Right - Here's my review of last nights gig. I wish a few others would do their reviews because it just seems to be me at the moment and I know that there are some people who get a bit 'peeved' reading them.... Just skip over it or ignore it.
Last nights gig was the last Christmas Party. Just like the review above, I set up the equipment and let the playlist do the music. As already said in a current thread which talks about unprofessionalism, at this venue we have a routine and it works well. Both the staff and myself are happy with how it all works.
Anyway, last nights gig had everything really. Let me just say though for starters - It ended up being very good but it could have gone the other way quite easily.
I was told beforehand by the staff that the company were pretty hardcore drinkers going on last years party. Also going on previous experience, he said that they were quite rude and unbeknown to me, after the party there was fisticuffs when some of them went into town so you can probably appreciate that I was a bit apprehensive with this lot. Now, I would not have nipped home to get changed etc if I hadn't of had full trust in the staff to monitor the equipment but I did and I had no worries at all. I wasn't gone long and was back on site well before they had finished their meals.
I was talking to a member of staff in reception whilst the guests were eating and I peered through the doors and saw a number of faces that I recognised so I thought I'd go in and say hello. I was firstly relieved to see that it wasn't a party of predominantly blokes but around 70% women. 2 Girls I knew got up from their table and came over and hugged me and put me at ease a bit.
I then went over and checked the levels on the mixer and upped the volume a bit as it was pretty quiet what with all the talking and singing along to the songs.
As I made my way towards the doors to go outside, a guy approached me and said "Are you the DJ?...When are we getting this Party started then?". I looked around and could see that some people were just finishing their main meals so I said "Shouldn't be long. It will be after the Desserts". He was quite drunk but said "Cool, Nice one!".
I nipped outside to the Smoking Area and saw a couple of others that I knew so went and had a chat with them. We were soon joined by a big guy who had real attitude. He stared at me first which made me feel uncomfortable and then said "Are you the DJ mate?"...I replied "Yes". He then said...."Do us a favour. Don't play any Christmas Songs. If you play any Christmas Songs I'll hit you hard". I laughed and said "Charming" and then thought I'd make an exit and let the staff member in charge what had happened.
When the Disco started, the lights went down and everyone cheered. I kept an eye on the bloke that threatened me most of the night and he was just sat in his chair around 10ft away from me, drinking and singing along. The dance floor was busy with the ladies strutting their stuff to the latest chart stuff etc when another guy came over and said "Come on mate, play something decent, this is ****!". He wanted some old skool funk and disco tunes (which he got in the end and loved).
The girls who I knew came over and asked for some 80's Classics and also told me that the guy who had threatened me was a bit of an idiot and that I shouldn't worry about him. I wasn't worried but I felt like I had to be on my guard all the time as I didn't know what was going to happen.
The dance floor was rocking now and I had an hour left. The 80's Classics were going down well and I kind of forgot all about Mr Aggressive....well, until I got a tap on the shoulder and I looked around and he was stood by the side of me.
"Remember, NO Christmas Songs or I'll smack you!" He said in my ear....He was grinning whilst he said it which made me feel 2ft tall. "Don't worry, I won't be playing any!" I replied...."You can :Censored: jog on mate if you do!" He said and walked off. One of the girls dancing must have seen him talking to me and came over and asked me if everything was ok. I said it was fine but if he kept threatening me, I'd just stop the Disco and it would be his fault. I cringed as she marched straight over to his table and I could see her shouting at him. Within 5 minutes he was back by the side of me and said "I'm only having a laugh with you fella! Ignore me". He then walked off again.
All in all, it was an interesting night to say the least. I had a guy in his late 50's by the looks of it, come up to me and say "Can I have a nose at your equipment? I'm a DJ too". I let him have a look and he then went on to tell me that he runs a local Disco business too. I've heard of it. He asked me what I charged but I didn't divulge that information. I just said that it varies. He said that he had 2 DJ's out at the time that were working for him for £125.00 each. I said "Is that what you are paying them?" and he said "No, I'll get £75.00 from each and they'll have £50.00 each. Not bad is it?". I didn't comment. He looked like he was trying to be Elvis and was about 5ft tall. He asked for some Elvis so I played some and he loved it. He was bopping away on the dance floor.
So, we came to the end and I finished with 'One Step Beyond' which went down well. The organiser came over and got on the mic and thanked everyone for attending and also got everyone to thank me too which was nice. I looked over and Mr Aggressive was clapping and gave me the thumbs up. In my head I said ":Censored: ".
I sat down with the staff before they started clearing up and had a well deserved pint which went down so well, I had another one.....Ok, a third and decided that I would leave my equipment set up as I am only 5 minutes walk away from the venue.
As I said, tonight I had everything and it didn't stop there. It was about 01.30am and I was around 2 minutes away from my house on my walk home. I had my I-Pod on listening to music and was in my own little world when I looked across the road and saw 2 chav type blokes with bottles of beer shouting in my direction. I couldn't hear what they were saying so carried on walking. I looked behind me for a split second and saw them making their way towards me so I thought I'd take my headphones off. I could hear what they were saying now and it wasn't nice. "Here we go again" I thought.....
And that's where I'll end this review.
I'm fine by the way :D
