If Carlsberg did functions......................................... ..
They wouldn't be any more fun than this one. :D A function I'd looked forward to eagerly actually exceeded expectations, after an inauspicious start.
The third year of a fundraising Soul and Motown night organised by a couple, who had decided they really needed a disco to keep the flow going while the live band, the excellent Soul Intention, took a break. Wise move. :)
The instrumentalists from the band, the sound crew and the disco all arrived very early, and jovially set about preparing for the evening. I set up in a leisurely and relaxed manner, and knowing a band was on, had originally decided to take the full subs and tops rig. Plans changed at the last minute, when I took possession of a 15" Studiomaster active sub from Andy Neen, for a different purpose, which will be explained elsewhere. It seemed only sensible to press it into service for this, as a trial of its capabilities.
So, I had the Equinox 4ft Booth, with hadrons on poles, the Stingers on tripods, sub under the booth, and powerbar on a tripod behind me. In all honesty, the powerbar was a bit surplus to requirements, but I took it in case the band needed a bit more light. ( Which they didn't ). As I was fighting against a somewhat unusual combination of QTX subs, and RCF 715 tops, I didn't use the high pass on the sub, to even things up a bit.
The band seemed to arrive in dribs and drabs, and when I came back into the room just before start time, they were having a sound check with the four female vocalists. That's when it got interesting. ;) We had officially passed the start time while the soundcheck was happening, and the sound crew were homing in on a workable setup when oops! :eek: No sound, no power, and not many lights. Something had tripped somewhere, and in common with many venues, there seemed to be multiple circuits. The far side of the room had some power, mine had none. :( The technocrats were on the case, and restored power to me, while they surveyed the damage. Since my PA hadn't actually been running, it was OK, but the monitors on the stage hadn't fared so well. Eventually, one was removed, and I don't know if it was the cause of the problem, or collateral damage.
I started playing a bit of music as fill, until everything was back to near normal. I then raised the volume a little, and started in earnest, to fairly low key reaction, ie foot tapping and jigging about, but no requests, and a handful of dancers. And then, I put on a bit of Doo Wop, gentle Rock and Roll, and got a request for Temptations and Four Tops. The floor was nicely busy at the announcement of the supper ( a lovely lasagne, which the band and I were included in ) and then guests realised that not only did I have a lot of music at my disposal, but musical knowledge and taste as well.
The band's set list was a stunner, including loads I'd have played on a regular basis, fairly mainstream, which let me venture into the requests, which took us deep into Northern Soul for quite a while, to a full floor. A number of disco classics, a bit of Rock and Roll, and between me and the band, the floor never emptied till midnight, when I closed the night. All in all, a truly fabulous evening, and I'm already looking forward to next year! :D
If only................................
Sorry to hear your tale of woe, Wayne, I think we've all been there at some time.
My weekend was " interesting". ;):(
Friday had been in the diary for many months at a Hotel where a forum member has the residency. He also wanted me for Saturday, but that had been in the diary for even longer. :(
Sooo, my client for Saturday cancelled the planned gig, but immediately replaced it with one in a different venue, so effectively no change. All good. :)
Except, it wasn't. :(:(
The Hotel are struggling with the concept of a diary, and when Matthew checked details for Friday, it transpired that Friday didn't exist for me, but was actually on Saturday. :mad: Had we found that out early enough, it wouldn't have been terrible, because my Saturday had been cancelled yet again!! :eek: Thus, I would have been able to cover it. :)
Except, I'd posted availability on Facebook, and got a walk in for a wedding a few miles from where I'd originally expected to be, so couldn't do it! :bang: Thankfully, Matthew sourced cover by the skin of his teeth, so no tears there after all. :)
My walk in? Easy to find, lovely venue, really friendly staff, and a really friendly lad I was working on behalf of. Perfect, eh? You're ahead of me, aren't you? :whistle:
I swapped the CD players/mixer combo for my trusty VMS4, and I was ready to Rock and Roll. First dance was Ed Sheeran-Perfect, and could I play mainly modern, Lionel Richie and Bon Jovi? Shouldn't be beyond the wit of man/ tired Old DJ.
The lighting didn't have a wash effect available, and the venue shut down all the house lights for the first dance. Still, the Photographer ( a lovely fella also ) was happy enough with what the Swarm 4s could do, so therefore so was I.
Like Wayne's, my crowd were having a long day, and with a lot of young children, numbers soon dwindled. The Modern tracks didn't do a lot for the dancefloor, but strangely enough, the Anthems/Cheese/Motown/Disco which I and the bridesmaids favoured was dong good business. Strange, that. :whistle:
Reassuringly enough, the last hour and a half hit paydirt,with some Indie, Hip Hop and Chart and I finished the night with all the remaining twenty guests on the floor, to a round of applause.
Guess that equates over all to a satisfactory result, after many possible disaster scenarios. Phew!
Send three and fourpence, we're going to a dance!
Explanation of the title later. Wayne, were it not for that pesky Rule 23, I'd say " Bien joué ", so you'll have to settle for " well done ". Did our friends from across the water imbibe a :beer1::wine::cheers::beer2: or two? The lot I had certainly did, and partied very hard.
OK, to mine from this week. Wednesday was a school do, midday till three. Turns out we had two discos, me getting the younger ones, and a lad from Leeds doing Disco/Karaoke with the older ones. The splendid Davesounds turned up to help with the load in, and was a Godsend. We had to have photo ID, but although that bit was done with total efficiency, we were given no idea where we were to set up! The person I'd corresponded with was not available at all. :confused:
Half an hour of twiddling thumbs later, we were granted access to the theatre I was in, and with help from the caretakers ( great lads, by the way ) we were sorted. Three hours of very disparate stuff, but very well received, job well done. :)
Everything was maximum security on the way in, but come time to go, and it was Marie Celeste, all doors and gates locked wide open! :daft: Made my egress a lot easier mind, I'm not complaining. :)
Saturday I was in Charlie Brown territory, his old school I believe, Trent College. Two years since we were there apparently, and this one went even better than last time. The acoustics in the hall were superb, and the Mauis were clear as a bell at the far end of the very long room. Lovely. :)
The crowd were more receptive ( younger? ) than we'd expected and really up for a good old boogie after the FFN handed over to me around ten thirty or so. Fabulous. :D
All FFN gigs are a midnight finish, unless the clients cross my palm with silver for an extra hour, venue permitting.
Did you notice the last two words, children? Venue permitting.
Now to the explanation of the title. It's to illustrate how a message passed through many people can lose it's original meaning. Thus, the message " send reinforcements, we're going to advance " passed along the trench from person to person becomes " send three and fourpence. we're going to a dance ". Venue staff ( who were lovely ) asked for last orders at eleven thirty, in line with what I'd expect. Five minutes before midnight, they pointed out that they expected me to finish at quarter to twelve!!! :eek::mad: Blimey, I was struggling to get the requests in by midnight.
Caretaker arrives at a minute past midnight, a bit surprised and justifiably saddened that I hadn't got much kit derigged and packed yet. Lovely fella, didn't hassle me at all, was very impressed with the kit, especially when I folded the big Equinox and bagged it all up. I felt very embarrassed that I'd inadvertently overrun so much, because the clients who book us either hadn't notified us of timings, or hadn't checked with the venue.
That was a circle I had no chance of squaring, crowd of people who wanted to dance for a lot longer than was available, and venue staff who expected quite rightly to be going home. :(:bang: