Happy New Year

The Caribbean Crew Steel Drum Band finished off 2013 last night with a beautiful wedding at the La Playa Beach Resort in Naples, FL.  The sounds of the steel drum music filled the air, along with some great reggae music, calypso music and jazz standards.  Thanks to everyone who booked The Caribbean Crew Steel Drum Band and our steel drum players to perform at their weddings, corporate functions, house parties and other special events in 2013.  We would like to wish all of you a very Happy New Year and we look forward to performing at more wonderful events in 2014.

Five weddings in one day

A coupe of weeks ago, we had the pleasure of performing at five different weddings in the same day.  That is a new record.  Two of them were at the same venue – the beautiful Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, FL.  Please check out the picture above of one of our steel drum players performing pre-ceremony music at Hammock Beach.

We are fortunate to have a pool of some of the most talented and professional steel drum players in Florida.  As a result, we can book multiple weddings in the same day.   Even if your wedding, corporate function, house party, or other special event is less than a week away, still give us a call.  It is more than likely that we will still be able to provide you with quality Caribbean Entertainment.

The Caribbean Crew Steel Drum Band wins two more National Awards

The Caribbean Crew is the first-ever winner of the prestigious Gigmasters Rising Star Award for being the Top Corporate Event Entertainer in North America. The band received the award because it booked more corporate events than any other GigMasters entertainer in The United States and Canada. That means The Caribbean Crew beat out 10,000 entertainment acts and vendors to win the award.

The Caribbean Crew also won the 2011 Gigmasters Rising Star Award for being the Top Steel Drum Band in all of North America. The award is given out for outstanding achievement in live music and event entertainment bookings. The Caribbean Crew was the highest earning steel drum band throughout The United States and Canada. This is the fifth year in a row that the band has received this prestigious award.

Gigmasters is the number one online event entertainment booking service and draws over 25,000 visitors every day looking to book entertainment for their event. The website www.gigmasters.com has a nationwide database of over 10,000 top-quality, client-rated entertainment acts and vendors.

The Caribbean Crew is based in Central Florida and specializes in corporate events and weddings. The band performs at over 50 corporate functions every year and has already performed at over 500 weddings. The band carries full liability insurance coverage and the size of the band can be customized to fit almost any budget. Congratulations to The Caribbean Crew!

Steel Drum a Huge Hit at Orlando Wedding and Bridal Show

We had a booth yesterday at a local Wedding and Bridal show in Orlando.  There were wedding DJs, wedding bands and other wedding vendors at the expo.  Our steel drum band was too big for the booth, so one of our steel drum players performed a nice mix of wedding ceremony music, reggae music, calypso music, steel drum music and jazz selections on the steel drums.  He was a huge hit!

Many brides came up to the booth and said that they had seen steel drum bands on TV, but had never seen a live steel drum player up close.  Some brides even took pictures with the steel drums.  One of them got a little too close and knocked over a steel drum, but we were able to catch it before it fell.  Good thing, as it is quite a process to tune or blend a steel drum when it goes out of tune.

We had many brides that were interested in booking our steel drum band or solo steel drum player to perform at their upcoming beach weddings, destination weddings and weddings right here in Orlando.  So if you have a wedding, corporate function or other special event coming up in the near future, give us a call.  The sweet sounds of steel drum music, reggae music, calypso and other music from the Caribbean will help make your celebration even more special.

Does the band have to be in a shaded or covered area?

Summer is in full swing and that means it is very hot and a high chance of rain every evening in Central Florida. We always ask that the band perform in a shaded, covered area. We are not trying to be difficult, but did you know that if the steel drums are exposed to the sun for too long, they will get very hot and that will damage the instruments. The sun can often reflect off the drum and straight into the musician’s face. Also, it is very uncomfortable to perform in the hot sun for 2-3 hours.

Please make arrangements for the band to set up under a gazebo, overhang or even a small pop-up tent. Two or three large pool/beach umbrellas can often provide sufficient shade as well. If none of these are available, try putting the band up against a building that will provide shade instead of in an open courtyard.

Everyone loves being outdoors, but in Central Florida it is typically in the mid-90s in the summer. It is more comfortable inside and the performance will not be affected by rain. If the band sets up and then has to strike everything because of an approaching shower, there is normally an additional fee to break down and set back up. Plus, it comes out of the performance time. If it looks like it is going to rain, it probably will, so having the band set up inside as a precaution is highly recommended. It will end up saving you time and money.

Holiday Parties – A Tropical Christmas

The holiday season is in full swing and so are the holiday parties. There is still time to book your holiday entertainment through Cocobean.

A “Tropical Christmas” is the perfect theme for your Office Christmas Party or family gathering. During the holidays, our talent can perform traditional Christmas Carols and other Christmas Music and Holiday Music on the steel drums. Of course, they will also perform all the popular reggae, calypso and soca hits. Please go back to our home page and click on Holiday Parties to view some of your favorite Christmas Carols performed on the steel drum.

Also, look out for our Tropical Christmas Trio performing at the Orlando Premium Outlets on the weekends in December.

Congrats on your engagement. Now what?

Happy New Year! There were thousands of engagements over the recent holiday season. Now it’s time to start looking for quality entertainment that will help make your wedding the greatest day of your life! Are you having a destination wedding, beach wedding, island or tropical themed wedding? Then look no further.

Cocobean can provide wedding entertainment in the form of Steel Drum Music, Caribbean Music, Island Music, Calypso Music, Reggae Music and Soca Music for any of these themed weddings. Our band The Caribbean Crew performs at over 50 weddings a year and can provide music for the ceremony, cocktails, reception (dinner & dancing) and can also take care of the formal introductions and announcements.

You can even hire the band or one of our steel drum players to perform at the rehearsal dinner. Or, if you are looking to start celebrating right away, you can hire a reggae/calypso band or steel drum player for your engagement party. The Caribbean Crew performs anywhere in the world, so no destination is too far. Please visit our website www.cocobeanproductions.com and click on Caribbean Crew and Weddings for more information on our services.

A Tropical Christmas – Entertainment for your Holiday Parties

Still looking for some unique holiday entertainment for your company Christmas Holiday Parties or house holiday parties? The Caribbean Crew Steel Drum Band has a Tropical Christmas Performance, where the band or solo steel drum player performs traditional Christmas songs on the steel drums, as well as you favorite calypso, reggae, soca, Top 40 and jazz standards. Some of the Christmas songs we perform include: Jingle Bells, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, The Christmas Song, Deck The Halls, Feliz Navidad, Silent Night, Last Christmas, White Christmas, Chestnuts, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, Silver Bells, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, I’ll Be Home for Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. It’s like celebrating the holidays while on vacation. Please check out the links and view our holiday parties performances http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpLNy-G-MMQ, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spry3nzexb0 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmEUbtyFJRU to view some samples on YouTube.

The early bird catches the worm!

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Many musicians will often pass on early morning performances, especially if they are out of town. But not The Caribbean Crew Steel Drum Band!

Last week Friday, our steel drum player and percussionist made a 4 hour drive down to Marco Island in Naples, FL for a 9 AM beach wedding. The weather was beautiful and the steel drum music was the perfect fit for such a joyous occasion. Our steel drum player performed “somewhere over the rainbow” on the steel drums, as David and Eduardo made their way down the beach towards the officiant. At the end of the ceremony, our steel drum player performed “just the two of us” and it sounded fantastic on the steel pan.

While David and Eduardo were off taking pictures, our steel drum band entertained the guests with a nice mix of reggae, calypso and steel drum music, while they sipped on mimosas. By the time the newlyweds came back, the party had already started and many of the guests were dancing barefoot in the sand to the sweet sounds of steel drum music. Who would’ve thought that people would be dancing under the sun and on the beach at 10 AM in the morning? That’s the power of Caribbean Music!

Our steel drum band packed up and were back on the road by 1:30 PM to head back to Orlando. It was a long day, but well worth it. Everyone had a great time at the wedding, especially the newlyweds and we are so happy that we got to be part of their special day.

Happy Easter from THE CARIBBEAN CREW STEEL DRUM BAND

On behalf of all of the musicians in our steel drum band, we would like to take this opportunity to wish our past and future clients a very Happy Easter.  We know that so many people love Reggae Music and are fascinated with the steel drum (or as some say, the steel pan drum or Jamaican steel drum).  We also know that there are several other steel drum bands and Wedding DJs out there, but yet so many of you continue to trust us to provide you with quality steel drum music for your weddings, corporate functions or other special events.   Steel Drums are unique instruments and we invite you to visit our Caribbean Crew Steel Band page and enjoy some beautiful steel drums music with your family and friends on this blessed day.