A lot better than expected
So last night I was back one again like a Renegade Master in the venue that's just had a more than severe sound limiter fitted.
I went prepared again with full battery kit including a new Jackery power pack I bought during the week just for powering the Prime (that little battery's an AWESOME bit of kit in the arsenal I must say!)
I needn't have worried. Environmental Health paid a visit during the week, tweaked a couple of things inside the limiter and it's now working at a very sensible level :). Damn I thought....should've brought the big guns with me instead of the Maui5's. In the event, those little Maui's did themselves proud and still had room left when they had the limiter just hovering under the danger zone. I can see I'm going to be using them for more and more events in smaller rooms.
As for the wedding, lovely couple, brilliantly polite guests, a sax player tooting away for the first hour and a hell of a lot of fun for the duration. I must admit, the limiter being less of a threat to proceedings made the night a lot easier as well.
As a bonus I was sent home at the end of the night with a load of Krispy Kremes and American candy from the sweet trolley - happy DJ :)
Next week is the last wedding of the season. Nice and close to home, a reasonably easy load-in, an early finish, and a playlist at the moment that's looking like it's going to go down a treat :)
When the cunning plan doesn't work.
50th birthday, in a rugby club near me. It has a big function room with a bar attached, and a smaller bar upstairs. I was in the function room bar downstairs, for a customer who wanted to recreate college days as much as possible with the playlist. " We won't dance" she said " the room doesn't even have a dancefloor".
Playlist wasn't geared for dancing, but neither was it self indulgent leftfield stuff. Blimey, we even had Ruby-Kaiser Chiefs on, so .dancing was a possibility.
I'd cut the lights down a bit, no Spectrapix battens on the uprights, just the COB Microbars on top, and trusty Hadrons below. More than enough for a small room with around 40 people in. I'd set up in the morning, so sauntered in with laptop jauntily over the shoulder, and guests were in early. The playlist and similar stuff was going down well, until the unthinkable happened! :eek::eek: Dancing broke out!
A group of ladies were insistent that we needed all the stuff I was trying to avoid, but at least they didn't ask for Abba, as that was the only thing on my banned list! I spent the rest of the night juggling Leftfield Requests, 70s Disco Classics/Usual Suspects, and Playlist.
The last two songs were from Soundtracks, Berlin- from Top Gun, which had couples smooching, and Time of my Life, which brought all guests bar two onto the floor for an impromptu Hokey Cokey ending.
So much for the cunning plan. Had I been trying to make them dance, I'd have called it a roaring success. Don't know what the client will make of it. :shrug:
Hello. My name is Peter, and I'm a Jukebox.
I see folks who tell clients they can have twenty requests, and they'll choose the rest, because they're the professionals, and they know what's best to play. I think to myself they must be operating in a parallel universe, because it isn't mine. :daft:
Friday was an engagement party for a lady who was bar staff at a previous gig, and booked me because " I interacted with the guests ". Another kick in the nadgers for those who " let the music do the talking ". ( Hmm, wonder how many more folk I can upset before the end)? :whistle:;) She moved the gig from Saturday to Friday so she could have me, and the venue have now put me down as someone to call first.
Sadly, we were short of bodies and enthusiasm, with many of the guests leaving early , apparently for work the next day. Despite this, the event was declared a success by the hardy souls left waiting for taxis, bar staff happy too, so another slightly dubious win there.
Saturday was one for Dave Jackson in a venue which poses certain challenges, and thankfully one of the biggest ones, George, was nowhere to be seen. The car park is like Tetris with motor cars. After much sign language as to where everyone was aiming to be, I sneaked my Transit through a handy gap, did a ninety seven point turn, and parked it in the ivy at the entrance, ready to reverse up to the doors at the finish, and drive out forwards.
It was a joint 50th and 18th, with a short request list in advance, and request slips on the tables. At this point, all semblance of ordering an evening musically went out of the window, along with the rule book. Blimey, when the dance for eight and a half minutes to Paradise By The Dashboard Light, during the buffet, anything's possible. By the way, has anyone played " Would I lie To You " by the Rolling Stones, from the new album? That would be a neat trick, because it doesn't exist. I found " Don't Lie To Me " by them, and having shown the track listing of the new album to the guest, his son told him the track he wanted was called " Angry ". Quite appropriate really. :mad:
It turned into a request fest, and to be fair, although it got hectic at times, the floor was never empty, and once they'd unplugged the searchlights masquerading as eighteen and fifty, and turned off/down the static house lights ( there is Mission Control Houston running them, but only Dave Jackson understands it, and I couldn't get near it for lights and balloons ) we had a great time.
For my scruffy Fenland friend, I have this message:
:p:p:p:p:p:p:p
