What is the point?!?!

[DiscoMagic]

Ok so here I am on a Thursday night in a join a party in a nice hotel in Croydon.

its 10 past minute and I have a room of 8 people with 4 dancing, (currently playing Bobby Brown), here for another hour of playing and I am thinking What is the point.

The hotel staff are bored and :Censored: off becuase it is so quiet and they still have to stay here.

WHy to these hotels insist on staying open until the last knocking??? And on a Thursday night as well :confused:

:daft:

[DiscoMagic]

15 minutes later and everyone has gone because they have to work tomorrow, only two people left - both dancing :sofa:

(Now playing Aswad :) )

[yourdj]

Same here although it totaled 30 to start with and ended up with 15. :D

[DJ Paulie]

glad to see it's not just here that's feeling the financial pinch, but obviously feel sorry for you guys. I always think if nobody dances, I've not done my job properly. I had a guy's 21st while back, had about 75 people in on a Saturday night in a bar just for them. Cheap drinks, buffet food and me. Not one person danced all night and I tried every genre you could think of (well almost!)

[yourdj]

glad to see it's not just here that's feeling the financial pinch, but obviously feel sorry for you guys. I always think if nobody dances, I've not done my job properly. I had a guy's 21st while back, had about 75 people in on a Saturday night in a bar just for them. Cheap drinks, buffet food and me. Not one person danced all night and I tried every genre you could think of (well almost!)

I dont. I really try every trick in the book and last resort go round and sit and talk to the guests as ask for requests. If they still dont dance then I conclude its not me its them :p Its interesting how social dynamic differ from crowd to crowd and venues etc.

They added a few guests from the hotel and imediately the girls started competing as a couple of the lads went over to them, which made the dynamics so much better as they had a reason to try harder. :p

[Charlie Brown]

Yet my Xmas party was absolutely rockin. 80+ people left when I finished at 1.00am!

[DJ Paulie]

I conclude its not me its them :p

I agree that's what I meant to say ! You can't force people to dance, they might be tired, not drunk enough or even not able to due to disabilty !

[musicologydisco]

Just think of the money. That's what gets me through!

[djdave01]

ive got a wedding coming up on Monday, total guests due, 24!!

im not expecting much

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Every year, I have a conversation with our venues regarding this and the trouble is, in this financial climate, the venues have to be seen to be giving extra value and staying open later.

I finished at 12 last night and could have played for another hour at least. Typical!

[yourdj]

I agree that's what I meant to say ! You can't force people to dance, they might be tired, not drunk enough or even not able to due to disabilty !

9 out of 10 times on my last ditch attempt on talking to people they all say they are having a great night so my job is done.
if I was not there it would be silient so at least I am injecting some atmosphere into the party. ;)

[Shakermaker Promotions]

We've all had them. I had one like the OP's last year and last week on the Thursday it wasn't as bad but it was still a tad disappointing.

It's not worth even contemplating if it is the DJ's fault in my opinion because if you, as a DJ are playing a whole range of music across the board (even if the guests don't request anything) then who can moan? If you keep stating that you take requests and they don't come up, it's not your fault is it?

I always tell the staff to let the tables know that I am taking requests and I mention it a number of times but you STILL get guests asking if you take them.

It's just like any function - If the guests are up for it and want to dance then you can have a really good night. If they're not and it's a bare minimum dancefloor, it ends up being a long night.

[DiscoMagic]

In the end it was OK but only two people :OMG: left dancing at the end and we just a laugh, I even let one of them have a go at "djing" :eek: !!!

I never think it is me. Ok you always get some miserable guys and people coming up and saying you need more modern stuff or visa versa and you are rubbish, but at the end of the day as long as the hotel is happy, which they tell me they are constantly (!), and the majority of the guests are having a good time - then job done good :D

I always go around before hand and say hello ask for any requests and tell them to come and see me if they want any thing else.

[MikeW]

ive got a wedding coming up on Monday, total guests due, 24!!

im not expecting much

I had a couple of very small weddings last summer, they were midweek and turned out to be really good nights. You never know :)

[Spirits High]

Christmas can be a bit Bah Humbug for some so no real suprises.

Spoke to the hotel I'm doing a Christmas party for tomorrow and they've struggled to get 70 people booked in. They usually have 12 Christmas party nights in December but this year only 3 :eek: Due to lack of interest.

[djdave01]

I had a couple of very small weddings last summer, they were midweek and turned out to be really good nights. You never know :)

Hope its ok, had one with 35 the other week, it was a nightmare.

Seen on the news earlier that the village im going to on Monday currently has no electricity due to the storms, fingers crossed its back on soon

[Corabar Steve]

Thing is, you'll also get the flipside of the coin & have nights like I'm having tonight & get people dancing since half an hour into the background set.

[DazzyD]

I always say every gig is different. It's always been this way. You'd never bet your house on the outcome of the night!!

[CRAZY K]

I always say every gig is different. It's always been this way. You'd never bet your house on the outcome of the night!!

I think its fair to say at most Xmas Parties--although im not an expert--im only doing 2 this year:eek: and a Rodeo Bull -- that there is a direct relationship between the amount of booze consumed before the dancing starts and the time it takes to get the dancing going.

Just my experience--after last night--delayed start due to presumably more drinking than anticipated by organiser :daft:

Ten seconds in to the gig-- absolute bedlam and more noise from the audience than my PA could get over---thats having fun.;)

[DazzyD]

I think its fair to say at most Xmas Parties--although im not an expert--im only doing 2 this year:eek: and a Rodeo Bull -- that there is a direct relationship between the amount of booze consumed before the dancing starts and the time it takes to get the dancing going.

Just my experience--after last night--delayed start due to presumably more drinking than anticipated by organiser :daft:

Ten seconds in to the gig-- absolute bedlam and more noise from the audience than my PA could get over---thats having fun.;)

Of course, there's no better party-starter than alcohol!!

(and, probably, no better party-ender when they've had too much!! :eek: )

[welby]

I think it's fair to say Xmas Party Bookings are well down this year compared to last year - Corporate bookings are dire - I have my regular work throughout the week to keep me going, but not enough for the two DJ's that work for me on an adhoc basis - Phoning around it seems that companies are just not putting on the christmas parties like they used to.

New Year, however I could have sold the night five times over - funnily enough I am doing a combined Wedding/New year celebration - I am really looking forward to that.

I couldn't agree more on the alchohol changing the start point for dancing - Generally for me if the venue charge more than £4 a pint then we are in for a hard time getting them up early. :daft:

I know it can be frustrating having a couple of people left when everyone is going and the staff can't wait to get rid of you as quickly as possible - I just use the time to discretley remove a couple of fixtures, loosen a couple of cables etc....not too much and then I think money! :D Keeps me going.:beer1:

[CRAZY K]

I think it's fair to say Xmas Party Bookings are well down this year compared to last year - Corporate bookings are dire - I have my regular work throughout the week to keep me going, but not enough for the two DJ's that work for me on an adhoc basis - Phoning around it seems that companies are just not putting on the christmas parties like they used to.

New Year, however I could have sold the night five times over - funnily enough I am doing a combined Wedding/New year celebration - I am really looking forward to that.

I couldn't agree more on the alchohol changing the start point for dancing - Generally for me if the venue charge more than £4 a pint then we are in for a hard time getting them up early. :daft:

I know it can be frustrating having a couple of people left when everyone is going and the staff can't wait to get rid of you as quickly as possible - I just use the time to discretley remove a couple of fixtures, loosen a couple of cables etc....not too much and then I think money! :D Keeps me going.:beer1:

The gigs I hate the most are the free bar ones.

OR in the case of one a couple of years ago where they BRING THEIR OWN HOOCH IN PETROL CANS.

HONESTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Totally gone by 10pm and out of it--luckily I was able to abandon my Line Dancing and switched to an unscheduled Floorfiller Disco to placate the drunks.

Got one like this Wednesday--yee ha!

[Craig - Dragon Discos]

I've found this christmas season to be a lot quieter than before. Tomorrow is only me second 'christmas' party of the season. I'm not entirely sure what to expect to be honest, it's a Thursday until 1am for a car sales company in a nice hotel. We'll wait and see what awaits me!

[Charlie Brown]

I've noticed it depends what day the party is on.

Tuesday (yesterday) was terrible and I was home an earlier! Last Thursday/Friday were packed and rockin' all night. Really good atmosphere. We do rely on drinkers coming in from the street though too.

[mattydj50]

Christmas Party coming up this Friday for 22 people. Oh Joy!!

[ianforest]

I've had one tonight for 24...soul destroying...absolutely soul destroying...the thing is the venue tried to get the group from tonight to join another group in a few days time and they said no. That would've been a party of 80...ahh well.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Christmas Party coming up this Friday for 22 people. Oh Joy!!


I've had one tonight for 24...soul destroying...absolutely soul destroying...

I had 25 in the end last night and it really was a great night. The venue have dividers so the room was small and very intimate. I gave it plenty of chat, told them it was quality, not quantity and that they could have a couple of requests each!

We did have a really good laugh, it was very personal and they all stayed until the end, when I finished with Mariah Carey.

I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised.

I have 28 this evening in the same venue, so fingers crossed for that one!

[WWDJ]

I don't mind playing to a few people, as Darren said, you can have a laugh. It's when 2 people are dancing out of 200 it's a bit wierd because you know you aren't doing something quite right, but you can't always pin point what it is....

[boomerangdiscos]

i had a day off this week so went out for lunch with the missus and our local weatherspoons was heaving with xmas parties going on but when you look at there menu i think it was £6.99 for a xmas dinner and with cheap drinks as well its an easy option for the boss plus because everyone is so busy having it in works time leaves evenings free ect. so moral of the story get a lunchtime gig in wetherspoons for december background carols and party cheese:)