Another good couple of gigs for me this week.
Friday was another night at my local and again, it was busy despite there being a number of live gigs throughout the town. What was pleasing was that a number of new faces came back from the previous week. Bit of a dampener on the night midway through though. Trouble in this place is very, very rare...to be honest, it just never happens but Friday was a bit different. I clocked a couple of guys that I'd never seen before who looked on the dodgy side to put it mildly. I don't believe in judging a book by it's cover but I was proved right. The landlord had an eye on them too as we were thinking the same thing. Anyway, at one point during the night one of the guys decided to get a bit aggressive with one of the bar staff. The landlord asked them to leave and one of them said "Make me!" (so I'm told. I couldn't hear or see anything as it happened in the other bar and well away from where I was). Anyway, it kicked off which is a bit silly as the pub is dead opposite the police station. Apparently, one of the guys went for the landlord (bad move!) and the other slapped the nearest person to him which happened to be a friend of mine. He now has a lovely black eye. The police were there within seconds as one of the locals legged it over to the police station because he sensed there was going to be trouble. As I said, it never happens in this place, it's just not one of those pubs. I have been going down there 26 years and have probably seen 3 incidents in that time. It didn't affect the night at all and most people didn't have a clue what was going on, neither did they care. It was only when the police turned up that anyone took the slightest bit of interest. It was all over within 10 minutes and everyone carried on as normal.
Last night I was at Wokefield Park in Mortimer. I didn't realise it was literally round the corner from Trunkwell House where I have been a couple of times in the past.
Spoke to the C&B Manager in the week and arranged to set up in the morning. I'd been advised before that there is a sound limiter where I'd be situated which was in the Maple suite. It's a large room but the Disco is set up in the corner where the room narrows so it's almost as if it's a dedicated Disco area. When I'd heard about the sound limiter I was a bit apprehensive but I was assured that it had never been set off before and the previous night there had been a live band playing and everything had been ok. I noticed a plug socket that had 121.3db on it so guessed that it was the level that the limiter was set at. I plugged the lighting in to that socket and took everything else from the other ones that were nearby. I set up the subs and also the JBL's so it was quite a beefy sounding and large stacked sound system. It sounded pretty bloody nice actually and I never got it past 50% volume. I soundchecked after breakfast and booted it up and the lights on the limiter didn't flinch. I booted it some more to account for 180 guests that would be there in the evening and even I thought it was loud but the limiter light flickered amber. It seemed like a bit of a task to get it to go red!
So, the evening came. Bit of a nightmare driving to the venue as some of the back lanes on the way to and a couple of miles from the venue were flooded and there was also fog (worse on the way home). I got there for just after 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start but they were running 45 minutes late. I waited around for a while, chatted to staff and saw the best man to let him know I was there etc. Chatted with the photographer who I'd seen at a previous wedding and then finally the time came to start playing some background music as the room was turned around and the dividers which separated the main room from the Disco were sorted out. The volume of the background music was louder than usual as I had a bit more space to fill and I noticed that even though it was a lot quieter than it had been when I soundchecked, the amber light on the limiter was flickering. I got quite nervous about this and turned the subs down a bit. I spoke to the C&B Manager and voiced my concerns and she once again said not to worry. She asked me to turn it right up to test it as all of the guests had now vacated the room. I did this and it went straight to red. She said "Keep going". I did this and was worried that everything would go off but it didn't. It stayed in the red at times for around 10 seconds but nothing happened. She told me that unless it was constantly in the red, there wouldn't be a problem. I walked out front and the sound seemed fine so I was happy-ish. I say 'ish' because I felt as if I was concentrating and watching those lights all night and was on edge. I was monitoring the sound all night and took most of the volume off the subs. Now and then I'd turn them up and the difference in quality was easy to hear but I just didn't want to take any chances.
The gig itself was a very good one. I've supplied 2 Discos in the past for the same family a couple of years ago so I knew they liked their Motown and 70's and 80's, Cheesiness and some Indie so it was pretty easy especially with a big crowd of people that were up for a good time. As soon as the first dance(s) were done, they were on the floor all night.
First Dance was Steve Tyrell - The way you look tonight and that was followed by Moulin Rouge - Your song. Bride and Groom were very happy and so were their guests. I got asked for a card by the C&B Manager and also one of the guests who is planning a party in January. Last songs of the night were Grease - You're the one that I want (which was really funny because all of the ladies stood one side of the dance floor and the gents stood the other side and they all sang the parts). Last song as planned was S Club 7 - Reach (haven't played it for ages but it worked well). C&B Manager was stood next to me during the last song and as it faded out and I said congratulations and good night, the chants of "One more!" came. I'd already cue'd up One Step Beyond just in case so there was a slight pause to see if I could play it and then it went mad! They loved it.
I've mentioned Wokefield Park in the Venue Discussion forum in the past because I didn't know what to expect so I hope the long description at the beginning has helped anyone that may be visiting the place in the future. I was in the Mansion House in the Maple Suite. Looking back at the thread in Venue Discussion I can see what Darren means now. Last night there was another Disco in a smaller room at the other end of the venue and that access looked easier. In order to get into the Maple Suite I had to drive round the back and take the equipment up 6 or 7 stairs on to the patio and then through the doors that the staff opened up. It wasn't much hassle to be fair although I had big subs and big full range JBL's too. After the gig it was quite well lit so there was no problem carrying them down the stairs and I could see what I was doing easily enough. I was out within 30 minutes.
Got a hire job on for later this afternoon which I need to go and set up and then pick up again so I definitely won't be at BPM. Unfortunately for me, I don't have anyone that I can get to do it all for me so I have to do it myself. I hope everyone has a good time and a few beers!
