Good Questions

What do people ask before booking us?

Fifteen of them, answered straight. If yours is not here, ask it in the booking form and you will get a real answer back fast.

What kind of band is the Rikki Bobby Band?

We’re a live three-piece cover band and party band from Austin, Texas: drums, bass, and guitar. Rik Avalos and Bob Michaels both front the band, trading guitar and bass through the night and trading lead and harmony vocals. Sonny Sanchez plays drums and sings behind both of them, so every chorus has one lead voice and two backing voices on it. We layer stems from the original master recordings under the band for the parts three people can’t play at once, the horns and strings and keys, so the arrangement matches the record you know while the performance is live.

What events do you play?

Private parties, weddings, corporate events, nightclubs, galas, fundraisers, holiday parties, and festivals. A backyard birthday and a thousand-person ballroom get the same show. If it has a dance floor, or room for one, we’ll play it.

Do you play the wedding ceremony?

Yes. We play the ceremony itself, walking-in music through walking-out music, at ceremony volume rather than dance-floor volume. Tell us the songs that matter to you and we learn them.

Will you MC and make the announcements?

Yes, and both frontmen do it. Rik and Bob share MC duties the same way they trade guitar, bass and lead vocals. At a wedding that means introductions, the first dance, the toasts, the cake and the send-off. At a gala it means the program, the auction and the thank-yous. At a corporate party it means awards and speakers. At a birthday it means toasts and the cake. You do not need to hire a separate emcee or hand the night to somebody who has never met the room.

Can one band cover the whole event?

That is the usual booking. Ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, announcements and three dance sets, all from the same three people with one load-in and one point of contact. Book whichever parts you want; most people start with the dance sets and add from there.

Do you bring your own sound and lighting?

Yes. We carry a full PA and stage lighting, the whole rig. We show up self-contained for any size room, and we can plug into house production at venues that have their own.

What music do you cover?

Six decades, 1967 to 2018: Motown and soul, funk, classic rock, ’80s new wave, ’90s alternative and grunge, hard rock and metal, Texas blues-rock, Texas country, and reggae-rock. Van Morrison, Otis Redding, the Stones, Stevie Wonder, Prince, ZZ Top, Aerosmith, the Cure, Billy Idol, Def Leppard, Judas Priest, Nirvana, Metallica, Radiohead, Alanis, Blur, Sublime, Foo Fighters, U2, Garth Brooks, Chris Stapleton, and Jimmy Buffett all live in the same night.

Are you a ’90s cover band?

Partly. The ’90s are the deepest lane in our setlist: Nirvana, Radiohead, Alanis Morissette, Blur, Stone Temple Pilots, Sublime, Foo Fighters, and the Refreshments all get played. We are not a ’90s tribute act though. The same night runs from 1967 Van Morrison to 2018 Chris Stapleton, so a mixed-age crowd all hears something they grew up on.

Do you play rock and metal?

Yes, and it is what sets us apart from most Austin party bands. The third set is straight rock: Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Def Leppard, ZZ Top, Aerosmith, Metallica, and Judas Priest. Most bands working the private event circuit here will not touch that material. If you want an Austin cover band that can actually play it, that is the reason to call us.

How many musicians are in the band?

Three. Sonny Sanchez on drums, with Rik and Bob trading guitar and bass and trading lead and harmony vocals. A three-piece fits stages a ten-piece cannot, costs less than a horn band, and still fills a room, because the parts three people cannot cover live come off the original master recordings underneath us.

Where do you play?

We’re based in Austin, Texas and we travel. Round Rock, Georgetown, Dripping Springs, the Hill Country, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, and beyond. Distance is a detail, not a problem.

How much music do you play?

Three sets of thirteen songs, at least forty-five minutes of music per set, played nearly back to back. That’s thirty-nine songs and around two and a half hours of live music, plus an encore when the room demands one. We also cover cocktail hour and dinner with a softer set.

What is the show like?

High energy, start to finish. This is a dance band: both frontmen are on their feet the whole night, working the crowd, trading guitar solos and swapping instruments, with live three-part harmonies over a live rhythm section, and every song is there because it keeps people dancing. If you want a duo on barstools playing dinner jazz, that’s not us. If you want a dance floor that stays packed, it is.

Do you take requests?

Yes. Tell us ahead of time and we’ll work your favorites into the night. The full catalog runs well past the printed setlist.

How do we book you?

Send your date, venue and event type through the booking form. We respond fast, and popular dates go early.

How much does it cost to book the band?

It depends on the date, the location, and how much of the night you want covered: dance sets only, or cocktail hour and dinner too. Tell us those three things in the booking form and you’ll have a real quote fast, not a phone tag marathon.

How far in advance should we book?

As early as you can. Spring and fall Saturdays in Texas go first, and wedding dates often book six months to a year out. That said, if your date is close, ask anyway. If we’re open, we’ll make it work.

How does payment work?

Simple, whichever way you book. Book us directly and you get a client portal where you can review your booking and pay online by card through Stripe. Book through an agent or a planner and we work inside their process, so everyone gets paid the way they expect. Either way it runs through online dashboards with real receipts, not a tip jar.

Still deciding? Ask us anything.

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