Lost my cool @ a gig yesterday

[James]

I'll try and keep this as short as possible in bullet points

1. have 3 hours sleep from gig the night before
2. leave lock -up @ 9am to arrive at venue to set-up for 11am
3. guests start arriving at 12pm
4. by 1pm all the guests have arrived and proceed sit outside in the sun
5. i have to turn it up a bit so the guests outside can hear
6. guests are coming in and out asking for requests
7. bar manager asks me to turn it down as they can't hear customers at the bar (bear in mind it was only a 1000w amp running at 1/3rd of the power
8. guests come in to ask me to turn it up as they can't hear it
9. i turn it up (back to 1/3rd volume)
10. manager comes back over to complain
11. i lower it
12. guests come back in to ask me to higher it
13. i higher it
14. manager comes over again

by this time it's 5pm

i lost my cool, so i turned it down sarcastically to a ridiculously low volume and said is that ok?

the managers like, 'no, you can go a bit higher than that', so i higher it a bit, and he looks over at the barmaid for her approval, to see if that level was ok.

he said 'we've had this music blasting at us for 5 hours now, no-one is inside, everyone is outside

when he done that, i thought sod it, i've had enough, and turned it down completely and went outside and explained to people what's happened

I was doing the gig as a favour for my wifes cousin, so knew half of the people there, if it had been a private customer then i don't know what i would of done.

after about 20 minutes we packed up and went home.

was this unprofessional of me, what do you think, what would you have done in the same situation?

thanks

[andyw]

i don't know if it was possible,but iwould of tried to get a speaker outside or close for them if we could,we carry some powered speakers with us and sometimes run one of these to other different parts of the room for this sort of thing. i think you being so tired did not help. it's difficult to say who really is at fault without being there and actually hearing the sound level coming out and whether it was at an unacceptable level or you just a fussy bar manager

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I can understand your frustration mate but I would have stayed and grinned and beared it. When you said it was a 'favour', do you mean you didn't get paid for it? Without knowing the exact circumstances of the 'favour' (times, payment etc) then it's hard to comment properly.

Firstly, if there was no'one in the room all day and they were enjoying the sun then maybe it would have been worth (depending on your playout system), running a playlist or sticking a CD on and joining them? (especially if you knew them). The hard thing is that with this lovely weather and it staying light until late, most people will stay outside. It happened to me last week at a wedding and most people were sat outside. Playing to an empty room with the lighting effects not making much difference is'nt a lot of fun I'll agree...and I hate it BUT the way I look at it is that firstly, they are having a great time outside and getting in the mood due to the weather and drinking. By the time they come into the room they are going to be 'up for it' and you'll more than likely have a couple of hours of solid dancefloor action?

I would have stayed put as it's more professional and is only a few hours out of your life but more importantly....it's free advertising for you too because there could well be potential future bookings there. Ok, the manager and volume situation wasn't a great one but maybe you could have moved the speakers nearer to where the guests were so that the staff didn't have to endure the loud volume, giving them no reason to moan.

As I said, without knowing the full details, especially the duration, it's pretty hard to comment properly....IF....IF it was a function that was booked until midnight then I definitely think it was a wrong move to pack and up leave. Imagine how YOU would feel if you were at a wedding and had been enjoying a great day in the sun and were ready for a boogie etc only to find that there was NO disco. Not nice and would probably do you no favours at all.

Just my opinion.

[JAMdisco]

I would have simply explained to the guests that were requesting it to be turned up that the barman was complaining that it was too loud and also that as they were outside, what did they expect.

Also, if possible I would have positioned one speaker closer to the outside door and run the amp on mono.

As previously mentioned, if it were a paid gig, I would have stuck it out, as it starts getting a bit cooler later on and more than likely, they would have all come inside.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

This kind of thing happens all the time unfortunately, so get used to it!

[JAMdisco]

This kind of thing happens all the time unfortunately, so get used to it!

But as the OP asked, what would/do you do in this situation Darren?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

But as the OP asked, what would/do you do in this situation Darren?

Carried on regardless.

[JAMdisco]

Carried on regardless.

We know a song about that...:D

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Sorry James but I do think what you did was unprofessional. Im not saying you werent right to be hacked off but just packing up and leaving because you didnt like the gig isnt doing you any favours.

Personally I would of done one or both of the following
Link up to an outdoor pa system(or move speakers by front door if possible)
Speak to the person/people that booked me, explain the situlation and that you have to do what the venue manager is asking you. The reason for this is Im gathering the person who booked you has booked the venue also and so if they take up the matter with the manager they'll either let you turn it up higher or show the customer its him/her thats the proplem, not you the dj.

[andyw]

james try reading this thread and imagine it was another dj not you having these problems,what advice would you give him.how much of your responses to the manager was down to the fact you had 3 hrs sleep(it's the fist thing on your list so you must believe it has a bearing,remember that is not there problem,when you take a booking you have to take these things into consideration ),if you were trying to make it loud enough for the people outside then i would assume it would be too loud for those inside(the staff have not got an option to go out and sit in the sun).what time was you suppose to finish,how would you feel if you was at an event and the dj decided to pack up and leave early.
if i was you mate i would look at what went wrong and why they went wrong at this event, and then make sure they don't happen again or you are prepared for it.

[jaysere03]

End of day the bar manager really does have last shout. his licence etc, why would he wnat to risc loosing it for 1 of possibly 100's of events he may do in the future. i used to work/run a bar with sound regs and always had this problem, the joe public want it blaring the neighbours dont, if d,j stepped over the limit for 10secs he lost all power.
In this situation i would have spoke to who ever's celebration/party it was and let them sort it out with bar manager and tried to please everyone.
but if at end of day it was to loud for bar but not loud enough for customers then what can you do

[James]

thanks for your replies chaps

to clear a few things up, it was an unpaid gig, for my wife's cousins's christening, times to play were from 12pm -7pm

basicaly, it was one of those small social clubs where everything is run 'by the book' if you know what i mean?

the only people who complained were the bar manager and the barmaid

the amp (1000watt) was running at 1/3rd of volume so it wasn't excessively loud

If it would of been a paying gig for a private customer then there's no way i would of just packed up and left, i would of had to grin and bear it, well, to tell the truth, i wouldn't of took on the gig in the first place as i don't enjoy christenings, but that's beside the point

it's just one of those things i'll have to put down to experience i think

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Exactly...onwards and upwards!

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Fair play to you though James, I wouldnt dream of djing for seven hours for free for anyone!

[JAMdisco]

Fair play to you though James, I wouldnt dream of djing for seven hours for free for anyone!

Me neither, that is a long time.

[rob1963]

Fair play to you though James, I wouldnt dream of djing for seven hours for free for anyone!


Me neither, that is a long time.

Indeed.

To be honest, I wouldn't dream of DJing free for ANYONE, regardless of how many hours it was.

I haven't yet done a gig where I wasn't paid.

Reduced rates, fine.

Freebies, no way!

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

You'd charge your own Mother then?

[Larry B Entertainment]

You'd charge your own Mother then?

I have charged members of my family before, a bit cheaper rate of course but at the end of the day, family or not, I still have equipment that needs maintaining and costs money to run, they have always accepted that.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I think if you are full time, then it is different. I can't understand charging immediate family if you aren't.

[rob1963]

You'd charge your own Mother then?

Of course I would...just at a massively reduced rate.

Discounts I do, but free discos I never have & never will.

The nearest I've come to doing a free disco was my brother's wedding, and although I didn't get paid cash, he supplied something I needed instead.

At the time, I was after an electronic counter to use for the bingo at my quiz nights, so I told him exactly what I wanted and my brother designed & built it for me, and in return I didn't ask for any money for doing his wedding disco.

I'm guessing it would have cost me a fair bit to get something designed & built to my own specifications if I'd gone elsewhere, so I was more than happy with the arrangement.

[JAMdisco]

I did a freebie for my mums charity shop and a freebie for my stepdaughters 21st (although it was classed as a present, so saved me some dosh)

As for immediate family, just expenses I reckon i.e. drinks and fuel costs.

[rob1963]

As for immediate family, just expenses I reckon i.e. drinks and fuel costs.

Just expenses?

That would be more than £100 a gig in my case.

:shrug: