Harder than it should have been
Well....what's not to like? An 80s themed wedding (yes the cake was a Rubik's cube), my old fashioned retro rig in a posh venue (I've got some nice photos now :) ), and nothing but 80s music for the duration....
But it wasn't easy going :(
I knew it was a small wedding of only around 50 guests, what I didn't realise is that a dozen were under the age of 12. So...I'm down to 38 potential dancers before I even start. The problem was, they weren't dancers. I think I counted a dozen on the floor just after the first dance, but after that it was no more than 2-3 at a time.
Because of the number of kids, the adults very quickly started to disappear as bed time approached, leaving me with 8 for the final 90 minutes, all of whom were staying at the venue for the night.
I knew the groom was unhappy about the number of guests that had disappeared so early on. In fact he apologised to me at one point for the lack of dancing. I explained as I always do that the important people are still here, and it's not unusual for a wedding to not have a rammed floor (the venue agreed with me).
It was a very long and hard night from my side of the booth.
Having said all of that - I really enjoyed it. I had carte-blanch on the playlist apart from half a dozen requests from the bride and groom, so had a chance to play a lot of stuff I don't normally get to even consider. Let's face it, some of the more obscure stuff might have worked...possibly....
End of the night arrives and I get a round of applause from the remaining 8 guests, hugs and handshakes and loads of compliments on the music I've been playing. Apparently it was well and truly enjoyed :)
See...it's not all about the legs on the dance floor :)
Right - time for some shut eye....got a trip to some place in Birmingham in the morning and potentially a lot of damage to do to my liver tomorrow night....I need all the rest I can get. For those that are going along - I'll see you there!
A lot of work for twenty minutes.
Another Legslappers gig, at a new venue, with new clients. First one they'd done, and it showed. I was delighted to find that if I reversed over the grass ( naughty :o:o ) I could get to the door leading straight to the stage. Good job, as with it being Halloween, I had extra kit, I needed the Strobe, smoke machine and live mixer with vocal effects.
Except I didn't. :mad: Hadn't been marketed as a Halloween gig, couldn't use smoke, and ended up with lots of kit on stage that wasn't going to be used. Harrumph. Ah well, never mind, at least the van's near the door.
Seems everybody except me was running late, and nobody had any great urge to pick up the pace. The half time food break dragged on and on with nothing happening, even though we had a " Heads and Tails " to do. I end up with the FFN back on stage raring to go, and me doing the game against the clock, wonderful.
FFN finish their bit with the crowd all on the floor dancing merrily, and hand directly into my music as usual for the last hour. Oops, silly me, that was in my dreams. :(:( No, this lady decides that she'll oversee the raffle with a cabled mic that won't reach as far as she'd like, which makes for an interesting sight when she's trying to hold the mic, take tickets from the person drawing them ( who she can't reach because of the cable ) take tickets from the winners, and hand out prizes. :daft:
By this time, I'm past caring, and thinking that if she'd let me call the numbers, we'd have been finished much more quickly, and with less fuss. Still, she's had her fifteen minutes of fame. We follow the raffle with the result of the " Golden Ticket " game ( you put money in an envelope, write your name on it, and the person whose envelope is drawn shares the money with the charity).
So, I'm eventually on, and song selection is unlikely to be a problem, especially as I've got a lovely lady whose requests would nearly have filled up the time available. And then it just gets better. The organisers have been absolutely lovely, lovely people, but inexperienced in running such an event. Turns out they have a couple of singles out for download, and to be fair, they're very good.
Picture the scene, I've been let off the leash, I've got twenty minutes to play, the audience are chomping at the bit, and organiser says:
" Can you download music"?
Well yes, but I'm currently multitasking just a bit, after spending four and a half hours twiddling my thumbs.
" It's on Itunes ".
" I can't do Itunes " says I.
" Well where else can you download from " she asks?
" Anywhere except Itunes " is the reply.
Eventually, we ascertain it's on Amazon, so with a 4g signal on the phone, I've got it. Except I shouldn't have picked the most recent one of the two, so let's have another try, eh? Bingo, that's a runner. And it's nearly time to pack up, having arrived at the venue super early to set up the surplus and unnecessary kit, I've been on site for hours, and I've played music for............................................... ......................
Twenty minutes. I suggested to the organisers that next time, we need to be a bit slicker . Shame, cos we had a fabulous crowd, splendid venue, marred by long periods of inactivity. :(
None of that on Tuesday, 150plus sixth formers in a venue designed for around 100, as many lights as I can be arsed to drag upstairs, DSB set to repel boarders ( space is at a premium ) and the Proels singing their heads off. Last time, I took Micromax, Powerbar and Mauis, due to a lack of vital information. Can't have been that bad, they've gone for me again.:)