Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[funkymook]

Former Uni students during the naughties, so I knew exactly what they wanted. .

Crap?

and snakebite...

[Benny Smyth]

and snakebite...

Snakebite and black, to be precise.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

A rare non wedding tomorrow tonight in the city centre with minimal gear.
Its a gin bar which is one of the few hipster cliches ill allow myself to like so ill be on the water while folk are drinking teapots of Hendricks and eden mill

[Nakatomi]

Had a cracking 5* review for Thursday's gig to come home to last night. And last night's gig was really good for such a small number of people I thought. All up from the very different first dance:



<ears hurting icon>

A lot of playlist, and a lot not on the playlist too.

"What's that song where the words go 'Red light spells danger' again?" asked one young lady. "Uhhh, RED LIGHT SPELLS DANGER?!" says I. It was one of them nights. Everybody was lovely though, and I mean everybody. The happy couple had an absolutely bouncing time but sadly the numbers thinned dramatically towards the end. Still, we found time to slot in some bouncy technoey crap from Scooter & Nakatomi.. and JX (Choon!). Oh yeah. Despite a ban on all-out cheese, a request came in for Cotton Eye Joe. The bride came over to ask if the lads had requested it, I said yeah, she said play it please. So I did. Then within 20 minutes it had to come on again!

Longest de-rig & loadout ever, probably because I was knackered.

Today, I've done some DMX programming because.. well.. last week or so I modified a mate's Martin MAC Auras (x2) to add wireless DMX - and since I'm covering the gig for him tonight he suggested I take his lights along. Now they're front facing, nodding & doing my bidding Should be an interesting gig... I've never been to Sunderland before! Oh, and I'm taking the kitchen sink. Be a shame not to shoot any video

[Nakatomi]

Oh. My. Days. What a gig! What a near disaster!

I arrived in good time & got loaded into the venue. I had a stage & the groom wanted loads of lights. And he got em. Gigabar, 2 powerflowers, 2 scanners, Quad Phase HP, couple of clusters, Oh and a couple of Martin MAC Auras :O

Haze was allowed, so there was plenty. Ah, but the tripod for the gigabar didn't want to maintain an erect state. For why? The small matter of a missing bolt. DAMN! What to do? I quickly produced the spare speaker tripod from its bag & offered it up to the spigot atop the gigabar. Oh dear. No hole! AHA! Ultility tool in my case - it has a knife I can use to prise out the plastic stopper. Woohoo! It fits!

I extended it to maximum safe height & it was juuuuust high enough. Could've done with another half metre or so though. I had to make do.

Sound wise I was on 2 Mackies & my trusty 15" bass bin.

Due to a monumental slowness at the previous venue, speeches were to take place before the first dance at 8.30pm. Could they borrow my mic? Of course! I showed the best man, the bride's dad & the groom how to use it.. and then the best man forgot all the advice about where & how to hold it. Oh and he was an amazing RF energy sink & it kept muting. Pretty sure it was only him though cos the bride's dad & groom sounded nice on it & didn't drop out wot like I also don't.

So first dance was DJ Sammy's Heaven - the candlelight mix. From there, could I get anybody to budge or tap a foot? Oh lord no don't be silly. Ah well, twas but half an hour til buffet wrappings came off.

Valerie from Ronson & Winehouse rammed the floor, and then I played a request - Penny Arcade... which rammed it some more. Then went to Billy Ocean.. and a message came from the bride to can the old & chart it up. Wheee here we go again.. tumbleweed on the dancefloor for 45 solid minutes. A message came from the bride again to implore everybody to get up & dance.. and god bless them they did - which may or may not have had more to do with my playing of the original version of the 1st dance song. I dunno. This triggered the first request for what I call rave ... But hey don't knock it if it brings the roof off. From there the wheels didn't really come off. Ahh but requests were still coming in for both even ravier and older stuff. ARGHHH!

It turned out my collection doesn't go as ravey as THE NEW MONKEY donky donk so I stuck with older faves. And this time the bride didn't complain. Point made, maybe?

They were a very hard to please crowd, but we ended on Queen Don't Stop, then a reprise of the 1st dance, and finally the 'one more' was NYNY. Loadout was arduous & very sweaty work. Oh & when I finally got everything off the stage & down to near the fire exit I opened the outer doors to see it absolutely stotting down with rain. Perfect!

So. how did my PA do in the place? Actually very well. It didn't need to go up to 0dB on the mixer outs, and the bin on the stage was making the dancefloor vibrate nicely.

Lighting wise, the Quad Phase HP filled the room & looked awesome with haze. I still haven't DMXed it yet because it's just so good on its own (and with IR remote). The scanners did a fair job, as did the LED powerflowers & clusters. The gigabar acquitted itself well too, as usual. So that leaves the Martin MAC Auras (borrowed)... OH MY GOD They are BEASTS. And you know, not what I would call too bright at max brightness at peak time either. And they're only what.. nearly 300 Watts of LED power

[Excalibur]

Oh. My. Days. What a gig! What a near disaster!

Snap. And I don't know yet if mine will be or not. Let me explain. Took a booking in Nottingham, with an address near an area I know passably well. But not well enough, it seems. Turned out to be a town centre bar, with all the attendant issues. There is a car park, but it's got warning notices everywhere, warning of a £100 fine for using it without permission. I had to use it, so a fine may drop on the mat shortly. Whoopee.

Arrived nice and early, got the gear in as instructed by what turned out to be a really silly route. If I'd opened the fire doors, I could have had a straight run in. The gig was for BHS staff who were now out of a job due to the place closing down. They were in good spirits, and there were more bodies than I expected. Management marked my card immediately, finish at midnight on the dot by the venue clock ( which was five minutes fast ) get out quick, and don't be like last night's DJ, ie don't turn the PA up to 11 and fill the entire venue with distorted sound. Fair enough, really.

Yet again, the Altos were weapon of choice, and lighting was the Beamer 6 and two tripars. More than adequate, and I'm finding lots of occasions where the Beamer is the tool for the job. The Altos weren't turned as far as usual, and were way loud enough without pushing them at all. I love the fact that I can carry one in each hand easily.

We had a lovely buffet around 8pm, and I tried to get the thing going. Six people my end, rest in the bar chatting away. There was a very mixed age group, and I only had two people making requests. Northern Soul, and Tamla. I had moderate success with that, particularly the Tamla. I got into the party songs/ usual suspects and had a bit more success until the last hour. The younger ones woke up, and started to ask for more modern stuff, no problem, and requests started to come in with increasing regularity. Four hours of apathy, and by the last fifteen minutes you have an hours worth of requests, half of which would only have worked earlier.

Finished with My Way, and a short reprise of Simply The Best. Packed up with alacrity, fought my way through the throng of bodies in the doorway, and headed home. Customers were happy, venue staff were as well, and I will be if I don't get a fine.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

A rare non wedding tonight.


Lovely girl's 30th - she's clearly had a shorter paper round than me, I'm 31 and looking 90, she could have easily have passed for her early 20s.

Happened to be in a very cool gin bar (the one hipsterism I'll allow myself is drinking Hendricks out of a teapot) in the city centre. I was there in plenty of time as I foresaw parking and loading issues but it was a doddle - parked at the entrance to the courtyard the place was, loaded the rock n roller, round the back of the place, down the lift and right into the function room. Easiest Glasgow centre load in I've ever had, by far.

The booking was lasty minuteish compared to my usual booking and the communication had been limited to "I trust you know what you're doing so just play what you want."

Turned out to be a great night, the set felt more like a pub gig than a function - the old faves got a run out but I went to town with the music (at one point I pulled a ridiculously cool mix of Chvrches and a lesser known James song out of the bag) and everyone loved it.

Good feedback all round, the video looks great and I had worked the room, changed, struck and loaded everything into the car less than 20 minutes after finishing up

[Excalibur]

(the one hipsterism I'll allow myself is drinking Hendricks out of a teapot)

Further evidence of the insanity of the modern world. It was bad enough when they took the handles off glasses, then they try to sell you " tea " in jam jars!
This one sounds the daftest yet. Jim, do you lie down on the floor, and somebody stands over you with the teapot, directing it into your open mouth? Shades of the " dentists chair " I fear.

World's gone mad.

[Nakatomi]

Further evidence of the insanity of the modern world. It was bad enough when they took the handles off glasses, then they try to sell you " tea " in jam jars!
This one sounds the daftest yet. Jim, do you lie down on the floor, and somebody stands over you with the teapot, directing it into your open mouth? Shades of the " dentists chair " I fear.

World's gone mad.

Gin in a teapot & tea in jam jars is the very thin end of a massive wedge. See http://www.wewantplates.com

Pint of Shepherd's pie anyone?

[Excalibur]

Gin in a teapot & tea in jam jars is the very thin end of a massive wedge. See http://www.wewantplates.com

Pint of Shepherd's pie anyone?