Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[Nakatomi]

I've not been busy of late, which to be honest has been just how I like it of late.

There were a couplne of "real DJing" gigs in July worthy of note though.

The first on stage at a park in central Manchester - a whole hour long set on CDJs. Great fun even if the crowd were a little bit damp from all the rain.

The next night was a long awaited set at a club night. It was due to start at 11pm so I got to the venue, USB sticks & headphones in hand at 10.20pm. Nobody from the event organisers were there yet so I introduced myself to venue staff.

"Oh hi so which one of the DJs is bringing the equipment?". News to me! It turned out the venue had asked the organiser if the DJs were bringing decks & she'd said YES. Whoops. "No problem" said the venue "we'll grab 2 cdjs & a mixer and set them up for you". Excellent!

Except they couldn't locate two decks so a call went out, then one arrived from a different venue. Fabulous, except RCA cables were conspicuously absent. While someone was off looking for cables the CDJ deck they'd borrowed from a different venue DIED & wouldn't power back on. Oh this was turning out to be a right carry on!

A guy appeared carrying a Pioneer all-in-one affair - XDJ-SOMETHING & I quickly familiarised myself with it. Just one thing left to do - get the venue to patch it into the PA system. It was already plugged into XLRs on the wall but hadn't yet been routed through the pa matrix or whatever. That took them a good 15 minutes to figure out.

So much for the venue being one of Manchester's leading dance music venues then!

Eventually that got sorted out & I played my set. Dancing broke out everywhere & the vibe was off the charts. I loved the way everything had been laid out- it was very 'boiler room' except thankfully I wasn't being crowded around.

I called it quits after 45 minutes because of the late start & handed over to the next DJ. Their set was great but was beset by them redlining their levels & causing the amplifiers to overheat & cut out. Oh dear.

Is this really what I'd prefer over mobile gigs? I'm not sure but it made a change to only play music I like, that's for sure.

[DJ Jules]

Is this really what I'd prefer over mobile gigs? I'm not sure but it made a change to only play music I like, that's for sure.

It sometimes make a nice change to be the reason people are there, rather than just an accessory

The last few weeks have been... odd. Gigs on every and any day of the week coupled with the kids being home 7 days a week for the summer have meant that I have not been able to decisively say what day of the week it is for a month or two. Monday night this week I was at a regular barn type wedding venue for an incredibly lovely and laid back couple who had put a huge amount of effort into planning their day. They had a whole team dedicated to entertaining the kids through the day and the evening as well as so many flowers and lots of colour in all of the signs, cakes and even on the wedding dress. The playlist was also pretty extensive and I was spoilt for choice. They didn't have huge numbers at the day, but the dance floor was consistently busy throughout the evening and the couple were happy at the end

Last night was a new venue for me, set up in a converted stables where the function room was upstairs and then the bar and entertainment was on the ground floor in a fairly long room with some of the original stalls still in place with seating added. Originally the gig started as 7-11pm and then crept to 7-11:30 and then, as they went through the final stages of planning with the venue, I was told that I had to set up prior to the end of the speeches at 5:30 and that I could carry on until midnight. I didn't want to hit them with extra charges for the change from a 4hr performance to a 6.5hr performance so I had a quick with the venue to work out the logistics and understand why the timings needed to be as they were (it's almost impossible to set up once the wedding breakfast has finished as people would be in the way of vehicle and access routes) and we ended up agreeing that I would set up during the wedding breakfast and then leave a background music playlist running until 7pm and then kick off and I'd play until a midnight end. The couple were absolutely lovely by the way - there were a few oddities in their playlist (Abba and party dances were banned as the groom couldn't stand them) but, in general, it was a good mix of music. The heavier pre-requests had also been moved to the "do not play list" (Rage against the machine, etc).

Logistics worked fine except for a few courtyard stragglers that meant I couldn't quite get the van as close as I would have liked - but it was workable. Everything in and set up, the venue reveal that they have a bunch of pars, a few moving LED spotty things and some kind of LED/strobe/pattern laser combo on fixed overhead bars as well as an overhead glitterball that was lit by a single spot. It looked like they had some kind of PA in the stables in the past as they had a bunch of XLR jacks in a cupboard behind me, but I couldn't see any amps or speakers so I'm guessing that got removed at some point. After a bit of button pressing we worked out how to get the glitterball moving, but all the lighting turned off (except for a load of fairy lights behind me) so I could use my lights with the glitterball if needed. In the handover of staff, we failed to properly talk about their entertainment license and the end time, which is important later.

Cake cut and first dance time and, despite quite a bit of cajolling, I couldn't get the guests properly into the dance floor area with them all hanging back behind the first stall. The first dance was a semi-acoustic version of Whitney's "Dance with Somebody" for the first verse and chorus, with the intro of the original mixed in behind the end of the first chorus, leading into an invitation to get all the guests on the floor. With a horse stall between most of the guests and the couple, we only got a few onto the dance floor with the rest choosing to go to the bar or go back outside. It's another whole topic, but if the guests aren't prepared to get involved in the first dance, I usually take that as a sign that they're unlikely to get involved with the dance floor much at all and that was pretty much proven throughout the night. The few guests who chose to dance early on where the same ones who came back throughout the evening. Early requests were all for heavier music that was basically on the banned list (Linkin park, RATM, etc). We also had Karaoke on offer at the request of the B&G and I had absolutely ZERO requests for singing throughout the night. I managed to hand out mics and get guests singing along a few times throughout the evening, but that was it.

My other challenge was that quite a few of the guests were into 90's/00's dance/trance/hardcore and, I quote, wanted "anything harder and faster" and the father of the bride kept coming up and asking me to "stop playing this " whenever I got into a grove with it. Bride and her friends were REALLY into Whitney's back catalogue and general 80's/90's pop and somehow I think I managed to strike a balance of cheese/singalongs with the dance/trance and keep most people happy.

The end of the night came and the couple had chosen the last 3 songs (I'm fairly certain that the Bride chose them as the Groom hadn't really made an appearance much during the evening and had to be persuaded by the bridesmaids to join her for the songs at the end) and I played through them, ending again with Whitney wanting to dance with somebody (ironic). After a the well behaved guests giving me a fairly half hearted dance floor all night and the requests for the remaining guests to join the couple on the dance floor being ignored, I was not expecting to get any calls for "one more" so I ran the night right to the midnight limit. And of course they wanted dirty dancing. The venue staff were MIA and the house lights were still off so I made a bad judgement call and started Time of my life at around half the normal volume, only for the venue staff to suddenly appear and switch....






....my power off at the sockets

I had a chat with them afterwards and apologised as I did usually plan for one more if I thought it was going to come, but pointed out that I had nothing in the pre-event comms with them about finish times, we'd missed the conversation when I arrived and they had heard me say no over the mic quite a few times and hadn't appeared to provide any support, clarify the rules or take any action to help (like turning the lights on). If I did it all again, I think I would have held the couple to the 11:30pm finish time when the timings started creeping in every direction and I absolutely should have had the conversation about last orders and license times with the staff when I arrived (they had a handover at 5:30 and the pre-5:30pm staff thought the post-5:30 staff had talked to me and vice versa).

I think the overall feedback is going to be positive, we'll wait and see!

Julian

[Excalibur]

Julian, it should be law that when we say " thank you very much, good night and God bless " ( or whatever your goodbye entails ) every light in the venue comes on one millisecond later.

I once had an experience not unlike yours, when the groom and his mates wanted not one, but many more, and my venue staff were nowhere to be seen. Groom insisted that he's hired the place, and he was in charge. At 12.45, a member of staff appeared, and said the immortal words " err, you do know we finish at midnight, don't you"?

I explained to them that if they wanted me to finish at midnight, ( which I had actually done ) they should be visible at midnight, turn the lights on at midnight, and back me up when I say we finish at midnight. Since I had trousered a significant sum of dosh, and not had myself or the gear damaged ( they were a bunch of big lads, and with no venue staff in sight, I was intimidated) I felt no shame.

As many folk would say, communication is key. It is of course, very easy to sit here and type that, I know it's not always as easy at the time.

[DJ Jules]

As many folk would say, communication is key. It is of course, very easy to sit here and type that, I know it's not always as easy at the time.

Yup, and the communication was great after the night finished and I was packing up, but obviously we missed a conversation or two that we should have had before the end of the night. The bar staff did tell me afterwards that they had their hands full around midnight as someone had told them at that they were going to order drinks and then drifted off and was unhappy when they returned after the bar had closed to be told that they were too late

Live and learn.

[Nakatomi]

Yup, and the communication was great after the night finished and I was packing up, but obviously we missed a conversation or two that we should have had before the end of the night. The bar staff did tell me afterwards that they had their hands full around midnight as someone had told them at that they were going to order drinks and then drifted off and was unhappy when they returned after the bar had closed to be told that they were too late

Live and learn.

Whenever I'm in a venue new to me & I think this was because of stories I'd read in this very thread - I make it my mission to ask the staff what time last orders & music off are pretty much as soon as I can. Even when it's not new I still ask juuuuust to make sure. One part of this job I hate most is having to deal with the Juan Moore situation - esecially if there's been a time slippage out of your control. Oh you want one more do you? Well maybe if you hadn't spent half the night outside in the garden eh?!

I'm no longer taking any bookings that have crazy potential to become open-ended ie private residences/farms etc because I've been burnt by a promise of a BACS transfer that never came.

I think it's remiss of the venue staff not to come & tell us instead of assuming we read minds too. It's part of their job as much as it is ours. "Are you ok making announcements?" "No, I'm terrified of using a microphone - can you do it?"

I just had a lead in for a 1am finish 90 minutes drive from home. It's an awful loadin too so I'm quoting high. 1am? At a wedding? I look forward to seeing that!

[rth_discos]

Whenever I'm in a venue new to me & I think this was because of stories I'd read in this very thread - I make it my mission to ask the staff what time last orders & music off are pretty much as soon as I can.

I had a pre-event email template that got sent to new venues well in advance of the evening. Mainly to introduce myself, but also to ask the key questions around finish times.

Sometimes, the finish time I'd been given by the couple was very different to the finish time available from the venue, so it was always better to find that out a few weeks in advance, rather than "on the night".

And some venues are very strict with the finish times - a few said that if there was a request for our regular Spanish amigo that it would be OK to overrun by a few minutes.

I always found it useful to know in advance exactly what I was playing with. And to pre-warn the couple in advance too when it's a strict end time.

And then as the last song ends (or last 20 seconds as it fades out), I had a preset on my lighting for a full static wash. Makes it very clear that it's finished, and no requirement for venue lights to come on at the appropriate time. Also, I had a playlist of gentle piano covers that I'd play at a very low volume immediately after the last song. It signified that the evening had finished, seemed to curtail "one more" shouts because something was still playing, and avoided that sudden deadly silence you'd get after all the music you'd been playing. Seemed to work quite well, and after 5 minutes I'd just fade it out.

[DJ Jules]

I'm no longer taking any bookings that have crazy potential to become open-ended ie private residences/farms etc because I've been burnt by a promise of a BACS transfer that never came. I just had a lead in for a 1am finish 90 minutes drive from home. It's an awful loadin too so I'm quoting high. 1am? At a wedding? I look forward to seeing that!

There's a few venues around here that have 24x7 licenses, exclusive use and accomodation on site so they sell themselves on "keeping the bar open until the last guest has gone to bed". I think they now have a little asterix next to that in the contract as they've been burned a few times by parties of 6 guests who have stayed up the WHOLE night and meant that they've had to pay 2x bar staff a big chunk of money to serve six pints of beer a few shots and a diet coke. There's also a few "blank canvas" venues that are sufficiently remote that they can also let them just carry on unsupervised until all hours. I've now re-written my contract to make it 100% my decision as to whether we carry on past midnight or play on and the decision always involves someone having a debit card handy to pay the fee more than 30mins before the agreed end time so we never ever get into the "play one more, we'll pay you later" arguement and guests always have at least some warning about when they might need to book a taxi. I've done a few 1am finishes in the last year as well as a couple of 2am and even 2:30am nights. The last one agreed a 1am finish with me and then tried to push it to 2am on the evening and I just couldn't do it (it was the 3rd gig of 4 in a row and I didn't feel like getting home when the sun came up and then having to do it all again a few hours later). In fairness to them they were all still going when I walked out the door at 2:15am after packing down (even the elderly members of the family) so they probably could have managed another hour.

Sometimes, the finish time I'd been given by the couple was very different to the finish time available from the venue, so it was always better to find that out a few weeks in advance, rather than "on the night". And some venues are very strict with the finish times - a few said that if there was a request for our regular Spanish amigo that it would be OK to overrun by a few minutes.

I always found it useful to know in advance exactly what I was playing with. And to pre-warn the couple in advance too when it's a strict end time.

I usually do all of this and I'd had an email exchange with the venue about timings in advance because of the fact that the couple told me one finish time, and then another, and then another and then a new set up time as well. Not once did the venue send me any rules about finish times or say anything about "music must be off at midnight" so I had assumed (wrongly) that they were more relaxed than they were. The location is also pretty remote (there's about four houses within a mile of them) so I'm kind of surprised about the license terms.

And then as the last song ends (or last 20 seconds as it fades out), I had a preset on my lighting for a full static wash. Makes it very clear that it's finished, and no requirement for venue lights to come on at the appropriate time. Also, I had a playlist of gentle piano covers that I'd play at a very low volume immediately after the last song. It signified that the evening had finished, seemed to curtail "one more" shouts because something was still playing, and avoided that sudden deadly silence you'd get after all the music you'd been playing. Seemed to work quite well, and after 5 minutes I'd just fade it out.

Do this too (and did this on the night). Static bright colour on the pars, full white and very slow rotation on all other lights. Most of the venues I work at would take offence at anything being played after midnight at any volume so I don't go there, but it is a good idea.

Julian

[Imagine]

Tonight not only ticked the win column, it ticked a lot of other boxes for me as well.

The venue, a lovely old barn half an hour from home that I normally do several times a year. It's been quiet there this year as with a lot of venues so this was my only visit this year. The joy of this particular barn? It's an 11:30 cut off....happy days

A truly lovely couple who'd given just a little steer on the playlist, mainly leaning heavily into 90s club and indie/lad songs. Got in half an hour late (well...it's a wedding), and set up in good time.....absolutely drenched in sweat. Now I'm not the fittest of chaps by my own admission but this past week in this neck of the woods has been so muggy it's been unreal.

And on that note, after the first and second dances, most of the guests retired to the very welcoming patio area until the last hour. Roll on the colder weather!

All in all a very good night though. There WAS dancing throughout (I have photographic evidence), there was cheering, clapping, and very polite and non-drunken guests. I don't think a single one of them was inebriated by the end of the night.

As for the other boxes that were ticked.....well it's new setup time. More on that in another post.

[Excalibur]

If only!

All in all a very good night though. There WAS dancing throughout (I have photographic evidence), there was cheering, clapping, and very polite and non-drunken guests. I don't think a single one of them was inebriated by the end of the night.

Wedding on Friday, at Mr Western's residency. He was unavailable due to other commitments, and passed this one on to me a while ago. Sceptical Old Gits might wonder if he had some inside information. The evening started off very nicely when all the guests were sober, and one young bridesmaid in particular was an absolute pleasure to deal with initially. Once strong drink was taken. many guests became a little insistent and unhelpful, shall we say?

It was the crowd we all fear, a fifty-fifty split musically. Bride and younger guests heavily into R&B, older guests heavily into The Usual Wedding Suspects. Ne'er the twain shall meet. 1am finish here, and the staff were clearing the room around the guests with half an hour to go!
Technically a win, but hard fought. Getting home was hard fought too, as they'd shut a couple of motorway junctions overnight, meaning I had to go through town instead, costing me time, and fuel. Three o'clock bedtimes are no fun after a testing night.

Saturday was a fill in gig of a 16th Birthday. Village Hall with the nicest caretaker I think I have ever met. Lovely fella. Opened up early, offered to help me in and out with the kit, showed me the best fire exit to use.

A ten and a half hour playlist for a three hour gig*, so no worries musically, actually a cracking list, full of very acceptable stuff. Sadly, even Tidal can't keep up with some of the Youtube only ones they were requesting, but no matter, there was plenty of stuff to go at. They set off singing to everything, then flagged early, and reverted to the tried and tested going in and out of the hall. Needed a revolving door at times.

Again, technically a win, a job well done, but not rewarding.

* Three hours. The caretaker informed me that the hall was booked till 10pm. I also was booked till 10pm. He said that wouldn't be a problem, and in the end it wasn't, as the family started clearing at about 9.45, I'd started breaking down kit at 9.30 where I could, and with the help of the caretaker, all the kit was in the van at 10.10, yippee.

Young Matthew Hughes ( Mattysounds ) was in a hotel I've worked before about ten minutes away, so I called in there for a chat on my way back, and a look at his wedding. It was going along nicely, and in contrast bed just after midnight was glorious.

[Imagine]

OK - it's a fair cop....I've already got an elderly mod's jowls twitching for the breaking of rule 23.....but bear with me

I do a fair few multicultural weddings (blame the University for that). Tonight was one of those, but different.
Normally, at least one side of the wedding is English. Tonight, one half was French, the other German (never done a German wedding before). Also in attendance relations from Japan, The Netherlands, Morocco....it was a truly international affair.

I was there for Emcee and afternoon duties as well as the evening, which meant I was fed and watered by one of my favourite caterers throughout. I was also in one of my favourite country house venues. What's not to like?

The afternoon went with just a couple of glitches with the speeches and folks not apparently able to correctly use microphones, and a platter of roast beef and veg which literally melted in the mouth. Wedding breakfast done, and everyone decanted out of the marquee into what's known as the Orangery where the bride and the Irish folk band she's a part of entertained for half an hour whilst the venue did their thing with rearranging tables and chairs.

The cake cutting and first dance didn't happen (long story), and we went straight into dancing. I'd been given a list of stuff the B&G thought would be good, including French and German. I was also allowed to take requests and Oh Boy has my Tidal subscription paid for itself this month. Requests for German songs came in aplenty....all lapped up by an eager floor FULL of dancers for the duration. Cheese was also high on the list of priorities - it was like shooting fish in a barrel!

Midnight rolled around way too quickly on this one, with a healthy contingent of guests on the 'floor for the last song of the night which looking on the Book of Faces seems to be a rarity at the moment.

This one was a MASSIVE tick in the win column from my side of the booth. I'm still buzzing with adrenaline 2 hours after fading out the last song!

Next week, a well earned weekend off, and then it's back to wedding duties in a barn I've not been to since Covid put a dampener on things.