Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[Imagine]

Well this is a nice change - home at 11:20pm after a gig at my local village hall

This one was the local swimming club who I've done the Xmas parties for since I can remember, albeit in a different venue. To have them in my local hall was a nice change. It was a "family party" to celebrate the centenary of the club and as always, nice and relaxed with the focus on the kid's side of things.

Start off with a presentation of awards (there goes the first hour), followed by a mahusive spread of food the parents had brought along (another half an hour gone) and we're onto pure and unadulterated cheddar as is the law with their parties.

Not as busy as usual on the dance floor as there's a very nice play park outside and on a warm and humid night like tonight, that's where the stars of the show wanted to be. Never mind, still a good night and everyone left happy.

The only downside is that one of my WashFX2's blew early doors. I've already got a replacement coming but would be handy if I could find a spare control board for the dud one rather than skipping it - I like those lights.

Next week will be an interesting one in many ways - more on that in members

[Excalibur]

Well this is a nice change - home at 11:20pm after a gig at my local village hall

I can beat that one, son. I arrived home ten minutes after I'd finished tonight.

Well, that's not strictly true. I finished an hour early, as numbers were really low at my 80s night in the golf club, just as the Captain predicted. He's had a week of events, and today was an all day job, with me as the finale.

Except for various reasons, very few returned for the evening, after a day of festivities, so I was a little bit surplus. Of course, if I hadn't been there, there would have been complaints that there should have been a disco.

Low numbers, but very well received and appreciated. The early finish makes up for low numbers in my book.

[Nakatomi]

After a barrage of absolutely amazing proms I was back at my favourite castle for a wedding on Saturday.

I'm sure I've seen crowds more visibly drunk than that lot but I can't remember when

Anyway I managed to rifle through 123 tracks in 5 short hours thanks to a very high intensity Clubland set at the peak of the night. For the second time in recent memory an off duty club DJ approached me to compliment me on my technique (his exact words were more like "flipping hell mate I thought no way is he doing this live. But then I came for a look & sure enough you are". High praise indeed from a resident of Cosmic Ballroom. We very nearly got flooded at half past eleven thanks to an overloaded guttering system but the water just managed not to hit anything electrical.

The crowd were lovely - I even got a little peck as thanks for playing one pretty lady guest's request. The client was very happy indeed. Result - one very happy DJ. Males a change eh

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Had a great run of weddings the past couple of months. Last night was special, it was for a guy I grew up with and have known since I was about 3.

Some faces from the old scheme that I've not seen for 20+ years in some cases and we absolutely smashed it.

I made a point of getting their video done asap this morning so I could send it over to him and the family and they're over the moon. My socials have blown up with people recommending me, sharing photos etc... which is nice, it's always squeaky bum time when you work for someone you know in case it doesn't turn out as good as it could but last night was great.

Another one tonight in a lovely little loch side cafe then we're away for some R&R with the dog for a well earned break.

[Excalibur]

Would make a good song title that.

First off, well done Jim, and well done Wayne ( post in Supporters). I couldn't have done what Wayne managed to, and I applaud his Herculean efforts to give his bride a fabulous wedding, in a venue which should never be allowed to behave this way.

OK, my night. Well, it started on Friday, sort of. I have been asked for three discos less than five miles from home, in the last month, all on dates I'm booked. This was the third one, so the inimitable Dave Hughes, Davesounds helped me out by agreeing to do a Plug and Play for me. Thus, on Friday, I set up a fairly large rig for him, ready to rock and roll, in a huge concrete shed.

My Saturday booking was a prizegiving for a Netball Group, aged 9 upwards. Held in a Masonic Lodge with the most awkward car park in the universe. I got in early, and set up my minimal rig ( which could have been even more minimal if I hadn't taken the radio mics, which they said they didn't need, as they used the in house gear ). and was ready to go in good time. Prizes, speeches and raffle over, it was time to be a jukebox for a couple of hours. The organisers and staff had hoped/expected it to fizzle out around 10pm. No chance, we had a hardcore of girls camped on the dancefloor! I switched off just before 10.30pm, and got back to Dave around an hour later. I could hear him as I drove into the yard, and he was doing just fine. I came in to say hello, and grab some Pizza and a pint of Wold Gold. ( All three parties have had that on, not bad stuff ). I had a nice chat with Dave, got a brief account of how the night had gone, and how nice his hog roast was. Once he had decided to go and play on the M62 diversion route, we swapped over to my Prime GO for the last leg. First time I've used it solo, and it was just the job. I really haven't got to grips with the Engine software yet for sorting music, but I managed well enough. Switched off at 1.30am, unplugged, and headed for bed. Went and got the gear back this morning, in very blustery conditions. Thank goodness it wasn't a marquee, it might have blown away!

Thanks once again Dave, client was very pleased with us both, so job done.

[Excalibur]

One of those gigs where you did your best, and the customer and guests were very happy, but as a DJ, I felt unfulfilled.

OK, 60th birthday at one of the edges of my kingdom. All the way down the M18 until it becomes the M1, and off a couple of junctions further, to a little community centre in Derbyshire. Absolutely lovely staff, who couldn't have been nicer or more helpful, with good access into quite a small room. I set up a correspondingly small rig, and with the times being 7-11, I wanted to get them moving a little quicker than I often attempt to. No real music policy, other than try to concentrate on the 80s.

Well, you guessed it, could I move them from the bar at the far end of the room? No, I could not. Then just as I was starting to make progress in that direction, after the request for lashings of cheese to get things going, what do we have? The tactical buffet in a completely separate room.

As I'm sure many of you have guessed, we did get going, the birthday girl had imbibed copiously, and was loaded well above the plimsoll line, shall we say? Much strong drink was taken by many in fact, but the behaviour was fine.

Requests for " one more song", but the splendid staff had got the house lights on, well done bar staff. I was loaded up quickly, and back onto the motorway for an uneventful drive home.

Tonight is back to the seaside, along one of my less favoured routes, for Karaoke at a venue I've done a couple of times now. At least I've got the rig fine tuned there. Sadly, it's over a one hundred yard trolley dash to get to the clubhouse. Ah well.

[Imagine]

Unlike one of our members last night, I wasn't working with crows (although flamingos did make an appearance during the evening )

Last night then, a festival themed wedding in a big wigwam. And as is customary when I work in one of these types of tent, we had rain of biblical proportions from start to finish. Unlike last week's venue, the owners were sensible and realised that suppliers actually need to get somewhere near the tent to unload. So, park next to the set up area, open the flap and away you go (just how it should be done)

A very informal wedding with no first dance or cake cutting and a nice early 11:30pm music curfew saw me settle in with the Rustic show. Due to the dampness, the P4 needed to be coiffured with the trusty hairdryer before it'd respond but other than that, no issues.

No playlist as such, although the bride had sent me a link to a spotify link of the type of music they liked, plus a list of around 20 do-not-plays which in all honesty other than Dancing Queen I wouldn't have played anyway. Music then ranged from Motown, a little 70s disco, a bit of 80s cheddar and a LOT of 90s pop and indie to end the night to a full dance floor. In fact the only time the dance floor was actually empty is when everyone was led away to the field next door to watch a surprise firework display for 10 minutes.

All in all a blimmin' good night, despite being cold and damp all the way through.

[Excalibur]

Another night with plaudits across the board, but a nagging sense of unfulfillment on my part. Younger age group, 18th birthday this time, with the dreaded Karaoke as well.

At the end of the night there were plaudits from staff and guests alike, but another function that never really took off as I'd hoped. Ah well.
Wedding next week, with a 7 page playlist! Bride has realised that I need to cherry pick, she'd already worked that out herself. Clever girl.

[Excalibur]

A wedding booking with all the red flags I was hoping to ignore. Late access, less than ideal access, upstairs on a balcony, huge playlist with few of The Usual Suspects.

Well, I got access at the specified time, and got the rig running by the appointed time. Because it was a small venue, I only used one T-Bar for lights, which meant I had two par cans spare. Having a huge balcony to myself, I threw bags and cases out of the way, leaving the booth empty under. I stuck two cans under the booth, and gave it a lovely purple glow.


So, to the music/ playlist. Well, it was lacking in early doors music, and also party and cheese. The whole thing ran late from the off, and I was struggling to get much dance floor action with the playlist, especially with a fair few children/teens as guests. I had hoped that from the initial appearance of the guests, Indie would play a big part, and I was saving some of the more anthemic ones for later. I wasn't confident, I only got two requests all night, apart from an appearance from The Ikettes doing the worst version of Proud Mary I have ever seen. The arrival of Ike himself ( aka the groom ) made it even worse. Hilarious, but awful.

The night was not looking promising, until we lost the children, and the DJ's crutch ( Alcohol ) took effect. The Lads ( aged thirties onwards, I'd say ) gained the confidence to throw shapes, and as I'd guessed, we finished at full throttle with some Indie. Bride and Groom were very happy, I was able to pack up at my leisure, and make my way home a happy and relieved bunny.

[Zog]

More of that later.

It's been twenty two, yes twenty two months since I worked with the FFN ( aka Legslappers )! They were raring to go, as were the crowd. One of the longer distance gigs for me, and it might have begat another one there next year. I was ten minutes late arriving ( meaning I only arrived eighty minutes before kick off ). Trouble is, if the FFN members arrive early, they tend to slow me down chatting, organising the night and future ones, and wanting me to do things for them. Ah well, we got there. Not a huge venue, so only one Polar, for space and pack up reasons.

Well, what a night. I relished the chance of a rest, because between a new puppy and lots of long distance work, I was tired. To be fair, I wasn't razor sharp, and didn't give them perfect support, although as usual, we/they managed well enough. The night went really well, and as is often the case when that happens, they overran massively, leaving me less than forty five minutes to play. They handed over to me, and while I was changing the laptop over for my music, an organiser asked for a mic, to announce they'd need to remove the tables from the dancefloor, if they wanted to dance!

Mid announcement, total silence! Flat battery, obviously, so pick up the one with new batteries.

Ah. Silence, but both mics were registering on the mixer.

Reason for silence? No lights/power on Polar. Back to van to grab second Polar, and new power lead, in case that was the problem. Swap Polars, and we're rocking, until the shouts of " one more " three minutes after the designated closing time, and a personal request for one more a few minutes later, as I was putting the laptop in its bag.

Fault finding today shows that the dead Polar had destroyed the fuse completely, and when we replaced it with the spare, that went immediately. Phone call to supplier first thing tomorrow. At least they've had a ship come in, they have some in stock again.

Isn't it wonderful how when I had at least four PA systems in the shed, nothing ever went wrong? Now I've sold three rigs, and I'm down to one rig for most gigs, it explodes.

A completely exploded fuse is a definite indication of a high current fault downstream of the fuse, such as a short circuit fault. Glass fuses can't take the high fusing current so can physically explode. Certain fuses are physically stronger and will contain the fault current and not physically disintegrate apart from the wire fuse element inside. They are sometimes called H.R.C. (hight rupturing capacity) or H.B.C. (high breaking capacity) fuses.
NEVER replace a ceramic H.R.C with a glass bodied one. NEVER replace a blown fuse with one of a higher rating. Sometimes "slow blow" or "time-lag" fuses are requires rather than F (fast blow) types. T indicates "Time lag types" e.g. T6.3 = time-lag 6.3 Amps.

Zog.