Biggest mistake you've made?

[rth_discos]

Every gig I go to, I always fear making a big mistake.

Turning up to the wrong venue, getting the date wrong, forgetting a crucial piece of equipment... all the thoughts that run through my head as I'm heading to the gig (even though I know I've double checked everything!)

But inevitably, it happens...

What's the biggest mistake you've made?

[Nakatomi]

I've made some howlers in my time but I learned from them & lived to tell the tale.

My biggest ever mistake was probably letting a little bit of success go to my head. That was all a long time ago but very fresh in my memory. I was good & mad keen but I didn't know much. After a few too many people singing my praises a primadonna was born.

Now, much much older & much much wiser (I hope), even when the customer is utterly wrong they're right ;)

[Shakermaker Promotions]

My biggest mistake? I'm probably still making it now..........it's being far too trustworthy with people.
I've helped people out in the past only to be shafted big time. I'd like to say you live and learn but unfortunately it's happened a few times.

[funkymook]

My biggest mistake? I'm probably still making it now..........it's being far too trustworthy with people.
I've helped people out in the past only to be shafted big time. I'd like to say you live and learn but unfortunately it's happened a few times.

I’d say that was their mistake, not yours.

[Nakatomi]

Trusting the wrong people is something that can happen to anyone. Trust nobody & you'll always be on your own. It's a two way street, as somebody told me recently :)

[yourdj]

Oh Fun thread ;)

i am usually uber careful but things do happen. Nothing recent that I can think of though :)

About 8 years ago I did not understand the specs of my Macbook G4 and bought another pro last min after it went kaput.
Anyhow I played first dance And I could see that the loading dial was starting to be overtaken and all the sound went off.
Being inexperienced I tried again, but ended up playing it on iTunes as well as the rest of the night.
Bride and Groom were fine, although it definitely had a knock on effect on the night.

I pronounced a bride and grooms name as red (read) instead of reed.

Just 2 weeks back the bride was all ready to come down the aisle and pop the sound went dead.
I quickly realised it was the mixer and managed to plug everything directly into the speaker.
We were using a jack plug in mic so that was also dead easy. Phew - no one seemed to notice, which was the main thing.
Its one of those stupid behringer power supplies - Why they decided to use them over a standard 12 volt one who knows.

I forgot my speakers (god knows how), but luckily I turned up well early and had some smaller ones.
Put on background, went home and even had time for some dinner. :)

Hmm - can't think of any other balls ups. I have a back up for everything so if something does happen its rectified.
Cant believe I have not made a massive mistake with the hosting yet as your really in the spotlight and its so easy to do.

One DJ i used to use made so many stupid little mistakes it was ridiculous!! God knows what colossal cockups he has made since!
He once downloaded the first dance without an accapella, so when the vocals were meant to kick in they did not.
Cant remember all the other ones as it was some time ago, but it was shocking!

He did not seem too give a stuff though, which was the worst part.

[Nakatomi]

Played the wrong first dance song last year. My own fault for taking the word of the band. Nobody said anything at the time but the B&G gave me daggers all night long.

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Played the wrong John Legend FD song last year. Was in a hurry during a room turnaround and someone from venue kept getting in the way. People coming through before I had chance to double check and I had John Legend in my head so thought it must be all of me. Turns out it wasn't, couple just carried on and were super lovely about it thankfully but I beat myself up a fair bit over that one.

Also said once Mr/Mrs Baker instead of Barker.

Mistakes happen, we're all human. Considering the sheer amount of weddings I've done it's not surprising really.

[Pe7e]

I did a wrong song myself once, a few years ago when I was still gigging I took on a NYE gig at a pub/restaurant way out in the sticks, that had been closed down for 7 or 8 months and had just reopened in late December. Predictably it was virtually empty on the night despite a free buffet being on offer. On top of that, the age range of those who were there, was wide to say the least and I don't think I had more than 6 dancing at any one time, it really was that grim. Shortly after midnight, I had just one old couple left on the dance floor, I thought 'My Girl' by the Temptations was the ideal follow on track for them, and loaded it in in the Denon HD2500 I was using at the time. Anyone who has owned a HD2500 will know how rubbish they are in relation to the screen display being too small and too slow scrolling across. I had accidentally loaded My Girl by Madness, instead of the intended Temptations version and suffered the predictable embarrassing result, a totally empty floor. I still cringe when I think about it to this day. In hindsight, it was a fitting end to one of the worst gigs I have ever had the displeasure of having done

[ckpr2]

Did a gig in the sticks of Cumbria.
Saw these two bonny lasses dancing together so I got one of the other dj's to come with me to ask them for a dance.
They said yes and we had a few dances with them but we weren't getting anywhere.
So just left it there.
Packed up the gear into the van.
As we drove up the road we spotted the two girls again on the side of the road and they were kissing each other !
My gaydar was well off that day.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I’d say that was their mistake, not yours.

Thanks. It does make you feel quite gullible though especially when all you want to do is try to help others out.


Trusting the wrong people is something that can happen to anyone. Trust nobody & you'll always be on your own. It's a two way street, as somebody told me recently :)

There are very few people I trust. Not just because of what I said regarding the Disco business in reference to this thread but in general.

[djrikki]

My worse experiences have always been when using other people equipment, or in particular software.
I've been a fully registered traktor pro user for over 10 years now and when my fiance's does her gigs she goes the freebie route of using VirtualDJ.
The former indexes all music correctly whereas as the later is lazy and uses the file system directly which just sucks - especially when you kept on playing karaoke versions at a regular disco!
Won't happen again now I've had my mits on it - I make sure the path Column is shown.

And many times I've had broken headphones, learning to read the waveform in order to still mix really tests your knowledge of music and its structure.

[funktions]

can't think of any as such. been quite good really. years ago my roadie started to head towards caversam in reading rather than thatcham, I wasn't really well traveled at the time but knew it was near newbury not reading. quick trip down the m4 and got there at the correct time.

I can understand the trust thing, we have been letdown/stitched up by others we have helped to cover stuff they could not do. oh yeah payment once your there, to find they have paid. other "disco" trying to take a rather hefty "fee" for giving it to us to do, not thanks mate you saved my reputation but oh yeah I have kept the £90 deposit they paid me, tough. a rather large person running an agency still owing me £1k for work from years ago.. you hear of the ones to avoid on the dj grapevine, and so we have. we do not mind helping out others if they are stuck but we want all the information before we even think of saying yes.

[funkymook]

My biggest mistake was not charging enough over the first few years of DJ’ing as a business.

I had good equipment and music knowledge and was very customer service focussed, in fact I’m not doing anything fundamentally different now than I did then.

[DeckstarDeluxe]

My worse experiences have always been when using other people equipment, or in particular software.
I've been a fully registered traktor pro user for over 10 years now and when my fiance's does her gigs she goes the freebie route of using VirtualDJ.
The former indexes all music correctly whereas as the later is lazy and uses the file system directly which just sucks - especially when you kept on playing karaoke versions at a regular disco!
Won't happen again now I've had my mits on it - I make sure the path Column is shown.

And many times I've had broken headphones, learning to read the waveform in order to still mix really tests your knowledge of music and its structure.


You can set it to just show music, karaoke or both.

I do have some karaoke mp3s for when people have sang at weddings but they're clearly labelled without me having to do anything.....

[RobKennedy]

Many years ago I turned up at venue in Portsmouth for an agency gig and was directed to the function room by the manager.

10 minutes in to the gig the venue manager appears beside me to break the news that I'm in the wrong room and there is another guy doing the wrong gig in the other hall !

Chatting to the other DJ I was all for sticking where we were in order to minimize problems, as they were similar gigs/money etc. But no he insisted on swapping over during the buffet so once the food was announced it was like a comedy trying to get moved and set up in the other room. (SWEATY!!!)

Felt like two gigs in one night !!!

Another one I can think of is also many years ago and I was helping a friend with a wedding which was about 60 miles travel for a good friend of his. Anyway, we get set up and I turn around to see him looking very pale - turns out the CD containing the first dance is on his kitchen table. We came up with some excuse but I was so glad it was not my gig!

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Many years ago I turned up at venue in Portsmouth for an agency gig and was directed to the function room by the manager.

10 minutes in to the gig the venue manager appears beside me to break the news that I'm in the wrong room and there is another guy doing the wrong gig in the other hall !

Chatting to the other DJ I was all for sticking where we were in order to minimize problems, as they were similar gigs/money etc. But no he insisted on swapping over during the buffet so once the food was announced it was like a comedy trying to get moved and set up in the other room. (SWEATY!!!)

!

Could you not just swap your play outs?

[RobKennedy]

Could you not just swap your play outs?

The guy who's party it was had already been over for a chat about the music etc all was good ! I was thinking he had left it a bit late for requests. Its funny how the magnitude of the blunder does not dawn on you until you find out and it all makes sense.

Swapping play outs would have been a great idea I guess in the heat of the moment such a sensible solution just did not occur to us !!

The more I think about it the more I remember I must have blanked it out - the halls seemed like they were miles apart and I had no trolley. Also the guests at my first gig were lovely but a frost had settled in the new hall which took a while to thaw. The venue manager was in a right state as well - a real flapper

It was one of those where you do your best in the situation but drive home glad its over and putting it down to experience.

[Shaun]

Biggest mistake you've made?

1: Taking too much gear to gigs.
When I first started working for myself I always charged more than the local DJs, but to compensate I always took way to much gear, which resulted in looong setup times. At that time the majority of my gigs were local to me so I would arrange to setup in the afternoon where possible. I always thought by taking a lot of equipment it would make the client feel I was worth the fee. I eventually realised that my worth had nothing to do with the amount of gear.

2: Buying too much lights.
Way back in the day before my venture into DMX I used to buy a pair of every type of new-fandangled light that came on the market. I had a long overhead bar, plus a couple of t-bars all filled with mish-mash of different effects, all running sound to light in pairs doing their own thing. I thought it was great, but looking back, it was a headache to the senses, lol. Moving to just a few effects running with some nice DMX scenes was a game-changer for the way I worked.

3. Buying cheap speakers and amps.
Again, this was back in the early days. I bought cheap, and more times than not they were not up to the task. Definite False Economy.

4. Buying my first ever DJ setup and not having a backup amp.
I was only a few gigs with my first rig and my amp failed at the start of a School Christmas Party. I had no backup. Luckily I was able to call on the help of a friend that had an amp. The wait for him to arrive was excruciating. From that day I have never left home without backup for every main component.

5. Wrong Date.
I arrived at a local Masonic Lodge in the afternoon and setup for a Birthday Party. I arrived back to the venue in the evening to see a band wheeling in their equipment and the other band members standing scratching their heads looking up at all the DJ gear on the stage. I got chatting to the singer and it turns out that the evening was for the lodge members annual dance. The band had got the date right but I was 24 hours early!! Luckily the stage was quite big and the singer suggested just sliding all my gear back towards the back of the stage.





I have more I'll add later. I've accumulated quite a few mistakes in the last 27 years. :daft:

[yourdj]

The venue manager was in a right state as well - a real flapper

I had a manager like that on Saturday in Salisbury. He was having a right paddy as i asked to move a chair in the ceremony room (which was for me anyway) to make some room. He said its a legal requirement, this that and the other and a pain to sort out. I walked over picked up the chair and moved the table forward in about 10 seconds. and wowed to stay out of his way for the rest of the day. He relaxed a bit as the day went on, but you really do wonder how these jobsworths manage to get to positions of power don't you? The other staff were ace. :)

It is amazing what you miss when you are in a fluster. As Dexstar said the play outs would make sense, but sometimes the obvious is not apparent and at times you can do the best that you can do. My wife was setting up the photo booth the other day. I was busy managing guests etc and looking after the band. She disappeared and on going over talking to the other staff member "she had gone home (5 mins away) to get a stand". I looked around and could not see any stand missing, so finished setting it up. my wife arrives back and the stand she thought was missing was the camera stand that was in the middle of the floor all along. She is heavily pregnant so i will let her off. Because of that it was a bit delayed getting started as the band were chomping at the bit to get going (rightly so!). :p

[Andy P]

There is a king street in South Shields
There is a king street in North Shields

a river sits between north and south shields

Both king streets have a club on or close to them

I got booked last min by another local DJ, up here we kind of just refer to them as Shields (and depending which side of the river you are from will normally determine which you mean)

So - I'll just leave this here...

[Excalibur]

1: Taking too much gear to gigs.


2: Buying too much lights.
.

4. Buying my first ever DJ setup and not having a backup amp.


5. Wrong Date.






I have more I'll add later. I've accumulated quite a few mistakes in the last 27 years. :daft:
Hey Shaun, perhaps we have something in common after all. :D:D Been there...........................................


The only one I can't really wholly hold my hand up to is:
3. Buying cheap speakers and amps.
Yes I did, but they were almost always fit for purpose. Actually, now I remember, I started out with big HiFi cabs, and used to blow the tweeters out of them on a regular basis. Once I got my first Disco speakers, things improved tremendously.

[Imagine]

Buying far too many lights :(

I've got a Domin8r in my store that's been out twice
I've got a brace of Swarms that have been out once
I've got various PAR's that never get used anymore

And don't even mention the H20


Oh, and a couple of weeks ago, I actually got the bride's name wrong :daft:
Long story behind that one and between us, we sort of knew it was going to happen (we'd actually laughed about it in the pre-wedding meeting). I tried so hard on the day, and then nerves got the better of me and I got it wrong (to much applause and laughter I might add....so think I got away with it :) )

[rth_discos]

Time to add mine in...

New Year's Eve 1999 (bear in mind I was 16 at the time!)

So I'd always run everything off one extension socket (naivety back then), and it had always been fine.

However, the New Year's Eve event was in quite a large village hall, so I took along a second pair of speakers.

Around 8:30/9pm I transitioned from the background music in to the evening, and turned it up - and bang, the automatic cut out tripped on the extension lead - silence and darkness!

Fortunately, I had family at the event, one of which worked with electrics, and they had a spare extension lead in their car, so I split out the sound and lights and all was fine for the night.

Considering it was all old style bulbs back then, it must have been quite a power draw!

[Nakatomi]

I can't talk about my very biggest mistake on a public forum in much detail.

Sufficient to say... Revenge (fake) adult image, massive screens in a packed club. Threats of legal action. I didn't make the image. I didn't put it on the screens either. I just stood by. In hindsight I should've stopped it at the source. I was offered my job back but I stuck to my guns. An absolutely idiotic thing to be connected with which could've had very serious consequences even 15 years ago.

[Marc J]

Sufficient to say... Revenge (fake) adult image, massive screens in a packed club. Threats of legal action. I didn't make the image. I didn't put it on the screens either. I just stood by. In hindsight I should've stopped it at the source. I was offered my job back but I stuck to my guns. An absolutely idiotic thing to be connected with which could've had very serious consequences even 15 years ago.

I've done something similar, although it was a video, and wasn't fake! I didn't even know the lady in question, I was just handed a video (it was the 80's) and asked "pop that on the screens for a few secs, the female 'star' is in the club". I did, and she was. Nothing to say in my defence other than I was young & stupid...

[Benny Smyth]

You ever got so drunk that you wake up the next morning and thought "Oh no. What have I done?" I came back from holiday and woke up the next morning in that exact situation.

Anyway, long story short, I'm engaged now. :daft:

[Imagine]

You ever got so drunk that you wake up the next morning and thought "Oh no. What have I done?" I came back from holiday and woke up the next morning in that exact situation.

Anyway, long story short, I'm engaged now. :daft:

Congratulations Benny :clap2::clap2::clap2:

(booked your wedding DJ yet? ;) )