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Thread: Good Gig, Bad Gig.

  1. #4431
    Jim - Scotland's Party DJ's Avatar
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    Not done one of these for a while.

    My busiest weekend of the year (and long may it remain that way)

    Saturday afternoon I was covering a baby disco for my brother in the local town hall. I've done it before and it's great fun and they set up the lights so a minimal rig is required. Contract is for 1-3 (as it always it) I turn up at noon, set up by quarter past, nip out for a coffee and I'm back at quarter to 1 with a bit of background music going on. In comes the hall manager

    "ok so we'll start taking the tickets at half past 1."

    me: "eh? I'm booked from 1 to 3..."

    "are you sure? it's 2 to 4 we've put on the flyers"

    I pull out the contract...

    "oh that's strange, well we're on from 2 to 4 and sold out!"



    Not much I could really do was there (barring stopping halfway through and packing up ) she came back later and said she'd checked the books and it was always 2 until 4 (which is either wrong on their part or a lie)


    Quite miffed because it meant I was going home, chucking the rest of the stuff in the motor and shooting off to my wedding via mcd's instead of getting a decent dinner.

    Wedding was good. Strangely laid out venue - bar in a separate room away to my left, VERY tight table set up (the most I've ever seen in here) between the bar and dancefloor and then me tucked away in a wee alcove out of sight and mind for the most part. The seating meant it was hard to entice a lot of folk up to dance because they literally had to barge past other people but we managed OK. good feedback from bride and groom and my bottle of hot tub prossecco was well enjoyed when I got home.


    Sunday was a communion. I don't do many of them because of my price but this was literally down the road (I counted - 24 seconds from leaving my drive way to pulling up at the venue ) and again a minimal rig needed.

    1 until half 5. Loads of daft games - I try to keep things interesting so they can get a wee bit convoluted and heard some guy who was on the beers mutter "Christ, just do musical statues" under his breath while I was explaining one game to the kids which kind of peed me off but at the price I charge, I think the clients appreciate that it's not just a party by numbers thing. The kids loved it, they were impeccably behaved throughout, the adults got a chance to boogie later on, I threw in some ceilidh and everyone went home knackered, I was up the road, finished my dinner and in the pub with a well deserved pint less than half an hour after playing my last song

    That's me for a few weeks now after a cancellation came in. Getting all my meetings in order for between now and my honeymoon at the end of June so it's worked out quite well admin wise.

  2. #4432
    Imagine's Avatar
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    Just the one for me this weekend - a May Ball for a local college I do a lot of work for.

    Nice gig actually in one of the few Cambridge colleges I've never been to before, even if it was a painfully small room (the client didn't want the half an hour turnaround time between dinner and disco so I ended up in a side room). Nice oak cabinets full of china and the like which rattled quite nicely once I got into the music

    As for the music - not my favourite stuff (R&B/Hip hop/Gansta type of stuff), but the kids enjoyed themselves. Being an international college, I was also bombarded with mobile phones in languages such as Russian with demands of "play this next" and "can't you just plug my phone in?".....erm....NO!

    The best bit - by the time they'd finished dinner I managed a whopping 100 minutes of music. Not bad for a Saturday night if I'm honest.

    This week, a wedding in one of my usual haunts on Thursday (could go either way being a Thursday night), and a 60th a couple of miles further. Then it's off for a couple of days in Wales with the missus to unwind a little bit.

    Considering I had a slow start to the year - I'm more than ahead of where I want to be now

  3. #4433
    Imagine's Avatar
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    Default Not bad for a Thursday night

    Tonight, a cheeky midweek wedding at one of my local haunts.

    It was a nice easy load in as usual, no LOVE letters fronting the disco for a change (I normally put my DMX'd LOVE letters on to give a nice floor wash but they didn't want them this time), so less kit for a change.

    I'd been sort of fearing this one though. My last wedding there saw an empty floor all night apart from kids. It was a nightmare. So the memory of the last wedding, plus the fact that this was a Thursday night so most guests would need to leave earlyish to go to work in the morning, plus the playlist which had been sent from the B&G full of Tinie Tempah and similar....shudder

    The playlist by the way was advisory....I didn't have to stick to it rigidly, although did my best (to start with).

    Unlike last time here, the floor was full early doors whilst I went through the more recent chart/dance stuff. No problems so far. Then I thought I'd better at least have a crack at the hip hop side of things. Where did the guests go????

    Eventually, mother of the bride asked me to ignore the playlist because the B&G had gone to their room....this was at 10 'o' clock so still two hours to fill. Now in the past when this has happened, the venue has emptied pretty quickly. Not tonight Josephine!

    I went into autopilot on what I'd class as floor fillers, a little Motown, a little 80s, a little bit of rock....I was rewarded with a full floor again
    Yes, the guest count diminished as expected leaving around 20 for the final hour or so....but those 20 danced their little socks off for me

    So, all in all, not a bad night for a Thursday.

    Now I've dried off after unloading in torrential rain (did somebody mention a drought a couple of days ago?), it's time for a quick beer then bed.

    Next up is a 50th on Saturday. The birthday girl's daughter has provided a 6 1/2 hour playlist for a 4 1/2 hour party (again, I don't have to stick to it). However, with mainly 80s pop - it promises to be a good one

  4. #4434
    Daryll's Avatar
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    Shouting , screaming , balloon fights , thats right a children`s party , 2 hours of utter mayhem , 10 year old boy , and every moment was magic.
    Daryll
    darylldj.co.uk , serving hampshire , Surrey and sussex

  5. #4435
    Imagine's Avatar
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    50th tonight and a real treat.

    A new venue (for me). Absolutely ACRES of stage to set up on, halogens backstage which stay on so you can see what you're doing all night (the stage area is draped with black cloth so the guests don't see the effect of the halogens), more 13a sockets in easy reach than you could throw a stick at, no sound limiters, super friendly staff.....absolutely BRILLIANT!

    As for the music - mainly 80s as you'd expect with a little Motown, Soul, 90s and current chart.....oh and massive helpings of cheddar.

    Lots of dancing, lots of guests, stage managed surprise birthday cake...a really, really nice one to work on and probably the best one I've done for a while.

    In short - the dream gig. Just for once I was promised a night of the music I like personally.....and got it

    It also ended at 11:30, meaning that I'm home and drinking beer nice and early

    Back there in two weeks time for a wedding....this time with 16 feet of retro screens (the groom was a DJ in the 90s and wants that particular look.....it's going to be boiling on that stage but it's going to look awesome)

    I'm a very happy DJ tonight

  6. #4436

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    Great night tonight.

    A wedding in a yurt - and a big yurt at that.

    Originally booked for 7pm - midnight, the B&G added in a band fairly late on and an optimistic timeline.

    First dance ended up happening about 8:45pm - straight in to band who played until 9:30 and had a good dancefloor from the off. Original plan was 2 x 45 minute sets from the band with a 15 min break (dancefloor stays busy whilst I play a few songs during the break). Bride decided she wanted some of the songs she'd picked for me to play, so asked the band to do a shorter second set. As they announce their last song, guests say they want more from the band! So they carry on a bit longer.

    I pick up at 10:30 with an hour and half to complete.

    Was worried that the guests may have peaked to early, but no - dancefloor gets busier as I bring on some disco, classic rock, 90s boybands, and then wedding classics to finish with the Baywatch theme.

    Guests want even more - on this occasion I'd have obliged, but venue has a very strict 12 midnight finish time for amplified music. So causes some grief with those asking me just to "ignore" that rule. I'm firm about it, and eventually they see I'm right and apologies. Always the sign of a good night when people want it to continue on. Still about 10 guests remaining in the yurt when I leave at 1:30am (they ended up hooking a phone to a small portable phone sound bar, which did the trick for what they needed).

  7. #4437

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    Default Oh We Do Like To Be Beside The Sea-Side..

    Saturday afternoon Wedding 2.30-6.30 sounds easy...
    I arrived in plenty of time and parked right in front of the Hotel.
    Dragged everything up a flight of stairs into a nice function room.
    All set up ready for 1.45 which was good as people started to arrive. I knew I was in for an eventful afternoon when the Bride arrived and immediately asked me to turn the music down, I said I would do my best and strolled across to the bar area and asked the girl to adjust the rooms volume, She looked Blankley and said 'not sure how' ok so I hunt around and found house system and turn it down to a whisper.
    The meal comes and goes and I wait in another part of the hotel and thank the Old Git who had palmed this off on me 'Heart attack' honestly any excuse! SO first dance played and couple duly shuffled around to be joined by a couple of other guests.
    Well if my PFL button flickered up to the third light all afternoon it was a miracle, Sporadic dancing from the 30-40 guests so I was packed up and away by 6.45. Back to one of my local Hotels and a young couples wedding.
    Cheers Peter!

  8. #4438
    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by djdj View Post
    Saturday afternoon Wedding 2.30-6.30 sounds easy...
    Hey, don't complain too much, you could easily have been in Nottingham, wearing an afro wig for a 70's night!
    Just hope you didn't play too much Rammstein, they weren't in the first flush of youth, and didn't want too much of that sort of thing.

    Quote Originally Posted by djdj View Post
    The meal comes and goes and I wait in another part of the hotel and thank the Old Git who had palmed this off on me 'Heart attack' honestly any excuse!
    'S all true, I've got papers to prove it.
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

    www.excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk

  9. #4439

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    Quote Originally Posted by Excalibur View Post
    'S all true, I've got papers to prove it.
    I've got mine too. They gave me an ECG print of my "normal" heartbeat so if it was to go wappy again, the doc will have something to compare it with. That's if I happen to take my home office desk drawers with me to hospital of course.

  10. #4440
    Imagine's Avatar
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    That was a warm one!

    Last night broke literally every rule in the book concerning weddings.

    • Retro light-screen setup with virtually no control over colour schemes etc.
    • DJ in shorts and t-shirt
    • Bride insisted on buying DJ an ice cold lager
    • No playlist (or do not play tracks)
    • Wall to wall cheese


    You know what, it was refreshing and very enjoyable.

    Why the retro rig, shorts and t-shirt? The groom used to be a DJ in the 90s and used this sort of rig (which is why he wanted it for his own wedding). He appreciated how hot it gets standing behind something like that so told me to wear shorts. It felt odd....I've been groomed that weddings require at the very least a shirt, tie and waistcoat!

    I was nervous about this one. The retro rig does birthday parties....it hasn't done a wedding for....well a very long time. Add to this it's working on new controllers and I've just re-wired the whole thing and a lot could have gone wrong.

    It didn't though, and it all worked a treat. Paired with a brace of Dualizers for movement on the floor (I'd forgotten how bright those things are) and the lightshow looked amazing once it got dark! I even had a lot of comments (in double figures) about how nice it was to see something different from what other DJs use...I was stunned.

    As for the music, lets just say cheese was the order of the evening. The fact that it packed the floor in a boiling hot hall was a bonus.

    Maybe I've just found a niche market....retro weddings



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