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Thread: Good Gig, Bad Gig.

  1. #4951
    Jim - Scotland's Party DJ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Imagine View Post
    Next wedding is on Thursday.....possibly. It's at one of my regular haunts but the groom seems to have started ignoring my emails (just basic information such as what time is the first dance because that determines in that particular venue when I arrive....oh and the small matter of non-payment of the balance of my fee which was due 10 days ago.....grrrrrr!). I foresee a phone call to the venue on Monday to try to get to the bottom of what's going on.

    Right - what did I do with the corkscrew? I've earned this one
    Yeah I'm going to call it right now:

    "Oh we've *insert obvious lie* and don't need you anymore, we e-mailed your ages ago - did you not get it?"

  2. #4952

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    What was the outcome, we are all waiting with baited breath.
    www.retrodisco.co.uk Mobile Disco and 80s Night Specialists, Devon

  3. #4953
    Imagine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim - Scotland's Party DJ View Post
    Yeah I'm going to call it right now:

    "Oh we've *insert obvious lie* and don't need you anymore, we e-mailed your ages ago - did you not get it?"
    Quote Originally Posted by Retrodisco View Post
    What was the outcome, we are all waiting with baited breath.
    A case of "forgetfulness" (they thought they'd already paid me).

    I called the venue yesterday. Everything's still going ahead as planned and yes, I'm the disco they've been told will be in attendance.
    So.....sent an email last night along the lines of "look sonny Jim, your contract says you should have paid and you haven't. Sort it now or I won't be there on Thursday"

    Amazing how quickly the money appeared in the bank with an email apology from him and a phonecall from her

    So....looks like I'm working on Thursday night after all

  4. #4954
    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
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    Right, coffee and biccies time, pull up a comfy chair. Long overdue catch up on the diary.

    15 March.
    Last minute gig due to a foul up by the hotel. A venue I've driven past many times, and based on the night's events, will continue to drive past Why, I hear you cry? Design. Three doors, two sets of stairs, a slalom course, and finally, to top it off, a purpose built dance area, with handy power supply and dancefloor.



    Totally hidden from the rest of the room. Lovely venue, absolutely lovely staff, but just impossible to work with. The gig went well enough, prizegiving and informal meal for a running club.

    16th March.
    Nothing.
    50th Birthday for a mate in a local social club, piece of cake.
    Scrub that, Nothing.
    Last minute booking in a nice pub not far away, should be easy enough.
    Scrub that, Landlady's son has got somebody and not said, so once more: nothing.

    30th March
    Funny one, this. 50th birthday, for the sister of an ex girlfriend. Memories galore, as it was in her local village hall, where I've worked many times. Sad memories, as she died of cancer twelve years ago, and obviously she loomed large in many people's hearts.
    The gig: My new PA was going out for the first time as a whole. ( There will be a thread about this soon. War and Peace, part two ) The brand new Db 612 subs, and the newly acquired s/h Rcf 410a tops. s/h Do you feel lucky, punk?
    Well, when one expired during the warm up, I didn't. Fortunately, I had a pair of rehomed 10" Altos in the van, and swapped one Rcf for one of these to do the gig.

    The gig itself was a stormer. Once we'd had chat and buffet, we launched into an almighty Cheesefest. Packing up was a doddle, as you can get the van to the door, and only a ten minute drive home. But for the speaker woes, a fabulous night.

    6th April
    FFN again, in a great venue, for lovely folk. Only issue here is that the disco is set up in a traffic area, and due to the fact that since most of the night is run from the side of the rig, this stymies speaker placement. The best solution I've found is to put the Maui 11s together at one side, but at nearly 90 degrees to each other. This seems to offer extra bass, and wide HF coverage, so a good solution. All in all, a great night, lovely crowd.

    Next Saturday, out to Driffield Cricket Club, territories new for me.
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

    www.excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk

  5. #4955
    Jim - Scotland's Party DJ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Imagine View Post
    A case of "forgetfulness" (they thought they'd already paid me).

    I called the venue yesterday. Everything's still going ahead as planned and yes, I'm the disco they've been told will be in attendance.
    So.....sent an email last night along the lines of "look sonny Jim, your contract says you should have paid and you haven't. Sort it now or I won't be there on Thursday"

    Amazing how quickly the money appeared in the bank with an email apology from him and a phonecall from her

    So....looks like I'm working on Thursday night after all
    I'm not sure what your terms are but my balances are to be cleared 28 days out.

    Fairly often this is missed by a day or two but I've automated DJEP reminders 6 weeks out and a few days out. If those don't do the trick another 'automated' you're payment is late - if you've sent it, you might need to check with you bank. As per our t's and c's without full payment I'm not required to perform, please make payment asap does the trick every time.

  6. #4956
    Imagine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim - Scotland's Party DJ View Post
    I'm not sure what your terms are but my balances are to be cleared 28 days out.

    Fairly often this is missed by a day or two but I've automated DJEP reminders 6 weeks out and a few days out. If those don't do the trick another 'automated' you're payment is late - if you've sent it, you might need to check with you bank. As per our t's and c's without full payment I'm not required to perform, please make payment asap does the trick every time.
    I'm 14 days out at the moment and I keep an eye on things manually.
    Unfortunately I've not had my eye on the ball for the last couple of months since the dear lady wife had her seizure so this one slipped the net.

  7. #4957
    Imagine's Avatar
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    Default And so to the gig that nearly never was

    Yup - I've gone from nothing to two weddings in the same week (things are looking up....sort of)

    One of my regular haunts and I normally do between 10-20 a year in here. This is my ONLY booking for this venue this year (they're looking at diversifying into other things....it's completely dead for no reason round 'ere at the moment)

    Never got the chance to meet the couple in question, just a very brief phone call on Tuesday so I was going in pretty much blind, and I hate doing that. I'd much rather spend a bit of time upfront getting to know what they're after, what they don't want, how they see things going.....

    As it happens, they were a really nice couple and a smallish Thursday night wedding. The way in which this venue works, there isn't a lot of time to say hello to the couple between speeches, the cake cutting and the start of the first dance (all managed and announced by the wedding coordinators), so I couldn't really confirm anything before we got started either.

    Only two pre-requests had been made, the rest of the night was up to me and the guests.

    'Twas a little slow to get moving but once the falling down juice kicked in (I had to tell the bride to go and sit down and drink a LOT of water!), boy did they party. But....it was a tough one to call.

    They were all of a similar age (mid-late 20s) with the exception of the parents and a couple of aunts and uncles. It should have been a lot easier. Immediately after the first dance, I was being hassled for Sean Paul and stuff of a similar ilk....which I don't have a lot of - it's really not my specialist genre and I've never had a problem yet. I thought I might be in for a long night.

    Happily, we soon got onto other stuff (including Ska, Soul, Motown, Chart....you name it!). Having said there was no music policy, a guest had to beg permission for a Venga Boys track (unbeknown to me, the bride wasn't a fan). I could have gone the whole night on that if I'd been allowed - it rammed the floor! I'd also overheard that she didn't want things too cheesy (I wish she'd have told me this sort of thing before I arrived), so the "usual suspects" were off the list then.

    Shame because things like the Macarena could have been a lot of fun at around 11pm once the effects of CH3CH2OH were well and truly in effect

    All in all, a damned good night for a Thursday which saw a healthy floor up until the last 20 minutes or so (I've had it die off a lot earlier in there in the past).

    Next up is a kid's party on Sunday (that'll make three in a week!). It's been several years since I've done proper kids parties other than the local primary disco which is just a case of standing in the corner and playing music. I'm not a huge fan of that sort of party, but being as I officially become a full-timer next Wednesday at 5pm...needs must

    Now if I could just fill the rest of the year like this....I'd be laughing.....

  8. #4958

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    I :Censored1: hate being treated like a jukebox.

    One of those gigs tonight where whatever had them starting to swing from chandeliers the blessed customer decided things needed to go in the opposite direction. Right. Fine. You want an empty floor again - people leaving early... You got it.

    I'd honestly had enough of newlywed Mrs cutthroat by the last song, so I smacked it on & left the room for 15 minutes or else I might have said something I'd later regret.

    Coming soon.. If your first dance song is modern country.. I'm cancelling the booking. Not sorry.

  9. #4959
    mike8863's Avatar
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    Default Clouds and silver linings.....

    So, for last night I was originally booked to do a three way joint birthday party, all sisters. 16, 18 and 21. with a mamma mia theme. Originally the enquiry was to include karaoke, but even though I don't provide this they booked anyway and said they would provide their own !.
    Last week, I got a call from the mum to say the original venue had double booked , and they were now going to hold it at city centre pub in chester, but the room was upstairs !. I deliberated over it but decided I would just get on with it and load in and out with no lift .
    Thursday I got a call from the pub manager, after a brief discussion, I found out that the pub had their own PA in the party room upstairs, and some lights to fill the room ! So I rocked up with laptop, controller, and assorted leads to plug and play. The room was about 12ft by 20ft, with tables and chairs. 15 seated filled it. So a bit of re jigging and I managed to get 40 people in dancing, though it was cosey and hot !
    The best bit, the pub hosted karaoke on a Saturday and the party guests could join in, result.
    What was stacked up to be a nightmare worked out quite well with an early finish at 12 as well.
    always remember, you're unique, just like everyone else......

  10. #4960
    DJColsie's Avatar
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    Default :Censored::Censored::Censored::Censored::Censored: :Censored:ing Wedding Planners

    Had a wedding last night in a reasonably local Senior Rates Mess on the naval base.

    Booked in February by the bridegroom’s father and all contact via the wedding planner, who turned out to be the bridegroom’s auntie!

    Various hoops to jump as usual working on a Naval base but all good. Bride and groom were “onboard ship and away” till Friday so no chance of a meeting. Wedding planner had discussed things with the couple and provided the first dance of Perfect by Ed Sheeran, with recent hits, some cheese and old skool 90’s as the order of the day.

    Set up well in time and the timeline was explained by the “Auntie” including a 11.15 finish. The evening included a session with the photographer for shoreline romantic photos! Anyway, speeches were repeated for the benefit of the evening guests with a mic, which wasn’t requested before the event.

    First dance was immediately followed by the buffet, not ideal. Tried to get people dancing within the advised playlist with no success. Only faced by an empty dancefloor and glum faces. Bride and groom were whisked away by the photographer. One of the bridesmaids came up while they were away and questioned my music selection. I explained my brief and she said “rubbish” or words to that effect! Did I know that they were all rock and indie enthusiasts and the bride loved a bit of Britney!

    Had a rocking last hour with over full dancefloor spilling onto tables to Britney, the Killers, Fratellis, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, Green Day, Smash Mouth, AC/DC. Ended on Jet - Are You Gonna be My Girl to huge thanks from the Bride and Groom.

    The bridegroom sort me out afterwards to offer a cash thank you! I tried to explain and apologise about the first hour and he smiled and just said don’t worry about her - she’s never been married and just treated it as her own. Alls well that ends well.

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