Good Gig, Bad Gig.

Last night's birthday had all the hallmarks of being a belter. That should have been enough to doom it from the start.

A birthday party saw me in my local village hall with the full sized Retro rig and a playlist to die for....it all looked so good on paper.

The guests had other ideas though, with only a smattering of dancing for the entire evening :(. Don't get me wrong, plenty of table tapping, foot jogging and singing going on from the seated areas, but not many of the 40 assembled guests (in a hall with a capacity of 120) wanted to throw shapes on the floor no matter what I did.

Things got a bit exiting at the halfway point when all the power to the stage suddenly went off (confusing because all other power was still on). Nothing tripped on the fuse board, no explanation....until we found another fuse board which for some reason serves only the stage sockets hidden away in a side room. It took 10 minutes to find that one, during which time the guests had started to sing, and I'd run a 25m extension to the bar who still had power.

Everything working again (I'm so glad the Retro show is LED these days....wouldn't have fancied running the old incandescant setup down a cable that long), and we're back into the party....or rather the leg tapping.

Hey ho. Got a round of applause at the end of the night and loads of compliments for the outstanding job I'd done. Just wish I could have had a bit more of a lively dance floor but that's the way it goes at times.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Excalibur

Midweek wedding in a small but perfectly formed WMC in Doncaster. I'd met the happy couple previously on site for a chat, and they were lovely. Some of the info about the quotes they'd received were illuminating to say the least. Seems that some DJ's think a sixty head midweek event in Donny has an exceedingly healthy budget, just cos it's a wedding! :eek::eek: Exceedingly healthy. ( My quote was for a figure I was very happy with for a midweek evening only, I had trimmed a shade of the weekend figure, and added karaoke).

---

Where was that then? You were lucky, most people's budgets in Doncaster don't stretch to three figures! But you're right. Both me and Mrs W (who owns a Wedding Stationery and Accessories business) have often come across the "Add an Extra Nought coz its a Wedding" mentality amongst traders.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mattydj50

Where was that then? You were lucky, most people's budgets in Doncaster don't stretch to three figures! But you're right. Both me and Mrs W (who owns a Wedding Stationery and Accessories business) have often come across the "Add an Extra Nought coz its a Wedding" mentality amongst traders.

---

Aaaah....the "wedding tax"

Maybe that's one for another post entirely - it's something I see quite a bit and don't get involved in.

So that was officially the busiest weekend I've ever done due to a last minute, nice and lucrative, corporate booking coming in. I worked it out that between Friday afternoon and yesterday dinner time I DJ'd for 19 hours - as in on my feet playing music never mind all the driving, setting up etc...

Friday afternoon: Reward disco for the kids in my school helping up with the big declutter. It was a shambles and I only ended up doing 20 minutes so as it was nice I gave up my lunch (I usually work through my lunches anyway), set up out in the playground and we had an outdoor disco. The boss let me away an hour early for me efforts :)

Saturday night: low key wedding. Not much to report, couple were very nice and have sent me some good feedback already noting how good I was with the brides young brother and sister as they were nervous about their requests etc...

Saturday and Sunday daytime: corporate event day for a builders merchant. Small set up, background music for the most part and lots of announcements about this firm's offer, that guys live demo etc... and I put together a little promo montage for head office to peruse / use if they wish. Shot it in full 4k and it looks pretty good if you ask me. Sunday was a lot quieter and one of the brass had a face like a slapped erse due to the fact but the Saturday had been good and everyone else seemed impressed. Lots of praise for my good choonage and one of the execs came over before leaving yesterday to thank me for my efforts (you'd think I hadn't been paid handsomely for the privilidge :D ) and said they're looking into doing an in-store radio station and would like me to be involved in some capacity. Fair enough. It's a massive chain so I'm hoping it was a success £s wise for them to roll it out as it would be a very nice sideline from the wedding gigs.

Last Saturday:
The report for this was delayed, cos after the gig, I took The Aged Parent out for the day to Castle Howard, for their three day Steam Fair/ Car Show/ Anything else you can think of. When I got home, I had a long overdue :Sleeping:

OK, Interesting last minute After Wedding party. Instructions? " Play all the things people dance to at weddings and parties". Gissa job, I can do that. :D
Itwas at a lovely golf club I've played at a few times, and staff recognised and welcomed me, always nice. Access was hampered by the Hog Roast, who had commandeered my access point, and bag repository for his stall, but not a big deal.

Got in early, in light rain, and set up in the normal place. Now despite, knowing things, sometimes we make errors of judgment, and sometimes these errors bite us, sometimes they turn out to appear wise moves. My Maui 11s aren't trolley friendly, cos they're one piece, and very long. Thus, I chose the rig which is vying for preferred status, Db12" subs/RCF 710 tops, which should have been severely overgunned for the venue.

If the place hadn't been rammed with at least twenty or thirty more folk than the Hog Roast man had been told to cater for, they would have been. Turned out to be perfect for the job, as this audience hadn't read the script. When they asked for ( lots of ) requests, they actually danced to them, and sang along with gusto. :eek:
Bride and Groom were lovely, so were guests, and we had a fine old time, which flagged in the last hour ( after midnight) but the handful of hardcore remainers ( steady there Peter, nearly straying into Politics there :Naughty::Naughty: ) kept up the pace admirably.

Fly in the ointment came when the Groom asked when I would send the invoice for payment. Err, that would be a fortnight ago, when you signed the contract accepting payment terms as well. :doh: Payment was duly made next morning, so no issues, but does nobody actually read what they sign? I even put payment terms in bright red bold type.

This Saturday:
Back to Driffield Cricket Club, for Dave Jackson. A 50th Birthday for a real party animal, which was in some ways laughably easy, because of the footy. That kicked off an hour after I started, and had guests glued to it. Seemingly I had Liverpool fans in, which was good, considering the result. So, between buffet and footy, I was aural wallpaper. When it finished, I got some very sporadic dancing, and very varied requests. Superman made an appearance, as did Sandstorm, and most things in between.
I was also graced with the presence of the aforementioned Mr Jackson, who had started and finished early, and had a less than stellar gig, due to low numbers, marital disharmony, and lots of heavy metal music!!. Guess you got the short straw Dave, but at least you got home early.
He said the PA ( same as last week ) sounded nice, which was pleasing, as was the performance of my lighting. Chauvet scanners, and Hadron Wash 4-in-1, controlled by a recently acquired ( Thank you Mr Neen ) QTX desk with sixteen, count 'em, physical faders!!!
This one puts its predecessor, a Chauvet, to shame, as it effortlessly copes with different banks of fixtures, without memory loss, while switching between them. Magic. :)

Much like last week, numbers thinned after midnight, and the energy level on the floor actually climbed a little, but unlike last week, I'd been handed an envelope of money before I had played a note, with a £5 tip as well!! Called in to Ronald's for a coffee, and home to bed.

Friday and Saturday next week, so that will be busy.

Every now and again, you get one of those gigs where everything just comes together nicely.

Yesterday was an all-day affair for me at a wedding that was well spec'd out.

An array of transport was used from the venue to the church, including a vintage double-decker bus for the guests, and the father of the bride provided 3 supercars. Bride and Groom returned from the church in a classic car - to swap over 1 mile from the venue into a white horse and cart.

After the group photo, a steel band provided the background music for the drinks reception, which was perfect for the sunny weather.

There were 87 guests for the day - a good number for the venue. Any more and it starts to feel a bit cramped in the room where the wedding breakfast is eaten.

A great Grand Entrance into the wedding - this was a crowd that was up for a party - and after the meal, rapturous applause for each of the speeches (of which there were 5!)

Things at this stage were running a bit behind, but this was fine, as an extra 100 guests were coming for the evening, meaning 187 people in total!

The first dance was just after 9pm, and then off we went into the party, and boy did they party. A hot evening - I could see a lot of sweaty heads dancing on the dancefloor! A slightly more R'n'B skewed night and the atmosphere was electric.

One of those nights where everything worked perfectly, and we ended on a high with Bo Rap. The full playlist below :)



Beyonce - Daddy (Father/Daughter Dance)
Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud (First Dance)
Ed Sheeran - Perfect
Mark Ronson Feat. Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk
Pharrell Williams - Happy
Christina Aguilera feat. Missy Elliott - Car Wash
J. Balvin n Willy William - Mi Gente
Justin Timberlake - Cant Stop The Feeling
Wiley, Sean Paul n Stefflon Don feat. Idris Elba - Boasty
Drake - Hotline Bling
George Michael - Amazing
Bob Marley - Three Little Birds
Big Mountain - Baby I Love Your Way
Hot Chocolate - You Sexy Thing
Mousse T - Sex Bomb
Inner Circle - Sweat (A La La La La Long)
Cj Lewis - Sweets For My Sweet
Shaggy Feat..Rikrok - It Wasnt Me
Mark Morrison - Return Of The Mack
Luther Vandross - Never Too Much
Stevie Wonder - Superstition
The Jackson 5 - ABC
House Of Pain - Jump Around
Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag
Blackstreet feat Dr Dre - No Diggity
Sean Paul - Temperature
Nelly - Hot In Here
Kevin Lyttle - Turn Me On
Robin S - Show Me Love
Calvin Harris n Rag'n'Bone Man - Giant
Rihanna Feat Calvin Harris - We Found Love
The Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling
Queen - Dont Stop me Now
Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive
Jacksons - Blame it on the Boogie
Sugarhill Gang - Apache
T-Pain Feat. Teddy Verseti - Church
Ginuwine - Pony
Cameo - Candy
Gadjo - So Many Times
Sweet Female Attitude - Flowers
Energy 52 - Café del mar
Pitbull feat. Ke$ha - Timber
Beyonce Knowles - Crazy In Love
Robin Thicke f. Pharrell & T.I. - Blurred Lines
Michael Jackson - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
Lou Bega - Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of...)
Dj. Casper - Cha Cha Slide
Wham - Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
Earth Wind & Fire - Boogie Wonderland
Sigala feat. Bryn Christopher - Sweet Lovin
LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It
Usher Feat. Lil' Jon & Ludacris - Yeah!
The Foundations - Build Me Up Buttercup
Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)
The Killers - Mr Brightside
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Excalibur

This Saturday:
Back to Driffield Cricket Club, for Dave Jackson. A 50th Birthday for a real party animal, which was in some ways laughably easy, because of the footy. That kicked off an hour after I started, and had guests glued to it. Seemingly I had Liverpool fans in, which was good, considering the result. So, between buffet and footy, I was aural wallpaper. When it finished, I got some very sporadic dancing, and very varied requests. Superman made an appearance, as did Sandstorm, and most things in between. I was also graced with the presence of the aforementioned Mr Jackson, who had started and finished early, and had a less than stellar gig, due to low numbers, marital disharmony, and lots of heavy metal music!!. Guess you got the short straw Dave, but at least you got home early.

---

No doubt I got the Short straw although football not my thing, there is only so much Slipnott/Anthrax one person can take!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Excalibur

I'd been handed an envelope of money before I had played a note, with a £5 tip as well!!.

---

I forgot to pick up my commission :eek: Glad all went ok, Hope you are still ok for our Prom date? :p

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by djdj

Glad all went ok, Hope you are still ok for our Prom date? :p[/B]

---

For anyone who thinks I'm breaking out The Frock again, and escorting Dave to the ball, we're providing some of the musical entertainment for the night. Yes Dave, all set, and you won't even need a sub this time, just your Prime 4 :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Excalibur

For anyone who thinks I'm breaking out The Frock again, and escorting Dave to the ball, we're providing some of the musical entertainment for the night. Yes Dave, all set, and you won't even need a sub this time, just your Prime 4 :)

---

:Laugh::Laugh::Laugh: Like you're going to know how to handle that much technology for an evening Peter :Laugh::Laugh::Laugh:

I'm back in the game!

So after ending up in a situation where my foot wasn't quite pointing in the right direction, I had spent the next 10 weeks out of action. My return gig was on the Saturday before last and a nice one to ease myself in to - a local wedding venue that has it's own sound and lighting installed. This was going to be an initial 'testing of the waters' to see if I can cope being behind the booth for 5 hours (or more). By the end of the night, my ankle was swollen to double it's size and achey as hell but didn't deter me from plowing on. The wedding itself certainly helped with that - a good crowd who danced all night and were a joy to perform for. No real stories to tell about it, but it was good to see that I wasn't rusty. Dance music, pop punk and 00s indie - Happy Benny!

The real test for my ability to work was this weekend just gone.

Friday I was at a new venue for me. Very humid day and timings became very fluid. We arrived at 6pm for a 7pm start time, but guests were still eating. We were given the chance to start setting up while they were finishing off, but I decided not to. Nobody wants to having clanging and banging going on in the background and since they were going to foxtrot-oscar out of the room for an hour afterwards for cocktails anyway, there was no rush. The venue were most impressed by this approach.

After being allowed in and setting up, I thought that I would give the sound limiter a test. My guess is that it's only due to be affected when the music achieve sonic boom levels as I set my CS1000s to how I would want them for the night, then pushed them further to see what would happen and gave up before the light even flickered (I bet that I would have had a different result were I to take my 905a's with me). That worked for me - you have to play within the lines but your playing field is the size of planet Earth.

Because it was so humid and such a nice venue (plus finding out that the photographer was staying until 10:30pm), I tried to push timings back and have the first dance after the buffet (I like to think that I am very good at what I do, but I can't beat God) and initially, everyone was on board. Then it turns out that the photographer's second shooter had childcare issues, so things were dragged back. First dance happened, then I think that I played two songs and the evening food was being served - no matter, as I'll get them back eventually.

Because of the humidity, it was very stuffy in there so it took a while for folk to get going but we got there eventually. I was told at the beginning of the night that the fire exit that we had entered through had to remain shut otherwise it would cut the power to the stage. Bit of a strange one I thought but didn't question it. After two boisterous blokes went crashing through the door just after the first dance, I found out that every word of that warning was true. Door closed, power back on and Benny keeps on rolling. There was also a moment where a guest hoisted up the photographer and sheer panic had overcome her (well, she was carrying thousands of pounds worth of camera gear around her waist). I honestly believed that had it gone on a second longer, he'd have got punched. 'tog goes off to compose herself and there seemed to be an apology from the guest to her, so that looked like it resolved itself.

By the end of the night, I had happy clients and a very happy venue. We enjoyed working with each other and they made the right noises about working together again in the future.

Saturday was an all-dayer(ish) in Llandinam. It was initially booked as an evening only event (clients based in Reading booking a DJ in Bromsgrove for a wedding in Wales) but after meeting them at their venue in January, it became apparent very quickly that an evening only function was not logistically possible and there was no way that I was driving two hours each way to set up in the morning, come back later etc. We came to the conclusion that it would be best that I provide music for the Wedding Breakfast and Mics for speeches then straight onto the party. Now, I normally don't travel this far out but I do the odd long-distance gig (maybe once or twice a year) if it piques my interest. This was a nice venue and the couple were lovely, so I was down. I'll admit that my enthusiasm waned slightly when it became an all-dayer(ish) as it then turned into a 14 hour day with evening events either side, but I was still looking forward to it.

The venue is a massive country house and the meal and after party happens in a mildly converted stable (in that it was converted by adding a bar and some power sockets). DJs and Bands are expected to set up so that the audience is to the right, so they can get a good look of my right ear. As this was a fleeting comment made to me during the consultation nearly five months ago, and the fact that I'm not all that fussed about trying to get a weekly gig here (purely because of distance), I decided to 'forget' that instruction and set up facing the audience. The depth of the dancing area was reduced, but the width was widened so I still had the same surface area to work with. After I set up, the owner did say that I should have set up the other way and question whether I have enough space for dancers, to which I said that there was plenty, and there was. It looked good and it was right for that party - they were facing the show and it was a full dancefloor all night.

Special shout out goes to the Photographer who was an absolute 'kin nause! Besides having the worst photography company name ever (I'm not naming it here, but F me it's bad!), I was watching him photograph the dancefloor and I honestly wanted to slap him. No personality at all - just a blank sheet of a face taking photos and chimping. You see the good 'togs smile, laugh and have a little boogie themselves with guests and that results in better and more relaxed photos but this dude...ugh! Of course, he got off to a good start with me when his first words to me after I said "Alright fella?" were "Where're the plug sockets?" I replied with "Hi!", to which he asked his question again. I stood there for a beat then repeated in a much more stern "Hi!" to which he finally listened, apologied and said that it had been a long day (he had been working 4 hours by this point).

Then onto Sunday. I was apprehensive about this one as I suddenly realised when I set up and saw guests arriving that I didn't quite get a 'feel' for this couple. The couple themselves were amazing with big personalities, as were their guests and people enjoyed themselves considering.

Considering what?

Most of the requests were for what the bride wanted (and even then, she decided to really dial back what she actually wanted - something that I didn't find out until the night itself). People enjoyed the music, but for the most part they didn't want to dance to it. There was someone always on the floor, but numbers peaked at maybe 20 dancers from a guest list of about 150. There was a lot of chair shuffling, singing at the tables and toe tapping but with an audience that size, you'd hope for more. It being a Sunday night didn't help either, along with the humidity. I had enough free reign to make a go of it, but I got the feeling that what the guests really wanted was something cheesier and both the bride and groom didn't want that. That was perfectly fine and I felt that guests understood that and harboured no ill will because of it - like I say, everyone liked the music that was played - but I think that were I to have played a bit of 80s cheese, there would have been a lot more dancers. I think you guys know me well enough that I'm not talking a full on cheese fest - that's not my style - but to breach that barrier a bit to placate that section of the audience would have resulted in a healthier dancefloor but doing that would go against what the couple would want on their wedding day. I always start from the position of my clients and if the music choices are detrimental, then I'll veer off course. Last night that wasn't the case and I had compliments at the end from the clients and their guests. I just felt like it could have been better for them and it goes against every fibre in my being to admit this, but I think cheese would have done it.

My ankle (along with the rest of me) survived the onslaught. I'm cautiously optimistic in being able to continue on without having to pass on any more of my events, but I am still taking it one step at a time (pun totally intended).