Could have asked the bloke you know with an Irish surname.
I've neglected doing the gig logs because I've not had any gigs where there has been an interesting tale to tell. I've had gigs where guests were swinging off the chandeliers and a couple where I had to check the pulse of those in attendance, but even those gigs don't have any tales beyond "Nice couple to chat to during consultation. Rocked up, played [insert clients' musical preferences], went home, repeat."
Away from the performing, it's been a very interesting few months for me. The wheels of the photography business are very much spinning right now, with the infrastructure now fully in place. As soon as the website is launched (which I reckon will be the next month or so - on track for being ready by the start of the second quarter), I'm going guns a blazing. With clients booking 'togs well before their DJs (some exceptions do apply), I'm actually a bit excited at the prospect of taking photo gigs further in advanced and then peppering the dates with DJ gigs. I just need to remember that a DJ day can follow photo day, but a photo day cannot follow a DJ day. I give it a year before I sack off that mantra.
Anyway, to the gigs. Saturday I was at a venue that I am now officially a recommended supplier for. For the last couple of years, I was kinda on the outskirts of being a recommended supplier (being tossed the occasional bone, and all that) but now I am officially on the list and have been for a few months now. This has actually proven to be a little awkward for me as one of the DJs who has been a long time recommended supplier for this venue is a very good friend of mine. I've been upfront with him from the start and I have said repeatedly that I am not trying to snake what is essentially his bag (all I have done is turn up, party and then go home). He is cool with it and knows I'm not being underhanded - I'm just paranoid about this sort of thing. I'm not good a schmoozing venues so I don't even try - turns out that just being good at the job works well enough!
The party itself is definitely the strongest of 2020 thus far. Started out after the first dance with some Disco-esque House Music (think Purple Disco Machine) and from there it was a very brief doffing of the proverbial cap to anything pre-90s, with the majority of the night being Dance, RnB, 00's Indie & Pop Punk. Kinda felt guilty about leaving the older crowd out a bit but the vast majority of my audience were mid 20s to mid 30s and they were the ones rocking the dance floor all night long. It was a very good night with the venue saying how nice it was to have me back there. Successful night, I'd say.
Sunday saw me at a venue where I am most definitely a recommended supplier (no ambiguity here!) and in the process, I upset a Drag Queen. Need me to expand? OK then...
Clients book a Drag Queen to perform for half hour or so after the first dance. Is it possible for them to go through my sound system but use their own mic, because he they have to use their own mic to make sure that the sound is just right (because that's how it works - regardless to mixer or speaker choice, as long as your mic is just so, it will sound exactly how you want it to)? Sure, why not. I'll just chuck logic out the window for this one.
During Queeny's performance, I get various dirty looks from him and at one point, a spinning hand gesture that suggest "Well...come on then!" I ask his companion what it meant, to which he replied that he had no idea. After the song was finished, Queeny announces on the [his] mic "This DJ is shot*, ain't he?"
*Typo
I was certain that I misheard that sentence until I started looking around. His companion's jaw hit the floor. The Bride looked on gobsmacked. There was an awkward laugh in the room. Righto, thought I (once I came to realise that what I thought was said was actually said). Switched off and unplugged his mic receiver, gave it to his companion and started playing music. Round of applause from the audience while I get effed and jeffed at by Queeny. I just stood there and looked at him, not even getting a chance to respond before the Groom comes up and has a word with the pair of them. Bride and Groom could not apologise enough and continued to do so at various intervals during the night.
After that, a decent night. Not one for the Hall Of Fame, but one that made the clients happy.
Originally Posted by Nakatomi
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