Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.
Page 463 of 564 FirstFirst ... 363413453461462463464465473513563 ... LastLast
Results 4,621 to 4,630 of 5634

Thread: Good Gig, Bad Gig.

  1. #4621

    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Doncaster
    Posts
    814

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Excalibur View Post
    Wayne: All 70's? That's you off my Christmas card list!

    Gavin: Requests? Fingers of one hand.

    Christmas party covering for Matty DJ50 at Holiday Inn, Doncaster. Humorously, although I've been there before, and know where I'm going, I ended up at the wrong one. Only ten minutes away, and I was wildly early, so no issues.

    I had a party of fifty in a lovely little building, while Matthew had three hundred in the main hotel, and another lad had a party in the restaurant, so it was all hands on deck! I got mine rigged and running, in a very small room between the dining room, and the bar. To be honest, my lights were a tad excessive, but I saw what Matthew uses in there, so didn't want to let the side down.

    When I saw his rig in the ballroom, well that was just something else. Wow! He had set up the day before, and with two in a row, could leave it in situ. Bloody good job, in my opinion, even though he said he could do it in an hour. The other lad and myself had to pack up as normal.

    Mine were a lovely crowd, dancing halfway through the meal. My little room was the access point for the bar and the toilets, so I caught them quite a bit. Once the meal finished, we were away, and joy of joys, the action came from the " over 21s ", We thuis enjoyed a selection of Classic tunes, and many of The Usual Suspects. Very few requests, perhaps five, I think, they seemed very happy with what I was playing.

    I was down for a twelve thirty finish, and with low guest numbers, and only a hardcore of dancers, I was worried that they'd burn themselves out early. We had a slump, around last orders, and then a revival after midnight, with Xmas songs and uptempo sing alongs, Brown Eyed Girl, Sweet Caroline, Daydream Believer, et al. The requests for Mr Brightside and Sex On Fire had cleared the floor, earlier, surprisingly.

    A great night for me, lovely appreciative crowd, nice venue and staff, with a very laid back attitude, thanks Matthew. ( PS, don't pass me any for the Ballroom, I can't match that lightshow. I do like the little room a lot though. )
    Peter, it was a pleasure. I've had good feedback from the team there, which always makes me happy. When I eventually get 2018's worklist through, I'll see if there are any return visits going. Warmsworth Hall is a Grade 2 listed building, dating from 1702 (I think some of the floorboards are the originals). The layout can be daunting, with all the separate rooms, but once you get the hang of it and get the feel of the place, it works really well.
    Last edited by mattydj50; 18-12-2017 at 12:47 PM.

  2. #4622

    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Chester-le-Street
    Posts
    4,292

    Default

    Well last night I had 29 people (change from the 100+ the night before) who were all over 70, arrived, ate, danced to 6 songs, departed and left a tip because they had such a great night. Ooh how I wish they could all be like that, packing away at 10pm did seem strange, especially as they were allowed will 1am.

    Totally different tonight as I have been hired as compere for a Mayors Ball. No equipment at all, just take an iPad for notes and talk to 1200 people, introduce a few bands and hold an auction. Sounds simple but I am bricking it as it is the first time I have taken such a role for so many people, especially as quite a few celebs and dignitaries are attending.
    Semi-Retired Multi Award Winning DJ

    www.ultimateweddingdj.co.uk

  3. #4623

    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    Durham, Co Durham
    Posts
    3,157

    Default

    A good friend of mine has been slightly incapacitated by back problems lately so I stepped in at short notice to DJ a 13th birthday party. Not my usual kind of gig at all, but the birthday girl supplied a long list of music she'd like & I was more than happy to take requests.

    It wasn't bad - I certainly wasn't out of my depth at all but my use of radio edits certainly caused some slight annoyance among the teens. Ha!

    Anyway - the venue was amazing. A village hall not far from the A66 - completely decked out in white drapes. One of the easiest loadins I've ever experienced - also no sound limiter & I was allowed to use haze.

    PA wise it was the reliable old Alto TS115 & DB Stage Opera 415 bin. Lighting was provided by 4 KAM Gobotracers, 2 ADJ Quad Phase HPs, Equinox gigabar - and my newest addition, some RGB LED tape stuck to the inside face of the opal perspex in my trussbooth. Haze was provided by my 'baby' machine - the QTX FH-1500 (it's a blimmin BEAST!).

    And it all looked a little bit like this:

    https://youtu.be/j8cg-jMbbIs

    All under DMX control - all wireless - and all under the iron fist of QLC+.

    The gigabar was the only thing I could be bothered with putting on the small stage (a QPHP mounted atop, one each side & powered from the gigabar's switched outlets) - the stage front was decked with plastic holly & all manner of other stuff I didn't fancy dodging - plus it's much better for interaction to be among the people IMHO.
    Last edited by Nakatomi; 23-12-2017 at 03:30 PM.

  4. #4624
    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    East Yorkshire
    Age
    68
    Posts
    26,833

    Default

    Well, last night was I hammering out party tunes to a rammed dance floor or what?





    Yup, it was " or what ". Low key affair a last minute Xmas party for " more mature " guests at a community centre in the West Riding. Numbers were lower than expected, sadly, and it was tasteful background music through the meal, followed by me giving the answers to the quizsheet they'd been doing during the meal, hosting the raffle, and then two hours of music for dancing. Requests were sparse, but reaction was good, lots of toe tapping, and a passable amount of dancing to a fair bit of strict tempo, a bit of 50's, and a smattering of Xmas songs.

    When I finished at the unearthly hour of eleven, quite a few came up and complimented the music, which was very rewarding. I soon had the minimal kit all packed, and across town to meet Davesounds, Mattysounds, and the poor long suffering Lily for a coffee at McDonalds, before heading home.
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

    www.excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk

  5. #4625

    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Wakefield
    Age
    22
    Posts
    7

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Excalibur View Post
    Well, last night was I hammering out party tunes to a rammed dance floor or what?





    Yup, it was " or what ". Low key affair a last minute Xmas party for " more mature " guests at a community centre in the West Riding. Numbers were lower than expected, sadly, and it was tasteful background music through the meal, followed by me giving the answers to the quizsheet they'd been doing during the meal, hosting the raffle, and then two hours of music for dancing. Requests were sparse, but reaction was good, lots of toe tapping, and a passable amount of dancing to a fair bit of strict tempo, a bit of 50's, and a smattering of Xmas songs.

    When I finished at the unearthly hour of eleven, quite a few came up and complimented the music,which was very rewarding. I soon had the minimal kit all packed, and across town to meet Davesounds, Mattysounds, and the poor long suffering Lily for a coffee at McDonalds, before heading home.
    Great night Peter
    thanks again for meeting us
    Have a great Christmas
    Many thanks
    Matthew

  6. #4626

    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Wakefield
    Age
    22
    Posts
    7

    Default Tin Hut

    Appointed to share a tin nissen hut with a band for a wedding. The price was right so we took the job. We'd tried to contact the band for the past week with no success. Turns out that the groom had given us the wrong number. Not a good start. It gets better. We arrived at 6pm and was told to set up in the corner and keep the stage clear for the band. 6:30 we are set up on background music and an elderly band member hobbles in clutching an SWR 100 bass amp and said to us "we want you on stage because our drummer doesn't like being on stage as he burns his bottom on the huge radiator on the stage". Cue dismantle all the gear and rebuild back up on the stage. As the state of the art building only had 2 double sockets of which one was fully occupied by the clubs pa system, we left the band a live 4 gang extension lead to connect to. As the band came in late, we then had to dissuade them from using our leads, some of which weren't live at the time as they powered lasers that would be switched on after the first dance. Band did a couple of quick loud sets and started to dismantle their gear slowly at 10:15 and then promptly chucked it on to a dance floor full of people. No thought for H & S. 10:30 music and lights went off completely as they tried to steal not only the 4 gang extension I'd put out for them but also the one powering the disco as well. 10:32 restored music and resumed party. 11:10 told by bar staff to finish at 11:30. They didn't have to tell me twice. Last song son of a preacher man by dusty Springfield. We were driving away at 11:57. Result !!! We were home for 12:15.
    Overall good gig though dad wasn't impressed.
    Oh well 2 tomorrow
    Goodnight all

  7. #4627
    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    East Yorkshire
    Age
    68
    Posts
    26,833

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Mattysounds View Post
    Overall good gig though dad wasn't impressed.
    l
    He's well on the way to being a fully fledged Grumpy Old Man! The joys of working with live acts, eh? Well done Matty.
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

    www.excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk

  8. #4628

    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    Durham, Co Durham
    Posts
    3,157

    Default

    Had my first private booking in what feels like an age (because it's been that long!) on Friday. An 18th birthday, kind of last minute.

    I was given a spotify playlist to work from which included lots of stuff I'd have figured 18 year olds would like. Did it work? Not so much.

    Requests came in which kicked things off eventually but even the tunes that got a rapturous reception just couldn't keep punters out of their seats for more than a couple of minutes. A most disconcerting scenario for me.

    But on the plus side the customer was lovely, the load in & out was a dream and it was by all accounts a decent gig.

    However. Not half a mile from the venue on my way home the van's engine warning light came on, swiftly followed by a loss of ignition. Right at a roundabout. Suddenly I didn't feel so smug about getting out in under 15 minutes after finishing.

    The recovery service gave me a conservative estimate of an hour, which later changed to an ETA of ten past one in the morning. The truck with flashing lights arrived at 1.05am & the driver also failed to revive my transport. So, let's recover this eh... Where are we going? Ah. The office say you're only covered for 10 miles radius. Don't worry though you can ring them again to upgrade. Great!

    A long phonecall later, by which point my phone battery was dying, I was 75 quid lighter & my van was loaded onto the truck. It would've been 49 quid more had I not been such a loyal customer apparently so...

    Almost home, I pointed out my house & said it might be best to reverse the truck up to my drive. Easier said than done on packed snow & ice. We got there in the end & I waved the driver off at 2.30am.

    I unloaded the van & went to bed. Saturday was spent trying to find out the cause of the cutout to no avail. A new filter was a royal pig to prime & come Sunday morning the van was still dead.

    Sunday's residency wedding was performed with rig 'b' featuring the only booth that'll fit in the Focus estate - he micron. It went well even for a snowy Sunday!

    The lingo is now in the hands of the local garage. I don't expect the diagnosis to be swift or cheap (fuel cutoff solenoid or high pressure pump) . I'm window shopping for a new van

    On the plus side I've got some nice leads in for midweek weddings later in the year. I wonder what I'll be driving to them in...

  9. #4629
    theoloyla's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Birchington, Kent
    Age
    74
    Posts
    3,134

    Default

    Hard luck. The joys of late night motoring in the snow. Bet it was cold too waiting for the recovery man. Been there done that too.
    Banana Power Travelling Discotheque - legendary entertainment since 1966
    www.facebook.com/BananaPowerTravellingDisco

  10. #4630

    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Carlisle, England
    Posts
    382

    Default

    I did a Christmas gig in Kendal in the 1980's.
    They didn't let me go home until 4am.
    By then there had been quite a snow fall.
    I tried getting home up the A6 over Shap but the road was blocked.
    Had to turn around and find my way to the motorway.
    Eventually got home about 7am.
    The wife was worried sick by then and no mobile phones in those days.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •