Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[Imagine]

Third gig in a week - this time a kids party.

My local village hall (which holds around 120 bodies and has a huge dance floor), for 25 kids!
It's my first kids party for a very long time - I only normally do a couple of school discos and the local Scout Group Halloween fundraiser - both of which have in excess of 100 kids at a time, so going back to things like doing games was absolutely shattering.

Already have several more booked up though, so need to work on the fitness levels just a little bit more for the next ones I think

Just the PAT testing to get through on Tuesday and I can put my feet up for a weekend off over Easter

[Excalibur]

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

Send 'em my way son, send 'em my way. Heaven.

Mike, nice result, well done.
Colin, same. Think I'd have fancied that, I like a bit of Indie.
Wayne, on yer bike, so to speak. ( Fitness wise, obviously ).

My Saturday:
Birthday party covering for a colleague, that turned out to be an engagement. No problem. Nice venue, and while I initially thought the new PA was overkill, it turned out to be perfect for the job.
One of those gigs which promises much, delivers little, and turns out to have been a success, but not from where you're standing. I'll elaborate.

As I was setting up before the start, helpers were jigging about enthusiastically to what I was playing, and I tailored the output accordingly. Result, nil dancers, virtually no requests from anyone over 10 years old, bar the father of the bride to be, who kept asking for some very bluesy Blues.

Guests only came to life with fifteen minutes left, and even then, the requests were a tad left field. In my eyes, a grim night.

And as I'm packing up, what's the verdict of the punters? A really good, they're well pleased.

[Nakatomi]

What I mean is, every wedding I've done where the 1st dance is a modern country track the customer has turned out to be shall we say not as pleasant to deal with as others. You get the room jumping & up they come demanding an about turn. Rinse & repeat. It's generally an exercise in exasperation. Coincidence? Maybe.

[Nakatomi]

Last night at Preston Park Museum.. Definitely not a wedding disco.

In short.. A phenomenal gig. I loved every minute.

[Excalibur]

In short.. A phenomenal gig. I loved every minute.

Lucky you. I should have loved mine last night, but for various reasons, I didn't. Surprise 60th Birthday, for a musician. Music faves were given as Jam, Weller, Stereophonics, Oasis , Stone Roses, no cheese, and a smattering of Tamla and Northern.

Smattering, remember that word.

OK, so everyone turns up early, and we await the birthday boy. There was to be a video presentation of people who couldn't make it, and if I'd had the Mauis there, we could have bluetoothed the audio across to there from the iphone playing it to the screen. Nobody told me, so I';d taken the Db/Rcf. Grrr. Neither had anyone told me that the band Dad was in would be playing a set, and they had nabbed the area where I'd normally set up.
" Can you squeeze in behind them, in that space about a foot square"? Err, no. I'll move up the room, and work across it. Not ideal, but not too bad.

So, everyone says their hellos to the birthday boy, we try to get everyone quiet ( unsuccessfully ) so he can hear the video presentation, the band do their slot, and it's my turn to.................

be ignored for a couple of hours, maybe longer. The fingers of one hand are sufficient to count the requests I got, and the dance floor is totally tumbleweed. I can see some foot tapping and seat dancing, so not all bad. Saving the indie for a riotous end to the night, I play almost all my music from the Tamla Motown, Soul, and Northern Soul folders.

And guess what happens, with an hour to go? " Can you play some Tamla"? " Can you play some Northern " ?

Well, we're now into rammed floor territory, and as long as I keep digging out the gems I've got left unplayed, we're in business. Requests start to mount up, all for Tamla and Northern, except Love Shack, Deacon Blue-Dignity, and Lumineers- Ho Hey. Seven minutes to go, and I get a request for The Smiths!! I finish with Don't Look Back In Anger, and a constant request for some Northern, instead of the crap that's currently filling the floor.

By rights, I ought to have loved this gig. but I didn't. It might have helped if guests hadn't ignored me for the first three hours. Ah well.

[Imagine]

Busy weekend this weekend......

Wedding show yesterday at a new local venue who don't have any preferred suppliers as of yet. They have plenty of couples on the books for getting wed, so put on a show (free of charge to local invited suppliers such as yours truly) to try to help their couples out with the planning. There must have been a couple of hundred couples through the doors during the 4 hour show and around 50-60 suppliers...really really busy and really positive. Hopefully something will come of it in the coming weeks

Today - back to kid's parties. One of my neighbours has a set of twins turning 5 during the week and as I did their wedding a couple of years ago, I was the obvious choice for entertaining 40 little'uns. My FitBit went into orbit and I'm shattered after that one.

However, I'm getting back into kids parties in a big way with recommendations coming in from all angles (not bad for someone who gave them up several years ago). I need to refine my show a little bit (I'm out of practice and desperately need to add more games to the repetoire), but I think I could get used to doing them as fillers again and actually start to enjoy them again

Next week - a wedding that's been two years in the planning to the exact day, or at least as far as my services are concerned. It's a nice local barn (less than 5 miles away), rustic setup but a mix of everything from cheese to a heavy metal section....could be a lot of fun

[Excalibur]

Well done Wayne, hope the wedding show bears fruit.

Just the one for me, Saturday at a Cricket Club I've visited before. The stewardess was just the nicest person, wish they were all like that. In a perfect world, I'd have set up in a slightly different place, but not a huge problem. Engagement party for a couple who were " over 21 ". I had a playlist mainly from Now 102, Ed Sheeran, and Jess Glynne, with a hefty dose of Indie Anthems for good measure. Strangely enough, Tina Turner was banned, which was a shame as The Best and Proud Mary were both requested. Never did find out the reason for the ban.

Intent on giving the new PA another run out, I left the Mauis at home, which in truth was a mistake. One Maui would have been the best solution, but I was blown away by the sound the little Rcfs made on their own. I'm back at Driffield Cricket Club next week, and genuinely can't decide which rig to take. Either will be just fine. What a lovely problem to have.

[Imagine]

I'm back at Driffield Cricket Club next week, and genuinely can't decide which rig to take. Either will be just fine. What a lovely problem to have.

I have the same conundrum for Saturday's wedding. The Evolves will more than happily do what they need to do and more besides in this particular venue. BUT, there's a smallish heavy metal section and despite the fact it's a wooden floor, I'm tempted to take the Yammy 8/12 rig out for a bit of ground-shaking fun (plus I have the advantage of being able to park 10 feet from the set up area so no real lugging involved ).

[djdj]

The stewardess was just the nicest person, wish they were all like that. I'm back at Driffield Cricket Club next week, and genuinely can't decide which rig to take. Either will be just fine. What a lovely problem to have.

She lives accross the road from me Peter so you better behave,
Hope all ok this weekend!

[Excalibur]

She lives accross the road from me Peter so you better behave,
Hope all ok this weekend!

You're seven days out either way, Dave. Although your neighbour is another lovely lady, the one I was referring to is in Wakefield. At least I now know that my every move will be under scrutiny on Saturday, and reported back to you, so I'll have to be on my best behaviour.