Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[Imagine]

When you arrive at your wedding venue to be handed a large Pimms by the bar staff, and told by the photographer "take it....you're going to need it".....you sort of wonder what's in store.

OK - the easier of this weekends gigs first. A primary school prom. Nice and easy, new school that I'd been recommended to. Only got chastised once (for playing Sexy and I Know It). All the other schools I work in have no problem with this one (they're told up front that if it's played on the radio...it's fair game). Anyhoo, switched to something different fairly sharpish and had a good night in a boiling school hall. I've got a long term gig there now and a fundraiser towards the end of the year....so far so good.

Today's wedding however was a different container of Lumbricina.

It's a venue I do quite a bit (well, I AM their recommended "mid range" disco), and I turned up at lunchtime to set up as I always do. With the new Intimidators and the newly refurbished LED LOVE letters on the front of the rig....I was quite impressed with the whole set up.

So, toddled home for the afternoon (the venue is a mere 3 miles from my front door) and prepared to return at 6pm as agreed.

Got there, had the Pimms thrust into my hand (I don't as a rule drink on duty but the tog was fairly insistent on this one). Instead of being onto the speeches, they're literally starting to get the main course. We're running a couple of hours late then. It appears the hog wasn't roasted on time and that was the delay.

They'd been there since around 4:30 (so about 90 minutes), and the bar were already scratching their heads and saying it was going to be a long night....they'd taken less than £100 on 80 guests.

Time dragged on, and on, and on some more, before the bride finally emerged from the marquee and asked if we could move the first dance from the agreed 7pm (already missed that one by an hour), to 8:30. No problem. It's your day.....take your time and enjoy yourself.

Eventually we're off and running on the first dance (Forever by Chris Brown....strange choice but it's what they wanted). It was LITERALLY the only dancing that happened all night! I kid you not, I'm reviewing the video footage at the moment. Nobody, I repeat NOBODY danced for the whole night! The photographer gave me an "I told you so" look, the venue staff and management were scratching their heads. Between us, we couldn't work out what the problem was!

I was playing from a large selection of music the B&G had selected which on the surface was a respectable selection and covered most of the angles I would have done naturally anyway. There was a strict no-cheese rule, and I'm happy to go with that if that's what they want. In the event, I don't think it would have made any difference though, I really don't

9pm, a huge number of guests leave (most have young kids or come from long distances so understandable). We're down to about 20 guests and they're sitting in the marquee (which is bolted onto the side of the main building and out of view of the bar and dance floor). They weren't moving either (not even the bride and groom).

The groom did come and apologise for the lack of people/dancers at one point. I explained that it happens sometimes and not his fault. He was happy with everything and what I was doing and seemed to appreciate that his guests just weren't up for a party.

The bar staff are bored (this lot really aren't drinkers of any sort of liquid unless they brought their own in with them). The other venue staff are wandering round looking at their watches. The photographer came up after an hour and wished me luck. "Nothing you're doing wrong", he said "but you're on a hiding to nothing with this lot". He was supposed to be there until the midnight finish capturing the happy faces on the dance floor but disappeared at 10:30 due to a lack of subject material.

Maybe it's because it'd been a warm sticky day? Maybe it's because they ate a couple of hours later than expected? Maybe they just weren't in the mood?
I'll probably never find out

I've had parties as we all have in the past with a lack of feet on the floor, but always something happening even if it's just a core half a dozen. Tonight though was a completely new experience and not one I want to repeat in a hurry if I'm honest

Next week, a combined vow renewal and 40th birthday with a playlist from the 1990s - what could possibly go wrong?

[Excalibur]

A primary school prom. Nice and easy, new school that I'd been recommended to. Only got chastised once (for playing Sexy and I Know It). All the other schools I work in have no problem with this one (they're told up front that if it's played on the radio...it's fair game).

We've been here before.
If it's a genuine radio mix with no profanities, I'm happy to play it.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

A decent one for me last night but it could have been a disaster.
It was a 50th birthday for a guy and I'd been booked by his other half a couple of months ago.
She was very complimentary to me over the phone as she'd been at a wedding I'd DJ'd at last year. This was a kind of 'name your price' booking as she just wanted to make sure that she got me.
I didn't take the mick pricewise and seeing as it was a 7.30pm - 11.00pm gig in a pub I just made sure it was worth my while doing if that makes sense.

I say it could have been a disaster because on Tuesday (his actual birthday), the venue they'd originally booked called them to say that they'd unfortunately been double booked..... To say the customers were angry would be a massive understatement but they kept their cool and eventually got another venue and one I know well.
The downside was that as soon as they confirmed the different venue to me (after continuously asking me if I would be ok moving to the different venue), I knew exactly where I would be setting up. I would be in a room just slightly bigger than my living room! I knew I'd have to take a very minimal set up too so it was simply the Equinox screen with lights behind it, my 2 x X Moves (newly fixed too and working well) and the Spherion and it filled the room easily.

50 guests invited, probably 70 turned up and the majority sat outside in the add on marquee area but the atmosphere was great with people requesting lots of different music. It was an enjoyable, easy evening and the birthday 'boy' and his other half were very happy. She's booked me for her 50th next year. I told her I was relocating and she's not bothered. In fact, that particular week I have a wedding on the Monday, another wedding on the Thursday and now her 50th on the Friday so just the Saturday and / or Sunday to fill and it will be a very worthwhile visit back.

Today is a day of chilling and sport.
Hamilton to win at Silverstone
Murray to win at Wimbledon
France to win in France

And me to just chill out even though there's the largest free music festival going on over the road from my house!

[DJ Jules]

Interesting gig last night in a marquee on a private estate of "Second homes". Came in via needadisco as a female birthday and turned out that it was just a family get together once I prodded the estate management company a bit more. Booked to do 2 hours of kids disco for around 60 kids until 8pm and then adult stuff until midnight. The Playlist I'd been given in advance consisted mostly of 90's through to current day, mostly in the key of Calvin Harris and Guetta.

Turned up, set up, made an opening in the marquee to load in and got going on time. Checked in with the guy who organised the party and he seemed nice and laid back and "they mentioned something about turning it right down at 11, right? I'm not sure what that's about?" Me neither, but more on that later...

60 kids? Well,there must be something about these NaD bookings. The last one I got I had a promise of 30 kids and I counted 12 including the adults. This time I got 14 (excluding adults this time) and as time went on they were being quickly whisked off to their Second homes to be looked after by various babysitters so the parents could get on with the party! By 7:00pm I counted 5 and they all rapidly disappeared soon after, leaving me to make balloon animals for the 1 or 2 remaining ones!

The adult section of the night got started soon after with most people drifting in and out of the marquee while they enjoyed the nice weather. I wasn't sure how big a marquee I'd have so I'd brought a sub with me to complement the RCF's and it was definitely needed. The Marquee was doing a good job of bouncing the Highs and Mids around, but the bass was dissipating very quickly. A quick walk around inside and outside the marquee confirmed that the sound levels were about right all round with it not being too loud inside, but still being audible outside. The only "hot spot" was the toilet trailer that was right where I'd rigged in the marquee and some of the bass notes were resonating in the trailer and causing the fixtures to rattle a little!

Time moved on and I'm happily beat matching my way through their playlist as the majority is 118 - 130bpm (with the exception of a few prodigy tracks that I didn't get to) and around 21:00 the dance floor slowly filled up as I moved on to the few 80's tracks on the list and then back onto the 90's classics like Cece Peniston, Pete Heller and Alison Limerick. About 30mins later the estate manager comes over and introduces himself and checks that I know the finish time (midnight) and what I have to do at 23:00. No, I reply, I've just had a few words on that from the host. Ok, he says, at 23:00 you've got to get the volume down to 64db. Um. Shouldn't have bothered with the sub then. Or the speakers In practice he doesn't have a db meter and he's asking me how loud I think it is at present (probably around 100db on the dance floor at this point I reckon!) so we agree that I'll back it off as much as possible so I don't bother the neighbouring farms.

22:30 comes and I start to wonder if the noise levels might be the least of my worries! A request came in for Oasis (there's a fair chunk of this on the list) and it completely cleared the dance floor. 20mins of careful dance floor building later we're back again, and I have to start lowering the volume which I gradually do from about 22:50 so it's less noticeable. Dance floor is still healthy at this point and a few really odd requests start coming in as I head towards the finish, Stone Roses, Abba, "Young hearts", Timberlake, Rihanna/Calvin Harris and the Weeknd?!? How am I supposed to get through them in 15mins?

Managed it somehow and finished on midnight to TImberlakes' "Can't stop this feeling" to lots of cries for one more - but no sensible suggestions for decent end of night songs so I didn't humour them!

In summary, interesting gig, nice people and some really crazy requests that just didn't work!

Julian

[DJColsie]

Horrible gig for we last night.

In a community facility with halls and a theatre and, yep my gig is in the theatre. Still drive round the building and unload straight onto the back of the stage😀. Way into the auditorium is and will remain locked😒 So have to climb up and down the 4ft stage😒. With all the seating taken out not a soft surface in site, all hard reflective ceilings, walls and floors😒.

Was a 25th wedding anniversary so was expecting guests in their 50's. Nope, second marriages so most guests in their 70's and 80's. Promised 130 guests, got about 60-60.

Just to top it all off, whipped them up into such a frenzy that I had a lady faint on the dancefloor! Music was stopped for 40 mins while she was made comfortable and paramedics awaited! Think she might have forgotten to take her aspirin or statins or something.

A lot of people took part he opportunity to leave early so had about 15 people for the last 40 mins.

Crawled my way through to the end to be given a £5 tip! Not one to stay in the memory long.

[Nakatomi]

Two more gigs just to finish off quite an eventful weekend:

First of all was Saturday's wedding. I had a feeling in my bones there was a band about to turn up - and when I arrived found 3 young lads decked out in smart suits sat down outside the room. I asked if they were the band, they said yes & we had a very pleasant introduction. I was my usual charming, friendly self towards them & it was returned in spades. My stuff was already in the room & I offered them a loan of my rock & roller to load themselves in. We all got along brilliantly. Apparently some DJs they've met are complete & utter gits! Fancy!

I got all setup & soundchecked.. sounded great up loud but oh dear.. pretty distorted at low background volumes. Gah! Tried a few different things & arrived at the conclusion my Altos need to see a doctor. So, out of the van came the ancient Mackies. You know, I think I've gone back to preferring them. I'd still prefer some Yamaha or EV though I reckon.

I digress. We got underway, the band played & sang amazingly. Their harmonies during songs like 'Man In The Mirror' were divine. I ponder.. did I take my pills today, or did I take too many. First helping them load in, then becoming spellbound by their performance?

The vibe in the hotel was absolutely manic - they were short staffed & very busy. In reception I bumped into a work colleague from about 20 years ago. Nice to my face, not so nice behind my back. Won't be losing any sleep over that one.

My turn came for buffet music time, which was very meh.. til I started to get them bopping in their chairs a bit & by the time it was band turn again I handed them a full dancefloor. Which was completely empty 5 minutes later. Ah well.

The bride came to see me & asked for a big wodge of action dance songs to be played, starting with Proud Mary (the TT version not CCR) once the band finished off. So I did.. and oh boy what a show they put on. Then I was basically a bride jukebox but all of her requests were bang on the money (or I was just being brilliant at programming them to work, we'll never know).. and by last orders time I'd been left alone long enough to somehow end up in 90s dance territory. Rhythm Is A Dancer went down very well, as did Professional Widow & a smattering of others. Penultimate song time I got the guests to big up the happy couple.. again a very lukewarm response to that... so I tried again before the last track.. and saw tumbleweeds yet again.

Not a terrible night. And then today was a car show from 10am-4pm.. with a PA & playout under my gazebo. Bumped into a few people from the night before who'd seemed to be really enjoying themselves.. and they either didn't recognise me out of my suit or blanked me completely. Whatever.

Problems with power plagued the outdoor bar & my own feed - which we collectively sorted out. Some dancing in the sunshine ensued but the weather didn't hold entirely.. and the rest of the time was pretty boring actually. I hope it's the last one of those I ever do.

[Nakatomi]

Wednesday saw me out of my comfort zone in more ways than one. First of all, I went to the local NADJ branch meeting the night before.. and after taking a phone call at silly o'clock with a lead for a christening (give me strength!) I couldn't restart my van's engine. ARGHHH! Turns out that once the AA showed up, the auxilliary belt had snapped. Ah, maybe that long section of loose chippings I'd driven along a while back & the resulting few seconds of whine from the belt.. which had stopped, making me think "ok, no drama to report" actually did some damage then. My van is shy of an under engine shield.. something I plan to address post haste.

So I finally got home at 1.30am, managed to get some shuteye & ventured to work to do a half day... and then whizzed back home at lunchtime to prepare for the afternoon gig - a fundraiser at a nearby school. I got the gig via my next door neighbour & it was a payer. Loads of mic work was the order of the day as well as music - and this is where it went outside my comfort zone... at the top of the school field where there were to be hundreds of people milling around. In my general work I don't use the mic much at all, but full immersion was the key at this gig I thought. Of course, my stress levels of the day resulted in me forgetting to pack my gazebo in the car but good news! My van was back from its fixing (and only £40 lighter in the wallet too!) so my lovely wife brought both gazebo & van over for me. What a star!

Just as well she did because at 4pm the heavens properly opened. I got a bit damp but no playout or PA equipment was harmed by the rain. Oh. I forgot the part about erecting the damn gazebo. That thing came in a cardboard box juuust big enough to fit it all in, packed by a packaging ninja - so obviously the plastic pole linkage bits were cast asunder in the estate car & I found myself one piece short. Never worry! Gaffer to the rescue! I've assembled the thing more than a couple of times now (and last time I used it was only Sunday) so you'd have thought I'd be more skilled at it by now. Ah no. I must've looked like a solo Chuckle Brother struggling with it. And it's really never a great idea to put the waterproof house up last is it kids? NO!

Anyway it ended up being great fun. There was even dancing on the pitch in places. Will I get the gig next year? Maybe, by what I was told.

A bunch of people took cards, and as they did I informed them I don't do kids parties (well I do in some circumstances but that's for a later date) or christenings etc. An older gentleman approached later & I thought "oh hell.. here we go... a complaint about the noise" but no, he was after my card too!

It was good to stretch myself a bit but even better to get my Berlingo back. Top marks to the garage around the corner from my house for not taking me for a ride too.

Edit: some of you (as did I) may wonder why the van wouldn't start with a snapped aux belt. Simples. As well as the power steering, alternator etc it turns a fuel pump.

[Excalibur]

. Loads of mic work was the order of the day as well as music - and this is where it went outside my comfort zone...

Eeek!! What a chilling thought*

Edit: some of you (as did I) may wonder why the van wouldn't start with a snapped aux belt. Simples. As well as the power steering, alternator etc it turns a fuel pump.

Some of us may not. Amazing what some of these belts turn.



* Newer readers may not have spotted the sarcasm in this bit. It's dripping with it. Justin, well done for your mic work, and well done for the gazebo.

[Nakatomi]

Eeek!! What a chilling thought*




Some of us may not. Amazing what some of these belts turn.



* Newer readers may not have spotted the sarcasm in this bit. It's dripping with it. Justin, well done for your mic work, and well done for the gazebo.

The mic side of things was very much like falling off a bike. I spent most of my dj career in bars & clubs having to plug stuff almost constantly so I found different ways to say the same thing. But all that was probably nearly 18 years ago. To the old adage "if you've got nothing to say don't open the mic" I said "pah!". Besides, quips about the weather etc were definitely not off the agenda.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Contender for gig of the year on Tuesday there.

I got back from my holiday on Sunday but with the time difference after about 26 odd hours of being awake and travelling home, I still wasn't 100% back to blighty time on Tuesday.

A few things transpired on Tuesday that put me on edge and I had one of those "somethings going to go right up here" vibes - indeed I jumped in the car ready to head off after packing everything in and realised I'd left my bag with both laptops, my dmx, camera, documents, cans and change of gear in the living room!!! The gig was just under an hour away so if I hadn't spotted that, it would have been a disaster.

I got there about 90 minutes early to give myself plenty of time. They'd booked my wireless moodlights and wanted a scene to be programme so I got set up, did the moodlights and had a bit of time to chill before it started.

1st dance goes without a hitch
father daughter dance goes ithout a hitch

I'm in the middle of looping the intro to song number 3 and doing my "G everyone up spiel" when I notice a lady off to my left. She quite abruptly said: "X has to do a dance with his mum."

"Are you sure, I met both of them a few weeks back and it wasn't mentioned and they haven't e-mailed or spoke to me tonight to say any different."

"I'm the (insert family member here) and they have to dance together..."

"K leave it with me."


I go over to the groom and ask him what the score is, he asked who had said that and then just kind of agreed he'd do it to keep the peace. "What song would you like?", I dunno ask my mum....

I dunno, ask my son....

In the end they just let me pick and after a slight bit of faffing we were up and running. I don't think she meant it but the lady in question had been quite overbearing and I thought "christ we've not even started and I'm getting aggro." and hunkered down for a long hard night.

Couldn't have been further from the truth - just about everyone was staying over and whilst they were having a good drink (even by Saturday never mind Tuesday wedding standards) they were great all night.

It's not an ideal venue - big old country house and you're set up in a sort of "wing" whilst the bar and all other rooms (and seating!) are scatered around the place but I didn't have to worry. The place was jumping all night and I went right off the deep end playing a lot of stuff I don't usually.

To the point it got to the last 3 songs (2 of which were predetermined) and I realised I hadn't even thought about playing 500 Miles yet. I made a quick joke about them nearly getting me in trouble as I was enjoying myself so much I forgot to play it and it's illegal not to at Scottish weddings. The floor of the place must be 200 years old and they battered lumps out of it on that one

She'd decided to do a false end and finish on a Muse tune of my picking which at first kind of took the older ones by surprise but by the end they were bopping away like mad. The groom then asked if we had some time left if I could do another one so they both had a song each at the end. I went with Galway Girl (it was an Irish wedding) and everyone went nuts.

I was sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiightly over the finish time at this point and they weren't for giving up - (I've done Irish weddings where they paid me more and more each hour until I had to tell them I was out of steam and tunes at 4am ) I got a quick nod from the manager and I played the Proclaimers Let's Get Married to actually finish off on a sing a longy sway type song and everyone loved it.

They were still wanting more but the lights were up and I was done.

The video turned out beautiful and I've already received my feedback which was all good as per

Just one of those nights where everything falls into place and you can do no wrong. I don't think I've ever done a midweek wedding like it to be honest.