Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Did you speak to the DJ yourself?

I'd be interested to know that.

If a client asked if entertainer X could use my gear I'd probably tell the client to get them to contact me directly so we could discuss their set up and whether it's feasible and I could trust the person not to blow something up.

In fact reading back over her e-mail it may be that she's got something lost in translation (it happens if people don't know the jargon) and the guy has assumed you wanted to use his laptop hence why he's mentioned something about a set (playlist?) being programmed...

Or maybe that's just his go to response when he doesn't want to offend people. I know I've told "the bride's sisters best pal who nearly got on X factor 4 years ago" that she can't sing a tune because my system isn't set up to cope with vocals and music at the same time. It just saves hassle and at the end of the day, he's under no obligation to let you use his rig.

Taking up all the space is shoddy though.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I completely agree with Martin, from your posts on this matter past and present it does look like you have a problem with people that don't allow you to hook into their system.

That's what it looks like to me too. Do you ever offer to pay any of these guys for hiring their gear Alan?

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Sang Robbie William's Candy at todays end of term Christmas karaoke. I've been practicing it for a gig in January so I know the words inside out and I've got some cheesy moves sorted for it.

I keep the DJ / singing gig on the hush in work so a lot of colleagues were very impressed (meaning they expected me to be terrible ) but the best part was some random pupil I don't even know coming up and saying I was amazing. I wasn't amazing but I must've been pretty good if a kid is going to compliment me.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Yesterday for me was both tiring and almost a game of two halves...
In the afternoon I was at the school for kids with learning difficulties for the usual Christmas party gig that I do for them.
It's always a pleasure and it was the best one I have ever done for them. Some of the teachers were in tears because the kids were (as always) up for it. They were so excited.
200 of them doing Gangnam Style was a joy to watch!! From reading another review the other day where someone (sorry can't remember who it was?) said that at their kids party they weren't allowed to play certain songs, I thought I'd mention it to the head teacher just incase he was thinking along the same lines. He said it wasn't a problem because all the kids had been talking about all week was hearing those songs. He didn't want to disappoint them. Fantastic 2 hours and as always afterwards I get told "Same time next year then!".
Always a highlight over Christmas and as I said, a pleasure.

Last night was a Wedding at one of my residencies and I was really up for it despite being knackered. Probably because it was the last one before Christmas Eve and I have a couple of days off now. Don't get me wrong, it was a good night with lots of 80's and 90's requests and some scatterings of current chart stuff but everyone seemed as if they were tired. There were lots of guests with children and the Bride & Groom had a new born too. It's very rare that I finish early but that was the case last night. The couple got married early so it was a long day for them. By 10.30pm there were around 30 people left out of the 100 that were in attendance. The Bride & Groom decided on an 11.00pm finish rather than Midnight so that was cool with me. They said they were "Over the moon" with how it went but were just "Absolutely shattered". The last 30 minutes was quite a classic. The Groom and a few of his friends (a couple of them I knew very well too), were very drunk and I knew they were old skool ravers so I did a set of that kind of stuff (SL2, Prodigy etc..) and they loved it.
Decided to leave the equipment where it was and am going back to get it shortly.

Looking forward to Christmas Eve now where I will be at my local.

[Daryll]

Where do I begin , this reply has bits that could be placed in a number of sections.
Lets start at 01:30 this morning , I had typed out my reply , just about to hit the "post reply" button , and the power went off , well after the evening effort , that did not surprise me.
Let us now go back till 3:00 pm , this was a joint 60/50 birthday at my local club , easy evening so I thought , everything set up and working , sound was good , lighting was good , all cables taped down , and a neat and tidy set up.
Went home for some tea , wash change and back up the club at 7:00 for a 7:30 start , turned everything on , er...no sound , the denon 500 mixer was working on the mic and aux mic input , but nothing else , I turned the power on and off , unplugged all the cables , re attached but to no avail, time was now 7:30 and a few guests were milling around.
So I nipped into the bar and put £2 in the jukebox , turned the volume up in the hall , no one had noticed at this time.
The only way to get sound was to make a lead ( yes , I carry a soldering iron) , phono to jack , mono ( single channel) from the denon 4500 to the aux mic in on the mixer , well it worked , and no one was the wiser , apart from me , terrible gig anyway , the birthday girl had invited 130......35 turned up , it became apparent that most of the family had not seen each other for some time , all they wanted to do is talk , hence not one person danced all night , I did not have a playlist , but a guide for the music , 60`s 70`s 80`s chart hits plus x-mas songs , it was a very long night for me.
Even though i was book until midnight , at 11:30 the entire room was empty , so I had a serious look at the mixer , could not see anything wrong , tried a few test tracks , Gangnam style , levels etc , all of a sudden the mixer is now working as normal , plus 20 odd people from the club bar are now dancing.....
Finished at 1:00am.

Went back this morning to continue more tests , nothing again , and then after 10 minutes , mixer in full flow , its the intermittent faults I hate the most , I have another gig on x-mas eve in the club , I have a small spare mixer that I need to add a few leads to , but at the moment I cannot trust the denon.
The only thing I can think of the the dreaded damp , my gear is stored in a garage , away from the house , no power etc , corrugated roof that has drips of water on it , this is not the roof leaking but condensation , else gear is stored in the van , again the inside of the van gets a tad damp , and by the way , everything is flight cased , any more problems and it looks like a new mixer.
Just seems strange that it was just the four channels that were not working , the mic channels were.

Cheers

Daryll

[Ecstatic Events]

Hectic week of sub contracted gigs - With the gig of the year for me so far last night - I arrived and was immediately sent home! The party had booked a band/karaoke and the hotel had zero communication from them. So I was a standby. Home for 10pm...

I was in Central London on Wednesday for a law firms Christmas Party (second year) Same old people, same old requests. Great fun.

Thursday I had some very special guests in the house - Robbie Savage and the entire band of McFly! It was surreal seeing 2 of them cutting some shapes on the dancefloor. Harry Judd had his Wedding Reception at the hotel the following day so they all stayed the night before and literally 'crashed' the joiner party! They were absolutely mobbed and soon returned to the private room.

Some other famous guests on the day included Matt Willis, Emma Willis, Kara and Hannah Tointon... The GM was over the moon with the exposure, as Hello! had the exclusive.

In all the excitement I left both of my Laptops (MBP and a Dell) behind and the sheer panic and horror of not having them when I arrived home was 'savage' I couldn't even collect my thoughts to phone the hotel at one point. Lucky for me, a very honest night porter found them and held onto them for me. The best early Christmas present EVER!

Thats me done for the Christmas Parties, relief is an understatement.

Merry Christmas

[alphawave]

Did a 40th last night.....Little bit different from my normal nights..A new venue for me so left plenty of time and found the signs etc to the car park so pulled in.....but no sign of The Golf Club....nothing but pitch black and rain....So parked up and went on foot but nothing,by now time was running away so i rang a friend who i knew would know where it is....turns out i was stood right next to the club!! But in pitch black and no signs i had no i idea!!
Bit of a hike getting the gear in,down some wet steps then those twin doors which will not stay open.....Thought looking around it be a night of classics 60,70s then some chart .....
8.30pm a slightly drunk lady but nice with it keeps on to me that to pump it full blast and get it going,i explained that its only early and people are still arriving and food is at at 9pm....
No,still keeping on every other tune!! which is still back ground music....Anyway i get thing moving by playing classics and most hit the dancefloor including the lady .....but then keeps coming back stage and whats more modern stuff,ok no problem so i spice it up and bang,clears the floor apart from the lady!!
So the night moved around classics and dance to keep all happy...Good night,had loads like it but thought would share...
Got a roller disco tomorrow....umm wonder if i get the same .........oh then NYE to sort!!

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Did a 40th last night.....Little bit different from my normal nights..A new venue for me so left plenty of time and found the signs etc to the car park so pulled in.....but no sign of The Golf Club....nothing but pitch black and rain....So parked up and went on foot but nothing,by now time was running away so i rang a friend who i knew would know where it is....turns out i was stood right next to the club!! But in pitch black and no signs i had no i idea!!
Bit of a hike getting the gear in,down some wet steps then those twin doors which will not stay open.....Thought looking around it be a night of classics 60,70s then some chart .....
8.30pm a slightly drunk lady but nice with it keeps on to me that to pump it full blast and get it going,i explained that its only early and people are still arriving and food is at at 9pm....
No,still keeping on every other tune!! which is still back ground music....Anyway i get thing moving by playing classics and most hit the dancefloor including the lady .....but then keeps coming back stage and whats more modern stuff,ok no problem so i spice it up and bang,clears the floor apart from the lady!!
So the night moved around classics and dance to keep all happy...Good night,had loads like it but thought would share...
Got a roller disco tomorrow....umm wonder if i get the same .........oh then NYE to sort!!

Got to love that one drunk that thinks you're there to provide the soundtrack to their night

As for the doors that wouldn't stay open, do you have a couple of door jams? I've got a couple of little wooden door stop wedges I carry in my cable case. They take up next to no room, they're light and they work a treat instead of constantly fighting with doors or leaving bits of gear around to keep them open. Aside from my folding trolley, they're the best bits of gear I've got.

Roller disco should be fun.

[Excalibur]

As for the doors that wouldn't stay open, do you have a couple of door jams?

Yeah. And they double up as bassbins.

[Daryll]

Well , a standard NYE gig , not too many people , guess this is a sign of the times , played from 7:30 until 12:30, got booked straight away for next NYE at the same venue....., even though it was an older crowd , still got asked for gangnam style twice , I will be glad to see that pile of duck spawn relegated to the anal`s of history.
My standard rig , plus the ADJ sphereion on a podium and a couple of LED par 64`s , plenty of ABBA ( I tend to use the Mamma Mia versions these days) , stones, motown 70`s and 80`s, all in all a good night.
having my NYE drink now.....cheers.............

Daryll