Pah! Pales into onsignificance compared to the glory that is Hemsworth Water Park.Originally Posted by Imagine
Off with Liz to sunny Hunstanton this afternoon for a walk along the prom, fish and chips under the pier and a freshly prepared dressed crab
Mind you, the fact that I'm on my third pint in the nearby Wetherspoons may mean I've got the rose tinted specs on.
Well I hope that wasn't the start of one of those weekends
Tonight - a wedding. My favourite venue, a lovely young couple, traditional church ceremony followed by party at a very plush Manor House with marquee to finish. What could possibly be wrong with that?
Normally - nothing. As I say, it's my favourite venue and I've never had a dud night there....until tonight.
Now, this is the one I sometimes go on about with the starlit marquee where they do a grand reveal of the first dance (basically, the B&G are wobbling around the dance floor for the benefit of the TOG and at the allotted time, the music strikes up and the curtain separating the dance marquee from the dining marquee is whipped back to reveal the disco and first dance in all their splendour.
When the curtain is however whipped back, and all I can see is bums stuck firmly in seats......well you can see where this one is going.
I eventually managed to coax some guests to the floor to join in with the first dance, and did a lovely little interview with the father of the bride before going into a father/daughter dance (this was all pre-planned with B&G and he was completely unaware it was going to happen!).
And then....tumbleweed. Apart from a LOT of children. Well actually, more like babies and toddlers. My dance floor quickly became a creche, with just a few older ones (certainly no older than 10) to keep me company.
OK - let's do an impromptu kids party then. The grown ups are obviously going to sit and talk. Unfortunately I didn't have the kids party kit with me, so I was limited to those lovely party dances like Superman (eeew), Cha Cha Slide (eeew) and the like. But - it kept the kids and a couple of grandparents amused so why not.
I even sent them out to the dining marquee in a conga line with instructions to bring some grown ups back. Nope - that didn't work either
By 10pm, the kids had taken their parents home and the crowd was thinning. Disappointingly, B&G were too busy talking to dance (always a problem when you need to fill a dance floor I find) and so I had the last two hours on my own. The guests were there in the other room (which is in direct line of sight of the dance floor) - they just weren't budging.
I threw the kitchen sink at it - followed by the drainer, dishwasher, fridge.....nothing worked.
Possibly didn't help that I was also up against one of the biggest chocolate fountains I've ever seen plus a Photo Booth.
Last orders called - more disappear. Time at the bar - they've gone!
Bride and groom to be fair did come over and heap loads of praise on me. They'd wanted to dance but couldn't get away from the guests.
Another chap came up and said "you had a really tough one there tonight didn't you...you were never going to win no matter what you did". Yup - you guessed it....he's a DJ too (I'd been told there was one amongst the guests by the B&G when we first met up). At least he had the professionalism to leave it until afterwards to introduce himself
Talking to the events manager - they've had several quiet weddings on the trot recently and can't work out why they're not going as well as normal. It's not us DJs as far as they can see - we're all playing much the same fayre as we'd normally play, plus a lot of it for weddings is guest requests (that didn't happen tonight) and pre-planned lists from the couples.
To be fair - I've been due one like this for a while. Let's hope tomorrow's affair (another wedding) is a little more energetic
Its just part of being a DJ having to put up with the odd quiet gig.
Did an engagement party where they all sat at the back of the room drinking and chatting.
I had kids climbing all over my gear so had to stop to ask them to leave the stage.
Some parents had abandoned the kids, gone clubbing and left them with me to entertain them !
In 1976 we did a gig at Gretna Green for the youth club and not a single person danced all night.
Three different DJ's tried and failed.
We even resorted to turning all the lights off so they didnt feel so self conscious.
However the good nights more than make up for it.
Giving a lot of people a good time and then getting paid for it, well it doesn't get any better.
Absolute cracker for me.
Lovely barn venue only 30mins away with no sound limiter. Wedding for lovely couple in their early 30s.
On their playlist they requested a song that was only released yesterday as the artist would be at the reception. They explained they would bring the song. Very good it was too, look out for it.
Like Son - Freakin
50-80 people on dance floor all evening. Lots of 00's RnB plus all usual suspects. Great night.
What a difference a day makes!
Now then - if you'd have asked me during the week which of the two weddings this weekend was likely to bomb...I'd have predicted it wrong.
Last night's at a regular venue where nobody danced felt like a compete flop to me.
Move forward 24 hours to today and this is the one I was expecting to not go to plan. Why? The guests and the entertainment are in different rooms (much like last night but different). Also, tonight I was the warm down after a band.
The venue was a new one on me.....and I like it....A LOT.
It's always nice when you turn up to a converted farm barn and get told to reverse the van into the building to unload. Yup - I enjoyed setting up and packing away straight into the van....heaven
The big downside is that it wasfreezing!
Anyway - back to the gig. It was part 2 of a 2 part wedding (they got married during the week). Because the guests were dining in a different part of the building to the disco, I decided to use my newly acquired DIY wedding breakfast system for the speeches and background music (it worked a treat), and leave the main kit in the dance room.
Things overran as they always do, but it was finally time to herd the guests from one side of the building to t'other for the first dance - performed by the band. I must say at this point that the band were one of the best I've ever worked with. Very polite, talking about and comparing kit without the usual "mines bigger than yours", and very neatly set up.
They were also very good at what they did.
So - first dance out of the way and the band actually lost the floor. Nobody danced. Plenty stood and watched, a couple jiggled on the edge of the floor, but it wasn't the usual mosh-pit of bodies that you tend to get with a live band. My heart sank as I was expecting similar when I started up.
Wrong!
It appears that just for once the band where my warm up act
The end of the evening came round way too early, but rules is rules (and we had paramedics on site at the end as well due to a little too much of the falling down water being consumed by a couple of guests!). Packing up....just drive the van in next to the rig and put it back in
Time for a well deserved glass of wine now (I'll think of you whilst I drink it Peter since you can't imbibe for a little while. ).
A strange 7 days for me.
As I have said on a number of occasions, I have purposely skimmed down bookings since moving to Norfolk as I want (and need) a change, at least for a while anyway. A lot of my bookings have and will be covered by Daryll (thanks as always mate, I'll be in touch with the reference to the next bookings), and he has taken on one of my previous residencies (good luck with that), so a lot of stress has been taken away. There have been times where I have had no enthusiasm for the role at all and I look at all the equipment in my lock up and wonder whether it is worth keeping it at times......those wonders don't last long because I KNOW that I will always have it to fall back on if and when I need it.
Anyway, for once I wasn't travelling back and forth again and after having food poisoning last weekend (bloody horrible too), and having to get a booking covered up here (a 30th birthday party), I was looking forward to a weekend off, just chilling. I've been doing lots of work as a self-employed courier for the past month and it's been very tiring as the hours are long at times but the money is great. I've been so tired when I've eventually got home that I have been in the land of nod by 9.30pm. Yesterday morning I received a call from another DJ local to me (never met him before), who was struggling to get a booking covered as he'd been let down by his regular bloke. It was a 21st birthday party in a venue around 10 miles from me. My first thoughts were "No bloody way, I seriously need a rest" but then I remembered that I was in the same position last week when I was struggling and I would have been right up poo creek had I not been able to find somebody to cover my booking....(I'd have done it but I would have been visiting ivory towers regularly throughout the night), so I agreed to do it.
What I didn't like about the situation (and this made me feel very nervous), was that I had limited information about the party. No advance song requests, likes or dislikes etc. Daryll will tell you that I try to get as much information as possible for every booking, whether it's for me or him or anybody else working on my behalf. All I knew was what the guy was paying me and that it was a 21st birthday for a girl and it was from 7.00pm - 11.30pm.
I reluctantly loaded the van up with the equipment whilst aching like an achy thing due to heavy lifting all week and I felt slightly fuzzy due to a couple (lol) of beers at the darts presentation night on Friday.
Anyway, arranged to set up before I started. Nice little venue, medium sized and they allowed the use of a smoke machine (a lot of venues up this way don't seem to mind smoke machines). Met the birthday girl, had a quick chat about the music and she was laid back about it..."I like a bit of everything" she said.
Around 80 people there, mixed ages and they started dancing when I kicked off the background music so that was a good sign and gave me some confidence.
As the night went on, the dance floor was healthy and I was soon in the flow of things. Lots of requests came in and people were very complimentary. Gave out a few cards too which was good.
It was a mix of current chart, dance, 80's and 90's and some cheese. Somebody even asked for the new Steps single. Luckily I had it and surprisingly, it went down well. No offence to Ed Sheeran or Bruno Mars but I am tiring of their stuff now but it continues to get requested so I play it.
Overall, a decent night and it was good to earn some extra money but I think I prefer being out on the road for the moment anyway.
Looking at the diary, I have bookings scattered around in June, July, August and September for myself and I quite like that. Hopefully doing it this way will be more enjoyable, rather than having to rely on them week in, week out. If I can continue what I am doing and DJ every now and then when I WANT to, the enthusiasm may come back and I may return to it again full time. I still don't like turning bookings away though and have 10 for 2018 at present.
Now, it's chill out time!
Thank you for the kind words Gary.
Well I was minding my own business yesterday , I was shopping at Sainburys in chichester , when the phone rang , this was at 3 in the afternoon , a local landlord from petersfeild.
The band has let us down tonight , I have tried everything , could you help , well its nice to be the bottom of the "who can we contact "list.
Still I said yes , it was a very short gig 9:00pm until 11:00pm , got there , set up with only a handful of people there , all blokes , singing the praises of their football teams.
so a slow start , however around 10:15 people came in , and kept coming in until the placed was packed , and I mean packed.
The order of the day was rock classics and chart with a sprinkling of 80`s/90`s , so a bit of everything , there was a group of about 10 youngsters in front of me jumping up and down , to the extent that my wash lights were more moving heads...lol
Then I tried something very different , Relativ - Back to Infinity a psy trance track , I had edited it at home , well , It nearly brought the house down , how my rig stayed up I dont know.
I announced the last song at 11:00pm , the landlord came up and said , could I please play for an extra half hour , and with that atmosphere who am I to argue.
all in all an excellent night.
Daryll
darylldj.co.uk , serving hampshire , Surrey and sussex
Worse weekends are available.,Well I hope that wasn't the start of one of those weekends
1) Yay, Wayne's caught up and bought a stick rig.1) I decided to use my newly acquired DIY wedding breakfast system for the speeches and background music (it worked a treat), and leave the main kit in the dance room.
2)The end of the evening came round way too early, but rules is rules (and we had paramedics on site at the end
3)Time for a well deserved glass of wine now (I'll think of you whilst I drink it Peter since you can't imbibe for a little while
2) Paramedics. Big thumbs up for that, I may have them at my return gigs.
3) Watch it sonny, I'm still breathing, and I'm still a Mod.To paraphrase Orwell- "Old Git is watching you".
Sticks?????? NEVER!!!!!!Worse weekends are available.,
1) Yay, Wayne's caught up and bought a stick rig.
I got one of these which I provide with a tripod and wireless mics.
Normally drop to the client/venue on the day before the wedding with instructions on how it works and leave them to it (they can plug in phones, SD cards and USB sticks....up to them). I then take it home with me at the end of the wedding breakfast. A single hire paid for it
It all went to plan :)
Last night was a 60th for me, and in keeping with my New Year's resolution was only 30 minutes from my front door (I'm doing well on booking only local stuff this year
The theme I'd been promised was female artistes from the 1950s.
Now regular followers will note that I don't get myself excited about these types of themed nights because they never go to plan and the promised style of music never works.
Tonight was very different
I was blessed with Teddy Boys aplenty, and boy were they up for a party. Legs and fingers were twitching during the buffet, and the floor was full before the cake had been cut....RESULT!
Slightly cloak and dagger bit during the cake cutting in that the birthday girl's partner had arranged for a load of recordings from absent friends and relatives to be played by yours truly. Completely unexpected by the birthday girl and resulted in mascara being smudged....hey ho!
Back to the dancing and yes, we broke away from the 50s just a tad - but no later than 1985 and then only for a couple of tracks. The main entertainment stayed well and truly rooted in the 1950s and 1960s - absolutely brilliant in my book
I'm beginning to love my set up more and more at the moment as well. I recently acquired some wireless dongles (the rechargeable ones) to fit into the fixtures which I can't fit my own boards into - the whole thing is working a treat. And the Yammy 8/12 system is being used more and more often as well....I still can't believe how many times I have to take the bass out of them to stop a bone-shattering floor shake!
Just toying now with the idea of having some sort of fixture to put onto the satellite poles between the subs and the tops rather than having overhead lighting, but not sure what. Ideally it needs to be some sort of wash batten, but not too big (i.e. less than a metre). Open to ideas on that front.
Right - time for a well earned Scotch (sorry Peter....I meant fruit juice), then off to see a bride and groom tomorrow at a new (and hopefully soon to become regular) venue for me
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