My best gig of the year by far!
That's it! I'm upping sticks and moving to the US of A to become a DJ! You know....that place where DJs and MCs are respected for their talents, paid a proper fee it's seen as being a reputable career as opposed to a hobby.
So, it's nearly 2am on Tuesday morning. Adrenaline is still coursing through my veins despite copious amounts of Pinot Grigio working hard to make me dozy enough for slumber (and failing).
I'd been looking forward to this one for a long time. A lovely American couple who'd officially wed last year in a small ceremony back home, but having moved to the UK decided to celebrate with all the bells and whistles in my favourite venue. And yes, around 100 guests had flown in from the US of A to be with them. From experience, when this happens they're dedicated to the cause and will party hard!
Flippin' 'eck, the togger was even one of my ex colleagues from the days of driving avocado's and Prosecco around the Fens during "you know what" (and it was good to catch up with him)
I've done a LOT of American weddings in the past and they've ALWAYS exceeded expectations. I've even done them where the guests have landed at Heathrow on the morning of the wedding and carried on as if it was an everyday occurrance!
It was blimmin' hot here yesterday, so I arrived nice and early, had a leisurely setup, and settled down to wait for the cake cutting and first dance whilst re-checking the 9 hour playlist the guests had provided. To be fair, there were a lot of real gems in there which are popular on their side of the pond but I'd never have even considered.
Despite the heat and the sweat flying from bodies, the dance floor was absolutely RAMMED from start to finish. We spent much of the night in clubby mode (dance music from the last 10-15 years), a little 70s disco and the smallest smidgeon of cheddar (i.e. Cha Cha Slide and Cupid Shuffle).
And unlike our normal evening receptions...there was no drunkenness! No rude or impolite guests, no silly requests. In fact one guest approached me just as I was about to launch into the penultimate song of the night to request something and when he was told no, well that was that. No arguments, no pleading....he just accepted that it wasn't going to happen and went back to dancing.
So polite and respectful!
Even more refreshing....not once was a phone thrust in my face! (why do they always have cracked and unreadable screens by the way?). I was allowed to get on and do what I do best, I was allowed to use the mic (including during a 5 minute pause in proceedings where a glass had been dropped on the dance floor and the couple insisted I turned on the house lights and turned off the music to let the venue staff clear the breakage :o )
Surprise tracks of the night? Shout by the Isley Brothers. Whereas we get a reaction from Lulu, they went absolutely MAD for this version. Shania went down a storm as well (it's as close to country music as I get). Even more surprising though was Come on Eileen (a request). Did Dexy's ever make it across the Atlantic? They went bonkers for it!
I was literally living off the energy of the crowd from start to finish....and it was soooo refreshing. I'm positive that the British have forgotten how to party properly now!
Midnight rolled around waaay to quickly on this one and a bus was waiting in the car park to shuttle the guests back down the A10 to Cambridge (and I'll be blowed if I haven't known the driver for a good few years!). Lots of hugs and thanks from the happy couple, and everyone disappeared. No more chants demanding the appearance of the Old Git's new friend Juan Moore either. It was the end of the night, they accepted the fact, and went.
Why can't all weddings be like this one?
Right then...one more glass of vino and I think I'm going to have to at least try to sleep. I'm going to remember this one for a very long time to come :)
Maybe a move to Spain instead....
Yes, I appear to be on a world tour this month.
Monday was Americans, last night.....a massive contingent of Spaniards (the bride's family).
This one was a wedding after-party. They'd wed abroad a couple of weeks ago and wanted to celebrate with friends and family at home as well. I like these ones a lot....all the glitz of a wedding with none of the stress or formality :)
I was completely stunned by this one. Bearing in mind the mercury was bubbling at 33C when I arrived and the hall was as hot as Satan's cooker, I wasn't expecting great things. An outside hog roast, a nice green space to congregate behind the hall, and did I mention it was hot?
Kept things background-ish until they'd eaten and then opened the taps with a bit of the Jacksons. The playlist I'd been sent was actually the one that'd been used when they wed abroad but it was for guidance only. The couple gave me complete control of the musical side of things but to be fair, I played an awful lot of what was on there. The reason? A lot of Spanish/Latino stuff which I wouldn't necessarily have thunk about.
Now the bride and groom are into Salsa (that's how they met). Apparently so were a lot of the guests as well....oh goody, a rich seam to mine :). Along with just a smattering of cheddary goodness, a bit of modern and even some Alt/Indie, the dance floor never cleared. Considering the heat in that hall, I was absolutely stunned with how they kept going!
So that's two this week going into the job well done column :)
Today, another blisteringly hot day is promised and this pillock's taken a booking as Capt. Chaos and all the high energy running around that entails....urgh.:daft::muppet:
First impressions can be wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Excalibur
Next week should be fun, I'm booked from 11am to 10pm, and venue won't let me in till 4pm. They're being less than accommodating.
Emails don't always convey personality. My chats with the venue seemed to imply that the owner was less than flexible, and less than friendly. How wrong could I be? :o She was lovely. The main issue was that my clients had booked me to provide their desired version of a day, and it was impossible to provide it there. Would have worked elsewhere, but not there, mainly due to space issues.
So, I arrived early, set up the wonderful Prime GO, a Maui GO, and linked them with an XVIVE. Look, no wires. :) That already got the venue onside, as well as the visual aspect of a white Maui 5. Sadly, my efforts were fairly pointless, due to the venue layout, but it did mean that I got to chat with guests as they mingled round the bar, plus I got a Roast Beef dinner as well. Very nice, and much appreciated.
The batteries in the Prime didn't do the full four hours claimed, which doesn't amaze me, but I could get mains to top it up easily. The XVIVE made it by the skin of its teeth, but I had a second one on standby. By then we'd got to room turn round, and that was "interesting", mainly due to me trying to pinch time, and space to get set up quickly. Until I'm set up and ready, I'm just a bundle of stress. Once set up, I'm as chilled as can be.
We moved into the limbo between afternoon meal and evening disco, and finally it was time for cake cut and first dance, which we managed easily enough. With an 11am wedding, and an older bride and groom, many of the day guests left around this time, and the evening only ones arrived to fill the void. There were many very young children, and thus many other early departures. The night never really caught fire, but at the end ( half an hour early, and perfectly timed ) there were thanks and compliments from bride, groom, and many guests, so another one for the win column, even though it was hard won at times.
