Never again!!!

[Reminisce disco]

Hi all, well its taken nearly a week for me to calm down before I could post without swearing all the way through regarding a disco I did last saturday night.
Let me set the scene, I met the client , a woman who knew my mum who was celebrating her 60th birthday, at the venue, on the Monday before the function ,to see the room for myself and to talk over a playlist she and her family had devised. Venue was fine, playlist in my opinion was decidedly dodgy, however she was adamant all songs must be played.
Set up saturday afternoon, went back for a 19:30 start. Client told me not to play the playlist yet but choose some "ambient background music while the guests arrive so they can chat". Fine i thought.
Within 5 minutes she was back telling me the music was too loud. I couldn't even hear what i was playing so went out front and listened for myself. I turned it down as she's the customer however , believe me, it was quieter than quiet.
At 8:30 she asked me to start playing the playlist so i handpicked a few songs and halfway through The rolling stones "Angie" she's back again. "Ah Andrew , why are you playing this song now? Can you stop the playlist and go back to background music as no one's dancing" Ok i thought so i told her to come and see me when she wants me to start playing from the list.
At 10:20 she came back and said to me in her opinion people were now ready to dance???????? and could she announce on the mic that we are now going to do some dancing :bang: :bang:
So again i started cherry picking some floorfillers , A-Ha "take on me", girls just wanna have fun. The crowd were enjoying and there was plenty of dancing. Halfway through Candi Staton's "young hearts run free" she's back again asking why i'm playing this. I told her it was on the playlist and showed her the list to prove it. Her answer was "well i dont like this song, my daughter must have chosen that one, can you turn it off please" "mid song?" i asked, "yes" she said. At this point alarm bells were ringing.
The event was due to finish at midnight and I worked out I had an hour and a half to fit in 70 songs! So i carried on as best i could.
Booty luv "boogie 2nite" (from the list) was playing when over marched the clients daughter. "why are you playing this? its not on the list" again i showed her the list to prove my point. "well we dont like this song, i dont know who chose this, can you change it" So i did without argument.
Kings of leon, sex on fire was mid song around 11:30 when over comes the daughters husband. "this isnt on the list, WHY are you playing songs not on the list? " Now by this point i'm getting a little hot under the collar but being professional i calmly showed him the list and, to his astonishment , surprise surprise there it was on the list.
Got to the end of the night , this happened four or five other times and each time the song was on the list and i was getting more and more aggravated as it was obvious all the family had input on what was going to be played but no one had seen the final draft. Her final song was Marianne Faithfull, The ballad of lucy jordan :eek: , i started playing it, everyone looked at me, shook their heads and walked off the dancefloor, to leave the client dancing on her own. When it finished she marched over and said that was the wrong song. I explained it was 100% the correct song. She then said she gave me the wrong song title but couldn't remember what the correct title was called. :bang: :bang:
I packed up after doing an extra 20 minutes for nothing and was about to start taking my gear out, when the clients husband marches over and said "why havent you played from the list? why have you been playing f:Censored: g crap for the last 2 hours?" I couldnt believe it, i flew at him, i couldnt help it but i finally snapped. All i did all night was bow and scrape to their demands, i played nothing but playlist and to be spoken to like that after making so much effort while maintaining professionalism made me blow my top. All the guests had gone so i absolutely launched back into him which is completely out of my character. I wont ramble on anymore but lets just say i made it clear no one knew their backsides from their elbows regarding the playlist and that i would never do another function for them again.
Its times like this when i question my own ability but after giving it a lot of thought i have brushed the experience off. The following morning i received an email from him apologising for his behaviour. They were a very posh family ,well poshly spoken ,but he degraded the whole family to the gutter in my opinion. I will never entertain that family again.

[cosmicdiscos]

god that sounds like a nightmare, i hate situations like that for fear of losing my rag!, coincidentally at last saturdays gig, i was playing some current dance tunes to a group of about 25 people who were dancing away and a woman in her 50s came over and said "look, there's people sitting down (3), what you want to do is go round with a bit of paper and a pen and ask them what they want", when i tried to tell her that there were plenty of people dancing, she said i was 'not a people person'
????
So i said "you come and stand behind here and do it then". then she sat down.

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Who gave you the playlist and who paid you? When im greeted with such demands from different people I would of said in your instance "This is an written playlist given to me by the customer and it asks that i play this song. Im sorry that you dont like it but Im just doing the job ive been paid to do".

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

This is the problem with people giving you playlists that don't DJ and don't understand why it's nearly impossible to stick to a list.

I don't entertain rigid lists and if there are a lot of requests, they are discussed at length, so there are no problems on the night.

[super-hero]

Never had one quite as bad as that. But that's one of the reasons I like using the laptop, you can show them a list of every song you have played on the night.

It's always hard when they don't want you to deviate from their playlist.

[Excalibur]

Andrew, I feel sorry for you, sounds like the gig from hell. :( :( :( I'd like to think I wouldn't have lost my rag at the end, but hand on heart couldn't guarantee it. :o

Darren, it's absolutely simple and easy to stick to a list, you just keep pressing the buttons in the right order. :D
OK, agreed of course, it's virtually impossible to stick exclusively to a list for a function, as the tastes and wishes of the crowd never match the list. I've been very lucky in this respect, I've usually cherry picked from the list, and added suitable requests/my choices. I accept that sadly there are some clients from hell. Fortunately for me, I don't remember having met one.

[Dj Ramon]

I always make a point of carrying a loaded shotgun and a long handled shovel in the trunk, I can't work in Vegas anymore but hey........

Kev:)

[CRAZY K]

Andrew, I feel sorry for you, sounds like the gig from hell. :( :( :( I'd like to think I wouldn't have lost my rag at the end, but hand on heart couldn't guarantee it. :o

Darren, it's absolutely simple and easy to stick to a list, you just keep pressing the buttons in the right order. :D
OK, agreed of course, it's virtually impossible to stick exclusively to a list for a function, as the tastes and wishes of the crowd never match the list. I've been very lucky in this respect, I've usually cherry picked from the list, and added suitable requests/my choices. I accept that sadly there are some clients from hell. Fortunately for me, I don't remember having met one.

I must say reading this I must have been lucky.

These were very very odd people in my opinion.

I mean its not as if the tracks you were asked to change whilst playing were
likely to make people sit down.

I always ask for a playlist and tend to get a fair number of tracks given to me but have never had any trouble at all--even rigid heres the tracks to play in this order have been fine.

I dont know if you were told about the final track--I dont know the one you mention--I just listened to it on you tube--if I had been asked to play that in advance I would have refused--its just not suitable and would kill any party stone dead.

I can well imagine people saying what is that?

I know playlists are often provided by different ages but usually theres some kind of common sense.

None here--they only have themselves to blame for ruining their evening and yours.

CRAZY K

[Sapphire Disco]

Sounds to me like they may have liked a little snort but before anyone says surely not at that age I've seen similar before.

I don't like long play lists I just ask for approx 6 of their favorites and try to build around that, besides most times things end up completely different to how you had expected anyway.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Firstly, I applaud you for keeping your cool for as long as you did. Your report sounds absolutely terrible and even though I am the same as you in that I always try my hardest to be as professional as I possibly can, I don't think I could have lasted as long as you did without losing my rag in a big way. I know it's different when you are there but thinking about it now, I am sure I would have lost the plot.

I agree with Darren too in that some people go over the top with their requests. They think because it's THEIR party and THEY are paying you, they can pick and choose almost everything and tell you what to do and when. At the end of the day, we are professionals doing our jobs and they are NOT. If they were experts then they would be doing the job too. If I were in the same position as you were (thankfully I never have been), then probably after the first time I would have had the hump so by the second time I would have more than likely said something along the lines of "Sorry, not being funny but I do not appreciate being spoken to or treated like an idiot. If you aren't happy with what I am doing even though it's your playlist then I am quite happy to pack up and go as soon as possible".

On another note - Tonight I did my Request Fest night at another venue. I only play 8pm - 11pm and at 10.55pm I announced the last tune. It was Razorlight 'Golden Touch'. It was halfway through it and a few girls at the bar started waving and doing the cut throat sign and shaking their heads. I didn't know what they were on about so gave them a 2 fingered salute (in jest of course) and smiled. Then one of them came over and said "No, we aint having a moan mate, we don't want you to stop because it's been brilliant...Don't stop!"...I apologised to her and told her to tell her mates I was apologising and she just laughed and pecked me on the cheek (Sorry Nigel, I didn't touch her honest guv').

[Dynamic Entertainment]

Sounds like a real ballache pal. I would not have kept my cool as long as you. Well done :)

[DJ INDIE]

they obviously thought because they had chosen the playlist, that they were in full control, and the experts - which they werent. hardest part with playlists is when other people who have not been involved in choosing want a request and to have a good time, but you have to turn them down whilst a song is playing that no one is enjoying!

to be honest, after the 2nd or 3rd time, if i saw people marching over, i'd have turned around pretending to be busy, or gone to the toilet or bar out the way.....you just cant win with people like that!

[Bouncy Dancefloor]

if they had wanted a jukebox, you could have supplied them with one

id have offered them Disco Rental and let them plug in their ipod
or i would have sent Deckstar Deluxe along to do it instead :p

[Excalibur]

if they had wanted a jukebox, you could have supplied them with one

id have offered them Disco Rental and let them plug in their ipod
or i would have sent Deckstar Deluxe along to do it instead :p
Yeah, Swindon is probably a bit too far South for our Ipod function expert, the sadly missed Nigel. :( :( :(

[secretDISCO]

I once remember a DJ from Glasgow who was brilliant at his job, but had a rather SHORT fuse when it came to clients playlists.
It was the mid 80's and he was given a rather charming ladies 50th Birthday.
With one exception, the ladies husband was a :Censored:.
Every 10-15 minutes he was up harassing the poor DJ, who was only playing the songs from a playlist he had received earlier in the month.
Qoute " It was the worst gig i ever done big man".
At the end of the night he cornered said husband, and converted him into a mobile paper shredder, insisting the said husband SWALLOW all the playlist until it "was all gone so that he could grow up to be big and strong" just like the :Censored: off DJ that night.
Do you know......i can still see the smirk on that DJ's face to this day.
Why I ......ooops sorry....why HE never went to jail I'll never know.

Playlists......Bah Humbug !!!!!

[Shakermaker Promotions]

The thing is, I get the feeling sometimes that customers who think they know everything look at us as if we are simply pressing buttons and that's it. If that was the case then why do they part with money employing professionals like us when they could get any monkey to do it for them or, as previously said, use an I-Pod? The reason I think that these particular customers actually book us is because they know they can't do it themselves but like to think that they can so they part with money and think that they OWN us for the evening.

I'm no dancing monkey and will not be told what to do or moaned at to the extent that the original poster was. To be honest though, customers like this are few and far between..........aren't they?

[Excalibur]

The thing is, I get the feeling sometimes that customers who think they know everything look at us as if we are simply pressing buttons and that's it. If that was the case then why do they part with money employing professionals like us when they could get any monkey to do it for them or, as previously said, use an I-Pod? The reason I think that these particular customers actually book us is because they know they can't do it themselves but like to think that they can so they part with money and think that they OWN us for the evening.

I'm no dancing monkey and will not be told what to do or moaned at to the extent that the original poster was. To be honest though, customers like this are few and far between..........aren't they?

Well call me Bubbles then, cos if the punter's paying, they get what they ask for. ;) :D Even I have limits though. :D
Thank the Lord, yes. :D I think the main problem is that punters never think like a DJ. They honestly can't understand why the dancefloor isn't packed as you run through track 71 from the "Motorhead play Perry Como " collection. :D Because they and possibly four of their mates like it, then everybody should, shouldn't they? :confused:

The OP obviously got a playlist which had been added to without the additions being authorised by the paymasters.

It's like when you're doing a Tea Dance for the local Darby and Joan, and you go for a comfort break with the soothing tones of Victor Sylvester floating round the hall, and return to find your roadie has put on a bit of Anthrax, cos it was a bit boring. :D

[spin mobile disco]

Its is a shame when this sort of thing happens. It seems to be happening more and more these days as people seem to have lost their manners. My last weekend was similar due to me finishing 5 minutes past the time I should have finished. Had full dacne floor all night all loving it played 2 songs past when I should have finished , what did I get loads of agro rude names etc because I finished to early. In fact I played 5 -10 minutes past the time I was paid till and then I shut down.
They then come up asking for overtime 10 minutes after I finshed and have already shut dpown entire sound rig and all cables aready packed. I said it was to late and you can guess what happened next :(

You get agro when they love you because you finish to soon, agro when they hate the playlist, agro when they don't like the current song that was requested by someone else, agro for when they have a small femeral ligument and want to take it out on someone. And then agro just because they havent given enough people agro that week and are behind on their quota.
Did I miss one, well don't give me agro about it. lol

Feeling lot of empathy for DJ who made man eat playlist. As mine is usually on my d2 it would involve inserting it into them ....sideways.

[Babybob]

I would imagine it could be detrimental to the business if you continually played music supplied by the client without announcing it beforehand.
In my experience (which is limited compared to most on here) many disco's are recommended by word of mouth and I imagine some of the OP's guests at the function may have thought about not hiring this particular Dj (could have been anyone) due to the poor song selection.
The fact is Andrew was professional about it all but most punters would not see beyond the poor song selection.

[Excalibur]

I would imagine it could be detrimental to the business if you continually played music supplied by the client without announcing it beforehand.
In my experience (which is limited compared to most on here) many disco's are recommended by word of mouth and I imagine some of the OP's guests at the function may have thought about not hiring this particular Dj (could have been anyone) due to the poor song selection.
The fact is Andrew was professional about it all but most punters would not see beyond the poor song selection.

Oops wrong one. :o :o :o

The Mikado. ;) ;)

[Reminisce disco]

I was just glad they paid me up front. I was ready to pack up and go home by 21:00 and it was only my professionalism and dedication to the job that kept me there.
I felt like i was being controlled all evening, like a puppet, i bowed , scraped and knelt to every demand.
This was the partner of the client who f'd and blinded at me at the end of the night. My point was if he said my music was :Censored: crap for the last 2 hours and all i had been playing was playlist then he obviously had no idea what was on the list.
I have been in two minds whether to email the client , what do you think? or shall i let it lie? i'm still fuming and cant seem to get over the way i was spoken to.
Its the first negative disco i have done in the two years i've been running and its knocked my confidence for six.
Thanks for all your words of encouragement and its nice to know many of you would not have kept cool either.

[Reminisce disco]

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Who gave you the playlist and who paid you?

sorry Neil, forgot to add, the client gave me the playlist on the monday before the function when i met her at the venue. She explained it was mainly her choice of songs but her daughters and partner had added their influences to it.
On the subject of payment, she paid me at the start of the function before the guests arrived.

[DeckstarDeluxe]

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Who gave you the playlist and who paid you?

sorry Neil, forgot to add, the client gave me the playlist on the monday before the function when i met her at the venue. She explained it was mainly her choice of songs but her daughters and partner had added their influences to it.
On the subject of payment, she paid me at the start of the function before the guests arrived.


Right when in that case if she knew they had choices on the playlist then she MUST of known what was on it OR she would know that some songs where their choices. In regards to other people moaning about the songs I would of directed them to the lady that paid you because thats your main customer.

In regards to emailing them I would strongly advise you dont. I would just use this experience to make you stronger, if you can survive a gig like this then you can survive anything.

[Reminisce disco]

Thanks mate, appreciate the advice.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I have to agree with deckstar. Just take it as one of those nights and you never have to see them or endure their rubbish ever again. If you were to email them then you maybe should have done it straight away after the event and that would probably not have been the best of ideas.

[Excalibur]

I have to agree with deckstar. Just take it as one of those nights and you never have to see them or endure their rubbish ever again. If you were to email them then you maybe should have done it straight away after the event and that would probably not have been the best of ideas.
Agreed. While it's always great to enjoy a gig, if all else fails, remember:












You're getting paid for this. :D :D I may have to use this ploy at 3am, when I'm leaving Kingston upon Hull city centre. Should be an interesting assortment of wildlife about at that time. :D :D :D

[Excalibur]

I take it all back. I just wanted to smack a customer. :bang:
Is that wrong? :confused:

[Shakermaker Promotions]

This example is down to mis-communication between the customer and their family who seem to have all added tunes to the list (maybe they were on the wind up with eachother?). Also, MAYBE with the economy being the way it is at the moment, maybe they just wanted to make sure that they were getting their moneys worth and being really picky about things? Still no excuse though.

[Candybeatdiscos]

I dont seem to have this problem as i have it stated in my terms and conditions that yes i will accept playlists, however i will always maintain creative control as every guest is a potential customer and i MUST play for the majority rather than the minority, although every effort is made to include specially requested songs.

[Corabar Steve]

Now there's a good clause to go into the T&Cs

[DeckstarDeluxe]

I dont seem to have this problem as i have it stated in my terms and conditions that yes i will accept playlists, however i will always maintain creative control as every guest is a potential customer and i MUST play for the majority rather than the minority, although every effort is made to include specially requested songs.

I have to disargee with that. I know what your saying and the thinking behind it but when a customer pays for my services I want to make them as happy as possible. Naturally I will expect to customers when it comes to playlists that 99% of people want to dance to songs they know and that at times you cant please everyone as its one song at a time. If you however say your retain creative control because everyone is a potential customer then it makes it sound your more interested in self promotion rather than providing an event to which the booked customer wants.

[Corabar Steve]

I have to disargee with that. I know what your saying and the thinking behind it but when a customer pays for my services I want to make them as happy as possible. Naturally I will expect to customers when it comes to playlists that 99% of people want to dance to songs they know and that at times you cant please everyone as its one song at a time. If you however say your retain creative control because everyone is a potential customer then it makes it sound your more interested in self promotion rather than providing an event to which the booked customer wants.
But there are times when the customer's taste just isn't working. What can you do?

[DeckstarDeluxe]

But there are times when the customer's taste just isn't working. What can you do?

It does happean but most people dont understand about playing music to a room full of people with different musical tastes. If you dont do what they've asked you to do then they can say "you didnt play the music I wanted" and no matter how much explaining you do they just wont get it. I sometimes have to bite the bullet and play what they've asked and then when it bombs they'll see for themselves.

As I said i always like to ask for some tracks that customers would like played during the night BUT I only ask for four or five rather than a playlist to avoid this sort of thing happeaning. If they do provide a long long list of :Censored: then all you can do is advise.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

A couple of years ago I had a double booking on one particular date. I met the bride and groom beforehand like I always do and we went through their music tastes and specific requests. They had a whole list of tunes which included the likes of Metallica, ACDC, Iron Maiden etc (they were big rock fans). I asked them if their guests were into the same kind of thing and they answered "Some of them are". This set the alarm bells ringing straight away.

I couldn't do their function myself as I was specifically booked by a good friend who wanted me to DJ at their wedding. Anyway, I informed the bride and groom at the meeting that they would need to be a little laid back with reference to requests on the night because although it was THEIR day, obviously they wanted everyone to enjoy themselves too and their choice of tunes may not be to everyone elses liking. They understood that. They also understood that I was more or less advertising myself too and I explained to them that there is nothing worse than sticking rigidly to a customers playlist when it is not working or to everyone elses taste. The guests don't know that you are working off a playlist and therefore (maybe?) think "That DJ is rubbish, he hasn't got a clue".

When I co-ordinated everything with my DJ that was covering, he looked at the list and said "Oh my god". He nearly pulled out of covering the night for me as he envisaged it not going down too well but he also said it would be 'interesting'. When it came to the night, I was at my function and received a text from him which said "Gary, I am going to have to try and save this one from being a disaster". I replied "Do what you have to do mate".

The next day I received an email from the bride who wasn't very complimentary at all. She praised me on MY service etc but damned the DJ I had who was covering me. She said he didn't play any of the playlist (He told me that he tried to play as many as he could but it was evident that it just wasn't working hence why he texted me). She said that no'one was dancing until he started playing chart and cheesy music and I told her that she had more or less answered her own question. If he would have stuck to her playlist 100% then she would have ended up with a dire function because it was obvious people weren't into what she wanted to hear. I said that it was unfortunate but judging by the request slips that he handed me after the event which all had the usual requests on them plus a couple of notes that said "Please change the music", it was his way of saving the night and being professional, he made that choice on her behalf. She wouldn't have it at first and even asked for a refund. I guess she was angry that on her day she wanted the music that SHE liked, it's just no'one else liked it. Can you imagine going to a function and sitting there all night listening to music you don't like and the only person dancing is the bride?

Yes, the customer is paying and they should within reason be able to have what they want at their function but there comes a time when you have to educate them on how things work or could potentially turn out. We do this week in, week out and they don't. They may think that they know best but they don't. At my wedding ideally I would have loved to have had the music I like but I know that everyone else wouldn't have liked to have listened to Gary Numan/NIN/Depeche Mode etc all night so I let everyone else request music and everyone had a great time.

I must admit, I make a BIG deal about saying that the customer can have whatever music that they want but I still try to advise them as much as I possibly can. If I came across another example like the one I have mentioned above then I would more than likely turn the booking down if they weren't able to compromise or listen to me. Lastly, if I had been able to do their function myself I would have done EXACTLY the same thing as the DJ that covered me.

[secretDISCO]

I used to look at it as sensitive "middle ground", but not anymore.
I make it as clear as i can that i'm a "Party" jock.
i'm paid to make people dance, and still look at it as an Art.
Picking the peoples minds and what thread of music i can get away with, combined with some chat and even the odd party game.
Ive done so many weddings where the playlist is chucked out the window,with the bride n groom still coming up to congratulate me on a fine mix of music.
Dont forget good people of the wheels of steel, every time your working, your also "selling" yourself for future gigs.
Ive been there when the only the bride and her pal are dancing, but most of the time STARING at the dancefloor playing THEIR tunes.
And after you've salvaged with a set of cheese she still manages to come up at the end the night and say....
You still never played that track 13 from his second album which i dont know the name of and it has to be the acoustic version in japanese.....
Sorry Luv.....shove it where the sun dont shine.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

How many times have you heard people say that the DJ was rubbish and didn't play music to make people dance?

This is what worries me about 'playlists'.

[spin mobile disco]

I've had a nightmare last 4 gigs all with huge playlists. They never work as they are inflexable. I used to play to the corud playing one or two from the playlist to keep customer happy but keep the party flowing best I could. But recently these playlists are getting huge we are talking 7-8 pages full of them. And due to the size of them 1 or 2 songs can't be done.
have mentioned to clients that a good list is maximum of 20 songs long to give me more leeway but so few listen to the advice.