Lichfield business celebrates milestone of 12 years together but say 'We've never fully recovered from the aftermath of Covid'
In February 2025 Andy Starkey and his professional party band 'Punch The Air' celebrated 12 years together, a feat unheard of by most businesses and bands in these trying times.
Lichfield entrepreneur and resident Andy comments: "I can't tell you it's been easy over the last few years. Truth be told we've never really fully recovered from the aftermath of Covid. All the work that got cancelled, refunded and then was never re-booked again by clients...and I doubt we ever will. I often wonder if most potential clients just don't have the budget anymore to spend on entertainment for their milestone events, or anything beyond the basic essentials of life full stop. It also gets harder and harder for clients to find us online due to the plethora of agencies manipulating search engines.
"Unfortunately most clients and guests don't seem to understand how important it is to re-share our or any other businesses details and posts online and leave feedback to prove to potential future clients just how trustworthy we all are. Clients fawn over us after our performances saying 'You're the best band EVVAAARR...we'll definitely come and see you and support you in the future' but they rarely ever do. We're simply forgotten about the next morning...but it's always been like this in reality.
"It'll be interesting to see how 2025 and 2026 play out for us and many other local businesses in and around Lichfield. I've been utterly shocked to see the number of busy pubs and shops shutting down in the last year or two, so we all must be in the same boat.
"In response to all this we've really diversified this year designing some great new packages for clients including 'Bandeoke' where guests can sing live with us on stage and we've also created our 'Daytime Live Band' experience designed for the over 30s market who want an afternoon party instead of an evening one. Imagine going to an awesome live gig and still being able to go to bed at a reasonable hour and wake up early the next day ready for whatever it throws at you...and with no sore head. You'll still have the opportunity to fix that fence, clean the house, bath the dog etc.
"We've never been interested in joining the 'Race to the bottom' like some businesses who constantly feel like they have to compete against each other reducing prices and offering inferior services just to get work. We provide a high level of live music experience with a professional attitude and performance from start to finish all of which are shown by our customer satisfaction levels with 100 per cent positive ratings across multiple review platforms. We've never had one bad review!!
"Since 2013 we've performed at hundreds of parties, weddings, corporate events, charity events and have even had the honour of playing at Lichfield Christmas Lights Switch On multiple times. Lichfield really is a superb place to live with so many great people (and dogs!), businesses, shops and things to do locally. I really wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
"Recently I've been helping out some new young bands get themselves onto the live circuit with photos, video and audio. And also by helping them buy the right gear and most importantly showing them how to use it all. It's nice to be able to pass on the knowledge I've gained over the past 30+ years to the next generation of young local musicians."
To learn more about 'Punch The Air' visit punchtheair.co.uk
