Good Gig, Bad Gig.

Friday night 18th - Birthday girl gave me a list of tracks to play.. When set up the play list realised that actually she has given me music for the whole night. Main New POP with a bit of cheese. They were up dancing from 8pm (start time 7.30) they picked at the buffet and stayed up dancing right through to finish. the Mum was leathered and the dad was feeling up the girls mates. Really Posh do at a really posh hotel and had a young David Hasselhoff on the dancefloor who was really tanned, tight clothes and well into everything I played.. It was comical all night but great end result.

Saturday die hard 70's / 80's dance music. I realised I am great at 70's but really struggled at the 80's and without suggestions (requests) stuck to 70's beats. Great wedding danced all afternoon/evening.. Played a few *** songs I was trying to be clever playing some really obscure tracks but great beats and soon realised needed to change the track to something they could sing loudly and dance to..

Rubbish again.

Really didn't enjoy it.



Note: The rest of this post has ben moved to it's own thread

I've just got back from a 13th birthday party for possibly the most disorganised parents I've ever met. Booking was from 19:30 until 22:00, access from 18:30.

Got to the venue at 18:15, and called the parents at 18:35 because there was a ballet class going on in their room in the venue! I'm then told that the ballet finishes at all times between 18:45 and 19:15 and the party starts at a variety of times between 19:00 and 19:45 depending which parent I talked to!!! Ballet finished at 19:00, and I was set up (lights, smoke and sound) by 19:20 - I wish I'd had the camera on for that setup!!

The party starts and I'm told that the birthday person is "Alex" and it's a boy. Weird, because I have a note that he's a girl (based on the information taken with the booking).

Generally the night goes ok, except for a small group of girls who keep coming up and asking for dubstep. Most of the night so far has been chart/R&B with the biggest hits being at the cheesier end of the scale (Rihanna, Katy Perry, Barbra Striesand, JLS, etc) so I ask them to be more specific. And they ask for this:

YouTube - Daladubz - Pink Elephants VIP

I tell them I don't have it, and they ask me if I have YouTube?!?! I'm in the middle of a Church hall with no Wifi, so errr no. I've checked now and I can't find a legal source to download it, so I don't plan to.

On a side note, what it is it with Dubstep? It seems to be the new DnB when it comes to non-specific genre requests (as in "Can you play some ....") and requests which are guaranteed to clear the dance floor of all but a few people?? DnB I've come to like recently with Tiesto, Chase n Status, etc making it a bit more mainstream, but Dubstep and Bassline I've yet to get my head round (as in, I can't stand it).

Anyway, gig went ok, birthday boy more or less happy (half of his friends didn't turn up because someone told them that they'd have to pay £10.00 on the door and the drinks were £2 a shot - nice friends huh?) and the mother/father were happy too (though I suspect the mother is on some kind of mood stabiliser judging by her expression). Finished at 22:00 on the dot, played some Stones and 9 to 5 for the Grandfather as there wasn't a strict "music off" time for the hall or a caretaker breathing down our necks, and was packed up and driving off by 22:30 despite a long way to the car.

Julian

More a very strange gig--good for me but not sure how it was for the DJ who came on after me.

Scenario Hertfordshire Barn Hotel. 60th Birthday Party.

Mainly age group around 50-60

I was hired to get bums off seats and soften up the audience for the DJ;)

No problem thats MY SPECIALITY.

The facts which on the night I found somewhat strange and some of you may find amazing taking into account the standard approaches on here==

DJ nice youngish guy who apparently is a Club DJ mainly who works a lot in Clubs in London and USA.

Good track fading/ bpm and playing skills.

Background music was a lot of jazzy funk (i was told) :eek:

Doesnt have a mike never speaks:eek:

Happy Birthday congratulation---err no not possible see above--get the Caller to do it --always happy to oblige.:D

Nice Lappy dedicated Apple MAC with NO BACKUP:eek:

What happens if it goes belly up---everyone head for home.

No stand, white cloth on Hotel Table-=looked neat enough

Minimal look Lighting was about 8 uplighters which were fixed on single colours, never changed all night. Not connected to each other.

No lighting that moved with music--:confused:

Playlist--Allegedly Birthday girl was a Motown fan--nothing played in first 20 minutes:confused:

If being played later no announcement was made--couldnt be--no mike:daft:

People danced --well they would after being softened up by me and relatively well refreshed by alcohol-- using an Ipod if you stuck on some classic 70s music;)

A bit of an odd one to me.

I had a decent one actually. I provided the lighting for a Ska covers band that were playing in my local. They are awesome and the place was packed. I know them all really well and one of the things I am looking into is promoting them for functions if people want to have something a bit different. I fully recommend them if anyone is looking for Ska/Two Tone/Trojan covers.

Anyway...I wasn't booked friday or saturday so I used a bit of initiative (sp?) or cheekiness (whatever you want to call it) and asked one of the guys if they wanted some lighting. They said yes so I chucked 6 Colourbursts on a T-Bar, connected them all up and used the Lil' Mix with them along with some smoke. As I knew all the songs, I really enjoyed myself pressing the buttons and giving them a lightshow behind them, colour fading and strobing at the right time. It really did look great and with only one T-Bar too (lack of space as they are a 6-piece and the space that they had to play in wasn't great and the pub was packed).

I had a couple of beers, enjoyed the gig and was asked about doing it for another band too and also got a few quid in my pocket too which was cool as I wasn't earning this weekend.

I ventured forth again into Lincolnshire, and arrived well ahead of time to find that the :Censored:s must have known I was coming!!:eek: :eek: Gates padloked firmly shut, and an eight foot earth bank behind them. :confused: I rang a native guide, and set off on a tour of the area. Turns out that a combination of Sat Nav and building work had caused the problem. I had been guided to the rear entrance, which is the given address, and at a t-junction had turned right, and driven miles round the site, rather than turning left and going straight to the clubhouse. Hey ho. :( :D :D

I get into the venue, and it's not superb access, and the punters are running nearly an hour ahead of schedule. Oh goody. Just what I need with new kit,a rush. Anyway, it's all in, ready for testing, and guess what. The intermittent fault I've been plagued with returns. :mad: Before leaving, I ran all the sound gear up, and it was perfect. Set it up in the venue, and I've lost a sub. :( Change cables, change an amp, change trousers, no difference. Oh poo. ( And this aft, it all ran perfectly again. :eek: :confused: :confused: :confused: )

First time out in anger with the newly DMXed Teutonic Bar, and wow!!!! It's simply stunning. So versatile, and while I'm one of the folk who regard concept of "Less is more" as the work of the Devil, I can in fact see how it could be all you needed. ( Am I perhaps becoming a bit modern? :o :o :o ). I can't praise it enough. It lit the entire room, at about one third power, and I could point each unit to wherever I wished. The two Geni Spin 3's complemented it nicely, and the Ebay Laser I bought was lovely. ( I shall be commissioning the one I got from Daryll as soon as I make a new bracket for it. )

For the first time in around three years, I'm confident that my lighting is moving in the direction I want.

Back to the gig, and I've only got an hour to do at the end. Lovely crowd, requested Led Zep, Who, Bryan Adams, Mud, Kaiser Chiefs and a load of other superb requests. Loaded out in thirty five minutes flat, much to the approval of the bar staff, and pointed the nose of the van homewards. In keeping with tradition, as I get to the Motorway roundabout which signals the gateway to Civilisation, guess what? It's closed. Grrrrr. :mad: A quick trip through Scunthorpe was called for. Not for the fainthearted, I can assure you. :D :D :D :D :D

Home again at 2am, and off to bed. ( Well, at my age, you get tired very easily. :( :( )

I posted a bit of a tracklising for this one on the forum on Saturday. Went to do the gig and it went very well.
From the original list I played the following
Baggy trousers and One step beyond-Madness
Fascination-Human league
I fought the law-The Clash Should I stay or should I go-Later on
Eton Rifles-The Jam
3 tracks I added Fade to grey-Visage Hungry like the wolf and girls on film-Duran Duran
Geno-DMR (back to list)
Girlfriend in a coma-The Smiths
Olivers Army-Elvis Costello
Alternative Ulster-SLF (A request on the night) What a tune
Anarchy in the UK and EMI-The Sex Pistols
Happy birthday-Altered Images
Enola Gay-OMD
Walk on the wildside-Lou Reed (Requested by the birthday boy)
Inflammable Material-SLF(Track I added)
Cars-Gary Numan(Biggest track of the night)
The Killing Moon-(Echo and the Bunnymen)
Temptation-Heaven 17
Light my fire-The Doors
Get off my cloud-Rolling Stones ( Request on the night)
Happy Hour-The Housemartins
Just can't get enough and New life-Depeche Mode
Was also told to throw some what you might call normal disco fayre in there as well.

Whilst the floor wasn't full all night. I was surprised to see how many people actually danced or pogoed to the stuff above. A very refreshing change from the norm.

I made the most of it as I don't know when I'll ever get a gig like that again
I Ended the night with Vienna-Ultravox

Nice one! Must have been a few Numanoids in attendance!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by STEVE HANLEY

Whilst the floor wasn't full all night. I was surprised to see how many people actually danced or pogoed to the stuff above. A very refreshing change from the norm.

I made the most of it as I don't know when I'll ever get a gig like that again

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Get a page on your website (or even a separate site) - list these sort of bands, a few relevant search terms and you'll be surprised how many people will contact you.

I'm starting to get more work from my www.indieretrodj.com site than my 'normal' one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shakermaker Promotions

Nice one! Must have been a few Numanoids in attendance!

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Thanks Gary. Also just remebered
Are friends electric?-Tubeway Army
Peaches-The Stranglers
Turning Japanese-The vapors
2-4-6-8 Motorway-TRB

Quote:

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Originally Posted by funkymook

Get a page on your website (or even a separate site) - list these sort of bands, a few relevant search terms and you'll be surprised how many people will contact you.

I'm starting to get more work from my www.indieretrodj.com site than my 'normal' one.

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Not a bad idea that. I'm due to speak with Martin soon to discuss revamping a few things on my site. Seeing as how he built yours as well, he'll know where I'm coming from;)