Good Gig, Bad Gig.

Thanks Gary. Lovely description. :D :D

I had a fun one last night. 150 for XMAS dinner / dance & about 50 or so Status Quo fans there for tonight's gig in Wembley Arena.

A good mix of music (if a little Quo heavy towards the end) & I got both sets of punters to intermingle quite nicely (to the point that they were dancing with each other & buying eachother drinks)

Saw Rihanna & Will I am too.

Been at the forest of arden most of the week.
Started downstairs in the oaks bar.I had nearly 200 people in there and had a excellent night from start to finish..
Last night (sat night) i was upstairs.I was told off this forum 39 stairs to go up and its a right pain.Well i can tell you there are only 21 stairs and althou its only a small room its not to bad to get in.To unload and set up it taken me 1 hour to setup.I had a good night after a slow start.I am there most of next week for xmas parties but all downstairs in the woodlands,the easy room.

Very weird one last night!!!

Turned up usual time, set the playlist and then mingled. Checked back every now and then and all seemed well.
The party was in the restaurant area. 25 Student Nurses and 3 Student Doctors so I thought it would be a cracker. Started at 9.00pm as they were finishing desserts. I've never had the speakers volume down so low, it was weird.

Introduced myself, said that as it was very intimate I would play anything they requested. First track was The Killers followed by Journey, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Black Eyed Peas etc..

At 10.15pm one of the tables (the older ones) got their coats on and left. I made a joke and said "Oh, we've only just met, well merry christmas!" and they laughed and thanked me. Played some more tracks and then one of the (very nice) nurses came over and said "We're leaving in a minute. It's nothing to do with you, it's just that we're students and it's a bit expensive here so we're going to Wetherspoons"...

I said over the mic "Well, seeing as you're leaving now, let's get everyone up for the last couple of songs" and they did. I played Florence & The Machine 'You got the love' and Mariah Carey. They all thanked me and (apart from the one bloke that was left) held up some misletoe and kissed me on their way out. It was all done and dusted by 10.35pm so I took the opportunity to move the gear from the restaurant to the main room where I am tonight.

Strange night and I ache allover today for some reason.

:lol:

Very odd! Such a small number too.

What did the hotel staff say?

There was another party of 'oldies' in the room adjacent to the restaurant who didn't want the Disco. The party that I had was too small for the main room so that's why we were in the restaurant area.

The staff were fine about it. I've spoken to the Manager this morning and explained what happened and he was fine about it. "It's not your fault, nothing you can do about it" he said.

I wanted to cover myself because (hotel residency mention again), the other hotel I was at would have more than likely (even though it wasn't down to me and the guests explained that), blamed me or found a way to make me responsible for the early finish and lack of alcohol sales and I would put money on it that they would have tried their hardest to wriggle out of paying me for the night - That's how petty they were!!!!!

I wanted to cover myself because I expected something like that but it's cool. That's why I said in my thread yesterday that good residencies are few and far between (whatever that means!?).

As I'm sure you know, there's nothing for the hotel to be concerned about, these things happen every Xmas. In fact, it happened to me last night to. I did a pretty small join-a-party, about 40 people. At least two thirds of that number were primary school teachers, and were gone before 2300. Ended up with about 6 people, all from a construction company. Although I ended up running 'til midnight, it could easily have been finito Benito by 2245.

Last nights party was the best of the Chrimbo period so far. 5 different companies and all up for it. It was great as everything I played, they all danced to and nothing bombed at all.

Just got in from my yearly Christmas party for the kids with learning difficulties at a school nearby. I know I say it everytime but I feel like a big baby when I am there and kind of humbled. The looks on their faces when I am setting up is great but once I get started, they go all out and sing along to everything. It's only 90 minutes but it's the most enjoyable 90 minutes of the year in reality. No pretence, no attitude etc...they just want to dance and sing.

Very predictable though as every year the head teacher says to me "That was brilliant Gary. Same time next year?".

Absolute pleasure although tiring as access isn't the easiest and I have my penultimate party at the hotel tonight and I'm knackered now. I do tomorrow and then a break before Christmas Eve. I was going to say I am available from 19th to 24th but not sure if I could hack it...or could I?

Friday nights party...well, even better than thursdays and a brilliant way to finish my christmas party session. It was a large party with 3 different primary schools (where were all the fit young teachers when I was at school?). Again, from the first song after the meals, they were up on the dancefloor until midnight. It was a great atmosphere again and I loved every minute of it. Got asked twice for a card for weddings too which was good.

I had a large group from the other 'Disco' join in too which was cool. The Manager and Staff all very happy. The funny thing was that it was one of those times when everything was just spot on, everywhere you looked, people were smiling, singing and dancing. As the last song came to an end with a packed dancefloor, I said the usual stuff and the song faded out.....then there was silence....I hate that. Then a guy from the back shouted "3 Cheers for the DJ" and everyone started cheering and clapping.

Last night (Saturday) was a wedding for a couple in their late 50's. A very nice couple actually who I met last week for the first time. This was booked via the hotel. The Bride is one of those ladies that always has a smile on her face and is just...well..a very nice lady. She had 4 stunning daughters with her who were all excellent dancers too, doing all the moves. The Bride mentioned to me when I arrived that a fair number of guests couldn't make it due to the weather and she apologised to me. I told her not to worry about me and to make sure she had a great time. If they were happy, I was happy. Bless her, she danced all night to everything and hobbled over to me at the end saying her feet were killing her and she hugged me.

She also told me that the night before, whilst out christmas shopping for some last bits, she was burgled. I had a lump in my throat as I could see her getting upset but she kept smiling.

From 7.30pm - 8.15pm, I did nice chilled out background music, then the first dances and then kicked in with a full set. It was pretty mediocre until around 10.45pm when people really started to get into it. By 11.00pm there was probably only about 40 people left but they danced to everything (mostly current chart stuff). I chucked in some Christmas tracks near the end and finished off with 'Never Forget' by Take That with a circle of guests on the dancefloor and the B&G in the middle. They loved it.

It seemed like a really long night for the most part because they just weren't getting up but when they did, the time shot by.

Very good gig!!

Had a small crowd, 40-60ish tonight. background music from 7-10pm and then dancing from 10-12:30. Went amazingly! AND we got invited back for their staff party in january and they said any other events they have they will call us first. :p :p :D :D

Very happy now! Thanks everyone who has helped me and heres for a new Year and a new me!!!