Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[Nakatomi]

On come on Justin! "Buffet's open " and " Last orders at the bar " are hardly going to earn you a Grammy award.

Haha. Not quite. It was the introduction which got everybody involved & the closing announcement which started the finale wot dun it guv. Apparently. How I'm going to do that without the aid of an audible PA remains to be seen...

[Corabar Steve]

I do like working with the light screens I have to admit....in tonight's clients words "they look like a proper disco". I'm not going to argue. It's just a shame they're so damned heavy and hot.....and I'm sooooooo glad I'm not lugging crates of vinyl into venues anymore

So...according to tonight's client....THIS is how a proper disco should look (I feel a marketing opportunity coming up after I've had some sleep)

Attachment 17853

Are there a couple of lamps out on the second from the left?

[Imagine]

Are there a couple of lamps out on the second from the left?

I wondered how long it would take someone to notice

[Corabar Steve]

I wondered how long it would take someone to notice

Just call me Hawkeye

[Benny Smyth]

Just call me Hawkeye

Even Rain Man wouldn't have spotted that!

[CRAZY K]

Haha. Not quite. It was the introduction which got everybody involved & the closing announcement which started the finale wot dun it guv. Apparently. How I'm going to do that without the aid of an audible PA remains to be seen...

Hire a loudhailer--bit like I remember Chumbawamba Tubthumping on Top of the Pops--excellent

[Nakatomi]

Hire a loudhailer--bit like I remember Chumbawamba Tubthumping on Top of the Pops--excellent

Don't even think for one minute I haven't considered it!

[CRAZY K]

Don't even think for one minute I haven't considered it!

do it! do it!

Post the photos afterwards.

Mind you there were TWO GUYS belting out TUBTHUMPING I noticed on the vid yesterday.

[Excalibur]

Isn't it charming how they keep putting little " experiences " into our journeys, to keep us alert? Well, no actually.
Friday saw me hurtling down the A1 to a tiny village near Nottingham for an out of area gig with Penfold's Legslappers. Their fame is spreading, and after last night, it will have spread a little further.

To the journey: uneventful down the motorways, and I was happy to see that I only had a few miles after leaving the A1 to navigate. As I neared my turning, I was surprised to see the sat nav indicating I was going to turn right off the A1, not the customary left. Well right it was to be. From the right hand lane of my carriageway, into a gap which until I turned into it didn't appear to actually exist, despite the arrows alleging this. Well it did exist, and I'm now sitting between four lanes of traffic travelling at up to 70mph, facing a goat track which I'm firmly convinced isn't actually a road!! Oh goody.

I managed to find a gap in the oncoming rush big enough to get onto the goat track, and I'm now deeply worried. Deeply. Fortunately, after a selection of other goat tracks, I appeared on a close approximation of a road, and found the venue. On speaking to the keyholder, he knew all about this manoeuvre, and informed me that it was not the best option. You don't say? Turns out that if you leave the A1 at the previous junction for Long Bennington, you get there on real roads, with roundabouts, and two lanes and lights and things. Leaving the venue I could see lots of signs with pictures of lorries on and A1. Following these made things an absolute doddle, phew. I'll remember for next time.

The gig: first time there for the FFN, brilliant access, just back the van up to the fire exit, and it's a few steps to the stage. The stage, or should that be raised storage area for chairs? It wasn't huge to start with, and sharing it with all these chairs didn't help a lot. Nevertheless, we coped, and the FFN did their usual stuff, to a rapturous reception. By the time I came on, many of the crowd were " well lubricated ", in particular one young lady who must have had at least two bottles of wine to herself!! My hour and a half slot flew by, the crowd were slightly older than some we see, and very receptive to a selection of classics from the Party folder.

All in all, a very good night. Let's hope today's wedding is similar. I'm going North for this one, Scarborough.

[Imagine]

OK - yes I've had better nights, but it wasn't so bad.

For the benefit of Martin - yes this one was a NaD gig. Unfortunately as is sadly becoming all to familiar the bride didn't confirm the gig before the three month expiry despite constant reminders from me, so no feedback then

This was one of those where the bride and groom didn't want to meet up beforehand. They have very busy lives and would rather communicate by email. OK, not the way I prefer to work but they're the bosses so that's how it's to be.

All suppliers got a Word document on Friday morning specifying who's where and when, doing what. Oh heck....not one of those ones please

Turned up at the venue at the allotted time (according to the aforementioned document) to find that the function room isn't on the ground floor as discussed, it's actually half basement (windows at ground level, floor about 20 feet below). Just to make life more interesting....the lift doesn't work

Now this one needed a fairly hefty rig, and I'd already brought it indoors ready to take to the function room. Luckily there were a lot of groomsmen willing to assist in my moment of need. A couple of bits of kit each and hey presto...we're downstairs. One of my contacts for the day told me where to set up and I got cracking. Bride came over and introduced herself and had a bit of a natter (actually a really nice girl and not what I was expecting after receiving the itinerary on Friday)

And then it went wrong.

First dance is scheduled for 1930. I've just finished rigging up at 1915 (having wireless on most of the fixtures for DMX is brilliant ). Best man comes over and announces that actually I'm supposed to be set up at 90 degrees to where I am and against a different wall. How hard would it be to move.

So, the services of the groomsmen are called into play again (with the warning that no way on earth is the first dance going to be at 1930 due to the move), and the rig is moved. By now, cable management is out of the window.

Plug in, everything appears to work (not that I had much time to check because we're keen to get on with the first dance). Pressed play, there's nothing coming out of the left hand speakers (in my rush to re-rig, I'd not plugged the feed from the mixer back in). Found the missing XLR, plugged in....phew.

Halfway through the first dance I noticed my star cloth on the booth wasn't working....could I get it going? Nope . OK, nobody noticed, I've got a set of DMX'd LOVE letters in front of the booth so I got away with that one).

OK, to the playlist. Well, there wasn't one. I knew what the first dance was and was told that the guests had been given request cards to fill in during the wedding breakfast. OK, so I set up a small go-to list just to get me through the first 20 minutes or so whilst I read the HUGE pile of request slips I was handed. Normally, I have no problem with this...if the guests have requested it, they normally dance. Happily this was the case tonight.....to Superman, Agadoo, Amarillo, Cha Cha Slide.....need I continue? Most of the list smelled of very well fermented whey. Hey ho....it's what they wanted and boy did it fill the floor.

There was also a lot I wouldn't/couldn't play....for good reason.

The bride and groom are both very committed new age Christians. The venue I was in was a church (well, a converted industrial unit which served as a church). Some of the requests just wouldn't have been suitable in such an environment, especially at a wedding. Happily the bride saw these and understood, and in fact agreed with me. No problem.

The other big problem - the bride and groom were scheduled to leave at 10pm (the reception was due to finish at 11pm due to some sort of automatic locking/alarming mechanism on the building and the need to be out on time). So, I got everyone assembled to form an arch to the door through which B&G would leave. Brilliant...all worked to plan.....except most of the guests (who had been there since 11am) followed them. What had been a very healthy dance floor was suddenly very barren....and I've still got an hour to fill.

The remainder of the guests were young 20 somethings, so on with some Mary J Bilge, something about taking a pill on a Spanish island, Usher, Rihanna, Whip Nae Nae....you get the picture. 10:40, announce last orders at the bar....they all went home

So, a friendly word in the shell like of the bride's father saw me switching off 15 minutes early....and lugging the kit back up the stairs single handed. I'm finally home after a 90 minute drive, and unloading the van, and I'm absolutely shattered.

Was it a good gig....heck yes the bit before the B&G disappeared at least (apart from the stairs). I got a lot of thanks and handshaking through the evening, and it's a shame I'll get no NaD feedback on it, because it would have been another golden testicle.

In my own head....not my finest wedding and not the sort I've become accustomed to recently. Too much went wrong for my liking, although I got through and came out the other side.

Next week, another 40th. No specific playlist (apart from the fact it's the birthday girl's 10th wedding anniversary later this year so she'd like me to play their first dance track....which was actually MY first dance track 17 years ago!). The only real specification is "lots of lights". Let's hope it's an easier load in than this week then