What is the most unusual gig you have done?

[Nakatomi]

Not taking no for an answer... From you? And her husband didn't bat an eyelid.... When you obliged her???

Now then. Here's where my priorities with regard to DJing have always been 'wrong' apparently. I only eventually crumbled when she said she didn't care whether there was anybody to play the music or not. As an 18 year old singleton... erm.. The only time I've let my professionalism slip. Or maybe just the only time it's ever happened during working hours. That was all a very long time ago though. Color Me Badd was number one with 'I wanna sex you up' funnily enough.

It was a cool gig for a lot of reasons I'll never forget - not least of which my Solar 250-alike projector getting a really good workout on the gable end of a house a long way away. And because they were all adults, my roadie saw fit to put the 'Flesh' wheel on. D'OH! I can still remember the tune that filled the lawn.. er floor. Deacon Blue - Twist & Shout. On CD too.

[ukpartydj]

Some very interesting ones here, nothing I can come close to so I won't bother. I was asked to dress in pink once and I thought it was a wind up so I declined. I've still got time I guess to see what jems emerge!

[yourdj]

The birthday girl was not taking no for an answer & her husband didn't bat an eyelid.

So you had a good night then. I had a bride and groom like that once, he worked for Playboy TV.
Wanted me to come and drink with them, I said "I am driving", they said "you can sleep in our room".

[Shakermaker Promotions]

An odd one I had once was at a private party in a huge mansion a few miles down the road from me for a Lord (insert name of supermarket beginning with 'S').
There were a few celebrities there and it was a 70's themed party. A local Doctor who has turned into a celebrity (is always on Breakfast TV on ITV) was quite OTT with his partner (who was very, very nice)....Can't say much more than that really. I am sure you get the idea.....it was a bit like one that Juski's mentioned.

Another one was when I was sent / ordered etc to go to London and do a Christmas party for Ginger TV as the guy I worked for couldn't do it himself as he was so hungover from the night before. I was stood there playing the tunes and just celebrity spotting..... Lulu, Lily Savage, Chris Evans, Chris Moyles etc etc.....I was really nervous!!

The reason I mention that is because a few months later I was DJing for a couple who'd been married abroad and were having their wedding reception in a massive mansion house in Godalming, Surrey. I was still working for my mate and jumped in the van and made my way to Godalming on Saturday morning as arranged to go and set up. When I turned up at the venue there were lots of people running around setting up. A big stage and lighting system was being put in place, Formula 1 cars were being connected to Playstations and Projector screens and a huge black and white dance floor was being installed too. I wondered what was going on at the time as I was told it was just a wedding reception.

I was soon approached by a co-ordinator guy who slapped a 'crew' sticker on my shirt and told me where to set up....."Next to the PA desk please" he said "You'll not need anything else apart from your CD players and Mixer".....So, I sound checked through the big PA system and then left to go home. Whilst I was there I didn't see the newly weds at all but I heard that the Groom worked for a record company.
On my return later that day / early evening I was amazed at the transformation of the place. When I walked in I thought I saw Lily Savage again and it felt weird when I realised I had and he / she said "Hello again" to me. I met with the newly weds and they told me what was happening that evening. I was working with a band who would be doing 2 sets. I'd fill in between sets with tunes....you know, the usual thing.
I thought that it was a bit extravagant and possibly OTT for a wedding band but got on with it and again I was celebrity spotting whilst I was behind the decks. I can't remember half of them but I do distinctly remember seeing Kylie Minogue. She was tiny and very smiley.

I was asked to announce the band's first set and the lights went down. There were around 400 people in attendance and as the lights went down, the cheers and applause became deafening. There were lots of rumours going around about who the "special guest" for the evening was but it was only the newly weds, the co-ordinator and PA guys that actually knew. On came the drummer and he looked in his 60's, dressed in black and he started doing his thing. The spotlight then shone on the guitarist and bass player who both looked around the same age and were dressed the same and they started doing their thing as the song built up.
They then stopped dead and everything went dark. A single white spotlight shone on the back of the stage and standing there was Robbie Williams!
He did that twiddling the mic thing and walked towards the front of the stage. His feet were in line with my shoulders and I looked up and smiled. He gave me a wink and then went into some kind of rock 'n roll / blues thing and both sets that night were pretty much the same. There was lots of dancing to both the band and the tunes I was playing and I made sure that I didn't play any Robbie Williams or Kylie tracks....(it's not really the done thing is it).

Apart from seeing him on stage I didn't really see him much throughout the evening. I saw Kylie quite a lot and also a few others but it was a bizarre night and an unusual gig for me. I was pretty much crapping myself throughout the whole evening for some reason!
I got a tip though (which I had to half with my mate when I got back) and packing down was easy as I only had a coffin case to carry out with my CDJ's and my boxes of CD's.

((Apologies for the long windedness of this))

[mark@pegasus]

Not so much the gig as a whole, but at a wedding many years ago I was asked to present the groom with a gift from his new bride. The time came (during the buffet) and I passed the groom the box which he had to open there and then.....................
It was a blow-up Doll which he had to inflate and then have a slow dance with in front of his new wife, family & friends

[Nakatomi]

So you had a good night then. I had a bride and groom like that once, he worked for Playboy TV.
Wanted me to come and drink with them, I said "I am driving", they said "you can sleep in our room".

I can't wait to read your memoirs Toby. Classic.

[TONYTIGER]

Way back in 1975 i was asked to do a floating disco on a fishing boat with a floating dance floor and bar in Weymouth Bay,so arrived at docks and everything was craned on no much room as the boat was about 45 ft got all the lights and speakers tied on and the twin decks were set up in the wheel house.Then set off out of harbor into the bay the customer had got a load of pontoons tied together to make a large dance floor holding about 200 and a bar this was about 500 yards off the beach so you could swim out or tie up your boat,we were absolutely swamped there was quit a bit of roll on the boat and i remember having to tape some coins on the head shells to stop them from jumping but a great time was had by all and the weather was fantastic.

[Daryll]

I did a teenage girls birthday disco in my local club , apart from the playlist , I asked if there was anything else................................She told me to dress up as a duck , so I did , should have seen the look on her and her friends faces............worth a thousand words

Daryll

[Excalibur]

She told me to dress up as a duck ,

You sure your hearing aid isn't playing up again?

[mattydj50]

I've got a pretty unusual gig coming up a week on Friday and it got me wondering what is the most unusual gig that people on here have done.

So what is unusual about mine? Well it's a 'tropical' themed 18th birthday party and I will be accompanied all night by a steel drum band. If that isn't unusual enough in itself, I've just received an email from the father of the birthday girl informing that he will be dressing up as his daughter's childhood imaginary friend monkey. I've been provided with a suggested script for a conversation I am to have with said monkey who will whisper replies to me which I am then to relay to the party guests. This will be accompanied musically by 'The Banana Boat Song', The steel drum cricket theme and 'King of the Swingers' and will end with me passing on the gift of a banana from the imaginary monkey friend to the undoubtedly embarrassed by this stage, birthday girl.

So... Can anyone top that?

I did a whole Christmas season one year with a steel band and a Carribean Christmas theme. Billy Ocean couldn't re-record his Carribean Queen track for us unfortunately (mainly because we never asked).

We created a DJ Booth in the corner of the function room using rush mats, inflatable palm trees and a beach umbrella. I brought a deck chair in and had the proverbial knotted hankie on my head at some stage. Guests were asked to come in costume and the majority did (as did I).

We did ask if we could order 2 tonnes of sand and an inflatable pool, but the hotel weren't keen on that idea!

Had the band playing while the guests walked in and then a first set of steel drum party music. Also had a limbo dancer who got the guests involved too. The last night we had all the waitresses joining in too.

Way back in 1975 i was asked to do a floating disco on a fishing boat with a floating dance floor and bar in Weymouth Bay,so arrived at docks and everything was craned on no much room as the boat was about 45 ft got all the lights and speakers tied on and the twin decks were set up in the wheel house.Then set off out of harbor into the bay the customer had got a load of pontoons tied together to make a large dance floor holding about 200 and a bar this was about 500 yards off the beach so you could swim out or tie up your boat,we were absolutely swamped there was quit a bit of roll on the boat and i remember having to tape some coins on the head shells to stop them from jumping but a great time was had by all and the weather was fantastic.

I remember that being in Weymouth Bay. We used to holiday in Weymouth almost every year, but I was only 18 in 1975 so never had the chance to try it out.

I well remember taping coins on the headshells to keep the "needle on the record, put the needle on the record". I did a 16th birthday in a youth club back in 1983 and it was so bad, I, luckily had a cassette player with me so my mate and I raided his car for all the cassettes he had and used that for as much of the night we could get away with. The more "bouncy" tunes came off cassette and it was interesting watching the kids faces when, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't dislodge the stylus from the record!