Good Gig, Bad Gig.

Tonight, I dun didded... you guessed it.. another wedding! Yikes, the way I'm headed I'm gonna be stuck in one of them thar pigeon holey things.

Anyway, the couple were nice enough, as were the guests.. just not big on dancing especially, unless you count bobbing around in their chairs as dancing. Loads of people were staying at the hotel & the cake cut/first dance was horribly delayed while somebody went around rooms waking people up to come downstairs again. Pfft.. lightweights!

I road tested my Gigabar again. holy moly that fella is BRIGHT. The IR remote is bloody useless though, and when you've enabled IR control you lose footswitch functionality. Man, whose stupid idea was that? DMX here I very much come.

Music wise I went all over the world, but was under instructions to hold back on cheese until late on, and only the cha cha slide was allowed in terms of dances with actions. If the ca-ca slide can't fill a floor, I don't think they're really into their cheese so much so we went down rock & roll avenue instead for a solid 15 minutes.

B&G headed off around 11.15pm & I filled the remaining time with a bracing 'indie/britpop' set which went down very very well. Had a request for Born Slippy towards the end, which I played reluctantly and they ate it all up. Followed that with Perfecto Allstars' version of 'Pigbag'.. and wound them down gently via Jump Around towards Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars to finish. Not my choice but it stormed it.

Now off to bed.. cos I've got a long day ahead of me with another wedding reception at the end of it.

Nuffink wrong with weddings....that's where I'm quite happily pigeon-holeying myself at the moment. They're hard work to get "right", but they're more than worth the effort.

I'm now specialising in kids parties and weddings....forget the "memorable milestone birthdays"....I can do without the hassle of drunks and nobody getting on the floor.

Don't knock the GigBar!

I went to a "local" ish supplier today (OK...60 miles down the road) and purchased my second one of these fellas! A fellow DJ stood and scoffed and sneered at me as they retrieved my second GB from the warehouse this morning. Yes, it looks cheap and plasticy....but my Gawd it does the job....especially if programmed rather than using the inbuilt stuff!

Turn the cheapo scatter laser off. 30 seconds of setup against I don't know how much time for a goalpost/overhead bar...got to be worth £400 of anyone's money.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Imagine

Nuffink wrong with weddings....that's where I'm quite happily pigeon-holeying myself at the moment. They're hard work to get "right", but they're more than worth the effort.

I'm now specialising in kids parties and weddings....forget the "memorable milestone birthdays"....I can do without the hassle of drunks and nobody getting on the floor.

Don't knock the GigBar!

I went to a "local" ish supplier today (OK...60 miles down the road) and purchased my second one of these fellas! A fellow DJ stood and scoffed and sneered at me as they retrieved my second GB from the warehouse this morning. Yes, it looks cheap and plasticy....but my Gawd it does the job....especially if programmed rather than using the inbuilt stuff!

Turn the cheapo scatter laser off. 30 seconds of setup against I don't know how much time for a goalpost/overhead bar...got to be worth £400 of anyone's money.

---

I wasn't knocking the gigbar. The Equinox Giga Bar is what I have. I took it along last night to see how it would fare. Plenty of output, but the thing, like lots of other fixtures really needs DMX control to bring out the best in it I reckon. Disabling the foot switch when the IR remote is active is a big limitation.

As for the gigbar from Chauvet, I've considered one but have never liked 'derby' style effects. Cluster lasers, hate em.. I can see how convenient the gigbar is but it's just not my cup of tea. I hope other manufacturers cotton on & make their own variations.

I visited a fellow forum member working local to me on Friday & saw quite a nifty little show put on by a couple of ADJ inno pocket rolls. Now those, I really do like!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Imagine

Nuffink wrong with weddings.

---

I'm still glad they aren't my main type of function. I like variety, me. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Imagine

Don't knock the GigBar!

---

He wasn't. He's got the DIY lighthouse. Gigabar

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by juski

As for the gigbar from Chauvet, I've considered one but have never liked 'derby' style effects. Cluster lasers, hate em.. I can see how convenient the gigbar is but it's just not my cup of tea. I hope other manufacturers cotton on & make their own variations.

---

I don't like Derby effects, either. The Mini Kinta isn't bad. The thing is, although the effects on a Gigbar are basic and cheap, the overwhelming reports from users are that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The basic concept is pure genius. A complete light show that's carried in one handed, stuck on a tripod, fits anywhere almost, and needs one wire to make it work. Genius. I wish I had one, but a cost of around £400 precludes this for now. It would have made so many recent gigs so much easier. It wouldn't suit every function by any means, but that's no great surprise.

I think the market for a PRO version of it, or some sort of custom build is huge, and surely the other companies must already be playing " follow my leader ", musn't they?

OK, my own gig last night. In a Golf Club. I hate ( almost all ) Golf Clubs. Rarely designed with any thought for someone bringing kit in to entertain folks, and last night's was no different. Five steps down to the front Electronically locked security door, and a ro-ro* lift designed only for wheelchairs. To be fair, after that it got better, venue wise.
60th Birthday, and birthday boy wanted to make sure everybody danced. So did I. Didn't happen. :(:( Only one person could be bothered to make requests. I couldn't keep them on the floor for three songs usually, more of which elsewhere.
As they left, I got compliments and handshakes, so must have done something right, I suppose. :confused:

Pretty good night , a 21st Birthday at Midhurst WMC ( bread and butter gigs , love em).
I asked the birthday girl if there was any songs of styles she liked " oh anything will do , I dont mind)
so a free hand.....:p, not many dancing until after 10:00pm, plenty of cheese , and toward the end some 90`s classic dance, but all in all a good night.
It was raining , so I asked the steward if I could pack down and collect in the morning , no problems he said , so I roped the wife into giving me a hand , 15 minutes and the van was loaded....:banana:
Peacehaven next Friday , upstairs....damm

Daryll

I had the whole weekend off due to my booking last night being moved to a later date.
Both Friday and last night were spent early evening meeting customers for their upcoming weddings and then I took advantage of the nights off to socialise and I have quickly realised 2 things.

1. I do not like having a whole weekend of no bookings. You can't make people book you, I know that but I don't like it at all. I should be out earning and a weekend of no bookings knocks you back a bit.
2. I can't socialise like I used to....Ok, socialise as in drink 2 nights in a row. What was good though was catching up with people that I don't normally get a chance to chat to because I am working.

This may sound strange to some but I don't plan to have another whole weekend without DJing.

Fantastic gig for me last night.

A lady booked me for her 30th party at a hotel/pub with function room that has just been refitted and refurbished. Booked from 7.30 to 1am with about 80 guests and a band to play 2 sets of 45 minutes as well. Customer phoned direct as she had been to a wedding I had done last year.

Generous price agreed with no haggling, deposit paid and contract returned next day.

All going really well in fantastic new venue. Band was in fact two guitarists one of whom sings as well. Very talented duo they were.

Turns out birthday girls husband is "Kenny", one of the owners/founders of purplebricks.com. The two people in the advert are actors but chosen for their resemblance to the actual owners, who you would pick out from a crowd.

In his gushing speech about his very glamorous wife he mentions a 2am finish. While the band are playing, I mention to him that his contract with me is to 1am. He offers me half the agreed fee again to play until 2am. If he had read the contract it mentions extra time as £35 per half hour which would have saved him a tidy sum.

Well it has been a fair while since I have played to 80 people between the age of 25-40 who were so determined to enjoy themselves. what a pleasure and time flew by.

Got in about 3am having worked at the day job from 8.15 to 4 and DJed from 7.30 to 2am. Rather tired.

Safely home from another Sunday wedding reception. Oh boy, what a day I've had. Couldn't sleep when I got in last night.. darn buzz from playing loud music to appreciative people, then up early today (well yesterday technically) having fun with my kids, then food shopping with the kids in tow, then in the afternoon we took them to a soft play thing where they'd been invited to a party. From there I basically hopped home, had a quick change & headed off out to DJ.

No advance info from the hotel, but I was soon told the first dance (Bob Marley - Is This Love) which I thought an interesting choice for a change. It was originally going to be 'Kiss from a rose' by Seal - another interesting choice. Interesting, as in not the blimmin samey as half the other people getting married these days :)

Cake cut, first dance & bouquet throwing over, the manager came up to see me. He handed me 3 sheets of A4 paper full of requests which went from Abba to ZZ Top. "Is that alright?", manager asked. "No it's blimmin well not!", said I (I paraphrase myself to avoid the censorship). He laughed. I said I'd do my best. The crowd frankly weren't into the newer stuff on the list much, or the people who'd passed on the songs as requests were just too 'cool' to dance to it. Buffet at 9pm, then tried to kick things off again. Surely Uptown Funk'll do it? Nah. A game of softly softly, catchey monkey was needed, I reckoned. And I was right. 70s, 80s, 80s, rock, rock, (AC/DC - Back in Black kinda rock, or is that metal? Anyhooo...), rock...

A bit split from the norm was a nice ska-ish set around 11pm, before going back into the requests sheets. I kept tabs on the time well, so I thought, to try a cunning trick beloved of bands. Say congrats, goodbyes etc, Play the 'last song', get them baying for one more & go "oh, alright then".. but I hadn't reckoned on the remaining time indicator of Bohemian Rhapsody being off for some reason. Out of time! A good last song for that crowd anyway. They shouted up for me to take a bow. Fat chance of anybody seeing that - from downstairs you can just about see the top of my head (I'm only 5'6 or so).

Nothing on now til next Saturday - another wedding (I'm spotting a theme here) & managed to get all the gen out of the hotel before I left tonight! :O

So friday I was at the Mercure in Darlington and this wee chap pops in just as Im about to start grafting the floor and keeps me chatting for half the night - they when he goes the guy who Im doing the function for turns up to see if were getting a flyer - no chance.

I should have said this was a last min can you help a mate booking at Sid rates but hey im going on holiday soon and every penny counts.

It was a canny night and have to admit the chatting made me take the eye off the ball a bit and miss a few queues. But crowd was propper posh and had a good time in general.


Then onto Sat.

Marquee wedding at Beamish so expected a lot. On arrival i was greeted by the bride and demands were made for dance music all night 6-12.

Attachment 17146

Awesome.... I don't think i know 6 hrs of dance music

So I tried to set up with around 10 kids buzzing around and no parents to remove them. It was bloody baltic too. Took my time as didnt want to start early then straight into some dance tracks. A lass comes over and tells me she is the dance teacher of the award winning squad who are going to dance at 8 before the first dance and she gives me a CD. Sorry pet I dont do CD's you need to get this on a memory pen or better still tell me about it before the night of the wedding.

So off she goes. Its still freezing so after a drink I need the loo so pop on a track and head off. Groom almost assaults me "I want dance music on now - get some David Guetta on", I say "yes after ive been to the toilet" he says "no now!". I head off to toilet and return and put on said David Guetta songs. He is out smoking. This goes on for an hour, demanding I put songs on right now with the caveat I paid for everything here mate so you better. Actually mate the venue booked me not you so do one. And if you weren't a tight wad you might have hired some marquee heaters instead of having us all freeze.

At this point I find the landlady and tell her I'm not taking :Censored::Censored::Censored::Censored: all night so if he comes over again with the same attitude and lack of respect I'm off. She also tells me that the first guest was ejected before lunch and the police are on call. I also tell her that the lack of heat is a real concern as im actually locking up at the knees and hands (bloody arthritis).

Strangely I don't see him again all night just people coming over saying the groom wants bounce music or the groom wants Oasis. This is cool but I'm getting the eyes all the time and his guests are generally degrading to lying down asleep on the dance floor. The landlord had enough and at 11 booked a load of taxis and sent them packing. So i get a flyer and paid in full. Also get an apology as she had a feeling they would be trouble and should have made this known.

Had a really good one tonight with a few surprises thrown at me.

There was an email arrived last week which mentioned a flashmob dance routine, unbeknown to the B&G.. we sneaked it in under their radar - more on that story later.

The room was already turned around when I arrived, so I had a nice leisurely setup. The B&G disappeared & a member of hotel staff told me they'd like to make a big entrance. Ahh, I've often wondered about these. So. Hmmm. What to play as their intro music? Think, think think. Since this wasn't planned (hello, people.. we should talk about this kind of thing before the day).. Ahh.. Crazy In Love - which I pretty much just turned into a music bed by looping the beat break after the main intro.. Ladies & Gentlemen.. please put your hands together and give a very warm welcome to the new Mr and Mrs X, Richard and Sam... Absolutely huge great cheer & they did a bit of a dance as they came in... A good choice of track, methinks.

From there we went to cake cutting, father of the bride/bride dance, then B&G first dance.. then the buffet opened, photobooth closed.. and after the buffet out came the flashmob. Now, with the songs they wanted bodged together I'd have thought they were all going to show up in morph suits or something. Nope. Just 6 people doing a choreographed routine to Aqua's 'Cartoon Heroes' which for some reason had to have the intro to 'Prince Charming' by Adam & The Ants bolted onto the front.

After that I went all around the houses & pretty much had a packed dancefloor all night. Which was just aswell because frankly I haven't been in the best frame of mind these last couple of days. There were one or two unreasonable people asking for songs that really wouldn't have fit & they weren't too polite about it. Hey, can I help it if the crowd are digging the older stuff?

Was asked by the bride not to go too cheesy, which I obeyed to the letter - but did somebody really have to ask for Rick Astley & did I have to play him? Poor old Rick got a massive cheer.

Mr unreasonable tried every trick in the book, from 'it'll get everybody up mate' to 'the groom wants you to play it'... I went to see the groom & he asked if I thought this song (Outhere Brothers' Boom Boom Boom) would go down well. I said nope & he agreed with me. Maybe on a different night, not this one.

Bride's dad wanted to hear Jim Reeves and/or Dean Martin, which he got - then last song was a request from earlier in the night.. Take That with 'Back for Good'.

I really don't know how I made it through that one, but I did. Things are afoot which make my main employment somewhat precarious, to say the very least. Onwards, ever forwards & upwards eh. If I was just a bit more ready.. maybe 9 months down the line or so, I'd definitely consider going full time DJing, but nah. Not just yet anyway.