Good Gig, Bad Gig.

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Originally Posted by mattydj50

There's a village hall in Somerset where I used to live where the power is timed to trip out at 1150 precisely. Doesn't matter what you are doing - boof! - immediate silence and darkness, followed by the swift introduction of the billion watt house lights.

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See that would have been cool but the ambiguous - the hall is booked until 1am and the guy making no mention of a hard curfew kind of negated anything but a negative outcome. As I said, he apologised but even now I'm still half :Censored::Censored::Censored::Censored:ed off about it, half annoyed with myself that I should have pre-empted it and finished a bit earlier to facilitate the extra tune.

It's been a weird weekend right enough.

Saturday night I was in a very exclusive city centre venue for a massive wedding alongside a band. I was due to start at 11, finish at half 1 and charging more for that than a lot of guys I know do for a full day shot because I was goign to be there all night anyway. Come 1am the venue shut things down because of the sheer amount of guests who have been sick through the bevvy. I thought they were kidding then came across the bar area. Disgusting.


Tonight I was doing a local private school's halloween ball and I turned up to find another DJ who someone off the PTA had "booked" in the pub the other week because he was a third the price of me. That got you someone with a £200 laptop using a dinner hall table and school chair with a moonflower that has been around from the 90s. It's not all about the gear of course but 60 quid (literally what he was charging) gets you a 60 quid DJ. credit to the senior girls who were organising it, they told him they'd booked me because they knew I was good and "cool" :muppet:

The head teacher came up and said I was "awfully expensive compared to the other chap" I pointed out I had cables that cost more than this guy was charging and they're paying a premium for a reason and apart from that, unlike mr 60 quid, I had an actual contract in place to do the disco so I'd be getting paid wether that was through the kids enterprise fund or me invoicing the school as soon as I got home :D

She came up to me later and mentioned that I was very familiar. I explained that she'd offered me a job (essentially begged to be honest) to teach History there a few years ago and I'd knocked it back. "Ah yes, you know you're the only person who has ever refused a job offer during my 20 years of service here!!!"

So yeah, weird run of bookings.

Wedding on Friday up north, hopefully all of the crazies will have crawled back into their hidey holes.

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Originally Posted by Jim - Scotland's Party DJ

The head teacher came up and said I was "awfully expensive compared to the other chap" I pointed out I had cables that cost more than this guy was charging and they're paying a premium for a reason and apart from that, unlike mr 60 quid, I had an actual contract in place to do the disco so I'd be getting paid wether that was through the kids enterprise fund or me invoicing the school as soon as I got home :D

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So did you do the gig or have a night off on full pay Jim?
Are you in your hot-tub sipping Prosecco?

And what's happened to your wee bro lately? He's gone very quiet :(

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Originally Posted by Imagine

So did you do the gig or have a night off on full pay Jim?
Are you in your hot-tub sipping Prosecco?

And what's happened to your wee bro lately? He's gone very quiet :(

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The senior girls who were organising it demanded that I was the one to perform - say what you will about a private education, it breeds assertive confident young people :D

I think sid got paid his tax free beer money too right enough for the inconvenience :/

I didn't even realise my bro was on here. He has a 1 year old and does a ridiculous amount of gigs so clearly not got much time to potter around here.

As with most things, he did copy his big brother and buy his own hot tub a while back :beer1:

It doesn't seem 5 minutes since I sat with this particular bride and groom (and the mother of the bride/wedding planner) in the local pub before they even booked me.

They were a lovely couple from the outset, and it was a chance to work in a venue I've never been to before (and will probably be going back to as the venue seemed impressed by what I did and how the disco looked :). ).

So....the evening....

It's my first, last and ONLY booking for the merry month of November. I'm not alone with this problem in East Anglia at the moment either....everyone I know is reporting a serious lack of interest (we're not even getting the enquiries). It's all a bit strange!

I arrived late (half an hour late...I don't DO late :mad:) due to traffic and the sheer number of tractors on the road (why, just WHY do the local farmers decide they need to lug a load of silage from A to B at rush hour?). Rushed into the venue to start setting up expecting to be under pressure, to be greeted by mother of the bride....who really wasn't bothered that I was late and told me to take my time. OK, we're off to a good start then :)

Luckily this is an outing for the all-white wedding rig which takes a matter of minutes to set up :) (I really must look at purchasing a set of white Maui's to shave another 5 minutes off the setup time by not having to put Lycra on them)

Stood chatting to the tog whilst setting up, it's his first time there as well (we've worked together in the past which always makes things easier as we both know what we do). He was a bit bored. Not because of the way the day had panned out (by all accounts everything had been perfect). It had been a long one though with the happy couple wanting to leave plenty of space between the different events so as not to make the day feel like a rush....and it worked as well. It was one of the most relaxed weddings I've ever been to.

Proceedings from my side of things started with the Shoe game. I don't get to do that one very often, but mother had seen it on the interweb and decided it was a goer. It was actually a LOT of fun. I videod the entire thing from a couple of different angles (mainly for my own purposes to see how I actually look/sound when I'm doing these things). Just watching the footage back now, some of the looks on the groom's face are priceless :)

Onto the cake cut and first dance, both without incident, and it's into show-time.

What can I say? The guests joined them on the dance floor midway through the first dance and didn't leave it....EVER! Music ranged from 60s and Motown to a good smattering of disco (one of the older guests asked for it and the younger ones filled the floor!), and of course the modern R&Bilge. Couldn't put a foot wrong though....everything was well received.

Lots of hugs and handshakes at the end made me one happy DJ

Time for a very large single malt now whilst I look back at lots of photos of a rammed dance floor, and prepare for a good enforced rest until 1st December which is my next booking. I suppose if nothing else, I get to go and tidy up the lockup.

You say that you're not getting the enquiries up here but I have had quite a few, I'm just not committing myself at the moment.
Hope it all picks up for you, which I am sure it will.

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Originally Posted by Shakermaker Promotions

You say that you're not getting the enquiries up here but I have had quite a few, I'm just not committing myself at the moment.
Hope it all picks up for you, which I am sure it will.

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it's only enquiries for November which are the problem Gary, that's the weird bit. That's all enquiry sources as well (NaD, ampDJ and my own website)


I've been fairly solid all year, and indeed December is finally starting to look healthy. Half of next year's gigs are in the bag already as well.

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Originally Posted by Imagine

It doesn't seem 5 minutes since I sat with this particular bride and groom (and the mother of the bride/wedding planner) in the local pub before they even booked me.

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Wayne!! How often do we advise clients to not just book some bloke they met in a pub? :bang:

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Originally Posted by Imagine

It's my first, last and ONLY booking for the merry month of November. I'm not alone with this problem in East Anglia at the moment either....everyone I know is reporting a serious lack of interest (we're not even getting the enquiries). It's all a bit strange!

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I'm off this weekend, and in a fortnight, but otherwise not too bad. I had the chance of a high paying Karaoke gig at a prestigious Hull venue, but to be fair, I can do without the hassle. :whistle:
Annoyingly, I lost a really nice, seriously well paid gig tonight because I don't do dancefloors. :(

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Originally Posted by Imagine

I arrived late (half an hour late...I don't DO late :mad:) due to traffic and the sheer number of tractors on the road (why, just WHY do the local farmers decide they need to lug a load of silage from A to B at rush hour?).

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Ahem. As someone who has hauled more than a few loads of silage in his time, the correct question is " Why do all these clueless :muppet:s who haven't a brain cell to spare, and got their driving licence out of a cornflake packet decide to do thier best to get in the way of professional drivers trying to earn a crust "? :p:p

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Originally Posted by Imagine

and prepare for a good enforced rest until 1st December which is my next booking. I suppose if nothing else, I get to go and tidy up the lockup.

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Hmmmmmm. Time on your hands, eh? I wonder what on earth you'll find to fill the time? :whistle::D:D

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Originally Posted by Excalibur

Hmmmmmm. Time on your hands, eh? I wonder what on earth you'll find to fill the time? :whistle::D:D

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I wonder indeed! (you have email :) )

Last night was my first private booking in quite a while, near where I used to live when I was growing up. The last time I was DJing at this particular WMC was 1993!!

The occasion was a 50th birthday party & my client had taken the "you can take as much (or as little) control over the music as you like" from my website to heart - landing me with a list of 103 tracks to play. Ah, but - this was no ordinary 'it's my party & I'll cry if I want to' playlist, oh no. A very well informed set of selections, with a smattering of 'must plays', most of which were very well received by the party.

Loading into the venue was a DREAM. Pull the van up alongside the double doors at the back & get straight in, almost right onto the stage. I was in & setup in under half an hour - this was with a new rig configuration I've not used before - Equinox truss booth, upright poles & trusslite overhead bar populated by 2x QPHPs & 4 Gobotracer mini movers. My erstwhile gigabar provided wash (and later strobes) & a WashFX lit the booth from the front of the stage. Speaker stands were adorned with tents ( I love how so many DJs hate them but punters seem to like em) & my bass bin nicely hid away inside the booth.

Dancing was sporadic throughout the night but I saw plenty of people bobbing along to the music when they weren't up. I got to play loads of tunes I love but wouldn't normally consider playing to mainstream crowds. At the end, hugs from the birthday girl & handshakes aplenty from others. Oh yeah - great selections Mr DJ.. (aww shucks) - but wait - not a single one was one of my own! :lol:

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A 'corporate' event last night. It was for a sports group who hold an annual awards ceremony and this was my second year providing the music for them.

My favourite part was on the schedule for the evening:

10pm - 10:45 DJ
10:45 - 11:15 DJ break
11:15 - 12:00 DJ

Considering the actual 'disco' element was only 2 hours, I really didn't need a 30 minute break :)

It's in a town centre location, but upon advance checks I'm told I can unload at the back. Arrive a bit early, and TX Max are currently unloading, so they place my in their car park, whilst I go and get some food, and come back to place the van in their indoor unloading bay. 10 metres to the staff lift, up one floor, takes me to the back corridor, and another 10 metres to the function room - absolutely perfect.

Staff in the venue were great - a card is given to me for access to a meeting room to get changed in, they sort me out with a nice pot of tea and are generally all very helpful. I guess that's what you get when dealing with well trained staff at 4* hotels!

My role for this gig is split in two: disco after the awards, and background music + lectern with microphone for the actual awards/dinner section.

The room had built in ceiling speakers, and I thought that would be easier than my Maui 5s for the amplification of the lectern mic. Plug in on the wall, staff member goes and adjust sound system and nothing. Oh well, not the end of the world, and I rig up the Maui 5s. I use the Alto Stealths to save running cables. Turn on the 'disco end' and music starts playing. Strange, I didn't think I'd turned on the speakers yet. Double check, nope, no speakers on. Hang on - it's coming out of the speakers in the ceiling! I can only assume that their wireless microphone was set to the same channel as the Alto Stealths! So ended up going with a combination of Maui 5 and ceiling speakers.

Events overrun a bit, and disco starts nearer 10:20. There' only about 50 guests, and it's a fairly lacklustre performance on the dancefloor, but midnight soon comes round.

It's a very different type of gig to the weddings I do, but I do enjoy producing the 'awards' style events.