Live indie & rock for the Grade I-listed 15th-century tower on Portsmouth’s Old Town seafront. From £1,900.
The Square Tower sits on Broad Street in Old Portsmouth, looking out across the harbour entrance towards the Solent. The tower was built in 1494 as a residence for the Governor of Portsmouth, became a gunpowder store in 1584 and a Royal Navy meat store between 1779 and 1850. It’s Grade I listed and has been owned by Portsmouth City Council since 1958 to 1960. The Council runs it as a venue for weddings and events.
We’re a Hampshire-based live wedding band, so Portsmouth is effectively home turf. We cover Hampshire and the Portsmouth area regularly, so there are no travel surcharges, no overnight accommodation and no anxious 4am drives back from the wrong end of the country.
The Square Tower is a stone-walled, high-ceilinged room with hard surfaces in every direction. It’s a characterful brief and one we set up carefully. Our stage setup is built to dress around the room rather than fight it. Black-finished kit, restrained on-stage lighting rather than a stadium rig, and a PA sized for the room rather than the road. We dress in stage-blacks unless you ask otherwise.
A Square Tower wedding tends to pull a guest list with a strong Solent and Portsmouth core, plus travelled-in friends staying for the weekend on the seafront. The setlist flexes accordingly: Arctic Monkeys, The Killers and Kings of Leon for the late floor, Oasis and Stereophonics for the mid-evening, modern-pop crossover (Harry Styles, Dua Lipa, Sam Fender) layered through for the chart-aware younger guests. Wedding non-negotiables (Mr Brightside, Don’t Stop Me Now, Sweet Caroline) take the back-half peaks. Between sets a DJ playlist (collaborated with you) keeps the floor moving. We learn one custom first dance per booking.
Curfews, sound rules and any in-house production arrangements at the Square Tower are managed by the council-run wedding team, and they vary by booking. Council-run heritage venues often carry their own access, conservation and timing protocols. We don’t make assumptions. We confirm the specific cut-off, limiter setup and any house rules with the wedding coordinator the week before, and pace the closing set so it lands at the actual end of the night.
If you’re booking The Square Tower and want a band that turns up briefed, properly dressed and with the dance floor firmly in mind, send us your date. We’d love to be on your shortlist.
Backbeat is an independent wedding band and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or a preferred supplier of The Square Tower. Venue specifics should be confirmed with the venue’s wedding team directly.
From £1,900
Live sets · full PA & lighting · DJ between & after
Public liability insured · PAT-tested annually · Sound-limiter ready
Backbeat plays across south Hampshire and the wider South coast. A snapshot of other well-known wedding venues within about an hour of Portsmouth. If yours isn’t here, tell us anyway.
Solent Hotel
Whiteley
Lainston House
Sparsholt
Avington Park
Winchester
Cowdray House
Midhurst
Goodwood House
Chichester
Heckfield Place
Heckfield
Tylney Hall
Rotherwick
Chewton Glen
New Milton
Venue names are used for descriptive reference. Backbeat is an independent wedding band and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or a preferred supplier of any venue listed unless stated.
Send us the date. We’ll come back with availability and a tailored quote within 24 hours.
No obligation · usually a reply within 24 hours
Anything else, drop a line through the enquiry form.
Live music packages from £1,900. Pricing depends on event location, performance duration, and specific requirements. Send us your event details for a tailored quote.
We perform across Hampshire, Dorset, Surrey and beyond. Whether your event is across the country or abroad, we're ready to bring live performance to you.
We require a minimum of 90 minutes to load in and set up. Ideally before your guests enter the performance room, but we're skilled at setting up quietly and efficiently with minimal disruption.
Yes. We'll collaborate with you to create a personalised DJ playlist for before, between and after our live sets. Whether you have a specific genre, a list of favourite songs, or a Spotify playlist, we'll take care of the rest.
Yes. We offer a 60-minute acoustic live-lounge duo set, ideal for setting the ambiance during drinks reception or dinner.
Yes. We use high-quality, PAT-tested equipment for top-notch sound and lighting. The band is fully self-contained, and we're experienced with sound-limiter venues.
Absolutely. As part of our service we'll learn a special song at no extra cost, whether it's your first dance or a standout main-set moment. Let us know and we'll include it.