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Quote:
Originally Posted by Benny Smyth
Quote:
Originally Posted by Benny Smyth
Seems to me Benny that they're looking for an atypical disco, small PA, minimal lighting, and low volume, laid back music. No need for the big PA, extra lights, and lots of thrash metal. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Benny Smyth
I was subcontracting for Andy P last night doing an engagement party. My furthest trip out to date - 35 miles each way which took almost an hour.
Pre requests ranged from Def Leppard to Sum41 including chart & general disco music.
Nice venue, a social club with superb access meaning only 2 clear runs with a fully loaded rock & roller R10. The stage could've been less high for my liking but I'm no fan of stages really.
Early doors, plenty of chair wiggling but no dancing was partaken except by young kids. After the buffet it was like shooting fish in a barrel. Until the wheels came off when I played Mr Brightside. Hahaha. How I laughed. Rescued the floor with Brian Adams Summer of 69 & we were back for a while. It wasn't too long before another popular track wiped them all out.. Oh dear I just can't seem to grasp this lot very well.
Onwards & forwards requests came thick & fast. A Rod Stewart album track nobody could or would dance to, Queen's Bicycle Ride (really?!) & Abba. I've said many times before that when somebody asks for Abba the least likely of all their tracks I'll play is Dancing Queen because it's so.. MEH.. But nobody took up Mamma Mia at all. Damn.
Anyway, I went back to chart & at least had a few up for a while before digging into a bit more rock. Ahhhhh... this is where the action lies after all this time. Pour Some Sugar led to Lay Your Hands on Me & Money For Nothing (never ever EVER been asked to play that before) after which we descended into American punkish territory with Green Day, Blink 182 etc and the engaged couple's preferences for Sum41, Bowling For Soup & Biffy Clyro. So much for those being minor requests then.
11.50 came & the barman demanded I cut the music off by order of the manager. Ahh right. I gave good wishes to the couple, wished everybody a safe journey & faded the music. De-rigged & was back in my van in little over 40 minutes. I was all unpacked & having a bit to eat at 1.30am - not much later than had I been working the residency some 28 miles nearer home!
EDIT: BTW It was only while having my pre-gig shower that I realised WHOAH.. I'll be driving north on the A1... AT RUSH HOUR. And hitting Newcastle's outskirts.. AT RUSH HOUR. Not to worry the Gods were with me & I made it with an hour 10 minutes before start time - just as well because people showed up early!
Bliss. Heaven. Nowadays I class anything less than fifty miles as local. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by juski
Excalibur, putting the Mobile back into Mobile Disco. Does exactly what it says on the tin. ;)
I went through a few phases last night.. once on the way "I HATE MOBILE WORK! GRRRR" when stuck in traffic.. then on landing at the venue with more than an hour to spare "I could get used to this mobile lark" to - on clearing the floor successfully & somewhat inexplicably - "I HATE MOBILES!" to.. on finding the groove eventually "YAY! MOBILES ROCK!". Heh. I need to get out more.Quote:
Originally Posted by Excalibur
I rarely travel more than 30 miles these days....gave up on the long drives about a year ago and haven't suffered as a result. Thankfully I seem to have found plenty of business locally.Quote:
Originally Posted by Excalibur
On to my efforts for the week (for I only had a Friday night this weekend....only one more night of diabolically boring telly)....
Last night - my last wedding of the year in the same venue as I did my first of the year. Nice and local just 5 miles down the road in a restored Georgian farm manor (well, that's what the building is...the actual reception is held in two permanent marquees bolted to the back with one of them being a proper dance marquee).
The dance marquee isn't heated. Not a problem because it soon warms up when the venue whip back the curtain between the main marquee and the dance marquee for the first dance (it's kept out of view until then). The downside is...I'm sure I saw penguins skating across the dance floor whilst I was rigging up :o
I like this venue because everything looks so surreal and theatrical...the LOVE letters work really well in here (in fact they're complimentary as part of the package which gets me a lot of business in there). I can also use haze by the bucketload :)
It's a lot less formal from my side of the booth as well. Because of the way the venue's laid out, the couple are in place for the first dance before the venue announce what's happening and draw back the dividing curtain to reveal the starlit marquee, normally to a lot of "wow's"...it's all very theatrical and I love it.
Another big plus for me is that midnight MEANS midnight, the couple are always made aware of this by the venue and by me, and there's no "one more"...it's not allowed, meaning I'm normally out in the van, unloaded and home by 1am :)
The couple....a lovely young English girl and a US Airman. Soooo....lots of guests from t'other side of the pond then....bring it on :). The music....American rock, American cheese, a smattering of UK rock and current chart....I couldn't fail and had a nice healthy floor even during the evening buffet :)
To my own mind....it was my best wedding of the year - I'm a happy DJ :)
Just to celebrate it being my favourite venue....here's a couple of photos of how I roll in there :)
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Wow Wayne that looks pretty dreamy. I always like a good reveal - it's a pity more venues can't do that. Great the venue seems to have its own lighting too - marquees can be tricky, what with where we're allowed to setup & the low clearance of said places.
Well, that was a very tiring, scary but great Saturday.
Tiring - Decided to travel back down South in the morning for my booking. This was after I'd made some calls to see if any of the DJ's I use regularly were able to cover me as I'd had severe lack of sleep due to a wife with a bad cold. If there had been a sound limiter in our bedroom, she would have been going well above the acceptable db level. This meant that I felt quite rough myself. I'd loaded the van the night before and got myself ready but really couldn't face the long journey. Had to grin and bear it as nobody was available to cover me but it wasn't a problem. I guess I was panicking. This particular customer is a regular and books me every year. They even moved the date of their party for me. They booked last year and originally wanted last week but I was already booked.
Anyway, a journey that usually takes me around 3 hours 10 minutes was extended due to a couple of junctions on the M3 being closed due to a bridge being demolished (it's been on the news this weekend). I left the house at 11.00am and arrived at the hotel to set up at 3.55pm having been diverted here, there and everywhere. There were times when I was at a standstill, just sitting there in a long queue of traffic and I questioned myself as to why I am doing this?
(The reason is, I have lots of work in Hampshire still to do and 22 bookings for next year already there.... things may need to change sharpish).
Scary - Decided once the booking was over, that I'd drive back home. I'd made my mind up and didn't realise just how bad the weather was. The rain and wind was horrible and again, the journey was extended. Not as much this time due to the roads being clear, but left the hotel at 00.45 and got back indoors at 04.35. Sat down, had a cup of tea and my legs were shaking! I wondered how I'd managed to do it. Lack of sleep, 9 hours of driving and a party too. I was aquaplaning, even at 50 mph. That was quite nervy.
Great - The booking was for a regular at my hotel residency. It was for a widow and widowers group who are always up for a party. I do have to think about what I am playing at times and they definitely don't want any slushy stuff.
88 guests, 90% of whom are middle-aged or older women and they are all lovely and very complimentary. When I walked into the room as they were finishing their meals, I got a round of applause and they were chanting my name. I've done their parties for the past few years and have got to know them, even though I see them once a year. They've already booked me for next year too and have said that they'll pay for my travel, which was nice of them.
They didn't let me down last night, they never do. The majority of them danced to everything, no matter what it was and at the end of the night I got a standing ovation! Talk about embarrassment!
I also tried something different with the set up too. I took everything as I would normally do so that it was in the van incase I didn't like it, but I used the X Moves either side of me and some of the equinox batterns which were on a preset program and placed around the room. I also pointed a cluster laser at the ceiling. It looked very nice actually, but there wasn't much on the actual dance floor. If I'd taken the Spherion and tower, I think that would have done the job.
Phew!
Might be worth looking into some new tyres if your current ones are getting near the end of their life? A couple of years ago they were down to just over 2mm and they were aquaplaning every now and again... hasn't happened since replacement.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shakermaker Promotions
My tyres are a month old. I had them all replaced when I had a full service recently.
I don't think it was them at all, it was the strong wind blowing me all over the place and the torrential rain. There were large puddles of water everywhere. As I said, it wasn't that great an experience.
A rare doubler yesterday:
Afternoon - a kids party - I usually don't touch them (though I did make an exception for a Rangers player's little girl the other week :o ) but it's an ongoing client of my brothers and he couldn't make it.
The mum was ecstatic by the end of it. I got proper daft (6 year old party) pretending I was going to keep all the prizes and challenging them to dance offs. The lapped it up.
Last night was a 50th over in Edinburgher. The chap was quite well to do and his friends and family had come from far and wide so spent the first half of the evening chatting - on the dancefloor.
Literally every single person in the room was standing on the dancefloor talking. Got the buffet done then it was full steam ahead. Great night and a really good crowd.
Got a rare gig 2 minutes down the road next week which will be nice. I might go for a few pints in the afternoon, steal a trolley and roll everything round in that :daft: