Wierd call from a newbie

[JAMdisco]

I had a wierd calll last night (no not you Excalibur - was just after that :D )

A youngish sounding lad rang up and asked if I was JAMdisco which I replied 'yes'
He said he's just starting up a disco business and wanted some info, so always happy to help new blood I asked him what he wanted to know - BIG mistake :eek:

Then came the questions, what speakers are best, what documentation does he need, what music goes down best etc. etc... He also said how much should he charge???

He said he did a disco at his old school last year and played from 7pm - 7am (yes 12 hours with a 2hr break for a live band (is that legal)), he charged £130!!! I said I'd have charged around £500 if it were me - not that I'd do a 12 hr slot EVER!

After some lengthy discussions I pointed him in the direction of the forum and advised him to use the search facility as there's loads of info on here.

I'm not sure I really helped him that much as I was probably asking 3 questions per 1 question of his.

Just hopes he takes the one piece of advice and joins on here. He's from Brandsburton by the way and sounded very inexperienced so I don't really see it as competition (yet!!!)

[Excalibur]

Weird calls, that's usually me.:D Thanks for the info on ripping, it helped a lot.
Bet you pointed the young fella towards the Midlands, sound wise eh? ;) :D :D

[JAMdisco]

No I didn't as it turns out he already has some speakers - he seemed very niaive (I can never spell that word!!!) and rather vague on most of his questions. Thing is, my meal was getting cold and where do you start answering questions like that? That's why I pointed him here - not seen him yet though.

[Excalibur]

No I didn't as it turns out he already has some speakers - he seemed very niaive (I can never spell that word!!!) and rather vague on most of his questions. Thing is, my meal was getting cold and where do you start answering questions like that? That's why I pointed him here - not seen him yet though.

Mine got cold as well. Good job it was salad, eh?:D :D Perhaps he will appear here under an assumed identity. ? :confused:

[Penfold42]

He said he did a disco at his old school last year and played from 7pm - 7am (yes 12 hours with a 2hr break for a live band (is that legal)), he charged £130!!! I said I'd have charged around £500 if it were me - not that I'd do a 12 hr slot EVER!

Without getting into a price war.....i still think £500 is light for a 12hr gig. :)

No-one rings me and ask's questions....... :cry: :cry:

[JAMdisco]

Without getting into a price war.....i still think £500 is light for a 12hr gig. :)

No-one rings me and ask's questions....... :cry: :cry:

I agree, I was just going on a rough £40 per hour guide. But , like I said, I wouldn't do it anyway unless it was a seriously large amount of money!

Do you want me to pass on any calls in future then???

[Penfold42]

Do you want me to pass on any calls in future then???

Err....no.....not unless they want a disco......:p :D

[rob1963]

Without getting into a price war.....i still think £500 is light for a 12hr gig. :)

Light?

I think it's peanuts!

You probably need to double it to be nearer the mark.

[JAMdisco]

Light?

I think it's peanuts!

You probably need to double it to be nearer the mark.

Yes, would probably do it for £1000 but who is going to pay that at a school disco???:p

[UltraBeat Entertainment]

We'll just have to look forwards to seeing him join the forum sometime soon so he can ask away.

That's if you didn't scare him away:p

Bless his cotton socks

[CRAZY K]

Yes, would probably do it for £1000 but who is going to pay that at a school disco???:p

North of Watford:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

CRAZY K

[sleah]

He said he did a disco at his old school last year and played from 7pm - 7am (yes 12 hours with a 2hr break for a live band (is that legal)), he charged £130!!! I said I'd have charged around £500 if it were me - not that I'd do a 12 hr slot EVER!

That's the sort of gig you'd do for a very regular customer or worthy community group (assuming you don't charge them £1k).
"When I were a lad" and was working along side a couple of pros, they did a monthly youth club gig that I was involved with. They did the gigs on a Monday night and took a % of the door takings, so not exactly big bucks. But it was regular.
When another youth club whom we were associated with (in that youth club sort of way!) wanted to do a 12hr gig, we obliged for the same financial deal, as it was doing both a regular customer and a worthy group a big favour.
These wern't ordinary youth club discos though - that was my job on a Friday:D - they were full-on light and laser shows.
This is back around 1991, my mates was almost certainly the biggest privately owned disco in the northwest, and most probably all of England at the time.
We also did (on the same scale) 60's/70's nights for adults at the same place every 6 weeks or so on a Saturday, suffice to say the money was more realistic, as they wouldn't have done it for less than a normal booking would have been worth.

Bear in mind the lad mentioned in the OP is young; a 12hr gig is far more of a challenge than a chore, it certainly was when I did it all them years ago:eek: :D

[Excalibur]

We'll just have to look forwards to seeing him join the forum sometime soon so he can ask away.

That's if you didn't scare him away:p

Bless his cotton socks
Justin and scary are not words which go in the same sentence often!;)


North of Watford:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

CRAZY K
We all know you won't get out of bed for less than your name implies.:p :p


That's the sort of gig you'd do for a very regular customer or worthy community group (assuming you don't charge them £1k).
"When I were a lad" and was working along side a couple of pros, they did a monthly youth club gig that I was involved with. They did the gigs on a Monday night and took a % of the door takings, so not exactly big bucks. But it was regular.
When another youth club whom we were associated with (in that youth club sort of way!) wanted to do a 12hr gig, we obliged for the same financial deal, as it was doing both a regular customer and a worthy group a big favour.
These wern't ordinary youth club discos though - that was my job on a Friday:D - they were full-on light and laser shows.
This is back around 1991, my mates was almost certainly the biggest privately owned disco in the northwest, and most probably all of England at the time.
We also did (on the same scale) 60's/70's nights for adults at the same place every 6 weeks or so on a Saturday, suffice to say the money was more realistic, as they wouldn't have done it for less than a normal booking would have been worth.

Bear in mind the lad mentioned in the OP is young; a 12hr gig is far more of a challenge than a chore, it certainly was when I did it all them years ago:eek: :D

Just a walk in the park, even at my age.;) :sofa:

[sleah]

Just a walk in the park, even at my age.;) :sofa:

Guess it all depends which part of the day the 12 hours is.
2pm > 2am? Yeah, I could do that:D

[Excalibur]

Guess it all depends which part of the day the 12 hours is.
2pm > 2am? Yeah, I could do that:D

I was thinking more 8am-8pm. Tucked up in bed with a cup of cocoa by 10pm. :D :D

[JAMdisco]

Justin and scary are not words which go in the same sentence often!;)

You should see me after 6 pints of Stella - that's scary :p :beer1: :beer1: :D