Shakermaker Promotions
22-11-2009, 02:56 PM
Hi all,
Last night I did a joint 16th birthday party for 2 girls at a large hall around 5 miles away from where I live. The job came in late last week and was a bit of a rush job. I set up yesterday afternoon and was told by the caretaker that there were no fire sensers and no sound limiters so I was ok to use smoke if I wanted to rather than haze. I received some requests in advance on friday and it was evident that the guests music tastes were split right down the middle with half liking Chart, Dance, RnB etc and the other half being into their Indie, Rock and Alternative. I'd done things like this in the past and always found them a bit of a mission to be honest with the dancefloor changing from one crowd to the other depending on the music.
Well, last night was totally different. Everyone....and I mean everyone (110 of them), were dancing to everything non stop for 3 and a half hours. I was playing stuff like Enter Shikari, Fallout Boy, Lost Prophets etc next to Black Eyed Peas, NDubz and Cheryl Cole and it worked!! The last half hour of the night was full on party stuff with singalong and action stuff. The last song of the night (as requested) was Aerosmith - I Don't wanna miss a thing (they all got in a massive circle and sang as loud as they could).
It was great to use smoke properly too for once. The lights and laser looked absolutely awesome and I had loads of comments on them too. What pain was that I wrote on my hand before I left (take camera) and guess what....I forgot to look at my hand!!:bang:
At the end of the night they were all chanting my name and I ran out of cards as loads of them asked me for them and said "You're doing my party". They were a great bunch of kids and it was a pleasure to play for them.
So, any negatives?
Well...a couple... This may sound dodgy or like me being an old fuddy duddy, prude, old man...whatever (believe me, I'm NOT any of them...) but... When I got there I wondered what was going on. As I walked into the venue at 7.00pm, a very pretty young lady walked past me in a very revealing, fluffy santa's costume with fishnet stockings on. Another girl (again, quite cute looking), ran after her, dressed as a french maid. I then saw another girl in a pvc nun's outfit, some cheerleaders and a couple of Britney Spears (schoolgirls) and a number of goths too. I felt old when the thought went through my head of "They're :Censored: 16 and they look like slappers!". It wasn't long before the place was packed and more of the same were present plus lots of guys dressed as superheros. Yes, I kind of gathered that it was a fancy dress party by then but I wasn't told in advance. I thought it was wrong that some of the girls looked the way they did. I guess if I was 16 again I would've loved it but...I don't know...it felt wrong. The girls (mostly) were very mature...the guys were the total opposite but as I said...they were all good natured, into their dancing and mad!
A weird night but enjoyable. I just wish I'd taken my camera to get some decent shots of the set up as it looked great and yes, I used the Mystics and once again I'll say it, they are the best LED units I have seen out there. They were linked togeather and looked great with the smoke.
Last night I did a joint 16th birthday party for 2 girls at a large hall around 5 miles away from where I live. The job came in late last week and was a bit of a rush job. I set up yesterday afternoon and was told by the caretaker that there were no fire sensers and no sound limiters so I was ok to use smoke if I wanted to rather than haze. I received some requests in advance on friday and it was evident that the guests music tastes were split right down the middle with half liking Chart, Dance, RnB etc and the other half being into their Indie, Rock and Alternative. I'd done things like this in the past and always found them a bit of a mission to be honest with the dancefloor changing from one crowd to the other depending on the music.
Well, last night was totally different. Everyone....and I mean everyone (110 of them), were dancing to everything non stop for 3 and a half hours. I was playing stuff like Enter Shikari, Fallout Boy, Lost Prophets etc next to Black Eyed Peas, NDubz and Cheryl Cole and it worked!! The last half hour of the night was full on party stuff with singalong and action stuff. The last song of the night (as requested) was Aerosmith - I Don't wanna miss a thing (they all got in a massive circle and sang as loud as they could).
It was great to use smoke properly too for once. The lights and laser looked absolutely awesome and I had loads of comments on them too. What pain was that I wrote on my hand before I left (take camera) and guess what....I forgot to look at my hand!!:bang:
At the end of the night they were all chanting my name and I ran out of cards as loads of them asked me for them and said "You're doing my party". They were a great bunch of kids and it was a pleasure to play for them.
So, any negatives?
Well...a couple... This may sound dodgy or like me being an old fuddy duddy, prude, old man...whatever (believe me, I'm NOT any of them...) but... When I got there I wondered what was going on. As I walked into the venue at 7.00pm, a very pretty young lady walked past me in a very revealing, fluffy santa's costume with fishnet stockings on. Another girl (again, quite cute looking), ran after her, dressed as a french maid. I then saw another girl in a pvc nun's outfit, some cheerleaders and a couple of Britney Spears (schoolgirls) and a number of goths too. I felt old when the thought went through my head of "They're :Censored: 16 and they look like slappers!". It wasn't long before the place was packed and more of the same were present plus lots of guys dressed as superheros. Yes, I kind of gathered that it was a fancy dress party by then but I wasn't told in advance. I thought it was wrong that some of the girls looked the way they did. I guess if I was 16 again I would've loved it but...I don't know...it felt wrong. The girls (mostly) were very mature...the guys were the total opposite but as I said...they were all good natured, into their dancing and mad!
A weird night but enjoyable. I just wish I'd taken my camera to get some decent shots of the set up as it looked great and yes, I used the Mystics and once again I'll say it, they are the best LED units I have seen out there. They were linked togeather and looked great with the smoke.