate ladies Ceilidh footwear? 

Though shalt go to the ceilidh ball. 2 pairs, one for arriving at the ball, the other for dancing.  It can be very fast paced spinning, turns and skipping.  So appropriate pretty flat shoes are a winner.  Also bear in mind you may have had a drink by the dancing stage!

Ceilidh dancers

When there is a large group, whether a conference of 1000 people, an incentive event of 500, or a corporate group visiting Scotland for the first time.  It is often handy to have some professional ceilidh dancers to come in and help keep some order on the dancefloor.

The Scottish dancers can often offer a showpiece spectacle, which can lead nicely into the guests dancing for themselves.  The dance routines can be traditionally Scottish, with highland fling and sword dance.  Alternatively for a more contemporary Scottish event, there are also dancers performing contemporary choreographed routines in mini kilts, before helping out a conference delegation.

I don’t think my guests will ceilidh dance!

There are some events that guests ceilidh participation is not on the cards! Maybe there is no space at your venue to get everyone dancing. Maybe the demographic of your crowd is such that you don’t feel they will dance (we had a great night with 100 Turkish men!! We didn’t think it would work either!!)

If you want to give the guests a great Scottish show, which mixes things up between traditional Scottish sounds and dancing.  Along with modern rock ceilidh, then have a look at Tartanium.

Next in the ceilidh dancing series: What is the difference between traditional and modern ceilidh bands?  

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Leiths started proceeding, presenting an excellent buffet dinner.  The event space was left completely open, with no chairs, just a few poseur tables for eating.  This made for a really sociable atmosphere, and encouraged guests onto the dance floor, which was packed all evening.

Conference ceilidh dancers 

The band were accompanied by 8 Highland dancers who were able to lead the way and keep control on the dancefloor.  It was great to see international guests, from literally every corner of the globe, come together and ceilidh dance.  We stuck to the easier dances, with the faster dances proving most popular!

If you are in need of a great ceilidh band who can explain how to dance our Scottish dance to an international crowd, do get in touch for more detail.

The great thing about the Scraggly Cats is that as well as being a fantastic ceilidh band.  They are also able to keep the dance floor full with pop and rock classics.  This gives conference organisers the peace of mind that the cultural element will be fulfilled, at the same time as guests enjoying their favourite hits!

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Starting with a wedding at the mighty Dalmahoy, (a gorgeous hotel and country club near Edinburgh,) with an interesting mix of pop and ceilidh from our Scraggly Cats band.  The grooms daughter sang the first dance along with the band, which started the wedding reception off perfectly.  The guests were crammed onto the dance floor for a rocking ceilidh.  There was a great firework display just before the buffet, followed by pop and rock from through the decades.

Wednesday night saw the band at Edinburgh’s iconic 5 star hotel, the Balmoral.  We played as a 4 piece band, along with our Tartanium dancers.  We performed an accordion and guitar spot during the starter, followed by the folk band during the main course.  The guests were wowed by the Tartanium dancers before we put them through the paces on the ceilidh dance floor.  The highlight for the band was, without a doubt, the baked Alaska that appeared.  5 star!

Conference Ceilidh 

On Thursday night we entertained a conference ceilidh crowd in town for PRION 2017, a degenerative disease research conference.  There were 200 guests from all over the world mad keen to find out how to ceilidh dance, and they danced all night long!

We set up our large PA and lighting rig at the museum.

Whether it be wedding entertainment, Scottish conference dinner entertainment, or looking for a Scottish touch for your conference, then get in touch with one of the Reel Time team to discuss how we can help you to get your ceilidh on!

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Burns Night Format:

Traditional Burns night etiquette was adhered to with the top table guests being piped in for dinner.  The Selkirk Grace was performed by one of the guests.  The haggis was piped in by Roddy the Piper, before Linda addressed it; firstly in Scots then with an English translation.

Following a delicious dinner, the Immortal Memory was delievered, followed by the Address to the Lassies and Reply to the Laddies.  Guests were then put through their paces on the dance floor.  For several of the guests it was their first ceilidh experience, so the Reel Time Ceilidh Band enjoyed introducing them to the Gay Gordon’s and Virginia Reel.  The evening finished with one of the guests joining the band to sing Ae Fond Kiss.

The Reel Time Ceilidh Band are looking forward to a busy couple of weeks, with plenty of guests to entertain as they celebrate the life and poetry of Robbie Burns.

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The Reel Time Ceilidh Band entertained festive revellers at the first Dalmahoy Christmas party of the year.  As well as groups of family and friends, there were also several corporate groups celebrating Christmas with their teams.  Including the John Clark Motor Group and Quintiles. The evening started with welcome drinks before guests sat down to enjoy a delicious festive meal.  Steph, one of Reel Time’s fantastic DJ’s, entertained with music during dinner.  This really helped everyone to get into a Christmas mood, ready to get the party started!

The Reel Time Ceilidh band performed funky ceilidh sets which got everyone on their feet, and the DJ played plenty of popular tunes. The dance floor was packed all evening and a good time was definitely had by all.

The Reel Time Band are looking forward to playing more over the next few weeks in the run up to Christmas.  They have several more Christmas parties at Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club, which they know will be as sucessful as the first.  This is also a busy time for our DJ’s, who are providing the entertainment at Christmas Parties at some of Scotland’s top venues.  Including The Hub, The Glasshouse, the Botanics, the Assembly Rooms and Glasgow Science Centre.

Hogmanay

And it’s not just Christmas that we are counting down to; Hogmanay is not far away!  The Scraggly Cats are excited to have been invited back to perform at the Crieff Hydro celebrations, and we are providing ceilidh bands for Perth Racecourse, the Glasshouse and Douneside House in Aberdeenshire.  Dalmahoy will also be bringing in the New Year in style with a ceilidh band, dancers, DJ and even a pipeband.

Modern Ceilidh band 

Still looking for ideas of ways to spend Hogmanay? Why not have a look at what the amazing packages these top hotels have on offer, and bring in the New Year with Reel Time!

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