For more than 50 years Q Scores has been the industry standard by which the media business has quantified the star power of celebrities, from music to movies.
Hooley has adapted these ranking factors for the Irish wedding band scene.
So enter Hooley Score.... to make your task of finding a wedding band easier and quicker.
The question is:
What is Hooley Score, exactly? And how is it calculated?
Hooley Score measures how popular wedding bands are in the combined terms of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter and ranks them accordingly.
Ireland's Best Top Wedding Bands
The Following are the Best Wedding Bands in Ireland and then you will find the Best Wedding Bands in Leinster, Connaught, Munster and Ulster. Do you agree? Laeve a comment at the bottom!
[2018] Ireland: Top 10 Wedding Bands
If you want to find the best Wedding Bands for Ireland in 2018, you need look no further. Listed below are the 10 top wedding bands that rank most highly on Hooley Score.
The best Wedding Bands for Leinster in 2018, you need look no further. Listed below are the 10 top wedding bands that rank most highly on Hooley Score for Leinster.
Formerly known as The Big Day Band, ELECTRIC BLUE comprise of five of the finest musicians and performers in Ireland today who collectively bring a wealth of...
The Suite are an energetic, professional and experienced 4 piece band, combining effortless musicianship with 4 part vocal harmonies, providing a unique sound to their extensive and...
Are you looking for a unique entertainment experience for your reception that will appeal to guests of all ages? Something not seen before, an alternative to the...
Winners of Band Of The Year 2014 at the prestigious WeddingsOnline Awards, The Best Men Wedding Band Ireland perform the best modern and classic tunes for you...
The Harleys are a four-piece band who have taken playing covers to a whole new level since their inception five years ago. They are a full time band that...
We are a four piece live professional band based in the midlands. We travel nationwide performing at weddings, corporate events, festivals and all popular music venues. All...
Are you looking for something extra-special and different from your wedding, corporate or band entertainment? Pump Up The Jam are a 6-piece band that play the hits of...
Midnight Sounds have long been established as Ireland’s premium wedding band. We understand that your wedding should be unique and will work carefully with you to...
The Hitmen Trio use amplified acoustic instruments, creative, original arrangements & mash-ups to give a well-loved songs a unique makeover. This year they won the Judges’...
If you want to find the best Wedding Bands for Munster in 2018, you need look no further. Listed below are the 10 top wedding bands that rank most highly on Hooley Score for Munster
Young, energetic, super-professional and one of the most exciting party bands currently playing venues all over Ireland and the UK. Fuse are an all male 4-piece band...
Free Beer are a wedding band in Limerick, and are one of the the most sought-after bands for weddings,dinner dances and other functions. They have a wide...
Wedding Band Limerick The Irresistibles are ready to play for your wedding or corporate event. We are based in Co. Limerick and are happy to travel countrywide....
Escapade - Irelands No.1 Wedding/Party Band. Whether you are looking for a band for a wedding, pub, club, festival, college gig, debs or corporate event Irish Wedding...
Brass & Co. cater for people who are serious about their event band, those who want to create an atmosphere above and beyond run-of-the-mill wedding bands! We...
We have performed for celebrities, festivals, some amazing private parties and hundreds of wonderful weddings. We are constantly developing our show to suit the needs of a...
Truly Diverse are an established wedding band based in the south west of Ireland. The Band performs Pop, Rock, Country and Old Time in their own unique...
Renovator are one of Ireland's best party bands, who always keep the dance floor hopping by playing a mixture of modern hits as well as classic rock...
The Boogie Band specialise in providing 100% live music entertainment for Weddings and Corporate Events, Parties, Pubs and Clubs. They have become one of...
Blue Fusion are a hugely popular and exciting wedding, party and function band based in Cork City. The band is made up of five fantastic musicians, who...
If you want to find the best Wedding Bands for Connacht in 2018, you need look no further. Listed below are the 8 top wedding bands that rank most highly on Hooley Score for Connacht.
Anchormen is Ireland's hottest live band for weddings, corporate events and parties of every kind. Professional musicians who love what they do and live for music that...
What makes Raindance stand out from other professional wedding bands Ireland has to offer, is the fact that as well as talented musicians, we have three main...
We are an energetic and engaging covers wedding band available for bookings on a nationwide basis. We have many years experience as a wedding band and have...
A disco-funk, dance extravaganza, with smatterings of pop and rock, from the 70's right through to present day. MASS kick out the jams with a huge catalogue...
The Lewd Tunes are a 7 piece Galway wedding and corporate party band from the west of Ireland. We may be based in Galway, but we travel all over Ireland...
We are an Irish party and wedding band who specialize in high energy dance floor packing music. We have great set-lists, amazing singers and we play mind...
Top of the PopZ Wedding Band are Ireland’s most exciting and contemporary wedding band! They are an energetic, young and talented four piece band from Carrick on..
If you want to find the best Wedding Bands for Ulster in 2018, you need look no further. Listed below are the 4 top wedding bands that rank most highly on Hooley Score for Ulster.
Rockhill Ramblers are a five piece band hailing from county Donegal. Over the past few years they have been playing in pubs, festivals, dances and weddings around...
Are you looking for a well established band for your venue or wedding? Call on the Cufflinks Band for all your musical needs. We play a great mixture of rock...
The Mad-Ass Mules were formed in November 2013. Although the band is fairly new all our members have years of experience in the wedding/music industry. Previous bands...
Are you looking for live music to suit any occasion? Then you’ve come to exactly the right place. We have gained extensive experience playing all types of...
The #3 result looks like a good fit. So, you quickly click on it.
And when you get there…wow! They have the best darn wedding band recording you've seen and have been wedding band of the year! So, you listen to the video.
Next you decide to click through to this wedding band's YouTube channel. You listen to their other videos and say "Yep" these are a good band and subscribe to their channel by pressing that big red <<subscribe>> button.
So, Hooley Score first takes note of the number of YouTube Subscribers a wedding band has and assigns a certain value to this. If a band has a good YouTube presence and decent quality videos then they will attract subscriptions to their channel.
This is the next ranking factor that we've included in the Hooley Score
If you've found a wedding band that you think are worth considering then you will most likely head over to their Facebook Page.
Here you will normally find up to date photos, videos and links to articles and updates about their band members or act.
Facebook fans or users can share, comment or like posts from the band and this will help increase the popularity of a band or group.
A simple indicator of how popular a band are can be indicated by the total number of likes they have amassed.
If a wedding band's Facebook page has regular updates and interaction with their followers then you can assume that they are conscious of their online presence. They will work to keep the dance floor full all night and strive to be an award winning irish wedding band.
A lack of updates or presence on Facebook can possibly indicate a group that are not actually that active as a band and are not overly customer focused. They may not be the best band in Ireland for your big day.
A wedding band group that works hard on their Facebook page and has a lot of followers are likely to have spent a great deal of time trying to build their following.
This approach should then by logic carry through to their dealings with you if you do decide to book them.
If you want to understand more about how businesses interact with Facebook, check out this video:
Hooley Score and Twitter
Sainsbury's managed to deal in a light-hearted way with a disgruntled customer through their twitter account:
This tweet basically says:
We acknowledge your complaint Mr Jones but it is not all that actionable.
If a wedding band has good or bad press on twitter it should show here. Look for their twitter account and read the tweets!
Twitter is again another social media platform where a band can share photos and videos along with articles or jokes.
If a band has many followers then they are doing something right and engaging their audience. Our Hooley Score takes this into account and brings this into the equation.
If you want a simple basic guide to Twitter, check out this infographic by Cheryl Lawson...
In summary we have surveyed hundreds of wedding bands in Ireland through this mechanism of Hooley Score. Who are the best wedding bands in Ireland? Well here you go... We've divided them into 5 categories; Ireland, Leinster, Munster, Connacht and Ulster. Listed above are the best bands of 2017 in terms of Hooley Score that should hold true for booking in 2018…
Final Tips: Talk | Go See | Book
While Hooley Score is an excellent place to start your search to find the perfect wedding band, you must then talk to and go see a wedding band play live. A live performace will give you and idea of their set list and you will see if they are good wedding entertainers. You will need to find out the price for a wedding band in Ireland amongst many other things.
Without talking directly to your prospective band, you won't be able to gauge their professionalism, friendliness or if they are amenable to your music requirements. They may also be able to provide you with music for your drinks reception.
Listening to recordings of a band is a good starting point but doesn't beat going to see them perform live.
And it goes without saying you should try to book your band well in advance to avoid disappointment.
Some useful questions you should bear in mind when you speak to your band would be as follows:
Possibly the most important task to undertake will be to go see the band live. If it is possible it does no harm to bring an extra friend or two along to see them perform. It's always good to have a third or even fourth opinion.
It's a good occasion to ask your band any outstanding questions you might have. You could even ask them to play a particular piece that you have in mind for the first dance for example.
The decisive step to all of your endeavours to find the perfect band is to go ahead and book. It's important that you get things in writing. You should get a booking confirmation detailing the service to be provided (music sets/time), fees, payment terms, additional services (i.e. DJ) and cancellation policy.
In short, research your bands using the Hooley Score and then go see, talk and book them.
Best of luck with booking your wedding band in 2018!
Now It’s Your Turn
So that’s what we believe will lead to helping you book the best wedding band in 2018.
Now we want to turn it over to you: Which of the wedding band’s would you be thinking of booking, have booked or had them play already your wedding?
What do you think of our Hooley Score ranking? Do you think we could improve upon it?
Let us know by leaving a quick comment below right now.
![Leinster [2018] Top Wedding Bands | Hooley.ie](https://www.avocamusic.ie/img/wedding-bands/leinster-shield-262x306.png)
![Munster [2018] Top Wedding Bands | Hooley.ie](https://www.avocamusic.ie/img/wedding-bands/munster-shield-262x306.png)
![Connacht [2018] Top Wedding Bands | Hooley.ie](https://www.avocamusic.ie/img/wedding-bands/connacht-shield-262x306.png)
![Ulster [2018] Top Wedding Bands | Hooley.ie](https://www.avocamusic.ie/img/wedding-bands/ulster-shield-262x306.png)
