Taking August are highly talented, experienced and very accomplished entertainers. They are the kind of musicians that can bring a party to life from the moment they take the stage. The band's line-up features two of Alberta’s finest musicians, Daniel Hooft and Kelsey Porter. The duo has performed at hundreds of venues and weddings all over western Canada. Such is their versatility that they can play for wedding ceremonies, receptions, cocktail hours, and dances of any size or style.
Services offered
Kelsey is a multi-instrumentalists, playing guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin and harmonica. Daniel is on lead guitar and both are excellent vocalists. Together, they have an eclectic repertoire which includes classic rock, pop, indie rock, folk and country covers as well as a collection of their own original tunes. They can cater their sets to any grenre of music you prefer! If your song is not on their list, they are happy to learn it so that you can have your first dance your way.
Other services
In addition to weddings, Taking August specialize in performing for the following types of events:
The one sticking point for my husband when we started planning our wedding was he wanted a live band. As you can imagine this does not come as inexpensive as a DJ. We were also concerned that the venue we had picked was very small and a larger band and sound was going to be too much for the guest list we had. We came across Taking August on wedding wire and watched a few of their videos they had done. The sound they have for only being a 2 person acoustic band was outstanding. We interviewed a couple other bands but ultimately were sold on Taking August due to their range of songs, their sound and because they included both ceremony and reception music in one package. Looking on their website you can see they become booked up very quickly and we knew we made the right choice. Kelsey and Daniel played our ceremony beautifully and the reception was outstanding. I am so thankful my husband convinced me to get a live band for our wedding and I am more thankful we picked Taking August to be part of our day. I would hire them again in a heartbeat if given the chance.
Sent on 15/10/2020
Sarah
· Married on 18/01/2020
4.0
Quality of service:
4.0
Responsiveness:
3.0
Value:
5.0
Flexibility:
5.0
Professionalism:
3.0
Great Musicians - Some Challenges with Logistics
We got a ton of compliments about the music at our wedding - Taking August played a wide variety of music and were willing to learn everything we requested for no extra cost. They are very talented musicians! The only issues we ran into with Taking August was that they are not super communicative - they did not ever ask for a list of music we wanted for key moments or for a list of the type of music we enjoyed. They were very receptive and easy going when I sent this over to them but be prepared to take some initiative on this front. They also had to be cued by our photographers that it was time for our first dance despite having that info ahead of time - not a big deal at all but again just something to keep in mind. Overall we were really happy with the music at our ceremony, cocktail hour and reception and received a ton of compliments from our guests!
Sent on 27/01/2020
Diane L.
· Married on 03/03/2018
4.8
Quality of service:
5.0
Responsiveness:
4.0
Value:
5.0
Flexibility:
5.0
Professionalism:
5.0
Amazing band!
We knew we wanted a live band for our small wedding. We didn’t want a large band but something more intimate. Taking August was perfect! These two took over the room and had everyone either dancing or singing. Our wedding was intimate and casual and these two fit right in! So talented and very friendly and flexible. We HIGHLY recommend this amazing band!
Sent on 20/11/2018
Jamie C.
· Married on 25/08/2017
4.8
Quality of service:
5.0
Responsiveness:
4.0
Value:
5.0
Flexibility:
5.0
Professionalism:
5.0
We hired Dan & Kelsey for our whole wedding in August 2017 and they were a big hit! We had wanted live entertainment for the wedding but as we only had 30 guests we didn't want a full 5 piece band. Taking August was the perfect fit but in all honesty they could no doubt entertain a much larger crowd.
They were great at the ceremony and as my husband and I were not very organised we left it to them to choose most of the music and they did an exceptional job. They played for the drinks reception and although we didn't personally get to enjoy this, all guests gave raving reviews and said they loved the music selection performed and knew and could sing along to most songs and they were even up dancing.
They played the fist half of the evening live and the second half they DJed as requested by us and kept the dance floor busy even with only 30 guests.
The only thing I would do differently (which is of no fault of the band) is have them play more live music as we (the bride and groom) missed out on a large chunk of it due to wedding portraits. Maybe having live at the beginning of evening then some DJing for them to take a break and then maybe another session at the end would have been better or plan the day so that we could have heard some at the drinks reception. If I have any advice for those getting married it is to strongly consider this when planning what you want for entertainment.
My only tip regarding correspondence is to use Facebook Messenger to correspond with them as they seem to check this more and are more responsive to any queries.
They were fabulously talented and great value and would hire them again in a heartbeat. I 100% would refer them to anyone looking for some great live music entertainment and hope one day we get to hear them perform again!
Thanks Kelsey and Dan!
Jamie & Richard
ELK VIEW LODGE
Sent on 27/09/2017
Colleen
· Married on 12/08/2016
5.0
Quality of service:
5.0
Responsiveness:
5.0
Value:
5.0
Flexibility:
5.0
Professionalism:
5.0
We hired Taking August to play for a backyard wedding. What can we say - they were a huge hit. Many people complimented us on the band and everyone wanted them to play longer which they obliged. We found them to be professional and extremely talented. They played a great selection of music that they choose plus for the wedding itself they did a wonderful job on the songs the bride and groom picked. We felt that the cost was more than fair and their talent far exceeds their price. We still have people asking us how we found them. We would have absolutely no hesitation in hiring them again or recommending them to our friends and family to hire. Colleen & Ron. August 12, 2016
