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Last night = belter. Paid to play on till 1 then a few more '1 more's :-)
hour and a half drive home, 4 hours kip then a wedding show today = a very tired Jim.
got a job interview 1st thing in the morning too! i'm going to go out on limb and say I'm not going to do very well :-)
Good one for me Saturday night
Had a private function booking for a family who were celebrating a 60th, 35th and 18th birthday all in the same nght
While setting up in the afternoon some of them arrived to put out the buffet at the same time
This is the first itme i have been in a venue big enough to set all of my kit up, so I kinda 'went for it'
During the afternoon setup I did a couple of sound checks on both 'I'm an Albatraoz', 'Stoned Love', and 'Eat Sleep Rave Repeat' and to my suprise the ones setting up started dancing!
From then on I knew it was gonna be a good night as there were gonna be 60 or so of them and all th family they claimed were 'well up for it'!!!
As I also was offered free drinks for the night, on top of my fee, I decided to get a taxi and not bother driving seeing as I could pick up my kit this afternoon (sunday) so decided to enjoy myself along withg everyone else
It was a good choice - this night went very very well indeed Biggest songs of the night - 'Uptown Funk, I'm An Albatraoz (twice!) and Jessie J bang Bang'
After the buffet (plenty of dancing before) things got really going - until about half way through 'uptown funk' when the manager came over and asked me if I could turn it down a bit
I said, 'sorry but I have a full floor of folks enjoying themselves and they seem to think the vloume is OK, and they are my clients'
He says 'problem is you are rattling the windows'
'Mmm I can't hear them rattling and everyone seems happy'????
No not our windows he says.... the ones in the houses across the road!!!! Bear in mind this is the main A34 trunk road so I have two double lane carraigeways and a large central reservation with trees on it anywhere between me and any posssible residentail properties!
So having to tone things down a bit and apologise to the clients for that, the party still went well. I was supposed to finish at 11:00pm so wound off and dashed for a much needed loo break.
I came out to of the conveniences to be accosted by women! I wouldn't mind so much if they were 'up for a bit' as some of them were quite fit, but no they desired me in my professional capacity and demand I restarted the disco :p. But i did get a few kisses out of it lol
I did so until 11:50 when the management said I had to end, which was fine with them and the guests.
From feedback on the night (and on facebook today ) seems like I made a few good contacts last night. They organise quite a lot of family do's and said they never saw anything like it (or had felt that solid thumping bass kick in the chest before either) so I'm defintely in with this lot who are also willing to push the name of dickys disco to anyone they can
I take that as a good job well done!
I'm also bloody well impressed with the quality and sheer volume of sound coming out of the 'Class D' tops Peter (excalibur) sold me rather cheaply ;) ...... and those rebuilt 18" QTX subs of mine. Couldn't have done it without your assistance Pete. Even though it was a large room, it was damn loud with a damn good bass kick and really clear, so it was never uncomfortable for the simple fact it didn't distort.
Having said that I was pretty much maxing it out - for larger rooms (200 - 300+??) I definitely need to look towards doubling up the Amps/speakers - but that is for another day. This one was a dream.
Rich
PS management forgav me for rattling the windows across the road - said they had no further compalints once I knocked it back a bit
... after last weekend's unmitigated disaster, tonight was a real pick me up :)
A wedding of local couple, at the same hotel as last week's function.. I was given a short 'be nice if you could play' list & fielded requests all night. Some proper lemons only really suitable for background music (that's what happens when you ASK for requests, bub) from some of the guests but largely cheese, which went down a storm. Lest we forget, Brother Beyond really were that awful ;) May God strike me down for segueing out of Alice Cooper's 'Poison' into Chutney Hawkes' 'One & Only'. Even Thin Lizzy - Whiskey In The Jar got an airing.. it was very er.. RAWK oriented early doors.
Before the room was officially open I had a couple ask me to play The Hooters - Satellite (ORLY?!) from 1987 - as luck would have it, I had it (I like it, otherwise I wouldn't have had it down as a 'usual suspect' for the 80s)... and because they were such enthusiastic dancers earlier I indulged them after the buffet. Two up on the floor, closely followed by more.. and then we're back in the dancing game again, yay!
The B&G had me announce they were leaving at 11.15pm, which pretty much knocked 50 or so guests out of the original 100 or so.. and after the B&G said their goodbyes it was empty dancefloor time for a couple of songs. No better way to kill the vibe than the stars of the day going to bed.. so okay.. time for some of those lemons then :) Fair play, the people who asked for the songs actually danced to them & there were a few bobbing heads around the room.
No christening disco tomorrow (this afternoon) as it turns out, which I'm making no secret about being glad of.. and then next week.. who knows? It's either a murder mystery (90 minute disco hardly worth putting my face on for) or another wedding.. the venue 'isn't sure yet'.. Oh my days :lol:
Last night's 80's themed 30th birthday has to go down as one of the best I've done for a long time.
It was at a local golf club and I set up at midday. It was a few years since my last visit to this particular venue and on arrival I was greeted by a familiar face. The guy in charge used to run a venue that I DJ'd at regularly so that was a good start.
Being a Saturday afternoon, the members car park was rammed and it was there that I had to park up so that I could get access to the back door which took me straight on to the dance floor. I'm not saying it was overly difficult but it would have been a lot easier had I been able to get nearer to the door.
I met the birthday girl a week or so ago and found out that she'd actually been let down by a DJ that she'd booked. She'd been planning her party since last year and had booked someone who had suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth despite being a 'friend of a friend of a friend'. She called me in January once she realised she had been stitched up (her words) and she came to me apparently via 2 recommendations from different friends of hers who both said my name so that was pretty nice.
When I went round to see her she was really excited about the way I had been really enthusiastic about her enquiry and the fact that I made it clear that I love doing 80's nights. I took my iPad with me and showed her the 80's visuals I have and said I'd supply them too free of charge.
Her request list featured 100 songs and yes, some of them were the usual fodder but there were also quite a few that put a smile on my face because I hadn't played them for a while (for example: Devo - Whip it!).
Anyway, I started setting up in the room and when I was testing out the venues a lady came over and asked for a card straight away which was strange. I noticed that she had 'Assistant Manager' on her under her name on her badge. She said she was a friend of the birthday girl and had heard good things about me already and would be attending the party that night. It didn't take me long to set up and once I had finished I went to the bar area to let them know that I was going to do a sound check.
My experience in the past with golf clubs hasn't been that positive to be honest. The parties have always been great and the problems that I've had have been with another golf club over the other side of town. Problems being that access is stupidly difficult and I've been 'greeted' (blimey, that's a joke) by members of the club who have acted as if they have been all high and mighty. For example: On my first visit to that particular golf club I had arranged to set up at 10.00am with the guy in charge for a wedding. I remember the second I walked in through the door I was almost leapt on by a member (yes, a member and NOT anyone in authority) who took one look at me and said "Sorry mate, you can't come in here with trainers and jeans on". I know the whole golf club etiquette thing but I was there to set up for someone's wedding at the time. I remember that the guy had clocked me as I walked through the door. He was sat at a table eating breakfast with around 6 others. He obviously felt the need to do his thing and the others watched on.
I remember telling him what I was doing even though it was none of his business. I even remember him going over to the bar manager to complain and it gave me the right hump. Anyway, I digress and thankfully I didn't get any of that yesterday. It was a totally different atmosphere and a pleasant one at that. I did my sound check and tested everything and then left.
When it came to the evening it was non stop dancing from around 8.00pm - Midnight. I was booked from 7.30pm and got there at just after 7.00pm. The place was near on empty and when I walked through the door I saw yet another familiar face. I didn't realise that one of the guys on my darts team was a chef at the venue. When the food came out later on (Fish n Chips) he bought me over a plate that was stacked up. A nice thought but I couldn't touch any of it as I never eat when I am working.
The list of requests went down really well and I added in some extras too. I didn't quite get through all of the birthday girls requests. Some of them were a bit obscure and she'd said that if I could fit them in then great but it wasn't important. The only song that she said she definitely did not want to hear was Love Shack and that was fine by me. Lots of requests came in and not one of them was for Love Shack either.
It was a fancy dress party and some of the costumes were great (Big Bird from Sesame Street was favourite of mine as was the rather nice.....er...ok....the VERY nice young lady that was dressed as Pamela Anderson from Baywatch. Let's just say that she definitely looked the part and when I played the Baywatch theme tune for her I wish she'd been able to run towards me in slow motion like they used to do on the opening credits....ahem!).
I had a couple of people ask me for business cards during the night. I also had a lady came over that I didn't recognise but she said she was one of the people that had recommended me because she was at a wedding that I'd done last year. I thanked her for her feedback and recommendation.
The lady that I'd seen earlier in the day when setting up who was the assistant manager came over again during the night. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and asked me for a card. At the end of the night she couldn't praise me enough and said that everyone had really enjoyed a fantastic evening. She told me to expect a call in the next week or so with reference to more work. The thing is, I know the guy who has been doing the Discos at the venue for years. We've chatted on a number of occasions over the years and I wouldn't want to step on his toes.
The only thing I would say that I would have done differently is to have taken my subs. The room was pretty big once they'd taken the dividers away and even though the sound filled the space (I went to the back of the room to check it out when the party was in full flow with 100 guests), I felt as if I was pushing it a bit. The subs would have filled the sound out a bit more and taken some of the work off the Mackies on their own. I did try to arrange to go and see the room in advance but either they weren't available or I wasn't. I didn't put them in the van which I should have really just to be safe but I think it was fine anyway.
The other thing was that when I had finished and packed everything in to the van, I waited at the electronic gates for about 10 minutes as they wouldn't open automatically for me. I was given a code but there was no code pad in sight. I'd been ok during the day as they were open when I'd left. That was a bit embarrassing because there were other cars waiting behind me. They only opened when a taxi coming to pick people up arrived and they opened automatically.....strange!
A really good night and I hope next week's 80's night is just as good.
Great event on Sat night for me - an old friends 40th and went down a treat. Was helped out by another friend who loaned me a PA for the night, why? Im looking to upgrade and he's been telling me his is the nutts. So had the Use of a JBL VRX pro system with VRX932LAP tops and VRX918S Subs. System was stunning and could be easy used for a Band. Problem for me was price and weight (mobility). But the disco was great and my mate who is also a DJ sat writing notes all night quizzing me why I open with Chart music. Because I keep the gems for later.
Good weekend for me.
Friday evening, A 13th year old`s birthday party at Liphook Millennium centre , very high ceiling , but an easy load in , and a great caretaker.
Playlist
Ce Ce Peniston Finally 3/13/15 7:04 PM
Cheryl Cole Feat Tinie Tempah Crazy Stupid Love 3/13/15 7:07 PM
Ke$ha Die Young 3/13/15 7:11 PM
Jennifer Lopez Feat. Pitbull On The Floor 3/13/15 7:14 PM
Ed Sheeran Don't 3/13/15 7:18 PM
Iggy Azalea (feat Rita Ora) Black Widow (Oliver Twizt Radio Edit) 3/13/15 7:22 PM
Ed Sheeran Sing 3/13/15 7:25 PM
5 Seconds Of Summer She Looks So Perfect 3/13/15 7:29 PM
Nicki Minaj Anaconda 3/13/15 7:32 PM
Demi Lovato Neon Lights 3/13/15 7:36 PM
Kiesza Hideaway 3/13/15 7:43 PM
Clean Bandit Feat Jess Glynne Rather Be 3/13/15 7:47 PM
Karen Harding Say Something 3/13/15 7:51 PM
David Guetta Feat. Kelly Rowland When Love Takes Over 3/13/15 7:55 PM
Miley Cyrus We Can't Stop 3/13/15 7:58 PM
Naughty Boy Feat Sam Smith La La La 3/13/15 8:01 PM
Calvin Harrisn Blame (Feat. John Newman) 3/13/15 8:05 PM
Hozier Take Me To Church 3/13/15 8:08 PM
Taylor Swift Shake It Off 3/13/15 8:12 PM
Neon Jungle Braveheart 3/13/15 8:15 PM
Ariana Gande Break Free (Feat. Zedd) 3/13/15 8:19 PM
Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball 3/13/15 8:23 PM
Pharrell Williams Happy 3/13/15 8:26 PM
Vance Joy Riptide 3/13/15 8:33 PM
Los Del Rio Macarena 3/13/15 8:37 PM
DJ Casper Cha Cha Slide 3/13/15 8:42 PM
Whigfield Saturday Night 3/13/15 8:45 PM
PSY Gangnam Style 3/13/15 8:49 PM
Maroon 5 Sugar 3/13/15 8:56 PM
Mark Ronson Uptown Funk! (Feat.Bruno Mars) 3/13/15 9:02 PM
Avicii Hey Brother 3/13/15 9:07 PM
Miley Cyrus Party In The U.s.a. 3/13/15 9:11 PM
Taylor Swift I Knew You Were Trouble 3/13/15 9:14 PM
Meghan Trainor All About That Bass 3/13/15 9:17 PM
Swedish House Mafia Feat John Martin Don't You Worry Child 3/13/15 9:24 PM
Pitbull Feat Ke$ha Timber 3/13/15 9:30 PM
Fatboy Slim & Riva Starr Feat Beardyman Eat Sleep Rave Repeat (Calvin Harris Remix) 3/13/15 9:34 PM
Maroon 5 Feat. Christina Aguilera Moves Like Jagger 3/13/15 9:38 PM
Icona Pop feat. Charli XCX I Love It 3/13/15 9:41 PM
Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj Bang Bang 3/13/15 9:44 PM
Taylor Swift Blank Space 3/13/15 9:47 PM
Ellie Goulding Love Me Like You Do 3/13/15 9:51 PM
Dvbbs & Borgeous Feat. Tinie Tempah Tsunami (Jump) 3/13/15 9:55 PM
Beyonce Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) 3/13/15 9:57 PM
Ingrid Dumosch Happy Birthday Dear... (With Space To Sing Name) 3/14/15 9:59 PM
Saturday night , A 50th birthday party at the King & queen , Brighton ( A sortie into Mr Forest`s territory..... )
I have to take a roadie , on the basis it was up four (short) flights of stairs, stunning room, Brighton at midnight need to been seen
And as a brucie bonus , harry Ramsden fish and chips....:)
Play list
Billy Ocean Caribbean Queen 3/14/15 7:06 PM
Duran Duran The Reflex 3/14/15 7:10 PM
Donna Summer This Time I Know It's For Real 3/14/15 7:14 PM
Bananarama I Heard A Rumour 3/14/15 7:17 PM
The Buggles Video Killed The Radio Star 3/14/15 7:21 PM
Yazoo Dont Go 3/14/15 7:31 PM
Quarterflash Harden My Heart 3/14/15 7:34 PM
Booker Newberry III Love Town 3/14/15 7:37 PM
Madonna Material Girl 3/14/15 7:41 PM
Michael Jackson Smooth Criminal 3/14/15 7:44 PM
Bryan Adams Run To You 3/14/15 7:48 PM
Spacer (12 inch) Sheila B 3/14/15 7:57 PM
Pointer Sisters Jump (For My Love) 3/14/15 8:07 PM
Chaka Khan I Feel for You 3/14/15 8:14 PM
Barry White Can`t Get Enough Of Your Love, 3/14/15 8:18 PM
Barry White You`re The First, The Last, My 3/14/15 8:21 PM
Edwin Starr 25 Miles 3/14/15 8:26 PM
Kylie Minogue Spinning Around 3/14/15 8:30 PM
Billy Paul Only the Strong Survive 3/14/15 8:33 PM
Aneka Japanese Boy 3/14/15 8:38 PM
Abc Poison Arrow 3/14/15 8:42 PM
Billy Ocean Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run) 3/14/15 8:45 PM
Bananarama Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodby 3/14/15 8:49 PM
Dead Or Alive You Spin Me Round 3/14/15 8:52 PM
Bros When Will I Be Famous 3/14/15 8:55 PM
Mamma_Mia Mamma Mia (Meryl Streep) 3/14/15 8:59 PM (Abba Medley)
Mamma_Mia Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (Am 3/14/15 9:02 PM
Mamma_Mia S.O.S. (Pierce Brosnan & 3/14/15 9:06 PM
Mamma_Mia Voulez-Vous (Full Cast) 3/14/15 9:09 PM
Mamma_Mia Dancing Queen (Meryl Str 3/14/15 9:14 PM
Mark ronson feat. amy winehouse valerie 3/14/15 9:18 PM
Blues Brothers everybody 3/14/15 9:21 PM
Elvis Presley Suspicious Minds 3/14/15 9:24 PM
Elvis Presley Way Down 3/14/15 9:29 PM
Billy Joel Uptown Girl 3/14/15 9:31 PM
Deniece Williams Let's Hear It For The Boy 3/14/15 9:34 PM
Cher Believe 3/14/15 9:38 PM
Gina G Ooh Aah Just A Little Bit 3/14/15 9:42 PM
Diana Ross Chain Reaction 3/14/15 9:45 PM
Michael Jackson Rock With You 3/14/15 9:49 PM
Michael Jackson Dont Stop Til You Get Enough 3/14/15 9:52 PM
Ingrid Dumosch Happy Birthday Dear... (With Space To Sing Name) 3/14/15 9:59 PM
Bee Gees Night Fever 3/14/15 10:06 PM
Bee Gees Stayin' Alive 3/14/15 10:09 PM
John Travolta We go together 3/14/15 10:14 PM (Grease medley)
John Travolta Greased Lighting 3/14/15 10:16 PM
John Travolta You're the one that i want 3/14/15 10:19 PM
Bucks Fizz Making Your Mind Up 3/14/15 10:21 PM
Michael Jackson Working Day And Night 3/14/15 10:24 PM
Darude Sandstorm 3/14/15 10:29 PM
Ian van Dahl Castles in the sky Ian van Dahl Castles in the sky 3/14/15 10:33 PM
Howard Jones What Is Love 3/14/15 10:36 PM
Haddaway What Is Love? 3/14/15 10:37 PM
4 Strings Take Me Away [Into The Night] (Vocal Radio Mix) 3/14/15 10:41 PM
Corona Rhythym of the Night 3/14/15 10:45 PM
Sash! Ecuador (Trance Remix) 3/14/15 10:48 PM
The Shamen Ebeneezer Goode 3/14/15 10:51 PM
Energy 52 Cafe Del Mar 3/14/15 10:55 PM
Atb 9Pm (Till I Come) 3/14/15 10:58 PM
Faithless Insomnia 3/14/15 11:01 PM
Mark Ronson Feat. Bruno Mars Uptown Funk 3/14/15 11:05 PM
Meghan Trainor All About That Bass 3/14/15 11:09 PM
Robin Thicke Feat T.I. & Pharrell Blurred Lines 3/14/15 11:12 PM
Pet Shop Boys West End Girls 3/14/15 11:16 PM
Whitney Houston I Wanna Dance With Somebody 3/14/15 11:20 PM
Kool & The Gang Celebration 3/14/15 11:25 PM
Average White Band Let's Go Round Again 3/14/15 11:28 PM
Rick James Super Freak 3/14/15 11:33 PM
Village People Can't Stop The Music 3/14/15 11:37 PM
Frankie Goes To Hollywood Welcome To The Pleasure Dome 3/14/15 11:40 PM
Soft Cell Tainted love 3/14/15 11:44 PM
Meghan Trainor All About That Bass 3/14/15 11:47 PM
Lionel Richie Dancing On The Ceiling 3/14/15 11:50 PM
Donna Summer I Feel Love 3/14/15 11:54 PM
Journey Don't Stop Believin' 3/14/15 11:58 PM
A very good weekend , now a long wait until 2nd May , but on the bright side , off to pompeii soon
cheers
daryll
I'm at the King and Queen next month for a 21st- looking forward to the stairs...... NOT!
Good luck mate............Quote:
Originally Posted by dj foureyes
It was mostly meetings for me last week and a single booking on Friday with a couple of meetings on Saturday and then the night off.
So, on Friday I was back at my local for an 80's Request Fest party and it was my first time back since New Years Eve.
The place was very busy and the requests came flooding in which was really good. I generally do 8.00pm - Midnight there and set up around 7.00pm. Due to roadworks outside the pub where I would normally park up and get my gear in, I had to go in a different way and with the foresight of it being busy I arranged to set up before they opened. I decided to get my lasers out for the first time in absolutely ages and they looked really good with a bit of smoke in the air.
I used a new Chauvet mini smoke machine that I bought for £50.00 the other day. My other one decided to start leaking so I binned it. I didn't feel the need to fork out a couple of hundred quid for a smoke machine when it hardly gets used these days due to the number of venues that don't allow smoke being used. It did the job fine.
Booked some dates with the pub through to October so that's 2 nights a month guaranteed again as well as the usual summer stuff, race nights and other bits. Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and New Years Eve are already booked in so what with those and the dates filling up in the diary steadily (August is the busiest month by far), it looks like this year could be a very busy one.
This week should be interesting though. I had a meeting on Thursday with a customer that wants me to provide a projector and screen for a wake this coming Thursday afternoon. It was a very strange meeting as when I turned up I knew the people already and I didn't realise that the person that is being cremated on Thursday was someone that my Dad knew. Not only that but on Thursday it was the 4th anniversary of my Dad passing away and he was cremated in the same place. I offered to create a slideshow for the customer and they provided me with over 500 photos. Spent all day yesterday creating something using Windows Media Player and it wouldn't publish the file so I used my other Magix Pro Edit program and the slideshow came out at a massive 54GB. Converted it to a Windows Media file and it is now just over 600MB and over an hour long. I've uploaded it this morning to a Dropbox so that the customer can see it in advance and just heard back from them saying it's perfect.
On Saturday I am doing a 30th Birthday for a friend of a friend at my hotel residency and it's a Star Wars themed fancy dress party. Knowing this bunch fairly well I'd say it is going to be a classic and the costumes will be the best ever. This lot make every effort to look the part.
Friday saw me at a new venue for the first time doing a corporate gig.
The crowd arrived at the hotel by coach at 7.30pm. Background music gently accompanied their meal then at around 9 I got things rolling with some chart music. There was singing, plenty of dancing and then the boss came over to ask me to turn it down on account of everybody at his table putting their coats on & leaving. I was only just tickling the -20db section of the mixer output meter & the young women were already drowning out the pa but hey ho, he who pays, says...
Down came the levels & it continued to work but the young ladies on the floor were being too rowdy for my liking, simulating sex acts on one another etc so I started to try & tempt the older viewers up.. To the eighties & nineties I went. So far, so good... Young ladies behaviour improved & I even had the boss up dancing.
Requests up to this point had only been for tracks I'd already played but a bunch came in for songs from Dirty Dancing. Literally everybody got up for those, then I followed a but of a soundtrack theme with some Grease & Footloose. All pretty well received but the DD fans had none of it. 11.30 saw the coach home arrive early & I was asked to inform the patrons that they had ten minutes to get on it or make their own way back. Charming! Not an awful gig, but hardly one of the greats this year.
Saturday saw me playing disco man after a murder mystery night at a hotel where I'm a regular. As usual the Mm crew were humorous but very very Hammy (is acting just shouting? Lol) and at least half of the customers drank up & left shortly after the 'mystery' was solved.
This left me with maybe 30 people to play to, with very disparate tastes. A table full of very sour faced individuals wanted 'classic' (their words) Northern Soul, which I don't carry beyond the usual suspects. It's not a genre I know well enough to be able to play what a 'true fan' would call a good set so they were disappointed. As for the rest, styles alternated, along with dancefloor population. It was what I'd call a tough gig.
When I repeated my statement that I can take requests & dedications I mentioned that I'm not a mind reader. Shortly after that I cued up 'like a virgin' to play next, then a lad came up to ask for it to be played for a hen night. I pointed her towards my screen & said "Heh, maybe I AM a mind reader after all'.
Apparently of all the DJs who visit I get & keep more up but it always feels like seriously hard work & the late starts are just weird to me.
Onwards & upwards. This weekend I'm back in my favourite venue - the hotel where I'm holed up on a balcony, to do a wedding reception. No details from the hotel yet, but I'll be grilling them later today.