Could have been a right pig's ear!
Well, last night was probably a notable first. I can't remember being booked to provide Karaoke alongside a resident DJ before. :confused:
The whole event was marked by misunderstanding and misinformation. An NaD enquiry came in for Disco and Karaoke at a hotel which could hardly have been easier to get to. Down the M18, one junction along the M1, and a mile further along at the roundabout. I quoted a decent price, and got it. Telephone call from customer informs me that he has to have the resident DJ, who doesn't do the dreaded Karaoke, so can I turn up and provide this service? Of course says I, just sign the contract, and I'll contact venue and DJ to ensure it all goes smoothly.
You're ahead of me, aren't you? I just know you are. :whistle: Adobe Sign contract unsigned, NaD not closed, and radio silence. Whoopee. :( I text him the day before to tell him I'm all set, and get an affirmative reply. I'm not overly confident about this, so set off early, and on arrival, find that very few people have the full picture of the night's entertainment. Client hasn't told venue I'm coming, I haven't told them, as I'm still not sure I'm going to be playing, and there are so many guests and tables that there's not really enough room for the resident, let alone me. :eek:
Nevertheless, a plan of campaign is hatched, tables and chairs are moved round, and I'm given a space to get the Micron in, with the RCF 710s on gravity poles, as is my TV monitor. Couldn't have been any more compact, I'm quite proud of it. Resident DJ turns up, and is surprised to see me, to say the least. Now, dear reader, you may have to suspend disbelief here, but he's a mature DJ, in attitude, and years. In actual fact, he's a year older than me, eek! Absolutely lovely fella, couldn't have been nicer, or more accomodating. We work out how we're going to cope, and we're both ready to go.
Now, I mentioned I had got the little RCFs in play, and from first impressions, I'm expecting something in the sort of Alto territory, which I'm confident the RCFs will compare favourably against, as they've got quite a bit of horsepower under the bonnets. From the size of the room, I know I've got the right cabs for the job. What does Mr Resident carry in? Fifteen inch Peavey Impulse 500s, driven by an old Peavey amp that looks as if it needs a whole reactor from Drax B to power it! He gets his kit set up, and starts making a noise. A lot of noise. I bet he hasn't got that amp past tickover yet. :eek:
Client arrives, shakes hands, pays me instantly, and that's it, over to us. We expect that the resident will probably play music up to buffet, and after that, we'll juggle music and karaoke. How wrong can you be? We get the first bit right, and he does indeed play up to and including the 9pm buffet. We have been approached by Elvis himself, who appears to be the reason we've got karaoke. Entrance to See See Rider, and three or four songs straight off the reel, before Elvis leaves the building. At this point, we don't expect a big take up of karaoke, nor dancing, as they look as if they want to chat and drink. Elvis does his bit, and then I hand back to the DJ. Surprisingly, karaoke slips start coming in, and as soon as I have got enough for a slot, I take over. My singers never really stop coming up, and apart from singers being in the toilet when called, and me having an unexpected battery swap in a mic, the DJ never really plays a song until I finish the night at midnight! All in all, a great night.
Now the misinformation/miscommunication bit. Although the resident was happy to work alongside me, ( and to be fair, we had a lovely time, two old stagers comparing stories) his presence wasn't mandatory. As long as I could show PLI, I could have done the whole thing, and saved the client some money. I could have had room to get a full booth in, full mixer and kitchen sink as well. No atter, we coped very well, and everyone was happy. Job done. :)
First one of The Roaring Twenty Twenties.
I nicked that from somewhere else. OK, my wedding venue from hell ( there's a thread in Supporters, £1 a month lets you see what made me consider baling on it ) turned out to have moved upstairs to Heaven. :)
The declaration of war they sent me disguised as noise regulations turns out to be an old form which isn't relevant now, and needs rewriting to merely say " don't trip the sound limiter". I sent the old form to someone who knows about them, and it baffled them. It was also totally unworkable.
Having made contact with the venue, I was put in touch with " The Director of Romance", aka Wedding Coordinator, Amy. A pleasure to deal with, and an absolute delight in person. Turn round times were too tight to achieve easily, so after negotiation, I was allowed to put a tiny rig in mid afternoon, and saunter in at kick off time to press play. Lovely easy access too.
Almost everything ran exactly as it should have, except that some of the guests hadn't grasped the idea of dance music. This was a wedding for a couple probably in their fifties, and the person who asked for Metallica was definitely not on my side. Cotton Eye Joe wasn't a lot better, and nor were many others, Bohemian Rhapsody and We Are The Champions included.
One way or another I managed the impossible balancing act, but failed to find a space for many of the requests, or would have played them if the requester hadn't gone home.
We managed the midnight bit nicely, and shortly after that, guests disappeared rapidly. I switched off at 12.45, and set off home. Fortunately for me, I'd been in contact with Matthew Western during the night, angling for a free pint on my way home. Sadly for me, the motorway past him, my normal route home, was closed due to a big smash in the fog. This turned out to be Good News, Bad News for me.
The normal route is through the middle of Lincoln, and up the A15, neither of which are any fun, especially as that road limits my Transit to 50mph. :(
Plan B is to go cross country until I hit the A1, head North, and when I hit Blyth Services, stick it on the limiter at 68mph. Although the way I went was the longest in terms of distance, it offered the highest speeds, and easiest drive. Six and two threes. I got home at 3.15, had a beer and unwound a bit.
Happy New Year everyone, all the best.
