Good Gig, Bad Gig.

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Originally Posted by marting

Following on from my post about the gig in the marquee and the phone call from the bride on monday.
http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/loc...ook_and_gifts/

needless to say i have contacted the police

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Originally Posted by Silver

Sorry, not with you. :confused:

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Maybe the following qotes from this thread will help

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Originally Posted by marting

Well where should I start The Marquee in the middle of a field that had sloping sides al around, vehicles had to be towed out at one point. Around about a 4 minute trip from the car to the marquee across mud while it was pouring with rain.

No where for me to set up, eventually set up along the side of the dance floor after all the coats and wellys had been moved.

The band who were brilliant were meant to kick off at 8.30pm but it had been arranged for another singer to start, the band started at around 10pm and about halfway through the second song the generator tripped for the first of many times. it turned out that the one generator was feeding me the band, the caterers, the lights the heating the photobooth etc etc plus i believe several plugs were in a standing pool of water. Took about 15 mins for the tech guys to get everything back on and the band played till 12.

I started just after 12 and was very glad to say it went really well i was booked to finish at 2 and just as i was playing the final song was asked by the father of the bride to stay on till 3am which after an exchange of money i did.

Sadly i was unable to play to 3am as i was playing the penultimate track the generator failed again this time out of fuel.

I was left to pack down in the pitch black with only the light from my laptop whilst the battery lasted, and the flash light on my mobile.

I would like to say there was no more welcome sight than my wife to collect me at 3.30am still took me another 40mins to get packed down and loaded up in to the car through the quagmire. finally got home at 5am and to bed at 5.30am got up at 3pm and the worst thing about it all just gone to make a cup of coffee and the milk has curdled.

Next time someone mentions marquees im running.

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Originally Posted by marting

Following on from gig report saturday night i have a rather bat taste in my mouth.
I had acall from the bride this morning advising me that some things had gone missing notably presents cards and atool box,

I advised that i had left around 4.15 and it was pitch black and we didnt see anyone.
When i was told we will be contacting the police you know.

My thoughts why leave it today to contact me wedding was saturday,
Why didnt someone make sure these things were safe
And it was a marquee in a field in a not to easy place to get too

I hope they do contact the police and that there things turn up.
Im definatley not doing a marquee gig ever again.

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Originally Posted by marting

I believe the tool box belonged to her father who had spent a greeat deal of time effort and money making sure the marquee was ok to the extent of planking the marquee floor

I got the impression that as i was the last one there they thought i was responsible as i said earlier i had enough fun packing down in the dark.

And again why didnt i get a call yesterday.

I havnt heard anything back as yet (not that im likly too) unless the police turn up demanding to look in my garage in which case feel free i have nothing to hide.

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Clear now?

Abundantly thank you.

Did a 40th Birthday last night in a nice venue just a few miles outside town.
I'd never been there before so drove over on Friday morning to check out the place, see where I would be setting up etc and make myself known to the owners.

It was in a village and was a very nice, quite large pub. Didn't realise (or notice to be honest), the oak beams so was a bit peeved off when it came to setting up on Saturday afternoon as I had to lower the uprights on the Ultimax so that they were touching the floor. I had arranged with the owners that I would set up after their lunch period and they assurred me that they would move stuff around and leave me space to set up.
This didn't happen so when I arrived, even though the pub was empty, it took me nearly 2 hours from door to door to set up a Disco with Karaoke and by the time I had done it, I was a sweaty mess and it was very tight for space.

The party had a festival theme and when I arrived back later, the venue had been decked out and looked really cool. The booking only came in around 3 weeks ago and came via my IndieAlternativeDJ site. The customer, a very nice looking 40 year old lady (didn't look 40 at all!), booked me because she said she wanted someone who specialised in the Alternative side of things. She didn't want any of the 'usual suspects' and said the likes of Abba were banned without question....fair enough!

It was a quick turnaround booking wise too. She booked me, paid the booking fee online and then went off on holiday with her husband and family. She'd been emailing me and texting me through songs during the holiday and I had to remind her that the balance needed paying. It wasn't until Saturday morning that it was actually sorted (they got back from holiday on Friday night).

So, the idea was to have Indie/Alternative music from 8.00pm - Midnight with some Karaoke in between and then when I had finished, they had hired in a Silent Disco to go on until 1.00am.

Things didn't really go to plan that well. Don't get me wrong, it was a great night with loads of people dancing and I could tell that this bunch were very (how do I put this...)...well, a few of them thought or gave the impression that they were better than everyone else. There was a free bar so people were obviously getting trollied quickly. The atmosphere was a great one and I was coming up with tracks that weren't on the request list and they were cheering their heads off. The birthday girl would come over every now and then and hug me and say "I forgot this one!" and then go off and dance again.

The husband (who had paid for everything) was a bit of a pain. Not really bad but he kept trying to change things. He asked me at about 10.00pm if we were going to do the Karaoke. I said that it wasn't a problem. I had set it all up earlier but put the monitors on the floor behind the decks as I didn't want them to get knocked over because there was lots of dancing and room was tight. He started to write down lots of Karaoke requests for his guests and I made an announcement that we'd be doing some Karaoke soon.

I put the monitors back up and then was approached by the Birthday girl again who said not to bother with the Karaoke as everyone was enjoying dancing to the music. She asked my advice and I agreed. I said that it was such a good atmosphere and that we should keep it going. Her last words were "Totally agree, let's not do the Karaoke" so I put the screens back behind the decks. Within 2 minutes the husband is back and asking when I am going to start it. I told him that his wife had said to leave it and we weren't going to do it as she was enjoying the music and his face dropped. He seemed gutted. I apologised to him and he said "It's not your fault".

They both came over and stood with me behind the decks and once again asked my advice. She was adamant that she wanted to just have the music and he tried to get her to change her mind. They turned to me and asked what I thought and I said what I had said before..."You've got a great atmosphere, everyone's dancing and enjoying themselves but it's up to you".
They looked at eachother, she said those immortal words..."Come on, it is MY party" and he gave in. I felt slightly awkward at the time.

The tunes kept flowing and the birthday girl was loving it. Then she came over and asked if I could play some 90s dancey stuff. It was around 11.15pm now so I started mixing it in and it was one of those days where it just worked really well. I was coming up with stuff that I forgot I had. I didn't have any particular requests but stuff like Robin S, Nightcrawlers, De Lacy etc just worked really well.

Last song of the night had been requested in advance as 'Never Forget' by Take That. I asked the birthday girl if she still wanted it and she said "Yes, I must admit that I do have a liking for Take That" so with around 10 minutes left I played Florence & The Machine 'You got the love' (requested) made the announcement and thanked everyone, got cheered and then played 'Never Forget'. It went down really well. As it was playing I started to unplug the monitors for the Karaoke and powered down the laptop. I knew that it would be a bit of a mission trying to pack up once the Silent Disco started. It was originally planned for outside in the beer garden but the rain put a stop to that so I knew I had to be out and give them room as soon as possible.

When the song had finished it was just gone Midnight. I had another song cue'd up just incase they asked for "One More!" but they were cool. I think they were looking forward to the Silent Disco as many of the guests had never experienced it before. The husband came over and asked if he could borrow my microphone and he thanked everyone for coming and told them that the Silent Disco was starting in a second. I didn't expect a thank you or anything.....and I didn't get one. What I got was what I thought was a bit of a dig in all honesty (probably wrong but it was a long day with hardly any sleep the night before)...The husband said...."Right guys, we've got to say thanks to one of the best DJ's this pub has ever witnessed, I give you..." and then he said the name of his best mate who had been given the responsibility of setting up the playlists for the Silent Disco in advance. I laughed because we'd chatted during the afternoon when I was setting up and he said he was "bricking it" because he'd never done anything like it before.

I packed down as quickly as I could. The access was very easy, van outside the door literally but it still took me 40 minutes to get everything loaded up.
People were getting in the way and they couldn't hear me because they headphones on. It was really funny actually and something that I may look into. Everyone had wireless headphones on and it seemed like they could choose which channel to listen to. At one point I heard lots of people singing (badly) along to the likes of 'Mr Brightside' whilst others were trying to sing along and dance (also badly) to the likes of 'Ice Ice Baby'. It was hilarious.

A very good night though all in all and I woke up again at stupid o'clock this morning to a text which was sent at 4.42am from the birthday girl who had obviously carried on partying. Lots of spelling mistakes as you'd expect but it more or less "Sorry I didn't get to say goodbye, Thanks so much for an amazing night xx".

Luckily the missus (birthday today) knew I was out WORKING because that text coming from a very nice lady could mean something totally different.

Engagement Party for me last night, my first proper party as myself and not working for someone else. I had a list of pre requested tracks from the couple with some chart stuff and then various bits of 80's and 90's in there.

Setting up wasn't to bad, the function room was upstairs but the venue had a lift so access was pretty easy just a little bit of a pain having to go up and down. The venue did though lend me a trolley so that made life a lot easier as i could put all the small things onto it. The couple were there when i arrived and were really excited for the party. Set up the equipment on the portable stage that the venue and put out in front of a wooden dance floor and give a quick soundcheck before the guests arrived. Once the guests arrived played some backing music while they where talking and then while they had the buffet, mainly 00's stuff that was very soft like Corrine Bailey Rae then once we started getting nearer to starting put in a few more dancey songs.

Overall there was about 40 people there so quite a small party, then a few left straight after the meal which i found strange. They did have children but they seemed to be older children about 14 ish, and it wasn't exactly late only about 9:30.

Just after that got the go ahead from the couple to start the disco off, made the announcement and the floor was a little slow to get going. Most of the younger people where at the bar and the older people having a chat. Played a mixture of 80's, 90's and Chart to start off with and got a few on the floor. The couple then showed a quick video from a holiday in dubai, not sure why as it had nothing of them in but was a nice video anyway.

Started back with quite a few chart tracks which filled the floor with all the young people, went into a bit of 80's but this cleared most of the young people and the remaining 7 or so older people just continued to talk on a table near the back. Tried a bit of mic work but was pretty obvious they had no intention of dancing so made the decision to go with mostly chart hits with some Ska thrown in as this seemed to go down well. Pretty much all night the floor was full with the younger people and had a fair few requests as well.

At the end played Take That - Never Forget which everyone sung along to then finished with a track that the couple had requested. Couple come up and thanked me for a great night at the end and i apologised for not playing some of the older stuff to which they replied "Ahh we didn't like that anyway, we just wanted something for everyone but they just wanted to chat"

Overall a really good night, as i was packing away there was a little bit of a verbal fight between a couple of people that i thought may have got a bit nasty due to drink but they went there separate ways.

Only downside to the night was a guy that whenever a song some on he didn't like he said to cut it. Come to me while Katy Perry - Hot & Cold was on and said no one liked to which i pointed out that the dance floor was full and people were singing along, after that he didn't tell me to cut tracks anymore.

I know the idea of this thread is to comment on Good/Bad gigs, but some of them seem to cross what I would think is "the line" in terms of describing gigs you don't like and criticizing clients- suspect it wouldnt be too difficult for a previous client to stumble across the thread or even a prospective client stumbling across it and being put off.

Everyone has gigs that don't go to plan but it's probably the area of the forum where it's worth thinking about how much detail you go into re clients.

Sat night i was working about 17 miles away from Hull in a smallish village called South Cave at a nice little venue called Rudstone Walk the room is a converted barnhouse which was really nice inside.

The Bride and Groom were both lovely people and i had an absolutely cracking night with them. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. I played a few indie and rock songs eg. White Stripes, Kings Of Leon, Killers, Reverend & The Makers, The Libertines, Wolfmother, Meatloaf and loads more.

as well as 90's dance, up to date some 60's 70's and 80's music as well. The dancefloor stayed full for most of the night apart from the time where the food come out. Still people on the dancefloor even then.

At the gig there was a couple of faces there i knew. One of them my Cousin Louise with her husband as well as a previous wedding client from last year. This gig was a repeat booking from a wedding i did for the brides friend last year that she was at.

It was a really good night.

The drinks at the venue was expensive. I wished id took a bottle of drink with me but nevermind.

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Originally Posted by wensleydale

I know the idea of this thread is to comment on Good/Bad gigs, but some of them seem to cross what I would think is "the line" in terms of describing gigs you don't like and criticizing clients- suspect it wouldnt be too difficult for a previous client to stumble across the thread or even a prospective client stumbling across it and being put off.

Everyone has gigs that don't go to plan but it's probably the area of the forum where it's worth thinking about how much detail you go into re clients.

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I'm not having a moan but I'm guessing that this was aimed at me? Like I said, I'm not having a moan. I personally like to do a 'proper' review and so I put as much information in it as I can and I always believe in being honest.
I agree with you that a customer or prospective / potential customer could find it easy to stumble across and may also be put off BUT I also think that a customer may also find some inspiration and maybe some tips on how not to do things etc. They may (for example) see a review from a DJ on here and in that review it may (for example) report on things like massive playlists not working, couples not taking their guests into consideration, timings etc... There could be someone out there who is adamant at first that they want a certain style of music at their function because it's their personal taste and then after reading a review, they may re-think? Who knows?

So, with that in mind...Here's my review of my weekend so far. I'll try not to put too much information in my reviews in future because I do understand where you're coming from and as some have commented in the past, I may appear to have drama's when I go out. I don't see it like that. I just try and paint a true picture of the gigs and say it as it is.

Friday night for me was awesome. I was at my local doing my Request Fest night and it was packed. Really good atmosphere and some top requests. Can't really say much more than that.

Last night (Saturday) was a tale of two halves. It was a wedding at one of my residencies around 10 miles out of town. Very nice couple who really wanted an Indie/Alternative/Rock theme to their wedding. The booking came via my other website which is still relatively new which was very encouraging.
I set up on Friday afternoon, Pink Uplighting included and met the Bride & Groom for the first time. We had communicated via phone and email as we were unable to meet up due to their work commitments (they aren't in the country that often). We sat down and had a chat for a while and I left with mega confidence in that what they wanted, I could easily supply and looked forward to it big time. I posted the list of requests and favourite bands on here a couple of weeks ago and I went through it with them. They were very clear that they did not want any current Chart stuff, RnB or Dance, Cheese and definitely (under no circumstances), any Abba or Wham! I was also told that 90% of the guests were into the same music as them and that everything would be fine. They said that the guests were mostly late 20's, 30 somethings.

So, I mentioned a tale of two halves...well, that's exactly what it was.
I could honestly see it coming a mile off which was down to experience. The venue has some gorgeous grounds and they are all lit up at night. It was lovely (and dry) evening last night and so ALL of the guests (120 of them) were outside in the gardens for while. I started at 7.00pm with some of the slower requests as background music as everyone finished their desserts. The speeches were then done and then some of the tables were moved around so that a dancefloor area could be created.
At 8.00pm I announced the first dance (Bruce Springsteen - Dancing in the Dark) and they were all mad for it. It looked like it was going to be a brilliant night from the off but the packed dance floor only stayed like it for around 15 minutes before everyone made their way outside to enjoy their drinks in the nice weather.

From around 8.15pm - 10.00pm and I'm not joking here, there was only 4 people in the venue. They were the Mother's of the Bride & Groom and a couple of their relatives. I guess you're going to know what happens next. After around an hour of churning out the tunes from the request list, I get approached by the Mother of the Groom who says that I really need to change the music because no'one is dancing :eek: :eek: Surprise! Surprise! Tell me something I don't know....I can clearly see that. I ask her what she would like and the first thing she says is "Play some Abba!". She isn't one of those that is coming across as stroppy and laughs when I joke with her about the request list. I show her it and point out where it says "Please, under no circumstances play any Abba whatsoever or anything like it".

I get the 4 of them dancing by putting on some 60s bands (Rolling Stones, Kinks, Small Faces etc) and then she comes over and surprises me by asking for some Jimi Hendrix. She tells me that she went to his last ever gig so I put on 'Crosstown Traffic' (my favourite). The other 3 ladies sit down and she dances on her own. They soon get bored and join everyone outside and I am left alone. I actually chuckled to myself because there I was feeling embarassed because I was playing to an empty venue. It's funny because people were walking in and out to either go to the loo or the bar and giving me the thumbs up to say that the music was great.

I got the shock of my life as I was cueing up a track with my headphones. 2 of the Bridesmaids (twins) came over and said "Can we give you a cuddle?"...Erm...Ok, why? was my reply.... They felt sorry for me. They said the music was great and I couldn't see but apparently people outside were loving it and dancing to it in the grounds. They went on to say what I was thinking and that was that everyone was outside because of the nice weather and that was it. Nice cuddle though ;)

So, around 10.00pm it was almost as if someone had flicked a switch that said "Now it's party time!". Just before that the Bride & Groom had popped in to see me. I asked if everything was ok and they said "Perfect! Do not change anything". They also mentioned that they'd had words with the Mothers as they'd moaned about not being able to dance to the likes of Abba etc...they were laughing so it was all good but the Groom said to me as the Bride went off outside that there was no way they were getting any Abba and they'd have to respect the fact that it was his big day too.

What I'd been doing up until the point everyone came back in was playing lots of bands from the request list but not the BIG tunes. I wanted to save them and it worked really well. From 10.00pm and right through until Midnight, I had a packed dance floor. Lots of people giving me the thumbs up and loving it and it felt like I was back in the Alternative clubs again. The Cure, Kings of Leon, Muse, Pixies, Charlatans, Killers etc all went down massively and the track of the night was easily 'I am the ressurection' by The Stone Roses. I chucked in the likes of The Jam, Undertones, Specials, Joy Division, Depeche Mode and it was awesome.
Those 2 solid hours of good tracks and a packed dance floor made the night and turned it around big style. I had so many positive comments and even noticed the mother's up dancing to loads of stuff too (probably because they didn't want to feel left out).

At 11.50pm I thanked everyone on behalf of the happy couple, congratulated them again and got everyone to cheer them and then announced the final 2 tracks that were to finish off their special day.
Oasis - Wonderwall went down a storm with everyone singing along and then the final song was Semisonic - Closing Time. Massive circle, Bride & Groom in the middle as usual and a brilliant atmosphere. Lots of clapping at the end and a queue of people asking me for cards which felt embarassing.
I say "A queue"...it was 5 people but they were in a line! :D
Got some more hugs off the bridesmaids and the Bride planted a smacker on my forehead which left a lipstick mark on it which I didn't notice until I got home.

What was good was that the Mother's came over as I was packing down and thanked me for a great night. I honestly thought that they'd hated it but I was wrong. I got a £50.00 tip too. Not from the Bride & Groom but from the Groom's boss! Strange!!

Anyway, beforehand the wedding had massive potential. The first couple of hours had me feeling a bit downbeat to be honest but the last couple totally made up for it. It was a classic and I loved it.

Great review. Thanks Gary

Well I have to admit , that was the best gig I have ever done , only a short gig , Midnight until 3:00am.

Location:
A marquee in Lavant Nr Chichester
Guests:
The best part of 200 Doctors and nurses
It really have to be seen to be believed , the marquee was themes in Moroccan style , lining was cream with patterns ,all the lighting was Moroccan style as well.
Extras for the guests ( not mine)
Outside.
Fun fair , consisting or a shooting gallery , hoopla , merry go round , and one of those things you hit with a hammer to See if can get the bell to ring , huge outside real fire.
Inside the Marquee.
Photo booth , candy floss machine , roulette table , craps ( hope that right...lol)
Black gammon , poker table , very large bar , par 38 uplights ( mains powered)
Huge ice sculptor of a camel, surrounded by real palm trees in pots , 16 table`s laid out for a meal , 32 X 20 dance floor (black and white ply flooring) , stage.
The catering tent was bigger than my flat....
Entertainment.

On arrival at 7:30 ish the guests were gathered in a large house attached to area where the marquee was , greeted by a harpist , she was excellent , at 8:25 the guests were shown to the marquee bar area , which was curtained off from the main marquee , and there was a pianist , with a Yamaha electric piano , his pa was a fender passport 300 (http://www.fender.com/en-GB/products...tno=0694403000), great sound and all clips together for ease of transport , he played during the meal , after that a there was a band , teaching the guests the Lindy hop , double bass , trumpet , trombone and guitar , again they were good , but the younger guests were getting a little impatient , so at 11:50 I fired up the disco , couple of classics ,staying alive , le freak , dancing on the ceiling , then went to Rihanna - we found love , on with the smoke machine , and the lasers , well from then until finish , full floor , plenty of requests , mostly chart and 90`s dance , threw in a couple of cheese flavoured tracks , YMCA etc , and the usual summer of 69 , livin on a prayer.
No trouble what so ever, and it`s anyone’s guess how many bottles of wine were served, I would say way in excess of 500 to 600 , totally free bar as well , I am guessing that the whole show cost in excess of 30k.
As there was security , I left the gear until this morning , wow , what a mess....
And the good news , I do it all agaim at the doctors mess at St Richards hospital this Friday.
Pics to follow in the gallery section , after I have had a rest...

Daryll

Looking forward to the pictures Daryll!