First Gig Memories

[DJ Sheppy]

Mine was in a pub. It was arranged by a friend who frequented the pub. No pay, just to get the experience. They had a collection in a pint jar and i got
TWO pounds !! The next time SIX !! After that there was no stopping me.
I would love to go back in time and observe myself. Bet i was a right scream.:eek: I do remember being rather nervous . However it gave me the start and that was over 25 years ago

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Mine was for someone im my class at school for 10 quid and the very first words I uttered were "That was Wham!".....

[Vectis]

I'd been roadie-ing for an established local one-man-band disco for a while. He paid someone to transport the kit, and me to set it up and play background music. He then waltzed in at the agreed start time, gigged, then walked off leaving us to tear down.

One day he didn't show. The hall was packed, the clock was ticking. This was in the days before mobile phones so I couldn't get hold of him. I had no choice!! Git showed up about an hour before the end and said my induction had gone well - the client was a mate of his and I'd been well and truly kippered.

But that was it... 3 months later I'd sorted out my own rig and I never looked back :)

[rob1963]

Mine was in a pub. It was arranged by a friend who frequented the pub. No pay, just to get the experience. They had a collection in a pint jar and i got
TWO pounds !! The next time SIX !! After that there was no stopping me.
I would love to go back in time and observe myself. Bet i was a right scream.:eek: I do remember being rather nervous . However it gave me the start and that was over 25 years ago

I honestly can't remember my first gig :eek: :eek: :eek:

It will be interesting to see if I'm the only one!

All I can remember is that it was around May 1984 using equipment which we'd bought on hp for around £1,300...and in those days we charged £50, which had to be split between the two of us!

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

All I can remember is that it was around May 1984 using equipment which we'd bought on hp for around £1,300...and in those days we charged £50, which had to be split between the two of us!

Wow!

I started 4 months later and you were soooooooo expensive compared to me Rob. (But then you were much older...:boxer2:)

[BeerFunk]

I don't really recollect my first gig on my own, but I started out assisting a KJ in some very small pubs, for peanuts.

[PropellerHeadCase]

My first ever gig was a mate's 21st - it went rather well actually - got a bunch of people dancing to everything from Heavy D & the Boyz 'Now That We've Found Love' to Rage Against the Machine 'Killing in the Name of...'.

[rob1963]

Wow!

I started 4 months later and you were soooooooo expensive compared to me Rob. (But then you were much older...:boxer2:)

Maturity comes at a price.

Kids can never charge as much!

:boxer2: :handbag: :D

[leighinstoke]

26 years ago, Butt Lane Methodist Church Youth Club. Usual 'old bloke' who did the DJing for us kids didn't turn up. I had a collection of singles (my mums!), some girls usually brought theirs and my mate Rob also had some.

Pooled them all together, fired up the Twin FAL, and we just did it. Most played song "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor.

Recently, I did Rob's daughter's 18th birthday party and played 'Eye of the Tiger' and dedicated it to him after explaining the significance - and he said "god I remember that!".

Happy memories.

Leigh....

[Mayhem 1]

Wow - My First ever Gig.

Firstly I would like to say that I never set out to be in this business, this is how it started.

I used to be a member of a local youth club and at the time had a mate who was into mending all things electronic and he had a set of FAL turntables in for repair and I used to have a play about with them thinking I was somebody who should be on radio 1.

The owner of these FAL twin decks was booked to do the youth club disco & bar-b-q but on the morning of the event did not turn up and did not phone so there was big panic because the function was that night.

The youth club had an emergency meeting to try and sort things out and after many phone calls could not find another mobile disco to do it (They were few and far between) so they said to me "You know how to operate the decks will you do it?"

I said yes no problem (remember I thought I was heading for radio 1) so I rushed into town and bought the top 10 singles of the time (to give you an idea how long ago it was the number 1 song was - Gud Bye To Jane - Slade) anyhow, I had the top 10 tunes and I was ready to set the world on fire with my newly found skills.

I must admit I have never been so scared in my life!!!!!!! so even back then I had planned the evening, I would play all the 'A' sides in part one then the bar-b-q then I played all the 'B' sides in part two.

It worked, I don’t know how but I got away with it, the speakers were humming almost as loud as the music, I had no lighting whatsoever and to cap it all I was under the threat of death if anything went wrong due to the whole audience (200+) were all BIKERS!!

I look back at those time fondly thinking how on earth did I survive in the business but I did but if someone had told me then how my career would turn out I probably would have laughed in their face due to me thinking that it was a one off event.

But it wasn’t to be, somehow I got other bookings and things just grew and grew.

From those Fal days until 1982 I was doing the disco plus a normal job then in 1982 I was made redundant and it was then I decided that the time was right to realise my dream of becoming a "Full Time Entertainer"

And now, after 1000's of parties, and 5 Summer Seasons I am constantly asked "Do you still enjoy it?"

Dam right I do, I still get that little nervous tremor in my stomach if its a 3 yr old party for 12 guests or the Airshow at RAF Fairford with a possible audience of 100.00 people.

Regards All

[Dragonfly]

LOL I remember mine , the dj who I bought my gear off promised to come out to my first gig with me was an 18th at the athletics stadium in Grantham ,

Turned up at 5 to set up met this guy we got cracking setting up , when everything was up ready and working "cheerio" he said "see you at 12 to pack down" I absolutely cacked it never djd before and left on my tod at my first gig I think really it was the best idea though as i used to be very quiet , a wouldnt say boo to a goose type , so i had to stand up and be counted right from the start.

to top it all off .......first request ....Jimi Hendrix.

[UltraBeat Entertainment]

Wow - My First ever Gig.

Firstly I would like to say that I never set out to be in this business, this is how it started.

I used to be a member of a local youth club and at the time had a mate who was into mending all things electronic and he had a set of FAL turntables in for repair and I used to have a play about with them thinking I was somebody who should be on radio 1.

The owner of these FAL twin decks was booked to do the youth club disco & bar-b-q but on the morning of the event did not turn up and did not phone so there was big panic because the function was that night.

The youth club had an emergency meeting to try and sort things out and after many phone calls could not find another mobile disco to do it (They were few and far between) so they said to me "You know how to operate the decks will you do it?"

I said yes no problem (remember I thought I was heading for radio 1) so I rushed into town and bought the top 10 singles of the time (to give you an idea how long ago it was the number 1 song was - Gud Bye To Jane - Slade) anyhow, I had the top 10 tunes and I was ready to set the world on fire with my newly found skills.

I must admit I have never been so scared in my life!!!!!!! so even back then I had planned the evening, I would play all the 'A' sides in part one then the bar-b-q then I played all the 'B' sides in part two.

It worked, I don’t know how but I got away with it, the speakers were humming almost as loud as the music, I had no lighting whatsoever and to cap it all I was under the threat of death if anything went wrong due to the whole audience (200+) were all BIKERS!!

I look back at those time fondly thinking how on earth did I survive in the business but I did but if someone had told me then how my career would turn out I probably would have laughed in their face due to me thinking that it was a one off event.

But it wasn’t to be, somehow I got other bookings and things just grew and grew.

From those Fal days until 1982 I was doing the disco plus a normal job then in 1982 I was made redundant and it was then I decided that the time was right to realise my dream of becoming a "Full Time Entertainer"

And now, after 1000's of parties, and 5 Summer Seasons I am constantly asked "Do you still enjoy it?"

Dam right I do, I still get that little nervous tremor in my stomach if its a 3 yr old party for 12 guests or the Airshow at RAF Fairford with a possible audience of 100.00 people.

Regards All

Great Story.

I've got bad news for you Garry. Turns out I'm doing an all day wedding when your doing the air show event this year so can't come down and pay you a visit as i had planned to:(. Maybe next year:)

My first gig.....hmmmm....

Was a garden party for a friends swimming club in a back garden under a tiny gazebo. only about 30 quests including a number of children. turned out to be a perfect hot summers day until half way through my secondhand amp blew. with no backup equipment was down for about an hour before i managed to borrow a very old 100w amp. with the music distorted and sounding really bad i carried into the evening.

When i was packing up some bloke came up to me said how good i was with the children and booked me for their celebration evening.

And then the rest as they say was that....

[CRAZY K]

circa 1967 A pub called the Red Cow, West Drayton ( near Heathrow)

2 Garrarrd decks and a big Selmer Guitar Amplifier.

Lights--yes the pub had some;)

Tracks included Lets Twist again, Locomotion, Rock around the Clock--I still play them today when its suitable.

Artists included Rolling Stones, Beatles, Elvis and also loads of Rock n Roll.

The regulars were gobsmacked--all they knew was Live music from Duos and Bands.

My DJ partner said to someone--its swinging well in here:thumbs_up:

The guy said--the real swinging starts a bit later round my house--come round.

We declined the offer---work the next day:rolleyes:

CRAZY K

[Boogie Boy]

My first DJing was at college. I was the entertainments committee head honcho and had asked another guy (who was the girls' dreamboat, suave, sophisticated...you get the picture) to do the disco as he'd shown an interest in doing it. On the day of the disco he had a panic attack and left me completely in the lurch. What could I do? Well, I'd fancied having a go and my best friend and myself were sort of in the throws, of starting a disco of our own in the near future, so it seemed like a perfect introduction.

Interesting little story:

Our third or fourth social event at the college was the Spring Ball, which I had to organise. To cut a long story short, we had very little in the way of amplification for the school hall, so we asked the band if we could plug into some of their amps to beef up the sound. Earlier in the day, we'd helped them get their gear into the hall and set up. I'd seen 'JH EXP' on some of the amps and speakers and was curious, so I asked "what is the JH EXP for?" The reply knocked me sideways "oh, they're Jimi Hendrix's old gear".

[theoloyla]

Back Room of The Old Barge Public House, King Street, Norwich Young Liberals social night some time in 1966. I had a record player and lots of records. I had no mike so I shouted between the records. Went well so I bought a second hand RSC 50 watt amp and a 15 inch speaker and a crystal mike. Now I could speak into the mike and then place it in front of the loud speaker of the record player!

[CRAZY K]

Back Room of The Old Barge Public House, King Street, Norwich Young Liberals social night some time in 1966. I had a record player and lots of records. I had no mike so I shouted between the records. Went well so I bought a second hand RSC 50 watt amp and a 15 inch speaker and a crystal mike. Now I could speak into the mike and then place it in front of the loud speaker of the record player!

Yes it was all a bit basic then--Trailblazing eh??:D :D :D

CRAZY K

[Shaun]

My first gig was in a youth club that I helped to run. Rewind back to 1988, no such thing as CD's for me to use, not even the luxury of vinyl. Cassette decks x 2, some light-boxes, a couple of tacky traffic light effects, pair of fuzz lights, a strobe and a rope light. I was all set. :D

I've went into how the gig/s came about in my interview here on the forum, so I'll bypass those details.

My first 'adult' gig came 3 weeks later....
It was in a place called the "Steelworks Club" in Methil, Fife. This was a rough 'n' ready kind of place. It was immortalised in a Billy Connelly video when he described when he gigged there. He took great pleasure in telling the story of one of his stand-up-routines in the place, and a dog walked in and had a crap in the middle of the floor, during his routine. The dog received a bigger round of applause than Billy Connelly that night. THAT was the 'Steelworks Club'. As rough as they come, but it definitely had character.

Anyway, I'm digressing. The Steelworks Club held a quite successful local Friday Night Disco for years. The current DJ left suddenly after a fall out with the management, and we heard about it and approached them, and got the gig. I was 16 years old, and my 'boss' was 19. So, Friday night arrives and I enter the building. The Bingo has just finished and the hall is quite busy, around 250 people in there, this was at a time when working men's clubs were thriving. I get up onto the stage 'absolutely bricking it'. My boss then passes me the mic (a £5 bright blue plastic mic from 'Tandy' - ahhh those were the days..lol). I don't know where I got the courage, but I stepped to front of the disco, to the front of the stage, and said "Good Evening" to everyone, and "thanked them for coming". The night had started, I wish I could say it was a roaring success, and I had everyone on the table dancing all night. The truth is, it was just "OK". Half the people left as soon as the bingo had finished and we'd introduced ourselves. The other half proceeded to drink themselves into a stupor, with the occasional dance in between. At the end of the night we got paid, and went home. RESULT!! I Was hooked!.

We ended up playing for 3 months in there, and it definitely got better, with us pulling in a steady and regular crowd. The Club also allowed us to start an Under 18's night which was a HUGE success, which pulled in around 300 kids every week. This was a great feeling as we wanted to have a larger crowd than the local nightclubs (very successful) kids night. I had caught the 'DJ Bug' I was hooked....and still am to this day, 20 years later.

I later ended up as the resident DJ in the nightclub I mentioned. Marc J should remember the place well. His Dad owned it. :d

Anyway, that's my 'first gig/s memories. :beer1:

[flatliners]

i remember my first time was in ovington social club a friend of my mom and dads the legendry Don crisp ( hes now in the great dj booth in the sky ) came and sort of started me off.
the first records i played was liquid gold dance yourself dizzy and the origonal of m peoples how can i love you more i was shifting bricks that night but i was hooked.
i owe alot to Don crisp because when i was young every other sunday he used to pop over and see my mom and dad and mention about the gigs hes done and how he had them jumping on a tables.

[djsteve10]

Well one of the 1st gigs that i did was around 6 years ago, after going out 2 or 3 times with a local dj and my mate he passed me a job to do as i had been building the gear up while i was working with him, It was a summer BBQ at a snooker club 5 minutes down the road from me, Was only paying £80 but it was a start, Got there and set up in the conservatory and played some chart and and poppy stuff as background music, Then they had the BBQ and then i started doing cha cha slide, macarena, and the 1st words i said was " Lets see you reaching" as i was playing S Club 7 - Reach, I got this massive kick from it and alot of people asked for business cards which at the time were makeshift ones that i had made myself due to lack of income.

It all went from there i moved onto social clubs and the small cricket club jobs and it has lead upto now where i have 3 good roadshows and 2 dj's working for me when i need them, Well thats where it all started anyway and even today every function that i do i am always learning.

[nigelwright7557]

Mine was in a pub. over 25 years ago

Mine was in a village hall.
The other DJ said it was best to just leave me to get on with it.
I was just told to indtroduce each record as I went along and get used to working the decks.
It was a bit nerve racking to start with but after half an hour I was getting along fine.

It was a bit easier in those days as there was always at least two DJ's and sometimes upto 4. This made the lift in and out much easier.
And, if one of us pulled the rest loaded up the van and waited for him.

I now do it on my own so it can be a bit hard work for an old fat codger like me.

Roadie wanted ! :beer1: :beer1: :beer1: :beer1: :beer1: :beer1:

[DJ Sheppy]

26 years ago, Butt Lane Methodist Church Youth Club. Usual 'old bloke' who did the DJing for us kids didn't turn up. I had a collection of singles (my mums!), some girls usually brought theirs and my mate Rob also had some.

Pooled them all together, fired up the Twin FAL, and we just did it. Most played song "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor.

Recently, I did Rob's daughter's 18th birthday party and played 'Eye of the Tiger' and dedicated it to him after explaining the significance - and he said "god I remember that!".

Happy memories.

Leigh....

Ah............. The twin FAL......... would that be a FAL ranger ? Whilst some may have laughed at the time it was so reliable ,purchased via Grattans mail order catalogue although i did get some bigger speakers as the ones that came with it were rather "piddly". But great to get started.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

My first go at playing music to a crowd was when I was 11 in 1979. I went to a summer youth club down at a local venue with my nextdoor neighbour and they had a record deck (just the one) and speakers there. I remember one of the helpers there was in charge of playing people's records and would put them on one after the other and that was it. People would be playing table tennis and painting etc (not at the same time). I remember asking if I could go home and get some records and when they said yes, I was back there in minutes with a selection of my mums stuff (Beatles, Bee Gees, Abba etc) and mine (Gary Numan and Boney M). I asked if I could put them on myself and they let me. I used to listen to the radio non stop when I was little and would always tape the Top 40 but then do the talking bits myself. At the youth club I spoke in between each record as my mate put them on to the player and the kids started to get interested....well, until we got to Boney M! Funny thing was though, when I played my Gary Numan record, I flipped it over and played the B-Side too which went down really well and became a favourite in the end. I didn't get paid back then but I did get the odd free traffic light lolly!

First time I actually did it was when I was asked to DJ at a local nightclub. I had been in a band that was quite popular and had recently left it as I was fed up with the travelling and not seeing any money. The club used my name to pull people in and it kicked off the whole thing for me. I think the first song I played was something by The Cure. I got paid for that too...5 hours for £80.00 I think.