Simplay

Simplay is a 4-piece live cover band that plays rock, funk, pop and blues and books itself out as a party band for "Firmenanlässe, Geburtstage, Hochzeiten" (company events, birthdays, weddings). Its concert calendar is concentrated around Lucerne, with gigs in Willisau, Sursee, Ruswil, Nebikon and Lucerne itself, plus dates in Einsiedeln, on the island of Lützelau and in Tenero. The band is fronted by a singer, Sabine, and the site is in German.

How the band treats a cover

The home page explains the band's approach with a cooking image: "Es ist wie mit einem Kochrezept. Mal fügt man etwas dazu, lässt etwas weg oder erfindet das ganze Menu neu." In English: it is like a recipe; sometimes you add something, leave something out or reinvent the whole menu. That, the page says, is what Simplay does with its cover songs, and completely new versions with Simplay character often come out of it. It adds that the band has the right spices for every song thanks to its "stimmgewaltigen Sängerin", its powerful-voiced singer, and that the band is delighted when guests cannot get enough.

For a wedding, that means the songs will be recognizable but not note-for-note copies of the records. A couple who want a specific song played exactly as it sounds on the album should say so; a couple who like a band with its own sound will find that is the point.

The songs

The "Aktuelles Programm 2026" lists the current repertoire. It leans on rock and pop hits that most wedding guests will know: "Fly Away" by Lenny Kravitz, "Let Me Entertain You" by Robbie Williams, "Hold The Line" by Toto, "Fix You" by Coldplay, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana, Pink's "Get The Party Started" and "U & Ur Hand", Katy Perry's "Hot 'N Cold", and "Walking On Sunshine", credited on the page to The Waves & Katrina. Funk and soul come in with "Play That Funky Music", Kool and the Gang's "Fresh" and Amy Winehouse's "Valery" (as the page spells it), and there is ZZ Top, Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'N Roll", "Venus" by Shocking Blue, Alanis Morissette's "Crazy", Elle King's "Ex's And Oh's" and Camila Cabello's "Havana". More recent songs include Dermot Kennedy's "Kiss Me" and Stefanie Heinzmann's "In The End".

One entry is specifically Swiss: "I ha di gärn gha", listed as Prince / Züri West and sung in Swiss German, next to Prince's "Kiss". For a Swiss-international wedding, one dialect song in a mostly English set is a nice touch for the Swiss side of the family.

The list mixes decades from Toto and Shocking Blue to recent chart songs, so it works for a party where grandparents and friends are on the same dance floor. It is a list of songs the band plays, not a menu of wedding moments: there is nothing about a first dance, a ceremony or background dinner music.

The band

The "Band" section introduces the four members, each with a short personal text:

• Sabine, vocals. She writes that she has sung along loudly to the radio since she was young, not always to her family's delight, and calls singing "Balsam für meine Seele", balm for her soul.
• Georg, guitar and vocals. He picked up an old guitar from the cellar after watching his music teacher play "The House of the Rising Sun", and played it in front of his class a few weeks later.
• Floenzi, drums. His text is a string of jokes about drumming: that it is Buddhist, right in the here and now, and that it is dancing sitting down.
• Mäsu, guitar. He never planned to learn guitar: a friend hung a Telecaster around his neck when he was about 14, plugged into a Marshall JTM 100 with nearly every knob turned right, and told him "Mach mal Noise!" (make some noise). It was only noise, he writes, but that is when the bug bit.

The texts are light and personal rather than a résumé, and they say nothing about training, years of playing together or how many weddings the band has played.

Where to see them live

The concert calendar is the most useful part of the site for a couple deciding on a band. The listed 2026 dates include a pre-opening on the roof terrace of Hotel Allegro in Einsiedeln, an open-air show at the Musikpavillon in Lucerne, the Campofelice campsite in Tenero, the Städtli Sommer in Willisau, the Wanderbühne in Ruswil, the Insel Lützelau, the Strandbad Lounge in Sursee, the Badi-Fest in Nebikon and Universum Inseli in Lucerne. Several are marked open-air and weather-dependent. The next date listed is 27 November 2027 at the Nordmen Bar Lounge in Willisau. A newsletter signup announces when and where the band plays next, so a couple living in the region can hear the band in public before booking.

Contact and booking

Bookings go through a "Buchen" button and the email address info@simplay-band.ch. There is no phone number, no booking form in the page text and no postal address.

What the site does not settle

The site publishes no prices, and no set lengths, breaks or evening formats. It does not say whether the band brings its own sound system and lights, what power and space it needs, or whether it plays outdoors at a private event. It does not state a travel range: the calendar shows gigs as far as Tenero, but there is no word on travel charges for a wedding elsewhere in Switzerland. It gives no deposit or cancellation terms, and does not say whether the band learns requested songs outside its program.

Language is simple for the music itself, since almost all of the repertoire is in English. The site is in German only, and it does not say whether the band corresponds or makes announcements in English.

Who it suits

Simplay suits a couple marrying in the Lucerne area or nearby who want a live rock and pop band with a strong female singer for the party part of the evening, and whose guests span generations. The public concert dates are a real advantage: few wedding bands let a couple hear them before signing. The caveats are an email-only contact, no prices and no technical detail, so the first exchange needs to cover the length of the performance, the equipment and the travel. Couples looking for ceremony or dinner music should ask whether the band offers a quieter set, since the site presents Simplay purely as a party band.