Good Gig, Bad Gig.

Wedding last night. Bride and Groom really friendly and appreciative.
Also a very helpful Event Manager in attendance.
Anyway the evening got off to a bit of an unfortunate start when a chap who was providing A Michael Buble Tribute before the Disco was due to start clipped one of these really expensive lights in the venue which came crashing to the floor, My heart went out to him, I can tell you! He went on to do a great set though so showed his professionalism. Had a great night there with people who knew how do have a good time and loved it to be perfectly honest!
One of those nights when it all just flowed and reminded you why you do this job.

I've just come back from a Surprise 60th Birthday party at "The Grand" in Bristol centre. The daughter and sons of the birthday girl and their family were really friendly, helpful and appreciative and had also taken the time to put together a big long list of tracks for the night. They'd clearly spent a lot of time and effort putting together the party.

Unfortunately it was a Sunday night party and apparently their family weren't really up for it. The majority chatted, ate the buffet and left about 10:45, so we called it a night at 11:00. The customers were happy enough with what I did, but the guests only got off their bums for five tracks the whole night, YMCA, Cha Cha Slide, Macarena, The boy does nothing (Alesha Dixon) and Dance the night away (Mavericks). The organisers danced to the first 3 tracks by themselves and no-one would join them no matter how much prompting I gave. Alesha Dixon was a request and the response to it was a surprise - apparently some of the guests take latin dancing lessons and that was a track that they had a routine for, it's a shame they didn't have the consideration to get up and dance at any other point in the evening.

I felt really sorry for the organisers for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the hotel fire alarms went off at 7:00 when the family were gathering and almost blew the surprise as everyone had to meet at the front of the hotel, and at this point the birthday girl didn't even know that all her family were in the building! Luckily the hotel didn't get their act together very quickly as the mum was in a wheelchair and the hotel didn't manage to even get her out of her room!! Secondly, I just felt like the family were really rude - they just didn't participate in the evening at all.

Admittedly it didn't help that it was a typical family get together and while the playlist was tailored for their Mum's tastes (50's/60's rock n roll plus a few party favourites) I had the usual bizarre mix of requests across the age groups (everything from Tinie Tempah to Rod Stewart) which I had to try and cater for without driving everyone out in disgust before 9:00.

Unfortunately one of those gigs that makes me wonder why I bother. However, I did get an early night.

On the flip side, I got to try out the Numark Mixtrack Pro I bought as backup (at 2.3Kg, it was a lot smaller and lighter to get in than my Denon's and performed flawlessly) and a set of flat Par 64's on the bar under software DMX control (note to self: run at 80% brightness max - when people squint when they look in your direction, they're probably too bright :D ). I also got to try using a white cloth as a frontage - as I managed to forget to pack my starcloth and had to resort to borrowing a table cloth from the venue - it actually didn't look bad and had less wrinkles than my normal LEDJ cloth!

Julian

A wedding reception for a gay couple yesterday. We were expecting 40 guests but only had about 12 at it's peak (and that included the couple and several small children).

Didn't help that the function room was divided into two with the bar being in the other half (and the balcony smoking area was there as well).

Awkward load in as it was up some stairs and through several doors - so decided to pack light. Used a venue table (covered with my own cloth) and two mini-parbars on stands, and as I was on a small, low stage I put my K12's on their monitor wedged side, they sounded really good, projected well and it all looked very neat without speaker stands (will definitely consider doing that again with my speakers in similar circumstances).

Favourite music of the two brides was Shania Twain, Elvis and Bob Marley, and I also played plenty of cheese and action songs - though what on earth possessed me to put the Conga on when I only had two people in the room I don't know!

The guests that did turn up enjoyed themselves and the couple left happy and want to book me for their sons 14th birthday in a few months.

Well, last night was interesting and very frustrating too.
Firstly, turned on all of the equipment (I was using the Mackies this time) and everything was fine. After about 10 minutes I noticed that one side seemed louder than the other? Went round the front of the rig and noticed that there was no top end coming out of one of the Mackies! Changed leads and tried everything I could but no joy. Going to test them today with a different mixer etc to see if it's the mixer but I was on edge all night because it wasn't perfect.

No'one seemed to notice but I had to have the volume up quite high and unfortunately I couldn't really put it to the back of my mind. Pain in the butt because this happened when I first got them last year. There was a faulty one that got swapped for a new one so my last guess is that the one that wasn't swapped was also on it's way out? Needless to say I am losing my patience and also faith in them rapidly. They've hardly been used!

So, the gig....well, one of the hardest I have had in a long time. No'one would dance to anything, no'one requested anything despite me saying on lots of occasions that I was taking requests. Current chart had a few kids dancing, 70's had a mediocre reaction as did the 80's stuff. The Killers got a few people up at around 11.00pm and then what worked was the Rock stuff for about 30 minutes. Around 11.30pm I played Abba because the bride came over and asked for it and those that were left, got up and danced to Dancing Queen and Mama Mia.

Really big let down to be honest. Some of the most un-interested guests I have ever had the mis-fortune to come across. Worst bit of the night was probably the last 2 songs.... I made a big deal (like I always do) of saying that the last 2 songs of the night were special and it would be great if everyone joined the B&G on the dancefloor for them as it was their chosen songs to finish off their special day. The reaction was terrible! Hardly anyone joined them and although they loved it, it was a cringe factor. I almost had to scream at people to get them up and some of them finally did. When the last song faded out, it seemed like everyone couldn't wait to get out. Not a great confidence builder.

On to the next one quickly I think and forget about last night.

Bit of an update to this one.... The Mackies are less than a year old and were purchased from DJKit. I had the same problem with one of them when I originally bought them and it was a huge hassle waiting for stock to come in. Eventually got a replacement and all was well. It later transpired that it was part of a bad batch as they had a few units returned which miffed them as they say they are rock solid.

It probably doesn't take a genius to work out that the one that I have returned this morning was the other one in the pair. That was fine originally and to be honest, I've only used the Mackies about 5 times since I have had them. I was down at DJKit for 10.00am this morning and the guy there was very helpful. He tested the faulty unit and turned his nose up. I was worried that they wouldn't have any stock in but I was determined this morning to at least get something sorted. Anyway, he gave me a new one straight out of the box that had been delivered yesterday. We tested it and it's how it should be so I am now less stressed.

Well so far this week it's been Wedding Thursday , wedding friday.

Both good nights although Thursdays was spoilt by very drunk guests...well just two actually. One was up on the tables dancing and had to be got down by the security bloke and explained the dangers of table dancing, unfortunately she was too far gone for this to sink in. Security ended up speaking to the groom and the offending guest (BM) was sent to bed! Previously in the evening "security" were doing their tour of the grounds and found other guests "watering" the gardens and smoking strange smelling cigarettes :eek: One guest become very abusive to the bar staff, security and me. At one stage it looked as if he was going to kick off big style but it calmed a bit.

The actual party itself was a good night and lots of happy punters.

Last night's was a 7pm-1am Wedding, which on the whole I do try and avoid as it's a long old time. But last night proved all this wrong and there were people literally dancing from 7pm right through to 1am :D

Top tunes of the night were a bit of a dance set that included tunes like PPK Resurection, Public Domain Operation Blade & Southside Spinners Luvstruck.

Throughly enjoyable and a lot of "thanks" at he end.

Even got spied on by the DJ from the next room (he had a midnight finish) and came in to say hello before he left.

On more tonight again with a 1am finish but don't start until 8.30pm.

wedding lsat night with a small but good bunch of people.

as usual, the meal was running late, we were meant to start at 8, actually did the first dance at 9.15.

plenty dancing & requests, did have an old man, guessing mid 90's, who kept trying to ask for songs. I couldnt understand a word he was trying to say, and he kept spitting when he talked. Think the inside of my right ear is still wet!!!

Was going great till a bus took away most of the guests at 11.30, then the rest started drifting away. The last 15 mins i had 4 people who were happily dancing to some old school tunes. The bar staff joined in the dancing though.

Got thanked by the bride at the end (the groom had disappeared) and by the hotel manager.

Good stuff! Must have been the week when the drunken, abusive idiots came out to play as I had a couple last night, luckily I was on a stage. It was quite funny actually but more on that soon.

****This is a long review guys for reasons at the end. I wanted to write a full review on this one. I wanted to make it as accurate as possible to give a clear indication of exactly what happened. I'm quite proud of the fact. You'll see what I mean.****

Last night was a 40th Birthday at the British Legion Club in town. Never been there before in all the years I have been DJing around the town and I have to say, it's a nice venue, perfect for a party. Small stage, nice big space for dancing and plenty of seating room to the side. I was allowed to use smoke too which was great as it made the whole set up look really good.

Unbeknown to me at the time, the 40th was for a lady that used to come to my Alternative Nights way back when I first started. She was one of 5 sisters and it was her and the younger sister that used to attend the nights. I didn't recognise them but they recognised me and were very complimentary and excited by the fact that it was me DJing at the party (no ego intended). The reason I didn't know this was because it was a surprise-ish party (up until last week) and there was never a time when her husband was free to meet up. When I arrived to set up at 5pm, I was told that the party nearly didn't happen because the venue had been double booked. They said that they nearly called me on Thursday to cancel but they'd kicked off and it was sorted. Apparently it was a commitee member who had booked a party for themselves but in the end they had to move theirs elsewhere.

Anyway, on to the party and the playlist was a right old mixture of old and new Indie & Alternative, Motown, Northern Soul, Current Chart and 80's & 90's dance. I played everything from Jocelyn Brown to Nirvana, Alexander O' Neal to The Fratellis and Stevie V to The Cure....it really was mixed but seemed to work. Lots of dancing and packed dancefloor properly from around 10.00pm (Midnight finish).

There was around 120 guests and lots of them were work colleagues of the birthday girl. She works at the hospital (the booking came via my mate who works in the kitchens there who had recommended me). The husband is also a regular at the venue and used to attend my Alternative Nights too. He'd said to me that the venue always had rubbish family discos on and it might be worth having a word with them. I did when I arrived and gave them a card etc. Spoke to the Bar Manager who was on duty and he was impressed before I had even started so it could be that the venue recommends me from now on?

Overall a really good night, much better than the dire wedding I did on friday (well...3.5hrs of dire and an hour of half decent).

So, I mentioned drunks....Well, that's the only really negative about the gig last night. They were quite a way from me as I was up on stage. The Kam Panels were pointing down on to the dancefloor and if you were stood on the dancefloor and looked at the rig, you couldn't really see me. There were 4 guys who I recognised as 'old school' who were dancing about and really getting into the tunes etc...Every time a song came on that they liked, they would cheer as if they were at a football match. One bloke in particular would look my way (even though he couldn't see me) and do the 'thumbs up' signals.

I'd said throughout the evening that I was taking requests. No'one had come up all night and then in the last 45 minutes I was flooded with them. The guy who was signalling to me made his way over to me and was looking for me. I moved to the side so he could see me and he attempted to get up on the stage but fell backwards so I jumped off and helped him up...He was startled "You're a big bloke!" he said..."Better watch myself eh!?"...I guessed he was trying it on and taking the mick. I asked him if he wanted me to play something and he said "Have you got 'Start' by The Jam?"...."Top tune" I said, "It will be on a minute". He then went back to his mates and gave them the thumbs up and when it came on, they loved it. A decent Ska set followed and then there was enough time left for about 2 songs.

On seperate occasions, 2 of the sisters came up and asked for different songs which they wanted dedicated to their dad who had died a few months ago. I had spoken to the Birthday Girl when I was setting up and found this out and I sympathised because I had the same thing happen to me. The requests were 'Sisters are doing it for themselves' and 'You've lost that loving feeling'. I really wasn't sure about playing the Righteous Brothers track as I didn't want to upset anyone but also, I didn't want to end the night with a track like that and bring the whole atmosphere down but if it's what they wanted....

It was 11.55pm and the Eurythmics track had just started. I made the announcement, thanked everyone and the sisters all got together and danced to it along with everyone else. The Bar Manager was collecting glasses and signalled that it was the last song. As the song came to an end, I thanked everyone again and as the song came to an end, I turned off my lights to signal the end of the night. I had cue'd up the Righteous Brothers track so that it was ready but I didn't have time to play it and the atmosphere went horrible. One of the sisters who was very drunk stormed to the stage and starting shouting at me and asking why I wasn't playing the song. I explained that I had to finish and she walked off shouting abuse which got everyone looking. Then one of the guys (also drunk) came over and started giving me verbal too. I explained the situation and it started to get slightly heated when the Bar Manager came back and said "Go on, one more!".....Phew! Relief! Yes, I bowed down to them....It had been a good night and it would have been a shame to end it on a sour note. My lights went back on, I made an announcement about the track and played it and the mood went from horrible to great within seconds. They really appreciated it. It was good to turn it around like that. Unbelievably, there was still a vast majority of guests left and they all cheered and thanked me which was nice.

Lastly (sorry!)...I'd packed down the equipment and was making my way out (or trying to) through drunk people. My van was literally outside the back doors and there were the 4 guys out there having a smoke. I didn't notice them at first and one startled me when he said "Top night son!"...."Cheers!" I replied, "Glad you enjoyed it". He came over, shook my hand and asked if I needed a hand..."Nah, it's ok thanks...you enjoy your smoke" I said. Everything was cool until one of them who was really drunk said..."I'll wait until you're gone and then have those monitors away son!" (he was talking about the monitors for the Photo Projection)....I just laughed and ignored him and walked back in to get my stuff. I was literally gone about 1 minute and when I came back, he was loitering by my van. I didn't say a word and just put more equipment in it before going back inside. It seemed like the bloke was just trying to wind me up by getting in my way and his mates just watched. It was becoming annoying but I still either laughed or didn't say a word.

When I came out with the flightcase he was stood right in the way... "Excuse me!" I asked but he looked at me and laughed...."Come on mate, this is heavy" I said and he just stood there. I turned to his mates and said "Sort him out please, I need to put this down"...they laughed and then one of them grabbed his arm and moved him away. I was getting concerned now that this drunk bloke was trying to kick off at me. I had one more journey to do and then that was it, the van would be loaded and I would be out of there. I nipped inside to get my speaker stands and when I returned, the drunk bloke was stood in the doorway, blocking my exit. His mates had now disappeared and when I went to one side to get past him, so did he. When I went to the other side, so did he. "Excuse me!" I asked..."No!" he said...."Come on mate, I want to get home now"...I said. "Well, you'll have to wait then" he replied and I thought..."Oh, here we go". Someone else had obviously seen him being a pain and shouted out for him to move but he ignored them. I was still trying to squeeze past him when he suddenly moved and clattered into me and then got on the defensive. Being the drunk idiot that he was, he thought that I had started on him so he started kicking off at me. I stood there holding speaker stands not knowing what to do. All I knew was that I wanted to get them in the van and get home. Whoever it was that had shouted out at him had obviously seen what was going on and what could happen and they came over and pulled him away and apologised to me (I think it was the Birthday Girl's husband). That really only made it worse to be honest and as I walked out of the door, the drunk bloke started coming at me. For whatever reason, he wanted to batter me (I have no idea why but I wasn't having it). I put the speaker stands in the van, locked it up and said goodbye to the husband. He was still holding the bloke back as I was getting in the van!! I thought that was it.....but it wasn't. Just as I was reversing, the Bar Manager came out and signalled to me. I wound down the window and he said "Is this yours mate?"....I had left my starcloth in it's bag on the stage. What a donut! I asked what the problem was with the drunk bloke and he said he had no idea. I asked if he was a regular and he said no.

Anyway, I eventually got away and just laughed as I drove home. It could have been a whole lot different if others had not tried to help and luckily (for him), it didn't happen years ago when I would have more than likely lost my rag with him.

As posted in yesterdays This weekend thread. I took a phone call yesterday morning from a fabulous venue (Pity about the load in/out though) in the wilds of Northumberland. Panicking for cover for a wedding that same day as their resident dj just dropped them in it at 10am. Already had a gig on that night. So Mary agreed to do the 80's night. Which in turn meant I could cover the wedding.

Set off early just in case any probs on the way. Good job too as there were umpteen diversions set up on the A1 due to roadworks so what should have taken me just over an hour, actually took me one hour forty mins. The wedding was running bang on time as well. The fabulous room was huge was and there were at least 250 guests there. Oh dear I've only got a set of class d's with me. I needn't have worried they performed effortlessly (Well impressed and I didn't hammer them either) LED indicator on the mixer barely touched the red all night. Hoisted them really high on the stands and it certainly seemed to do the trick.

Was told by the duty manager not to tell the B&G I was a last minute stand in. Was a bit stop start at first. Played the first dance (Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls) and after only half way through that there were at least a dozen other couples had joined them on the floor. Played about 4 more songs (Dancefloor was full immediately) When I was told to announce the buffet was ready. All the house lights came on and was told to play some background music. So loaded a dozen slushy love songs into media monkey set it on continuous and went outside for a ciggie. After the buffet was then told to tell all the guests to make their way outside for a firework display.

The duty manager told me that their resident had really :Censored: them off and asked for my card.

Finally got going at 10pm and the floor was jam packed until 12:30 am finish
Loads of people came over to thank me including the B&G which is always nice

Have to email them an invoice tomorrow. Gives me an excuse to ring the events manager who originally booked me. To see if I can't steam in there on a more regular basis;) ;) ;)

Sounds VERY promising. glad you had a great night :)