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Thread: Good Gig, Bad Gig.

  1. #4941
    Shakermaker Promotions's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shakermaker Promotions View Post
    ..... but I think the inflated ego, and the constant drivel about one of his mates being a DJ, plus a few gallons of the brave juice got to me in the end....
    I just read that back and it didn't look right. Just to confirm..... it was HIM that had the inflated ego and the brave juice!!

  2. #4942
    Resident Antagonist Benny Smyth's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shakermaker Promotions View Post
    I just read that back and it didn't look right. Just to confirm..... it was HIM that had the inflated ego and the brave juice!!
    Sure. Sure.

  3. #4943
    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shakermaker Promotions View Post
    I just read that back and it didn't look right. Just to confirm..... it was HIM that had the inflated ego and the brave juice!!
    Quote Originally Posted by Benny Smyth View Post
    Sure. Sure.
    Now,now, Benny. Put the claws away, and have a nice saucer of milk, there's a good lad.


    ( And for anyone new here unfamiliar with our little foibles, I soooo wanted to post something along similar lines, but as a sober and serious forum official, decided against it) .
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

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  4. #4944
    Imagine's Avatar
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    Yay - I've got one to write about this week (by 'eck it seems to be tough getting gigs in the bag this year for some reason)

    I lot of nerves involved in this one.
    Those who I converse with off-forum will know that 10 days ago, my dear lady wife suffered a seizure out of the blue. Twas a massive shock to the system and until next Friday, we don't have a clue what caused it. Needless to say, doctors orders dictate that she's not to be left unattended at any time should it happen again.

    So....baby-sitter it is then. She's actually fine by the way and we're hoping for an all-clear diagnosis next week but there's still the niggling doubt of "what if it happens again"....especially if I'm out working.

    Add to this a certain amount of "stage fright" (this was my first gig since December) and I was a nervous wreck before I even arrived.

    So....onto said gig...

    Twas the first of many outings this year for my beloved Retro show. I'd been booked specifically for this particular setup (yes.....people DO buy based on the kit at times), and it was a 60th birthday for a lovely young lady about 30 miles up the road in a venue I last visited last November.

    Last time there I was in the middle of the room with a nice dance floor in front of me. Tonight - let's stick the DJ at one end of the room out of the way facing ACROSS the room shall we.....grrrrrr!

    It was also the first night out with the Pulsar Zero4000s. Would they work in proper sound to light? Would they heck as like (and yet testing at home....they worked flawlessly).....something to look at during the week.

    Bit of a strange one with mixed results. The music was mainly Motown, 60s and 70s with just the tiniest smattering of 80s thrown in. Stuff that's normally guaranteed to work got no reaction, and in fact made them sit down. A pattern was emerging....they'd dance to 2, maybe three tracks and then need a rest.

    Okey dokey - one of those nights then (well they can't all be rammed floors with arms held aloft for the duration can they ).
    Eventually announced the last song of the night and no sooner had I said my goodbyes than we were blinded by the hotel's lights (which are controlled from elsewhere in the building I might add....they were in a bit of a hurry to get home methinks!).

    Despite what I saw as a bit of a flat one, I was heaped with praise for the excellent job I'd done (from the birthday girl and guests alike). In fact my normal 30 minute get-out turned into an hour! I'm apparently going to be highly recommended (and I LOVE comments like that ).

    So, other than wedding fairs and more testing of kit, that's me done now until April unless something else comes up in the meantime. Until we know what's up with the dear lady wife, I'm a bit reluctant to take too much on but a few nibbles and enquires which lead to something else other than dead ends would be nice.

  5. #4945
    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Imagine View Post
    Yay - I've got one to write about this week (by 'eck it seems to be tough getting gigs in the bag this year for some reason)
    Seriously, commiserations. Not dissimilar here, although I'm finding a curious anomaly in the gigs I'm getting.

    Quote Originally Posted by Imagine View Post
    Those who I converse with off-forum will know that 10 days ago, my dear lady wife suffered a seizure out of the blue. Twas a massive shock to the system and until next Friday, we don't have a clue what caused it. Needless to say, doctors orders dictate that she's not to be left unattended at any time should it happen again.
    All the best for the Good Lady. That's the biggest problem, knowing what the problem is. Good luck.
    Quote Originally Posted by Imagine View Post
    Twas the first of many outings this year for my beloved Retro show. I'd been booked specifically for this particular setup (yes.....people DO buy based on the kit at times), and it was a 60th birthday for a lovely young lady about 30 miles up the road in a venue I last visited last November.
    Saw the pics on Facebook. Genuinely went misty eyed. That's a REAL disco.
    Quote Originally Posted by Imagine View Post
    Last time there I was in the middle of the room with a nice dance floor in front of me. Tonight - let's stick the DJ at one end of the room out of the way facing ACROSS the room shall we.....grrrrrr!
    Funnily enough, last night's venue was a polar opposite. Put me in the right place this time, facing the right way, not like the last time.

    Quote Originally Posted by Imagine View Post
    It was also the first night out with the Pulsar Zero4000s. Would they work in proper sound to light? Would they heck as like (and yet testing at home....they worked flawlessly).....something to look at during the week.
    Serves you bloody well right. You should have bought my Rygers. Oh come on, I've been serious five times already. It's a strain keeping up the mood.


    Right, my gig. Like Wayne, things are a bit thin lately, and it was a relief to be on the road again, even if it was to Harrogate. ( Don't mind the place, it's just that I've yet to find a really good route I'm happy with. One day, maybe ).

    Lovely golf club, with reasonable access. Small rig for a bunch of Amateur Dramatic people. Meal first, followed by speeches, and then Disco. Best received style was Pure Cheese, with Y.M.C.A. being rapturously received! Haven't played that in years. Finished bat midnight, and fought my way back through various road closures, Grrrr.
    Last edited by Excalibur; 11-03-2019 at 09:05 AM.
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

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  6. #4946

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    The first Saturday night off for me almost wasn't! One of my colleague DJs who I had been arranging to do my PAT testing, called me back yesterday asking me if I could cover a town centre hotel private party. A walk in job, no gear needed, so what I'd be using to play tunes with, who knows (neither did he). Anyway, I declined as I'd mapped out my day and evening at home.

    Wife now has a date for her hip replacement operation. Saturday 9 March. Be at the hospital for 6.15am. Good news - I'm not working that night, nor the night before thank goodness or it wouldn't be worth going to bed! Bad news - Sunday 10th March is her birthday and I also have to be at my resident venue for their Wedding Fayre. They say they'll understand if I don't go and, as we are scheduled to finish at 2.30pm and visiting at the hospital is from 11am until 7pm, I'll still be able to pop in with the usual cards, presents etc. No flowers allowed in the ward apparently. Well, that'll save me a few quid anyway!

    Back to the gig report anyway and my job last week was my first wedding of the year. As the venue has been without a Wedding Co-ordinator since the end of October (did she jump or was she pushed - don't know, but my goodness, she was dim), info has been a little sketchy to say the least.

    So, going on previous weddings, I aimed to get there for 5pm to get in anytime soon and be ready for a 7pm start. As I walked in, the boss lady told me that they were just about to start serving starters! So off to Morrisons then to get something to eat and feed the car. Back 30 minutes later and, fortunately, the main room was split in two, so I could access the "other side" to load in and pre-assemble a few bits. On and on it went until about 6.15 when Emily popped her head round the door to tell me that they were just doing speeches and as soon as they had done, she'd kick them out and start the turn round.

    Now, the room, though split into 2 actually has 4 bits, so, for the evening, the middle wall is removed and replaced, so 3 of the 4 bits are used. Of course, this isn't a simple operation and the wall has to be dismantled from the "wrong end. So to get my gear to the right place, I can either carry it round the wall or wait about 10 minutes for the wall to disappear, before being brought back again in the new location.

    I opted for the former, carrying the stands round first. I use two of their tables rather than my own stand, its easier and quicker and they were already put inyto place for me. Hold the bus though. They had forgotten about the twinkly backdrop which was to be moved from behind the top table to behind me. So I had to stop what I was doing move the stands and table, clear away some of the kit I'd dumped behind me so the staff could manhandle the backdrop from one side of the room to the other.

    Then, after I'd hung a few lights, it was noticed that the top table was still in place. Now, normally, that would be used for the buffet but, tonight, no buffet. It was a hog roast which would be served out on the patio. So it had to go, meaning that the dancefloor no longer sat in the centre of the room. That of course meant it had to be moved too and, guess what, my set-up was no longer central too, so that had to be moved as well. Now, I have done that before and, fortunately it was only about 6ft to the left so, with the help of one of the staff there, we did the light fantastic and shuffled it across.

    It turned out that my guess at a 7pm start was never going to happen and I was just about done for 7.15pm First Dance was planned for 7.30pm and food at 8pm. I looked around the room as guests filtered in and, at 7.30pm, there were 30. Not bad, considering there were 42 during the day and the evening was booked for 80 (8 tables of 10). So I said nothing and consulted with Emily about the First Dance. Turned out that a guest had fallen outside and was being attended to. No serious injury, but enough to require first aid and a costume change.

    Near 8pm and I suggested that we delay the First Dance until after the food which was, by now ready to be served. The groom had already told me to get some food and, as I had counted 38 people there now, I guessed that there might be a bit of a surplus. Two bread rolls and half a pound of pork later, I was ready for the First Dance. Bride wanted Ed Sheeran. Groom wanted Toy Dolls - Nellie the Elephant. Shortest marriage ever?? It was a known gag, so we played both.

    So, off we went. I'd checked with the Bar Manager and, yes, it was a 1230pm bar with a 1am finish. So, 4 hours then with 36 people, the majority were over 40. You just never know.......

    Oh boy, did we not know. The last dance was played at 00.57 and I closed out dead on 1am. So much for getting off early.

    At the end of the night one of the guests came over to thank me for a brilliant night and the B&G got everybody to give me a standing ovation with "thre cheers for the DJ" They never remember your name do they.

    So another night came to a close. Stripped down and loaded up, I set off down the good old M180 for home. No need for late refreshment, I still had some pork crackling to get through!

  7. #4947

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    A guest at a recent wedding demanded I changed whatever plans I had for the last song in favour of You'll Never Walk Alone by Gerry & The Pacemakers. Two things here: if you're rude from the get-go your chances of having your request played are diminished & 2: guests don't get to decide when they go on.

    So I told him I was very sorry but I don't have it. Well didn't that start a cavalcade of abuse. Call yourself a DJ etc... All the while I'm thinking hey I know just the tune to end a happy occasion with... The Hillsborough anthem yay! I bit my tongue & 30 seconds into the false ending last song 'never forget' up rushes the bride asking for Oasis Don't Look Back In Anger instead. It was already cued up ready to go after Take That but under the circumstances Never Forget got unceremoniously thrown under a bus.

    The oasis track got a rousing reception & made for a great finale. Then as I was packing down, back came my favourite guest with yet more abuse. This time punctuated with a jabbing finger. I let him have his say & said OK now you've said your piece you can go. His parting shot was something that rhymed with "you're a ducking slight DJ" followed by "I'll make sure you never work in S***don". My retort was "I'm already WAY ahead of you mate. Way ahead".

  8. #4948
    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
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    Other than the travelling, definitely one of the best gigs of the year. This lot enter totally into the spirit of the night, and this time, they hit the perfect balance between exuberance and enthusiasm versus rowdiness and poor behaviour.

    It's an FFN gig near Boston Lincolnshire, and effectively a hundred miles each way. I can cut it to seventy five, but I've tried it, and the roads of rural Lincolnshire aren't a lot of fun. I'll stick to the Motorways, thank you.

    I can reverse up to the fire doors, and it's straight onto the stage. Quite a lot of kit for this, as it's a big venue, and I have to fully light the venue for the disco part, so lots of wash light from two stagg bars and two hadrons. Many of the guests had dressed for the occasion, which is great to see. Dirndls and lederhosen abounded, looked fabulous.

    I've got to say that every request was polite, and well received. We switched off at 1am, and I hit my bed around 3.35am!!!
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

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  9. #4949

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    Not much to report really except recent gigs have been erm.. nice. Oh & I've (hopefully permanently) benched my trusty Alto TS115A in favour of some brand spanking new RCF HD12A mk4. Oh my word. I borrowed a pair of slightly older generation HD12A for a gig from an esteemed colleague & ordered mine the very next morning. There's really nothing can beat a real gig test of some speakers, what?

    The next day they arrived & after some exhaustive testing at home (OMG the lengths you have to go to, to hit the limiter.. hahahahahah!) I got a message asking if I still had my old Mackies for sale. So they went the same night - and for £20 less than I paid for them over 4 years ago. Ahh, I do love a good deal

  10. #4950
    Imagine's Avatar
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    Default And we're back

    Yes, after a winter hibernation of far too long for my liking (eeee.....it's quiet this year), today was the first wedding of 2019 for me.

    And I don't do things by halves, this a the full-monty all day job complete with ceremony (yup, 15 hours from leaving home yesterday morning to getting home a few minutes ago and cracking open a very cold Pinot Grigio!).

    These were a lovely couple who booked me 18 months ago. The venue was a new one to me (absolutely gorgeous barn venue in deepest, darkest Norfolk....I like those a lot). So, out with the new Rustic Roadshow then

    I'd arranged to go and set up on Friday afternoon (it made life easier and the day itself a bit shorter), so Saturday was just a case of taking the controller and laptops in, quickly re-checking and off we jolly well go

    I arrived an hour earlier than needed, at the same time as the Registrar (you don't see them arriving early EVER in Cambridgeshire).
    'twas a 2pm ceremony on paper.....which actually kicked off at 2:20pm (hey ho). All went really smoothly until I hit the go button on the recessional music about 20 seconds too early. The Registrar decided she'd like to say some parting words and forgot to tell me about this fact. Never mind, my now married customers were more than happy with everything thus far.

    Then it's a waiting game as can be the case sometimes. The drinks reception and photos were happening elsewhere in the venue (away from where I was based), so I settled in with a book and my packed lunch and awaited the guests to be let back into the room for afternoon tea. Again, all went swimmingly well, including a heart wrenching speech from the best man which even had me welling up at times.

    Finally, we're into the evening and it's time for cake chopping and first dancing.
    The plan was (as always) for the happy couple to do their thing on the floor alone until the photographer indicated that he'd got the shots he needed and then invite everyone else to join them. I got the thumbs up for this 10 seconds before the song faded out!

    Just as the party started, the evening buffet opened. Bye bye dancers

    It was a bit of a tough crowd if I'm honest. The guests had made up the playlist with suggestions sent in their invitations so I had 10 hours worth of music to play with, plus I was open to requests as well. The list I'd been sent should have worked an absolute treat, until you realise that most of the guests were of more mature years (I think the majority of the requests may have come from the younger guests). A smattering of 70s and 80s got 'em up and running, and then into various genres such as rock, alternative, and clubland. Never the busiest of floors unfortunately but as we all know, that's how weddings can go at times.

    The booking was supposed to go until 1am, but guest numbers were rapidly dwindling (there were only 60 in the first place and by 11:30 we were down to 15). So, the bride and groom quite sensibly decided that it'd be better to kill things at midnight rather than dragging things out to the last minute.

    With 2 hours ahead of me packing down and driving home, I was actually quite glad of that, especially since a nice thick fog had appeared and the first 10 or so miles were down windy country lanes.

    All in all though, a really good day. It was a nice relaxed affair (I like that type of wedding rather than the full-on in your face type). Hugs and handshakes at the end confirmed everyone was happy so job done

    Next wedding is on Thursday.....possibly. It's at one of my regular haunts but the groom seems to have started ignoring my emails (just basic information such as what time is the first dance because that determines in that particular venue when I arrive....oh and the small matter of non-payment of the balance of my fee which was due 10 days ago.....grrrrrr!). I foresee a phone call to the venue on Monday to try to get to the bottom of what's going on.

    Right - what did I do with the corkscrew? I've earned this one

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