Good Gig, Bad Gig.

Some of you might have seen this on Facebook, but I thought it worthy of inclusion here:

Saturday, weird night!

Bride and groom decided they couldn't be bothered with the first dance, or cut the cake, just 'get on with it'. They wanted a last dance instead, but after spending hours dancing on chairs and tables, vanished, so no last dance.

An hour to go, venue manager trusts keys to a guest (village hall), after they have left, out comes the weed, everyone getting stoned, music requests going bonkers. Hard Rap, N.W.A, Dr Dre, Eminem, etc.

I call it quits eventually, turn the lights on (I'm over time now anyhow) and load up, drunk key holder doesn't want to wait, tells me to go out self closing fire escape when done. OK this is no problem aside from what to do with the drunks asleep and stoners crashed out, leave them she says, locked in a village hall, with a bar to help themselves, the wedding cake, the the wedding presents, etc.

Had a cracking wedding on Saturday, the rain kept everybody inside - crowd weren't too fussy and seemed to enjoy a bit of everything which made for some very interesting mixes from dance music to 60's and back again meaning I had the old and young on the dancefloor all night.
Really interesting setup where I had 4 speakers positioned at 4 points on the balcony going around the room - first time I've tried this and It sounded great! All in mono of course :). I had my table next to the bar's table surrounded by wine so I doubled up as a bar-tender for when the bar staff where off topping up peoples drinks which I found quite amusing! Had my columns on the opposite side of the dance floor. Felt very nightclub.

Thursday - I had a wedding near Coventry. Well I say wedding, it was actually a blessing and candle ceremony as they got married a few days before. in the briefing they asked for Motown and 70's disco. During the blessing the celebrant mentioned they met through their love of music and both had the same favourite DJ - John Peel...noted for later! Great crowd, played loads of old soul, glam rock, disco etc and towards the end started slipping in a few punk classics that went down well, towards the end (1am finish) there were only about 20 people left sat around chatting and drinking so I went a bit more old school alternative. At the end the B&G said it was like a John Peel festive 50 show and they had loved the memories it bough back.

Friday - Indie and rock night at my residency, great night, lively crowd bouncing around all over the pub.

Saturday - a 9 hour Motown/old soul (plus a bit of Ska and reggae) marathon in a private house in Dartford for a 50th birthday. It got very messy but was great fun, absolutely no requests for anything modern/chart even from the younger guests, who in fact kept asking for more Motown anytime I strayed from it.

Previous week...

Thursday - Ska and NS party for s skinhead girl, the pub was full of boots'n'braces and I got hailed as a legend at the end.
Friday - 70's disco underneath the A13 flyover in Canning Town, we had a hula hoop teacher, a local street dance group, face painting etc, great fun.
Saturday - Indie/retro wedding in a wine bar in Greenwich, lots of fairly obscure indie played, plenty of Manchester bands, a bit of glam rock, lots of early soul and ska.

Last night for me was a really good night and it's strange saying that considering that I had absolutely zilch, nada, zero, not one person dancing ALL night.
As I said previously in another thread, this was a booking via the hotel for a 30 year reunion for a group of ex RAF guys (and a couple of their wives). They had insisted on having music even though there were only 20 of them.

When I arrived at 7.00pm they were already there and there was a large projector screen set up that was connected to Skype and they were chatting to a guy in America. It was a pretty relaxed atmosphere and I was introduced to everyone. I actually sat down with them for a while as they invited me to join them over a beer. They insisted I had a beer with them. I wouldn't normally do it but I am back at the hotel in a couple of days time for a wedding and my equipment can stay where it is. I chatted with the guys for a while and told them that if there was anything that they wanted to hear to just let me know. I had the volume at background level all evening and didn't turn my lights on.

They were all interested in what I did for a living and I'd only just got halfway through my pint when they bought me another one. I had a feeling how the night was going to end up!
I told them to have a great time and to just think of it as a night down the pub with all of their favourite songs playing on the jukebox. I stuck to late 70s and early 80s music and they loved it. I had a few requests, not many but it just worked. Every now and then I'd lower the music whilst another Skype call came in and it was funny when a guy appeared on the screen who was speaking from Abu Dhabi. I was playing The Members - Sound of the Suburbs and he could hear it and said "Tell the DJ to turn it up!" (which I did).

As the night went on and they'd consumed more drinks (I stopped after 4 pints of San Miguel as I thought it was a good idea), they were all singing along to certain tracks and just really getting into it. The time went really quick too and at the end of the night when I announced that I was playing the last song, they all got up and thanked me for a great night.
The organiser said to me that he'd had a great time and wanted to book me again for the same time next year.

A good night but very different from what I'm used to.

Glad you had a good one Gary, mine was similar in the amount of dancers ( max eight, right at the end ) but virtually zero response. A real grueller, with only a few requests.

Cricket Club, new pavilion, not bad access, and forget the S&H or DSB, I was offered the use of the DJ booth par excellence. Yup, the pool table! ;) This actually caused me grief, until I realised. There was a plastic cover on it, which was a little rucked up in many places. I gave it no thought, until the laptop just cut straight out, black screen, no nothing, but restarted on pressing the power button. I blamed a power spike, or the VMS power supply, and checked everything I could. The sound card in the second laptop wasn't giving any sound, so I took that as a sign of a linked problem, and hurriedly rebooted the main one, before doing the same with the backup, and sound was restored in a few inutes, which seemed like hours to me, but wasn't to bad, as it was early on. Cue one DJ on tenterhooks, in case it repeated itself. And it did! :eek: Fortunately, the second laptop kicked in no problem this time.

And then, the penny dropped. :lightbulb: The main laptop is a bit marginal on temperature, and obviously the plastic table cover had obstructed the cooling ducts, causing it to overheat and shut down. Once I'd realised this, I sat it on the lid of the VMS case, and had no more technical problems. Phew!

I then had the classic gig we all hate, with no dancers, but at the end, many folk thanked me. Pack up in the rain, and make my way home. Ah well, onwards and upwards.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Retrodisco

[I call it quits eventually, turn the lights on (I'm over time now anyhow) and load up, drunk key holder doesn't want to wait, tells me to go out self closing fire escape when done. OK this is no problem aside from what to do with the drunks asleep and stoners crashed out, leave them she says, locked in a village hall, with a bar to help themselves, the wedding cake, the the wedding presents, etc.]

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:lol:

great gig last night.
Arundel town hall , nice venue , but with the added attraction of a sound limited.....................
Still.

Ceremony at 3:30, upstairs , with as small PA for brides entrance , signing of the registrar and B&G leaving.
Main disco is set up down stairs , air conditioned...............;)
A quick turn round up stairs , the meal was at 5:30 ish , I had to move the small PA to the other end of the room , as the caterers needed more room.
Background music during the meal , all very nice , the bride insisted that I was too have something to eat , so I waited until the end , nice salad ( well I am vegie)
The disco was due to start at 7:30 , well by 8:00 I had to remind everyone that there was a disco downstairs.
And to the music.............................................
Only a short list from the B&G..........

Agadoo
The birdie song
Superman
And a few more in that vein......................

That was the pattern for the evening...............full in your face cheese.
Apart from the first dance , Edelweiss , from the sound of music , the B&G had practiced the waltz , spot on, with a huge cheer from the crowd.
The sound limited is set to a reasonable level , clipped the red bars a few times , but we maintained power the whole evening....:D
Last song was time of my life from dirty dancing .I received cheers and applause , all finished by 11:00pm ( venue rules).
I had uplighting , main disco and the PA upstairs , all packed away by midnight , and home for 12:30.
all in all , a very rewarding evening.

Daryll

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daryll

signing of the registrar

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That's a bit unusual.

Most people just sign the register

Damm this Dyslexia.................:p

both are valid words , guess I used the wrong one.....:Laugh:

Cheers

Daryll

Thursday - my NS and Ska night turned into an 80's soul night, might even change it to that in the future as we had a lot of dancers and a great reaction to the tunes.

Friday - Rock and Indie night - bit of a strange one as we had a travellers wake in the pub (sadly a couple had buried their 4 year old daughter earlier in the day) - so I juggled rock and indie with Motown, rock'n'roll and UB40 to make sure they had a decent night as well (and the variety actually went down quite well with the regulars).

Saturday - 40's themed birthday party in a nice pub in Dulwich. Mainly girl in 40's frocks, make-up and hairdo's, plenty of Big band, Andrews Sisters, Caro Emerald, electro swing etc then classic pop and a bit of Indie. Great night.