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12-07-2017, 10:08 PM
#4471
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13-07-2017, 07:44 PM
#4472
Resident Antagonist
Never felt so guilty at a gig before.
Monday night wedding at a regular venue and you could tell straight away that it wasn't going to be a hands in the air, swinging from the chandeliers kind of night. I clocked this whilst setting up. So did the venue staff.
Don't get me wrong - the guests were lovely. The Bride and Groom were a delight. The problem was that the happy couple were exhausted (more exhausted than I've ever seen a couple on their wedding day before), and the guests were more than happy to sit and chat. I suggested to the B&G that we match the atmosphere to the room and play some chillout tunes as they chat. They seemed happy enough with this and I have done stuff like this before, usually in the last hour when everybody has danced themselves to exhaustion. The problem is that I made this suggestion at 9pm!
I don't say this with ego, but I know that this wasn't down to me. I don't see any DJ getting any other of reaction from this audience. I believe that I did the smartest thing and matched the atmosphere of the room. My guilt is down to the fact that for the last few hours of their wedding, I provided them with the same level of service you could have gotten from a iPod. On this occasion, something like that would have made so much more sense.
I mingled round the room, chatting to bar staff and various guests. Guests were really nice, and I presume happy with the direction the music went. At no point did anybody ever question why the volume and tempo dropped. Nobody even tried to badger me to get things going again.
But that was a lot of money for background music.
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16-07-2017, 12:36 AM
#4473
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16-07-2017, 06:02 AM
#4474
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16-07-2017, 07:25 PM
#4475
I dunno what it is but I've had a run of really incredibly pleasant outings in the last few months including a few private bookings. Some slow burners, some that died off a little too early but in the main very good times that haven't felt very much like work at all. Lovely couples, lovely pub crowds (covering for a friend - an 80 mile trip) & even a couple of extremely lively proms.
I've changed a few things - mostly my overhead lighting which is now 4 mini movers & after trying some borrowed white speaker stand scrims I've stuck with them, opting to stow my bass bin inside the micron (which conveniently gives me somewhere to put my backup playout & makes the PA sound much beefier). The difference is noticeable & has been reflected in the feedback I've had from clients.
Oh yeah that's the other thing I've changed. I've given up trying to get people to fill in the feedback form on my website & I'm sending them directly to my Facebook reviews page instead.
Up next will be the purchase of a new radio mic system, then a new booth - the micron is great & I love it to bits but it's just not big enough for some applications. I'm tempted by the Equinox trussbooth, which with inlayed translucent acrylic (all round though, not just the front) I think will look the bees knees.
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16-07-2017, 09:26 PM
#4476
Good gig bad gig.
Last week 50th birthday in a pub ex haunting flight of stairs!
Set up quite quickly crowd were brilliant chart,80's party music .Full dance floor for most of the night .
Karaoke at usual pub this Friday just gone next week golden wedding in back garden.
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22-07-2017, 12:46 AM
#4477
Bad...really bad :(
Well let's face it....it was long overdue after the decent run I've had recently.
'Twas a wedding in one of my posher more regular haunts with a really nice couple I met a couple of weeks ago, and I was worried before I even left home. Despite having had loads of really good, arms in the air whooping and "one more" weddings in there in the past, the previous two had been dire.
The first, nobody, I repeat NOBODY danced. The last one, the B&G gave me a playlist as long as a long thing with nothing but R&B and hiphop which was never going to work at a wedding in a million years. Luckily at that one, they went off to consummate the marriage at 9:30 and the playlist was torn up and the party rescued.
The problem is, it's one of those venues which is two permanent marquees, and the bar is in the one I'm not in. Despite the fact that there' a clear line of sight between the two....it can go either way in there.
I'm not the only one who's experiencing this particular problem in that venue at the moment either. Nothing's changed so far as the staff, the way things are done, or the physical building, but since the start of the year things just haven't "worked" in there if that makes sense.
Tonight....hmmmm. Let's just say I've seen more action at midweek and Sunday weddings.
I arrived and set up as usual. My "minder" (sorry...the wedding coordinator) came to say hello and I commented on how quiet it was. This place normally has 80-100 day guests and another 50 or so in the evening. I counted about 50 all in, and apparently they'd started leaving shortly after the wedding breakfast....this didn't bode well.
The evening guests (there were supposed to be an additional 60 coming and only a handful arrived), arrived late so the FD was postponed by half an hour or so from the plan (very unusual in this particular venue).
FD went to plan, everyone came and watched, many joined in. And then went and sat down.
I had no playlist for this one....it was open season apart from no action dances...it should have worked.
It didn't.
I threw the entire kitchen sink at it and managed to get no more than half a dozen on the floor at any one time. Don't get me wrong, there was plenty of thigh slapping and head nodding going on in the other marquee....I even saw dancing in there at times. It just wasn't happening on the dance floor where it was supposed to happen.
Add to this, guests were trickling away for most of the evening as well. By the time we got to midnight (and I was starting to think we wouldn't make it that far), we were down to about 20. All that was left 5 minutes after I played the last song of the evening was me and the venue staff...again - really unusual in there.
I honestly don't think I could have done anything differently and I think it was just one of those nights.....still leaves you questioning your ability to do the job at times though.
Never mind...next week's a 70s themed party with the Retro kit....should be fun
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22-07-2017, 08:32 AM
#4478
Dinosaur
Originally Posted by
Imagine
Bad...really bad
Well let's face it....it was long overdue after the decent run I've had recently.
I honestly don't think I could have done anything differently and I think it was just one of those nights.....still leaves you questioning your ability to do the job at times though.
Oh Wayne, I'm sitting here with tears of sympathy falling into my cornflakes. I feel your pain.
Yeah right, I've sat here for months, enviously reading about how fabulous your recent gigs have been, when most of mine have been like the one you describe above.
The last lines of your post sum it up perfectly, as you leave the gig, you're wondering what you could have done differently/better. The answer's probably absolutely nothing, but it doesn't help much.
Chin up, look forward to the next one.
Originally Posted by
Imagine
Never mind...next week's a 70s themed party with the Retro kit....should be fun
Snap, nearly. 70th Birthday, lots and lots of 60's. Jeanette's going with me cos we've got a tribute artist on doing one of her favourite singers. If this one isn't a cracker, I'm hanging up the headphones!
Last edited by Excalibur; 22-07-2017 at 08:39 AM.
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23-07-2017, 11:06 AM
#4479
Dinosaur
We need a bigger dancefloor!
Are you reading this Wayne? Told you I was due a good one.
OK, whimsy over. That one's a running gag at the moment. This one was soooo nearly a perfect gig. I'd recced the venue midweek, and met the lovely birthday girl. The layout as described to me was very workable, since the venue had no stage. There was to be a big surprise as well of a live act, more of that later.
We ( Jeanette came along, as she wanted to see the live act ) turned up nice and early to be greeted with effectively an unworkable setup area. The " bar " ( long table, covered in glasses ) took up almost all the back wall where we'd planned to be, and our revised setup area would see us working across the room, performing basically to a bar table.
A quick chat with my mate Procrustes ( Google it, you philistines ) and we fitted the micromax and powerbar on a tripod into the corner, next to the drinks fridge and our two chairs. The live act would run his mixer into a channel on mine, and his kit was arranged near mine as if it belonged to me. The soundcheck with the Mauis impressed him no end.
Guests arrived in fancy dress, we had a stunning Sandy and Danny from Grease, Clint Eastwood, Rod Stewart, Calamity Jane, and an assortment of other outfits. I struck up with some 60's fare which was well received, especially by the birthday girl, who was already doing a fair impression of the Duracell Bunny already. Don't know what she was on, but I want a pint of it! Time came to unveil the live act, and birthday girl was led back in to find her hero Billy Fury. She was staggered, it was a complete surprise, and every other person in the room breathed a huge sigh of relief.
The live act. Now some of us believe we travel for our art, but this lad was something else! Where had he come from? How far had he, his wife and toddler driven?
Great Yarmouth, 200 miles away!! Blimey. He was a polished and accomplished performer, if not the world's finest singer. He also doubles as Elvis Presley, and threw in a few of the king's for good measure. The lack of a stage hampered his theatrical moves somewhat, but he bunged them in anyway. Performed a lot longer than he was booked for, too. He took his encore and well deserved applause, packed up and headed home, after saying goodbye to us.
My turn next, and the most modern track I played was Grease Megamix. At times the ( admittedly less than vast ) dancefloor was too small. They'd been dancing on and off from the very start, and by the end, numbers had dwindled, but we limped over the finish line with everyone in the room on the floor for a track I've not played for years, but I used to finish with for many many years. " You'll never walk alone ".
So, a great night, well enjoyed by all present ( especially by a DJ who had dusted off tracks which last saw the light of day forty years ago ) but: us DJs are never truly happy, are we? If only they'd laid the room out properly. Ah well, after recent gigs, I'll take this with both hands, especially as Jeanette had had a good time too.
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23-07-2017, 12:02 PM
#4480
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