Charlie Brown
06-09-2009, 02:15 PM
Last night I worked at a lovely "upmarket" community centre in Newark. It was set in a quiet village with plenty of grounds for pictures etc.
The room was draped with white cloth to hide the brick work and looked rather elegant. I arrived with Dad and my younger brother (Harvey) at 6.00pm to set-up. Harvey stayed in the car whilst Dad and I sussed out the venue. We soon discovered that the whole day had been delayed. I had booked for Dad and Harvey to go to Newark and watch a Led Zeplin tribute band at the local theatre as to keep them entertained. They left me with all the gear. I was waiting around for a good 2 hours. During that time I chatted to several people working at the wedding, one being an events management team. The family run business were very efficient providing up lighting for the event as well as the mobile bar.
http://www.robinhoodhireltd.co.uk/index.php
They said they use several DJ's, one who could do with replacing. He asked for a card and said he would see how the night goes. I think I impressed him with a few facts and figures. ;)
At 8.00 I'm given the go ahead to start setting up. I start to get very flusted as I normally have Dad to help. I start to loose leads and make a real mess of it. Everyone is still sat at their tables watching me which made everything a lot lot worse. After 15 minutes of setting up the bride asks "When you will be ready?" which stresses me even more. I kept saying in my head "I never want to do this again."
I'm all ready to go after 30 minutes and then the sound doesn't work. I forgot to plug the lead in from the mixer to my first amp but it takes me around 5 minutes to work this out.
Panic over I start and the first dance takes place. The speakers are in front of me so feed back wasn't a problem and the microphone sounds rather clear and crisp. The night flows and requests start coming in. The more people enjoyed the music, the more confident I became.
I'm using the mic a lot more too...taking the mic out of this old guys dancing and then when I played "Daddy Cool - Boney M" which killed the dancefloor, I jokingly said "Well that one certainly worked didn't it!"
We then had some fireworks folowed by another hour of music. At around 11.30pm it died and everybody just sat at their tables looking glum. (They had been drinking since 2.00 and it was a free bar...) I announced that we were at a Wedding and not a wake and that I was open for requests. They all chuckled and then the dancefloor was packed again right until the end.
The client payed £280. They were very pleased with the performance and the amount of compliments I received at the end made it all very rewarding. The events management team said they will be in touch as I was "exceptional."
I think once I get into the swing of it, my whole personal changes. Music choice becomes better as does my mic technique. "Jimmy Mack-Martha Reeves & The Vandellas" was probably the best hit of the night.
If they are happy to pay this kind of money and were satisfied with the whole performance then shouldn't I consider putting my prices up in an attempt to find that right market. I don't want to get ahead of myself but I feel the service I offer is worth more than £150. I'm going to look at it as more of a business then a hobby. This weekend I have managed to pay off all my debts so everything I earn now is profit. I'm booked every weekend until the 10th October so that gives me chance to start saving.
Enjoy the video...sorry if there is any mistakes, I can only see out of one eye. I have an eye infection in the other.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtTxU2CpCXk
The room was draped with white cloth to hide the brick work and looked rather elegant. I arrived with Dad and my younger brother (Harvey) at 6.00pm to set-up. Harvey stayed in the car whilst Dad and I sussed out the venue. We soon discovered that the whole day had been delayed. I had booked for Dad and Harvey to go to Newark and watch a Led Zeplin tribute band at the local theatre as to keep them entertained. They left me with all the gear. I was waiting around for a good 2 hours. During that time I chatted to several people working at the wedding, one being an events management team. The family run business were very efficient providing up lighting for the event as well as the mobile bar.
http://www.robinhoodhireltd.co.uk/index.php
They said they use several DJ's, one who could do with replacing. He asked for a card and said he would see how the night goes. I think I impressed him with a few facts and figures. ;)
At 8.00 I'm given the go ahead to start setting up. I start to get very flusted as I normally have Dad to help. I start to loose leads and make a real mess of it. Everyone is still sat at their tables watching me which made everything a lot lot worse. After 15 minutes of setting up the bride asks "When you will be ready?" which stresses me even more. I kept saying in my head "I never want to do this again."
I'm all ready to go after 30 minutes and then the sound doesn't work. I forgot to plug the lead in from the mixer to my first amp but it takes me around 5 minutes to work this out.
Panic over I start and the first dance takes place. The speakers are in front of me so feed back wasn't a problem and the microphone sounds rather clear and crisp. The night flows and requests start coming in. The more people enjoyed the music, the more confident I became.
I'm using the mic a lot more too...taking the mic out of this old guys dancing and then when I played "Daddy Cool - Boney M" which killed the dancefloor, I jokingly said "Well that one certainly worked didn't it!"
We then had some fireworks folowed by another hour of music. At around 11.30pm it died and everybody just sat at their tables looking glum. (They had been drinking since 2.00 and it was a free bar...) I announced that we were at a Wedding and not a wake and that I was open for requests. They all chuckled and then the dancefloor was packed again right until the end.
The client payed £280. They were very pleased with the performance and the amount of compliments I received at the end made it all very rewarding. The events management team said they will be in touch as I was "exceptional."
I think once I get into the swing of it, my whole personal changes. Music choice becomes better as does my mic technique. "Jimmy Mack-Martha Reeves & The Vandellas" was probably the best hit of the night.
If they are happy to pay this kind of money and were satisfied with the whole performance then shouldn't I consider putting my prices up in an attempt to find that right market. I don't want to get ahead of myself but I feel the service I offer is worth more than £150. I'm going to look at it as more of a business then a hobby. This weekend I have managed to pay off all my debts so everything I earn now is profit. I'm booked every weekend until the 10th October so that gives me chance to start saving.
Enjoy the video...sorry if there is any mistakes, I can only see out of one eye. I have an eye infection in the other.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtTxU2CpCXk