I agree with you.
Last night I could hear people humming the tune as they waited for their taxis and some of the staff were singing it too.
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I agree with you.
Last night I could hear people humming the tune as they waited for their taxis and some of the staff were singing it too.
Exactly how it should be, fantastic. I might give it a go.
I am flying dow to a wedding in Bournemouth in November, I wonder if their DJ is on here?
Right folks, settle back in a comfy chair, with a cup of something soothing and a choccy biccy, cos this is a long one.
Wow! 18th Birthday party for 200 hooray Henrys, at a farm in the middle of nowhere. ( And for those who know where I live, if I say it's in the middle of nowhere, it flaming well is! ) Finish time was 3am, and plug customers ipod/laptop in to the rig after that, if I turned tired. I didn't. Started at 6pm, and switched off at 6am, with three hardy dancers left. :eek::eek: I've had two hours sleep today, I think I'm still wired after that.
The gig. Well, logistically, it wasn't brilliant. I was inside a stone barn, with two doorways ( but no doors ), so the strong wind was howling through. There was a band also, who were made to perform outside, on a trailer in a wind trap, in freezing conditions. Poor sods. They were fifty yards from me, and not in line of sight. I was the only thing technically under cover. Technically. I could see a lot of daylight through the roof, and later on, I know I saw rain coming through it, but not enough to worry me.
Outside were a hog roast, a rodeo bull, and a bar, and there was also a bar upstairs inside with me. I wasn't happy about that, cos I visualised someone tumbling head first down them, due to a combination of alcohol and decrepit wooden steps. Fortunately, there were no such issues.
About the only issue I didn't have. :mad: It was a constant battle to keep drunks and drinks away from the PA, and I manhandled a couple of punters away rather firmly. I played a lot of this Electro Swing mullarkey, and I've decided that it's alright in very small doses. We had huge doses, including lots of Parov Stelar, and some Sak Noel ( and they've made some weird stuff, believe me ) . Ah well, such is the lot of the Mobile DJ. :(
The event had a Wild West fancy dress theme, so although we had quite a few authentic Cowboys and Indians, we had some unconnected ones, including among others a Prussian Officer, a Gorilla, and Christina Aguilera dressed in a bikini and leather chaps, a la Dirrty video. :eek: I was standing there with a sweatshirt and coat on freezing my bits off, and there she is prancing round half naked, apparently impervious to the cold. :confused:
Had a lot of requests for "House " music, and it turns out I was already playing a fair bit of it anyway. Just about anything I played worked, and we had a rather loud and energetic Trance session in the early hours, with a fair dose of Indie around 4.30
I must have been doing OK, cos the birthday girl kept assuring me I was doing brilliantly, praising my relaxed and unflappable demeanour, and on more than one occasion described me as "The best DJ in Yorkshire ". :o:o:o I wonder if it had something to do with the way her musical requests kept mysteriously appearing at the top of the playlist within seconds of their arrival. :whistle:
I expected to get away with a 5am finish, had an empty shed for ten minutes before 5am, and then half a dozen souls had a second wind, and joined me for the last hour. Some punters alleged to me that a few folk were partaking of " artificial stimulants", cough, cough, but the poor old DJ had to make do with adrenaline and willpower. Up to 3am, I was struggling, but after that, I had little trouble, and it was only halfway home when I started to flag somewhat.
Financially, a rewarding gig, but somewhat stressful at times. While the accents were cut glass, and many had impeccable manners, a number of them exhibited very poor behaviour. Very poor. And I'd advise the obnoxious little twerp who called me " Matey " not to meet me on an occasion where I'm not under the obligation to be Mr Nice Guy DJ, who's friends with everyone. ;)
Seaside next week, bet it bloody well snows.
Enjoyed reading that.
Sounds like a mission that you completed with ease. Nice one!
Don't know how you did it though? I'm not sure if I could manage something like that myself.
I'm not one and have never been one for 'artificial stimulants' but I know plenty of DJ's that are into that to get them through long nights like that.
I've been offered 'stuff' on occasions and I politely refuse. Did you get any offers?
Your "manhandled" comment reminded me of a booking I did a couple of months ago where it was about 10.00pm at a wedding I was doing. There was a small group of around 5 'too cool for school' guys, obviously full to the brim with happy juice dancing right in front of the DJ booth (as they always seem to do) and they were getting a bit over excited. One of them was dancing that close to the booth with his back to me that I could almost read the label that was hanging out of his shirt. I tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to move away a little bit and all was fine.
On this particular occasion I had limited time to set up. It was one of those bookings where I had to set up after the speeches when the room was being turned around and things were running slightly behind schedule. I had forgotten to visit the toilet so at 10.00pm I was bursting for a pee. I left the DJ booth for 2 minutes-ish and when I came back one of the guys was just about to walk behind the decks with a pint.
As you said Peter, if it was a different scenario I would not have been so 'polite'. On this occasion all I had to do was give him 'the look' and he quickly apologised and went back on to the dance floor.
Sometimes though, you don't really want to be 'polite' do you!
This week's 30th was one I'd been dreading as the client had suddenly dropped in via email to say he wanted hip hop! I don't do hip hop...can't stand it :(
Anyhooo.....turned up, set up (no hip hop on the playout), started off playing modern stuff for the seemingly hundreds of kids there, including stuff from Frozen (wish I'd taken my snow machine...the ceiling had a vaulted section which was nigh on 30ft high and the snow would have come down nicely from there :) ).
Eventually the birthday boy turns up and he's changed his mind....no hip hop (this is good news). Instead, R&B, 80's, 90's (a lot of club stuff) and garage. Bring it on!!!! :) :)
Turned out to be a really good night in the end. The management came over 15 minutes before the end and insisted that 12 o'clock (the time I was booked to) was the absolute cut off (nothing to do with licensing or anything....they'd been there all day and were knackered). Turned off just after 12 (with their permission...overran by about 2 minutes) and had one abusive tanked up Herbert decide to give a bit of abuse (or as much as he could string together). Told him to see the management as they'd insisted on the finish....didn't see him again thankfully (he was a LOT bigger than me).
Week off now as off to conquer the lump of granite known as Ben Nevis, then back to a 30th on my return.
Is it nearly Christmas yet?
good gig
Two wedding this weekend and they were worlds apart. Friday night in the Pavilion at Bristol Zoo. Lovely venue, got there very early, reasonably easy load in (20ft) and lovely helpful staff. Great crowd and a wedding that was running ahead of time for once so they were raring to go by the time I was ready (ahead of time) at 6:00 (first dance wasn't scheduled until 8:30!) Lots of dancing, lots of great requests, lots of "hands in the air" photos taken throughout the night, calls of "one more" and some great feedback at the end. Only two slight issues, I didn't play Summer of '69 and it has the lyric "...and Jodie got married..." in it - and the bride was Jodie - but I managed to get the venue staff to allow me to play it after the official finish. Only other issue was that the groom pre-requested Cream, "Sunshine of your love" and I didn't play it despite him coming up and asking for it during the night. I didn't play it because all of the pre-requests were listed as "play if possible" (as opposed to "must play"), it didn't fit in with anything else being played and I also didn't actually clock that he was the groom when he came up and asked for it again during the night!
Sat night was at Prior Park College in bath in the school canteen. Amazing venue, incredible location. Some of the rooms are incredible, but the whole place wasn't built for weddings and certainly isn't laid out for them now. The room where the guests were eating was 2 floors and a maze of stairs and corridors away from the canteen (in the basement section) where the evening reception was being held. I believe they choose the canteen for 2 reasons - easy access for me and the portable bar and doors leading straight out onto the grass behind the building which has a stunning view over Bath. I'd been to check out the venue a couple of weeks before with one of the venue staff and had been told I'd be set up in the canteen with the bar, but when I arrived last night (about 10mins after when I'd hoped to arrive thanks to roadworks and a crazy 25min diversion) the area I thought I'd be in had tables laid out and I was pushed into a grotty little room at the end of the main canteen (meaning I was now in a separate area to the bar). I was going to cut the kit right back as the room was half the size of the canteen, but a) the load in was easier and b) the room really needed the extra kit to make it passable. Other issue - the catering manager had left me out THREE tables to set up on. I don't know if he thought I was setting out a buffet or a disco? I mentioned to him that I didn't need them and they were really just going to be in my way and I got a blank look so I pushed them back and got on with it.
Turned out to be a tricky night. I was booked from 7:30 to midnight with a 8:15 first dance, but the B&G announced on Thurs that they were going to leave at 23:00 so I had a feeling that everyone else would leave soon after and I'd be lucky to see midnight, they also asked for a slow song for the send off, but failed to reply to an email and voicemail asking if they wanted a big send off at 23:00. I ask these questions time and time again right from the initial booking meeting and had no indication that they were going to leave early, so I felt a bit unprepared. First issue was with the room location and room layouts - because the bar was in another room and access to the room appeared to be from outside the building, guests randomly appeared and disappeared throughout the night and I was never quite sure if I was being heard in the adjoining room. I knew the guests outside could hear me as I could see them dancing through the windows (until it got dark!) Second issue was that I could never find the B&G until they came onto the dance floor to say their goodbyes at 23:00, no matter how hard I looked - I have no idea where they went, but they literally appeared about 30 secs before the 1st dance and then disappeared again! Third issue was that the only information on music I could get from the B&G was a very rough list of about 4 artists they liked "plus all the usual pop and r&b stuff". Fourth issue - I had a total of 3 requests during the night despite inviting requests all the time ("Single Ladies", "Stuck in the Middle with you" and "Place your hands". And finally, the acoustics in the room were horrific - think barely carpeted box with a glass wall and you'll get the idea.
However, dance floor was generally busy throughout the night, B&G were very complimentary at the end of the night and I even managed to hang on to a handful of people for 25mins after they left. However, all done and away by 12:10 and on the plus side, I had time to get some nice photos to illustrate how lighting can transform a tatty room without having a venue manager breathing down my neck to get out (except looking at them this morning I didn't get the booth central in the room).
Alton Towers next week and a few weeks off until more weddings at the end of Sept :D
Julian
Friday - I was doing the annual RAF Summer Ball at my hotel residency.
It's the 4th year I have done it and to be honest with you, although it is something totally, totally different (I'll explain in a moment), it is an absolute pleasure to do.
It's also a very easy night to do because having done them for the past 4 years (they used to have a DJ before me that had done it for 2 years but contacted me after attending a Christmas party at the hotel).
Anyway, as I said....pretty easy to do.
Set up in the morning and returned at 9.15pm after they'd enjoyed their meals. They don't require background music as it gives them all a chance to catch up with eachother.
These are RAF veterans and I doubt if there is anyone in attendance who is under 60....possibly under 70.
They have a couple of waltzes and slow dances and then I call out the raffle so it's usually around 10.00pm when the music really starts going and it's generally a mixture of 60s and 70s and classics.
They finish off with the National Anthem and then New York, New York every year.
Definitely one of those gigs where you have to be on the ball and best behaviour ;)
Enjoyable all the same, they are always very complimentary and make me feel welcome and it's a nice change from weddings week after week.
Saying that...... Last night was the wedding that I'd been looking forward to because it was an Indie / Alternative wedding.
I had really high hopes for it seeing as the Bride & Groom assured me that all of their guests would be up for it and were in to the same kind of music.
It was at a venue I do quite regularly out of town and it's a favourite of mine. I set up in the morning and the Bride & Groom were there dressing the room with family and friends. They were all really looking forward to the night and it filled me with confidence.
It was a 7.00pm - Midnight job and their first dance was at 7.00pm so it felt like a long night was on the cards for the first couple of hours because out of the 80 guests, about 10 were dancing from the start.
First dance - Muse - Invincible
Second dance - The Killers - Mr Brightside
I did think that at around 9.30pm it was going to be 'one of those nights'. I expected everyone to be up for it but a lot were seated but singing along at their tables.
It was then almost as if someone flicked a switch and everyone went in to 'I wanna dance' mode because for the next couple of hours and right up until the end, the dance floor was packed and I felt like I was back in the dirty old Alternative clubs in Bournemouth, Reading and Southampton that I used to do back in the day.
Most songs met with cheers or screams and I kept getting the thumbs up from people dancing.
It ended up being a brilliant night and it was awesome playing music that puts me snug in my comfort zone. There wasn't one moment throughout the whole night when there weren't at least a few people on the dance floor but for the last 2 and a half hours it was packed so I can't complain at all.
Last song of the night (recommended by me because the Bride & Groom couldn't think of one) was Oasis - Champagne Supernova and everyone loved it.
It was a bit embarrassing at the end because as the song was coming to an end, everyone started applauding me and it felt like it went on for ages. I didn't know where to look and then a bridesmaid (very nice too!) grabbed me by the hand and took me over to everyone to join in the last few moments and I was mobbed.
Great night.
Tonight I am doing a 'Request Fest' night at the new venue I played at the other week and I am looking forward to just taking it easy and not having to think too much about it as I am cream crackered!
Great wedding, tiny basement venue totally packed with a 100 or so guests, so much better than a large venue with not enough people in to fill it. - Played Slipknot, Korn, SOAD, Mudhoney, QOTSA, Papa Roach, Offspring etc. Plus the groom did an awesome Tenacious D 'Tribute' with his friend on guitar.