Dj'ing alongside a singer or band

[Pazz]

I just thought I would try and get some opinions about dj'ing alongside a singer or band as last night I was taken by surprise when a gentleman came on stage to announce he was singing and he was bringing his equipment in to setup. Don't get me wrong I always find out about the requirements of all my clients events so this is why I was very surprised to find out that they had hired a singer too.

It was a 60th birthday party. I arrived early to setup and was ready to start about 7pm. Only a small few guests were there up until 8.30pm and I thought this would be another bad turnout which I have experienced a lot recently (having been told on some occasions to finish early because a lot of guests hadn't turned up), but I spoke to the 'birthday girl' and she reliably informed me that most of the guests were downstairs watching a rugby match and would be up later. I'm never too happy when I hear this as I think its ridiculous people say you are attending a party on the condition you can watch a football or rugby match first. By the time they got up stairs (9.30pm) the singer was ready to start. He was on until 10.15pm then they put all the lights on for half hour to open the buffet and then the singer came back on. He was supposed to sing until 11.30pm (to his credit he was very good and done well to get the crowd going) and so he was asked to do an extra 10mins. I was not happy at all as I had been there for 6 hours waiting to do my job (I even put a couple of my lights on and controlled them while he was singing).

This meant I would only have 20mins until I was due to finish at midnight. I did say I would do an extra 20mins though as I just felt that I had waited for so long it would have been a waste of time me being there. Some will say that it was an easy night for me and you get paid the same amount but I like to put on a bit of a show and earn my money so I felt a little bit bad. I wondered if any of you had any similar experiences and what you would have thought or done being in the same situation as I did feel a little uncomfortable and unwanted by the end. It makes me think why they bothered booking a disco in the first place when a singer would have be sufficient enough.

[Vectis]

Yep.

Had a wedding last December where the bride's dad was lead guitarist in a covers band. We were there to set up earlier in the day due to the stage being pretty small for both band + disco. Returned at 7pm as agreed - only just starting the meal. 9pm meal finished, band came on. 11:45 band went off - had permission to carry on no later than 12:15 - job done.

Played about 8 songs, at give or take a few quid £50 a pop.

Marvellous :)

[JTRS]

I've so far only had 3 or 4 gigs that were shared with bands/singers and I love it.

The way I see it is that I am being paid to be there for a set amount of hours, so if a band or singer is performing I'm getting paid for doing nothing.

At one of the gigs the band were brilliant and played over their set by about 20 minutes, so that only left me with the last 20 minutes to do which I thought was great.

JTRS

[deltic]

the absolute worst band to play alongside is the good old ceilidh band they really do take over,makes the disco all the better afterwards!!

[DJ Jules]

I don't mind playing alongside a band as long as they're good. I've been to one or two weddings where someone in the band is a "mate of the Groom" and they've been completely unsuitable for the audience and they've cleared the dance floor and made no attempt to modify their set (or their 2nd set!) to improve things.

I admit it's pretty boring waiting for them to finish so you can do your bit, but at the end of the day, it's down to the Event organisers to set the times, and if they're happy with the timings, then really you have to be too. It's more annoying when they're not happy with the timings (despite them being their own doing) and take it out on you.

Julian

[DazzyD]

I did a golden wedding on Thursday night and it wasn't until I arrived that I was informed a singer/guitarist was on also. He wasn't bad but didn't play the songs most guests liked. In fact, he said "Anybody have any requests?" at which point about five shouted "Yes! Get the karaoke on!". Needless to say, his 2nd set came to an abrupt end! ;)

[NKR]

I work with a singer so its no issue as I run the sound desk whilst he is on.

I do a bit of agency work alongside bands and the way I see it is the more work they do the better as I am paid to be there wether I am playing or no. There will be plenty of other jobs where I have to earn it.

We have worked with other singers some who are good and some who are bad. It pretty annoying when they are bad as they are getting paid money we could have had for doing both.

We have got a singing only job next year as they already have a DJ who is a friend of the groom. It will be interesting to do that one for obvious reasons.

[The_Blue_Dragon]

Last saturday on the charity gig I did I was working with a band, they did 1 set as after the auction and raffle is was getting late. I've worked with them before and they are a great band, they always manage to get the audience up dancing ready for me to finish the night off

[Excalibur]

I ( nearly) always love playing alongside a band or artiste, cos it gives the evening variety and usually gives the punters the best of both worlds. If you're working with a good well organised band, the eveming flows seamlessly and corectly, often with a bit of cheery banter between the two. :D
If you're working with some of the execrably awful live acts I've had the pleasure :confused: :D of working with, it's nice when the punters come up and say " Please tell me you're coming back on again, cos these lot are :Censored: " :D :D :D

At a wedding once, we had a freeform jazz band, heaven knows which muppet thought they were a suitable act for such a gig, but they were apparently booked cos someone had seen them before! :eek: They fired up, and deafened the front six tables, two ten minute "songs" later the best man ( and in this case he earned the title) stood up and asked the band " Hey lads, can you play Hi Ho Silver Lining? " When the band replied that they were not purveyors of that particular genre, the reply was swift and to the point.

" Right then, pack up your kit and we'll pay you now. DJ, you're back on" :D :D :D


I can feel a thread coming on, " Bands I have worked with" ;) :D

[DazzyD]

It's not just bands and singers that we work with, though.

To date, I've worked with/alongside comedians (on many occasions), strippers, drag acts, magicians, mime artistes (strange gig, that one!), football stars (past and present) and other DJs.

And they say variety is dead!!

[Corabar Steve]

I can't see the problem. The client was happy & you had an easy night.

As for offering to play extra, when none of the above was your fault...........

[djsteve10]

I had an Elvis Presley impersonator working with me last night, He rang me up and arranged to plug into my system. I told him it wouldnt be a problem and all he needed to bring was his playout equipment.

The function was due to start at 7:00pm and he didn't arrive until 6:45 with nothing but a mixer, laptop and a mic stand.

He put his mixer down and asked if I had a spare IEC lead which I wasn't impressed with but I lent him one. Then he asks me if he can use my Shure SM58 beta mic as he didn't bring one!!! I got him the spair SM58 out of the van and he was moaning something rotten. I told my roadie he should be greatful he got one after not turning up with a mic.

He then plugs in his laptop and the sound was shocking out of the headphone socket. I set his EQ on his mixer for him to avoid blowing my HF. He then comes over to me again and asks if I have any gaffa tape as he didnt bring any.

By this time i was getting annoyed, He hadn't brought a thing with him. He was wanting to go on as early as he could so he could get away from the function early which was very unprofessional and it didnt seem like he wanted to be there at all.

I will definatley not reccomend this Elvis impersonator and he was a nightmare to work with.

After he had finished though I had a full floor all night and the birthday girl was happy with the music choice so thats good.

[Excalibur]

It's not just bands and singers that we work with, though.

To date, I've worked with/alongside comedians (on many occasions), strippers, drag acts, magicians, mime artistes (strange gig, that one!), football stars (past and present) and other DJs.

And they say variety is dead!!
Hey, I'g forgotten that. Thanks. :D


I can't see the problem. The client was happy & you had an easy night.

As for offering to play extra, when none of the above was your fault...........
I'm with Steve on this one. I'm regularly happy to play on, depending on circumstances, but wouldn't have offered in this case.

And as for Elvis, well words fail me! :eek:

[Jonny Boy]

Hey Guys

As (one of the?) token Singer-DJ(s) on the I must say I'm pleased with the positive vibe of this thread. Last time I read a DJ "vs" live acts thread on a DJ forum is was very negative - clearly some guys have had bad experiences with live acts! Good too see that there are good times too! :-)

Even so - I'll say again what I said then: just like there are some poor-service DJs around that bring us all down, so too are there poor-service live acts - some of whom bring as much ego as they do gear. (Or more in the case of Wannbe-Elvis)

Personally, I always try to get in touch with the DJ or other artist I'm sharing a "bill" with ahead of time (wherever possible). It's simple courtesy! All DJs I've worked with have been pleased to let their lights run while I sing - but I would not presume it and turn up without my own lights and have never plugged into another DJ's PA unless they're sub-contracted to me!

Would be nice to work alongside some of yous guys at some point: who knows?!

[CRAZY K]

Hey Guys

As (one of the?) token Singer-DJ(s) on the I must say I'm pleased with the positive vibe of this thread. Last time I read a DJ "vs" live acts thread on a DJ forum is was very negative - clearly some guys have had bad experiences with live acts! Good too see that there are good times too! :-)

Even so - I'll say again what I said then: just like there are some poor-service DJs around that bring us all down, so too are there poor-service live acts - some of whom bring as much ego as they do gear. (Or more in the case of Wannbe-Elvis)

Personally, I always try to get in touch with the DJ or other artist I'm sharing a "bill" with ahead of time (wherever possible). It's simple courtesy! All DJs I've worked with have been pleased to let their lights run while I sing - but I would not presume it and turn up without my own lights and have never plugged into another DJ's PA unless they're sub-contracted to me!

Would be nice to work alongside some of yous guys at some point: who knows?!

Well some of us work in harmoy with DJ set ups when providing alternative or early evening entertainment. ( Barn/Line dance)

I always ask if its possible to go through the DJ system if convenient because ---

1.Its easier and quicker to set up

2. It looks less cluttered -- two sets of equipment sounds like overkill to me UNLESS the DJ equipment is rubbish---which it was in Haverhill recently as well as the speakers being 15 feet ABOVE the Dancefloor.:eek:

3. Clearing away is minimal rather than a fight to get your equipment out getting through the packed dancefloor as soon as the disco starts.

I guess we all work differently but I also think from the clients point of view it looks a more slick professional approach.

As regards the Elvis impersonator sounds like a rank amateur:eek:

Just my view.

CRAZY K

[Pazz]

Cheers guys for your comments. Nice to see all different opinions on this. I think I did right in playing 20mins extra as it wasn't a problem to me as I was pleased to have done a bit of work and I managed to keep the dancefloor going which is always a bonus. It didn't help when the singer said at 11:40pm "right I had better let the dj on as he hasn't done any work yet" which I wasn't too happy with as I had built the evening up for him and introduced him earlier on but some nights go better than others. I am looking forward to dj'ing alongside more singers next month as I always do at christmas time. It is true the night is more of a variety and more often than not these type of nights do go well for me :)

[rob1963]

This meant I would only have 20mins until I was due to finish at midnight. I did say I would do an extra 20mins though as I just felt that I had waited for so long it would have been a waste of time me being there. Some will say that it was an easy night for me and you get paid the same amount but I like to put on a bit of a show and earn my money so I felt a little bit bad. I wondered if any of you had any similar experiences and what you would have thought or done being in the same situation as I did feel a little uncomfortable and unwanted by the end. It makes me think why they bothered booking a disco in the first place when a singer would have be sufficient enough.

In those circumstances, I certainly wouldn't offer to do extra...especially as it wasn't your fault that you only had to do 20 minutes.

My view is that it's not really a problem when this happens, as you still get paid, and as you said it means you have a nice easy night.

I had something similar a couple of weeks ago with a 50th birthday party.

It wasn't until I arrived that I was told there was also a singer, who would do two 45 minute sets, although in reality they went on a bit longer than this.

In the end, I sat on my chair while the background music auto-played for the first 90 minutes or so, then the singer did his first set. I followed that with 30 minutes of the disco while he took a break. He then did his second set, which just left me with the last 20 minutes to do.

Was I bothered by this? Far from it! Apart from 50 minutes, I spent the whole night sitting down doing virtually nothing. It was one of the easiest nights I've ever done!

[Jonny Boy]

Well some of us work in harmoy with DJ set ups when providing alternative or early evening entertainment. ( Barn/Line dance)

I always ask if its possible to go through the DJ system if convenient because ---

1.Its easier and quicker to set up

2. It looks less cluttered -- two sets of equipment sounds like overkill to me UNLESS the DJ equipment is rubbish---which it was in Haverhill recently as well as the speakers being 15 feet ABOVE the Dancefloor.:eek:

3. Clearing away is minimal rather than a fight to get your equipment out getting through the packed dancefloor as soon as the disco starts.

I guess we all work differently but I also think from the clients point of view it looks a more slick professional approach.

As regards the Elvis impersonator sounds like a rank amateur:eek:

Just my view.

CRAZY K

Agree with you on many points -

However as a singer the quality of my music/vocal is greatly effected by the PA system, and even some pretty good disco PAs don't do vocal work any favours.

Also I have always felt it was a bit cheeky to ring up/turn up and say "Oh hi, I'm the singer.... can I plug into your PA?"

Or what if you arrange ahead of time to plug in, then on the night discover the DJs PA just doesn't cut it? That's going to offend the guy off the bat, surely!

It's a whole different game if you know the DJ, their set up etc and know if it will work ahead of time. IMO.

[CRAZY K]

Agree with you on many points -

However as a singer the quality of my music/vocal is greatly effected by the PA system, and even some pretty good disco PAs don't do vocal work any favours.

Also I have always felt it was a bit cheeky to ring up/turn up and say "Oh hi, I'm the singer.... can I plug into your PA?"

Or what if you arrange ahead of time to plug in, then on the night discover the DJs PA just doesn't cut it? That's going to offend the guy off the bat, surely!

It's a whole different game if you know the DJ, their set up etc and know if it will work ahead of time. IMO.

I would agree with that--when I talk to the DJs I ask what kit they have and make an assessment--im not a singer so I understand your worry with absolute PA quality--not all Disco systems are good for both music and mike work.

I take my PA as back up just in case and make an excuse--like your system sounds :Censored: --I more or less said that in a Rugby Club the other week but it was the Clubs own antique system--;)

I dont find DJs worry and think its cheeky--the pro ones I have worked with on here--Corabar Steve and one of Darrens guys---and many other bands and DJs I know treat it as part of the job and after all if im going to warm up the audience so to speak in the early evening then im doing them a favour anyway;)

I have allowed other entertainers to work through my own PA system in the past if they didnt have one.

I respect your view that for a singer quality and clarity are essential.

CRAZY K

[DJ Davy]

I agree with most of the above, although I have worked with some entertainers and bands who still think they are superstars and we are .... em.. not! When the 'artiste' arrives I always engage and make polite conversation then I ask them their set, most will give you a brief rundown and you can avoid those tracks! However, I have asked a few and have been told it is nothing to do with me. :confused: I look them up and down to guess what they may do.... and then do their set :D :D :D

[Excalibur]

In those circumstances, I certainly wouldn't offer to do extra...especially as it wasn't your fault that you only had to do 20 minutes.

My view is that it's not really a problem when this happens, as you still get paid, and as you said it means you have a nice easy night.

I had something similar a couple of weeks ago with a 50th birthday party.

It wasn't until I arrived that I was told there was also a singer, who would do two 45 minute sets, although in reality they went on a bit longer than this.

In the end, I sat on my chair while the background music auto-played for the first 90 minutes or so, then the singer did his first set. I followed that with 30 minutes of the disco while he took a break. He then did his second set, which just left me with the last 20 minutes to do.

Was I bothered by this? Far from it! Apart from 50 minutes, I spent the whole night sitting down doing virtually nothing. It was one of the easiest nights I've ever done!
If I didn't know you don't use one, I'd call you a :Censored: lazy :Censored: laptop DJ. :p :p


Agree with you on many points -

However as a singer the quality of my music/vocal is greatly effected by the PA system, and even some pretty good disco PAs don't do vocal work any favours.

Also I have always felt it was a bit cheeky to ring up/turn up and say "Oh hi, I'm the singer.... can I plug into your PA?"

Or what if you arrange ahead of time to plug in, then on the night discover the DJs PA just doesn't cut it? That's going to offend the guy off the bat, surely!

It's a whole different game if you know the DJ, their set up etc and know if it will work ahead of time. IMO.
Judge each case on its merits. I've let folk run through mine before, and I've run through Band PA's. ( Has the bonus of stopping the blighters running off early, usually across your dancefloor. ;) ) Sensible discussion of the best course of action is the only way to go. ( Which does not mean Elvis turns up out of the blue, and expects to run through your kit as of right. )

[Shaun]

I wondered if any of you had any similar experiences and what you would have thought or done being in the same situation [/COLOR]

Did a wedding last year where there was a band on prior to me. The meal ran late, as did the band, it was 11.50pm before I got started, midnight was the contracted end time.

Just before starting I asked the client if they wished me to play longer, and informed them of the additional costs. They were up for an extra hour but the venue said no, and stated the music must stop at midnight. I played three songs, packed up and went home. Cest la vie!

[rob1963]

If I didn't know you don't use one, I'd call you a :Censored: lazy :Censored: laptop DJ. :p :p

You're welsome to call me a :Censored: lazy :Censored: D2 DJ instead!