Download a PDF of the band's popular Info Flyer!
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This is an exact copy of the bright yellow tri-fold flyer enjoyed by thousands of Toucan fans at weddings, parties, picnics and concerts around our Tropical Northwest!
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•We perform around the Pacific Northwest over one hundred times each year, but there are always openings in our booking calendar!•We are all-acoustic!
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About the Band
The Toucans have been playing in town for over 12 years, and come highly recommended for weddings, parties, corporate events, and public concerts. Some of our recurring clients include local employers like Boeing, Weyerhauser, Microsoft, Farmer's New World Life Insurance, and IKEA.
We perform yearly for lots of local public and community concerts for the cities of Shoreline, Edmonds, Kent, Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Everett, Marysville, Bellingham, and lots more!
Many of the top local caterers have also worked repeatedly with the Toucans and can vouch for our "good taste"!
The Toucans' music ranges from Caribbean favorites to popular standards everyone can enjoy! Some sound samples from our albums are very representative of what the band sounds like live, and can give you an idea of the livelier side of the group. We also have lots of quieter material, perfect for cocktail, dinner, and casual events.
The Toucans are all professional musicians, skilled at providing the exact right music for your event at any given moment. We tailor every performance to be just right for you, whether you're planning a corporate function, family picnic, beautiful wedding, community BBQ, city-sponsored concert, or just a fun-filled neighborhood get-together!
Area of Toucans OperationThe Toucans are based in Seattle, WA. We play all around the Puget Sound region, and travel in our spotless white van to locales as distant as Spokane, Pullman, Yakima, Boise, Bellingham, Olympia, and Portland. If your event is more than about 45 minutes from the Seattle area, some travel fees may apply in addition to our normal performance rates.
The Toucans Steel Drum Band is a 4-piece group: 3 steel drummers and a kit drummer playing all-instrumental Caribbean and popular music. We don't require any electricity, and don't bring any loud amplifiers or screeching microphones with us. (Actually, a small sound system and a non-screeching microphone can be brought along and set up (for wedding toasts, anniversary announcements, special event music between sets, etc.) for a small additional fee.)
The Steel Drums are sensitive to direct sunlight, and can go out of tune quickly as the metal head of the drum expands, so the Toucans require a shady area or a 10x10 canopy for their performance during the hot days of summer.
In a pinch, we can set up some colorful umbrellas to protect our pans from the sun, but in windy locations (waterfront, open park areas, bluff faces) they can be problematic (often spectacularly so!), so we prefer a shady or covered location. A canopy can be provided for a small additional fee.
We also require a level playing area on a solid surface (no bark, sand, spikes, energy fields or marbles). Grass is OK, as long as the surface is level and not lumpy or soggy. We only need about 20-25 minutes to set up, so we often show up just a half-hour before the scheduled start time.
The Toucans are in highest demand during the weekends and evenings of Spring and Summer. 3 hours is about max for a captive audience, but if your event has people coming and going (large conventions, corporate functions, etc.) we can perform for up to six hours! (We'll need some food in there at some point...). Call or email the Toucans for current seasonal rates.
If your event is out of the Seattle area by more than about 45 minutes, additional travel costs are added to the base performance fee. If you're far out of town and the show goes late, we may require additional fees for lodging as well.
(If you have contracted the Toucans through another agent or event booking service, these fees may have additional commissions added to them.)
Microsoft Departments: The Toucans are an official Microsoft Vendor! Our vendor # is 1100781.
Contact the Toucans directly via email or phone for further information and event scheduling at:
Discounts from our standard fee are always negotiable, and we often discount up to $250 from our standard rate for public schools, community events, and smaller private events in the Seattle area. If you are seeking to book the Toucans on a weekday rather than a weekend, or in the off season (October - March), or if the gig sounds especially fun, our rates can be adjusted to fit your budget!
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The Hammer (David Rudder) Panman (Mighty Sparrow) Pan in Harmony (Lord Kitchener) Sister Say Dance (Traditional) |
Cantina Band (from Star Wars) The Lion Sleeps Tonight (from The Lion King) Brown-Eyed Girl (Van Morrison) Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da (The Beatles) |
Keep On Movin' (Bob Marley) The Tide Is High (The Paragons) Lisbon Antigua (Nelson Riddle) No Woman No Cry (Bob Marley) |
The Toucans require a 10x15 area for stage performance. We can load on or off in well under 15 minutes (given a staging area), and sound reinforcement is a snap! For audiences of under 250 persons, no sound reinforcement is required other than an optional announce mic.
For larger venues, the band mic placement couldn't be simpler! Just set up a high stereo pair to either side of the band even with our front line, sit back, and enjoy the show! The group is all-acoustic, and the band sounds well-mixed at a distance of 6-10 feet. Again, an announce mic is a nice extra.
For those sound technicians that just aren't happy unless there are microphones everywhere, consult our handy Stage Plot Diagram for a complete stage mic setup. Here is the short list for full sound: (1) announce mic; (3) front-line mics (two pans & congas); (2) bass pan mics (3 mics optional for low-frequency response); (3) drum set mics (kick & stereo overheads); that's it!
The 4-piece group is the standard Toucan configuration you'll see all summer long, and the one we prefer to appear in. The full band can play quietly or loudly, depending on the situation, and can perform a wide variety of musical styles suitable for just about any event. It's fun for everyone, Toucans included!
The band is composed of 4 members, playing three sets of steel drums, and a small drum kit. We usually perform for 1 to 2 hours, but can continue up to 4 hours, if the event has people coming and going, or if we play quietly at first, then livelier later.
If your event is so small that our full band just can't fit, we can appear in a combo format, two steel drummers and an upright bass player (classy!). This group is appropriate only for the very gentlest of musical situations, and can perform just one or two 45-minute sets of quiet, background music for your event.
Remember, the Toucans love to appear all together, and have the most fun as a complete 4-piece band. We can play ever so quietly, and still sound lively and tropical at the same time. Or, we can put on a super Toucans performance, complete with dance tunes and musical nuggets galore!
The Toucans also perform in the schools, giving musical concerts which include some Caribbean history, some general musical information, and lots of great steel drum music! The full band is appropriate for elementary school outdoor events or special all-school concerts, as well as for middle and high school performances. We can also give smaller presentations to class-sized groups of music or performance students.
Toucans School Show
Elementary School Assembly ProgramFor more educational elementary school assemblies, the Toucans have developed a program which incorporates steel drum music and narration to tell the story of the origin of the Steel Drums! Based on oral histories from original Trinidadian panmakers, our performance is appropriate for grades K-6, and has been performed over the last 5 years in Washington and Oregon schools to high acclaim.
Special rates apply for our school performance, ask us today!