Good Gig, Bad Gig.

Right guys.....make yourselves comfortable, this could be a mammoth review (you know what I'm like on a sunday!) ;)

Last night's gig was on the Royal Princess (or Thames Princess or whatever it's called), and it was a surprise 60th birthday gig for a recently retired British Airways pilot. The gig came from a wedding that I did last year and the lady more or less booked me on the night. Last night was to be something different for me as we were going to be sailing on the Thames. I've done stuff on boats before, mainly in Reading but they were small affairs and very small set ups or quizzes etc with easy access. TOTALLY DIFFERENT TO THIS!!

Friday night I did a gig in my local which was very good actually (90's Night), but I always had this gig in the back of my mind. I didn't get much sleep as I kept going through everything in my head. I was terrified that I may forget to take something with me. Needless to say, I was up at silly o'clock yesterday morning, firstly writing a comprehensive list of what I would need, loading it all into the van and then double and triple checking everything. All was well.

Left home at 3.00pm and arrived at Lambeth Pier at around 4.25pm. Went and saw the guys in charge and decided to start unloading everything. When I saw the walk of death (the steepest slope I have ever had to carry stuff down), I thought "Oh :Censored: !!!!" and for the first time EVER, I thought to myself "I NEED A ROADIE!" (I don't!). I wanted to be prepared and make life as easy for myself as I could. I got all the gear stacked neatly at the bottom of the pier and the guy in charge said I could put the monitors and my change of clothes in the pier office. My van was parked at the top of the slope with the hazard lights on and a note in the window stating that I was unloading a Disco on to the boat. I actually didn't have any problems at all with parking there which was a relief and I took a stack of £1 coins with me incase I needed to park somewhere else and also a wad of cash incase the worst happened and I got clamped......I didn't.

It was a nightmare :eek: The boat that was currently there was being boarded by wedding guests. There was a wedding party going on to the boat and it started to rain. 100's of people all milling about and me trying to make sure that my gear wasn't getting wet. It wasn't for long though and at 4.45pm, the boat moved off. As the next boat moved into place, another load of people starting queuing to get on it....it was another wedding! It was still lightly raining and I was starting to worry about my equipment but it was ok. I was told I could load up on to my boat but I would have to go through one to get to the other so I didn't bother. At 5.15pm, that boat went so once mine was in place, I started to get the equipment on board.

I nearly had a heart attack though when I went to the pier office. It was locked and the guy that let me leave my stuff in there was about to leave. He was actually getting on the second boat to get a lift down the river as he had finished for the day. He wasn't the happiest bloke in the world and wasn't impressed when I asked him to open up so I could get my monitors and clothes. I eventually got the equipment on board with the help of 3 blokes who were attending the party (they were arranged in advance by the customer) and also a member of staff. Once it was on board, one of the guests drove my van to Westminster where it was free parking.

I set up pretty quickly actually....I was amazed (and I was warned in advance on here) that the ceiling was very low......:eek: :eek: Blimey, I am only 5ft 10in and it did feel very low. There also wasn't a lot of space to work in and as you will see by the photos attached, I improvised. What with the screens on stands for the Photo Projection, I felt that it would look too cluttered and messy if I had the Mackies on stands too so I ditched the stands and put the Mackies on the Ultimax uprights. The pole securers (or whatever they're called?) on the back of the speakers tightened up nicely and they were very secure. It actually didn't look too bad in my opinion but others may disagree....at the end of the day, it looked neater than it would have done if I had used stands.

The lighting wouldn't go up too high either but when it got dark, it filled the deck so it wasn't a problem.

At Westminster the guests boarded the boat and the birthday boy (who had purposely been delayed by his wife) was last to get on. When he walked around the corner...everyone shouted and screamed and clapped and he was overwhelmed....it was very nice. Everyone came upstairs and I played background music until 7.45pm and then announced that their food was ready. I had advised the customer that as the meal was going to be around 90 minutes, if they wanted background music, it might be a good idea to load up an I-Pod with the birthday boys favourite tunes. I arranged all of this with the customer and the boat people in advance and it worked well.

As everyone was on the lower deck, I dropped the background music, grabbed my camera (the 'not so good as the one that the missus took') and my Red Bull and went and stood with the captain and his crew and chatted to them for a while. I got changed and as it started to get dark and London became lit up, I took some photos.

Now....Attention BUFFET THREAD!!! The customer had said in advance that I was welcome to join them for food but I wasn't that bothered. She came up to the deck and asked me and the crew if we wanted anything....they all said yes...I said "Thanks but I'm ok" and she wouldn't take no for an answer. About 10 minutes later one of the caterers came up with 4 plates that were piled up with Lamb curry. I hadn't eaten as I had left early in the day and I wasn't hungry at the time but I knew that by the time I got back to the van and home, it would've been about 18 hours since I ate anything so I managed about a quarter of the plate before saying "That's it, I'm stuffed!" and I was.

I had a great playlist of tunes from the customer and at about 9.10pm, the party really got into full swing. Every song I played had a great reaction and people were (or looked like) they were really enjoying themselves. The birthday boy borrowed my radio mic and made a speech and then I played his favourite song 'Start me up' - Rolling Stones. The time seemed to go really quick and it was great sailing past the likes of the O2, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and all the places on the side of the river that were lit up in different colours. Other party boats would sail past and everyone cheered and waved at eachother....it was a great atmosphere. We eventually got back to Westminster at 10.55pm and I played the last song which was 'Get Back' - The Beatles. Everyone cheered and I thanked them all for a great night and within 10 minutes, they'd all gone!

Now it got interesting....earlier on the skipper had said to me that Lambeth was a pain in the backside to load up but Westminster was easier.....:Censored: :Censored: :Censored: No it wasn't !!!!! :eek:

Add to that the fact that they couldn't hang around for long either as other boats were due in too. I not only had the walk of death again (a very long walk to my van) but I had to try and be quick because once I had got my stuff on to the loading area, there was no'one else around to watch my kit. :eek: Yes, it was worrying....I had help before but now everyone was gone and the boat wouldn't be hanging around for long. I had my little trolly with me but it wasn't much help as there were stairs during the walk too so I'd wheel it as far as I could and then carry it the rest of the way, up some more stairs to the roadside and then into the van. I was parked opposite Big Ben which was cool.

The boat left and there was a period of about 10 minutes when my Ultimax stand and a box containing speaker leads etc was sat on their own on the pier. I left those purposely last as I kept thinking of the stuff that wouldn't be hard to replace should someone passing have itchy fingers. All was ok.
I actually felt like I was having a heart attack....I was sweating like a sweaty thing and my legs and knees were killing me. Just as I got back to get my Ultimax (I may get some wheels for this....is it easy to do?), the other boat arrived so I used my last bit of energy to pick it up and slowly trot (I nearly said RUN but I couldn't) back to the van. I was knackered.

Funny thing, I thought I'd lost my mobile...I hadn't. It was in my shirt pocket but that was underneath my coat which I had done up. I wanted to check the time and then remembered that there was a big clock infront of me called Big Ben!!! It said 11.40pm so I actually didn't too badly considering the unbelievably bad load out etc....once again the thought crossed my mind for all of 2 seconds that I needed a roadie....(I don't!)...on this occasion I definitely did.

I cracked open a can of Dr Pepper that I had left in the Mystery Machine and off I went back home. I put my foot down and was back indoors, sat down having a well earned couple of beers by 12.50am. Not bad going at all. I haven't slept well again as my mind was ticking over all night. It was a great gig but would I take another booking on that boat......NO!! (well, I might actually because at least I know what to be prepared for).

Apologies for the long review....I did do a little gig log thing but it came out rubbish and the photos below are the only half decent ones that I could get. I'll apologise in advance for any wires on show etc...I was pretty rushed at points and also had people talking to me whilst I was trying to set up so I did the best I could.

Cheers for reading!

http://www.shakermakeruk.com/Deck1.jpg

http://www.shakermakeruk.com/Deck2.jpg

http://www.shakermakeruk.com/Big%20Ben.jpg

http://www.shakermakeruk.com/Parliament.jpg

http://www.shakermakeruk.com/Leye1.jpg

http://www.shakermakeruk.com/Leye2.jpg

:D :D

My God.You must of got up at 6 this morning to write all that..Excellent review though

Nah....8.00am!
You know by now what I am like with reviews. I like to give as much information as possible rather than the "My gig was great" type things. If it bores people then they don't have to read them. I personally find them interesting and it's good to look back on them. Thanks for reading it though.

Excellent review.
I would have been absolutely paranoid about leaving any of my gear laying around.
It sounded as if it was a good gig but sometimes you have to wonder if the hassle is all worth while.

Nice one Gary! Glad it went well. Set up looks good too!

Reading Garys "London" review just made me remember how lucky we are up here with venue access etc. Even my worse access is only a flight of stairs;)

Thoroughly enjoyed last night's Wedding. It was the 2nd Wedding for the same family at one of my usual venues.

Good mix of just about everything from Pink Floyd to Tiesto :D

For their first dance they had Etta James "At last" and then wanted a surprise second song for the guests.........the Macarena :eek: It worked a treat and the set the night going well.

End of the night the Brides mum came over and said it was a great night and apologised for not having anymore daughters to get married as she really enjoyed both Weddings :D

Funnily enough a Wedding I did at this same venue back in December I've just got the booking for her twin sisters Wedding there in October this year, happy days!

Edit: Blimey they don't hang around! just had the feedback form returned from last nights gig :eek:

"Faultless, great service, great sound, great day!"

Got a call about 3/4 weeks ago enquiring for a wedding on 27th May. I looked at the calendar and said 'so that's a saturday, yes ?' thinking it was next year, NO a Friday was the reply, he meant this year ! So I asked where it was and for how long he wanted me. 5pm to 1am, background music while guests arriving and having the meal, then speeches and cake cutting, first dance then party time !

So gave a price and he agreed there and then ! I said would he like a meeting and arrange one for the next week. Lovely couple, He's Russian, she's Lithuainian, but they've been here a while. I actually thought he was Scottish when he was on the phone ! (no offense to Scottish/Russians)

He said the wedding planner wants to meet me and the other suppliers 10 days before the wedding for them to pay the balance and run through what they want and timings. They were very laid back and although we had a rough idea of the timings, we agreed we'd just do it when we thought it was right.

They said there was originally going to be about 40 people, but now that's dropped to 30, no problem, prefer smaller gigs as not so many drunken :Censored: LOL As it was my birthday the next day and to save the Mrs sitting in the car all night, we decided to book a room. Got a very good price online and a nice room on the 2nd floor. The Mrs was a little annoyed they didn't have Eurosport on the TV (although most of the other Sky channels ???) as she wanted to watch the french Open Tennis ! But the room was nice and she even used the gym !

Booked in at about 3pm and then drove the car round to the function room at the back of the hotel, unloaded then drove back to get a prefect spot right outside the door ! Started setting up and the Bride & Groom arrived about 5:45pm, they came in and I gave them a card to wish them all the best. (bit of PR as well ;) ) He brought me 3 glasses of Champagne (well sparkling perry I think judging by the sweetness !) The guests were still arriving for the drinks reception in the bar area outside the room so I finalised setting up and tidying cables.

About 6:30pm they came in for the meal and I was asked to join them, they insisted I did so, but I still felt a bit out of place, especially as there was only 24 people on a square table arrangement ! But soon relaxed and enjoyed the food. The wedding planner was serving more champagne but never filled my glass, but the waiters who I had introduced myself to did ! I think she was a bit of a 'jobsworth' actually. (in the morining she was around in jeans & t shirt on the phone and totally ignored me when we went down for breakfast !)

As you can see from the videos the room was fairly plain, and the dancefloor never got full due to hardly anyone being there ! One guy asked for Goodlooking Woman - Joe Dolan 'for the craic' when I played it the floor emptied apart from him and his wife ! Needless to say he didn't ask for anything else ! The bride & groom were very relaxed and even got one of the staff to watch my gear if I wanted to get a drink/have a smoke/go to the loo which was good and gave me a chance to cool down by going outside. (why are hotel function rooms always so :Censored: ing hot ?!)

I set up on the stage and they had voilé drapes with fairylights on which they turned on 'for no extra cost' :eek: I looked on the hotel website and saw they usually CHARGE €150 for it as well as offering uplights for €15 each !!! Later on I turned them off as the room lloked better without them. (How they can charge €150 just for flicking a switch is beyond me !) Also I must remember to get some thicker deckstand cloth as it showed all my cables with it on !

It was wierd hearing some of the guests with Russian/Irish accents, sometime they would say something in a typical irish accent then finish the sentance in Russian :daft: Plenty of good tunes played including Boney M, Chris Brown, Rihanna, BEP, Gaga, David Guetta. I even dropped in some remixes and mashups !

Finished with the bride & groom's first dance and the guests (I was going to put crowd - but it wasn't !) asked for 'one more song' as usual I had one lined up and asked the manager if we can have one more (always do that as sometimes they control the power !) finished with Little Bit Dirty remix - BEP Vs Dirty Dancing and they loved it. Packed up and left the gear in the room next to the fire exit and got to bed about 2am.

Went down for breakfast about 9:30am as some joker knocked on our door about 8:30am :Censored: the mrs drove the car round to pick up the gear as I would have still had alcohol in my system, the wedding planner was hanging around and didn't even say hello, but I'm not worried as the person who booked and paid me was happy and so were the guests as they told me when I was packing up. Might get some more bookings from it, you never know.

So that's it, people, enjoy the videos. Oh by the way the chair is NOT for me to sit down, I used it to put my backup CD's on. I would never dream of sitting down behind my deckstand, that's lazy and unprofessional. By the way blame shaker for the length of this post !

YouTube - ‪Agne & Michael...

YouTube - ‪Agne & Michael...

I thought Shakermaker's review was a dissertation :sarc:

DJ Paulie - I'm not being funny, but do you really expect the wedding planner to top your glass up?

I know I drink at gigs where I know the family or they are mates of mine and I may have a pint towards the end of the evening but your post shocked me.

Thing is Charlie she topped everybody else's up even though the groom told her to make sure I had a drink. I had to make sure I had a drink to toast them, so I think she was just being awkward. Just my opinion maybe I'm wrong & I appreciate you may disagree, that's your choice.