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Thread: Announcements for tomorrow's wedding

  1. #41

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    I must have been of some use then! Glad you had a good one. Still got NYE in for you here too.

  2. #42
    Casual77's Avatar
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    Right... here goes again. The gig report I wrote last night was a bit like 'War and Peace' so I'll try and make this version a bit shorter.

    I arrived at the venue at about 1.20pm and was pleased to be able to pull up outside and unload quite quickly. I'd had to cram everything into my Prius because there was no way I would find somewhere close to the venue to park my large van.

    After parking I had around 90 minutes to set up before the arrival of the wedding party and that was plenty of time as I would be able to set up the lighting when the meal was being eaten later in the day. I've been having a few technical concerns over my music system so decided to go belt and braces with two separate systems running in tandem.

    I was asked to set up on the ground floor just in front of a large shutter door and was pleased to see I had plenty of room to set up in front of a tiled area which would serve as a dancefloor.

    I was feeling fairly relaxed and managed to get everything set up in time (other than wiring the lights) for 3.40pm in advance of an expected 4pm start. This was where my wedding inexperience first became evident. I had got it into my head that the bride and groom followed by the guests would descend upon the venue from the Town Hall at 4pm. What actually happened was that the guests started arriving at 3.45 and the bride and groom didn't show up until over an hour later. This wasn't a problem though and I got on with playing the background music that I had agreed with the bride and groom the day before (think Air, Royksopp, Daft Punk, Massive Attack and mellow hip-hop).

    At some time shortly after 5pm the best man notified me that the Bride and groom had arrived and were ready to make their entrance. I cued up 'Sabotage' by The Beastie Boys and prepared myself to announce their arrival. I could see them outside the main door through a side window and remember deciding whether to say 'Give it up for the bride and groom' or 'Please put your hands together for the Bride and Groom'. In the end I contrived to say a combination of the two. "Ladies and Gentleman.... Please put it up for the bride and groom". Not a great start but as they entered the guests gave them a huge reception as I blasted out Sabotage and I don't think anyone really noticed my slip (or particularly cared for that matter).

    I let the song play at full volume for about 90 seconds before lowering the volume and resuming with the background music.

    Despite fears that the weather was going to be terrible, it was actually a gloriously sunny day in Sheffield and it was very pleasant playing in front of the opaque windows of the large shutter behind me. It was about 20 minutes after the grand entrance that the manageress came over to tell me that the guests were too warm and to ask if I minded the shutters being raised. I said 'no, that should be fine' but was surprised when the shutters which were 2 storeys high were raised fully. All of a sudden I was almost out on the pavement and half of the guests took the cue to spill past me and out into the street. Its the first time I've had to contend with DJing 'in the round' and I felt a sudden need to try and tidy up all the debris I had hidden under my booth because it was now on full show to the world outside!

    At around 6.30pm the guests all went upstairs onto the mezzanine floor for their meal. I took the time to get my lights set up in preparation for the first dance. After considerable stress during the week I soon realised that, with the sun shining directly in to the room, I needn't have worried so much because you could barely see them. I also put the haze machine in place at the side of my booth and double checked with the management that use of it wouldn't be a problem.

    Once I was happy I was good to go I went upstairs to listen to the various speeches. As well as the usual, there was a speech by the bride's mother and her younger sister who was Maid of Honour. The bride and her family all being from New York gave an interesting dimension to the speeches and I have to say that they were all entertaining and well-delivered.

    As soon as the speeches finished I went back downstairs and got ready for the first dance. It was a bit clumsier than I would have hoped because the best man gave me the thumbs up to say that the bride and groom were ready when in fact they weren't so I announced them and nothing happened. I had to announce them a second time before they eventually came on to the dancefloor. Again, I don't think anyone minded the minor indiscretion because they were a friendly and informal kind of crowd. I explained that it was a long song and that after a couple of minutes they wanted to be joined by all the guests. At an instrumental section 2 minutes in I asked everyone to join
    them but then wished I'd waited a bit because there were about 40 people on the floor looking awkward because they weren't sure how to dance to dance to a song with no beat.

    Just before the first dance the brides attractive younger sister asked me if I would play a song off her phone. It was something she had arranged with some of the brides cousins/ friends. Despite promising the groom that I wouldn't play any cheesey prescribed dance songs I agreed and publicly apologised to the groom as I put it on. I'm not sure what the song was but the bride clearly knew the dance moves. Needless to say it was very 'American'.

    I then dropped into a five track Motown classics section including 'Jimmy Mack' by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas which I thought was apt given that she was performing live at the other side of Sheffield that night at the Tramlines Festival. This went down well with both sets of parents on the dancefloor and a large number of guests plus the bride and groom. After this section I decided to drop the song that the bride had specifically requested figuring that everyone would feed off her enthusiasm for it. The track was the Fake Blood remix of 'Animal' by Miike Snow and many in the room clearly knew it. I decided to give the haze machine a bit of a blast to add to the atmosphere and shortly after the fire alarm went off! I turned the haze machine down, expecting them to turn off the alarm, and carried on with the music. I had just mixed into 'Midnight City' by M83 when the electric shutter went back up and the manageress announced that everyone had to leave the building. I announced the fact and everyone spilled past me still dancing as they went. The groom suggested I spin the speakers round, which I di, and for a glorious 30 seconds about 80 people were dancing on the pavement outside the venue. We were suddenly part of Tramlines! This was short-lived though because the management kindly requested that I stop the music, which I did.

    Ten minutes later the alarm was stopped and we were back in the building. I took the opportunity to drop 'Firestarter' by Prodigy and everyone clearly appreciated the joke. I was just starting to play the next song, 'Kids' by MGMT when the manageress came over saying she was soory but that the fire engine was on it's way and everyone would have to leave the building again! This time we were outside for about 25 minutes as we watched the fire service arrive complete with flashing blue lights to confirm that we were all safe. The American visitors clearly found this quite entertaining. It was during this break that it was suggested that it was someone smoking in the toilets that may have set off the alarm rather than my haze machine but this was never verified either way.

    We were eventually allowed back in the venue and it was clear that no-one's enthusiasm had been dampened by the break and that it had all added to the sense of occasion. The groom asked me for 'Fire' by Prodigy this time and I duly obliged.

    We had lost quite a chunk of the evening so I said I would be happy to play on beyond the 12am agreed finish time as long as the management and bar staff were ok with it. They confirmed that they were thankfully.

    I played the Sheffield section with Pulp, Arctic Monkeys, Human league, Heaven 17, Moloko and Longpigs which went down well before moving into a dance classics section ('No Good' by The Prodigy, Yeke Yeke by Mory Kante (Hardfloor Mix), 'Something Good' by Utah Saints, 'Hard to Beat' by Hard-Fi (Axwell Mix) and 'Somebody Told Me' The Killers (Mylo Remix)which was equally well-received.

    At 12.20am I spoke with the groom about what time to wrap it up and we decided to start winding it up. He requested 'Electronic Battle Weapon' by Chemical Brothers which everyone on the dancefloor clearly knew and liked and after a couple of Robyn tracks which the bride and her sister wanted I moved into 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' as the last track of the night (which went down brilliantly). I let this play out and then received huge calls for one more. I looked to the bar staff who gave me the nod that it would be ok, and then dropped 'Sabotage' again to end the day where it had started. The whole place erupted and it was a fitting end to what was a good night clearly enjoyed by all. I resisted calls for more and the lights came on.

    The bride and groom both came up to me and gave me a hug for delivering exactly the kind of night they had hoped for and I received compliments from both sets of parents.

    I arrived back home at 3.15am feeling happy that I had played a part in making it a great (and memorable) day for all involved.

    Yesterday I received a text from the Bride and Groom inviting me to join them at Tramlines and they kindly treated me to a free ticket to see Mobb Deep and De La Soul as a 'thank-you' for my efforts. All in all it was a very good weekend!

  3. #43
    Casual77's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mattydj50 View Post
    I must have been of some use then! Glad you had a good one. Still got NYE in for you here too.
    Yes Matthew, it was certainly helpful. I've been fortunate enough to watch a few different DJs in action and pick up pointers from the way they do things.

    I was going to ask you about that NYE gig. I've already got it pencilled in the diary but I did want to double check with you because I've had someone else asking if I'm free on that night.

  4. #44
    Casual77's Avatar
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    A few photos from Saturday to go with the gig report

  5. #45

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    Quote Originally Posted by Casual77 View Post
    Yes Matthew, it was certainly helpful. I've been fortunate enough to watch a few different DJs in action and pick up pointers from the way they do things.

    I was going to ask you about that NYE gig. I've already got it pencilled in the diary but I did want to double check with you because I've had someone else asking if I'm free on that night.
    Yes, it's a definite go on that one. I was talking to the bride and her mum at an open day recently and explained how I can't do all 3 functions there on the same night!!

  6. #46
    Casual77's Avatar
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    Ok. Consider it penned in now then!

    Have they got any particular requirements or is it pretty standard fayre (other than it being New Year's Eve)? Presumably you wouldn't have any objection to me speaking with or meeting the couple prior to the night?

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