Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[lazersounds]

Last night’s wedding was a bit of a eye opener.

Arrived at venue at 6pm, speeches still going on, had a peek in the marquee to see the groom merrily swaying away to himself at the top table. Was dressed in full army uniform and was from Burnley from what I made out, long way from home! Was 80 Guests for the day and meant to be a extra 50 for the evening though I think maybe 5 extra turned up.

First Dance was set for 8pm, Bride and groom approached the floor (well the groom staggered) Had around 10 seconds of slow dancing before the groom decides he wants to be naked! Shirt comes off, Trousers ripped off and spend the rest of the track swaying around the dance floor in his pants.

Everyone thought it was hilarious though it was pretty plain to see the bride was less than impressed.

For the next 3 hours it was a case of guests trying to keep the grooms clothes on while he propped up the bar getting more and more drunk. A lot of the guests were leaving early, whether out of embarrassment I’m not too sure. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the bride. What a way to remember your first dance as a married couple!

Music wise, most of the night consisted of wedding cheese and a little indie/rock which had a pretty much full floor all night.

Would love to be a fly on the wall this morning at the hotel: D


Back at same venue tonight, small wedding of only 50 people but music requests are all late 90's early 00's dance music, looking forward to it, will make a nice change

[Excalibur]

A game of two halves for me. Friday and Saturday covering for a mate in a Local WMC. Minimal kit, easy money. Friday was packed for an engagement, really lively crowd, including some young ladies ( poetic licence ) who were very "lively and interactive". Played a very varied set, which mainly went down well. Everybody happy. ( Especially the DJ who was the result of some affectionate interaction at the end! )

Saturday was a grueller. I'd left the main kit in place, as the venue security is more than adequate. All I had to do was plug in the new toy, and away we went. 21st this time, and what a crowd. Two young ladies who wanted some profanity ridden bilge which made me want to slash my wrists there and then, guest of honour who liked some pretty heavy metal, and the rest of them couldn't really care a lot. Mum was into Tamla, Rod Stewart and MJ, so she was easy to deal with, and Dad wanted some Whitesnake, Rainbow and 70's rock, so he was great as well. Lovely couple. Shame the rest of the crowd weren't a bit more animated. They'd decorated the room brilliantly, and it was a shame to see it half filled of apathetic guests. Ah well, can't win them all.

[mattydj50]

"Profanity ridden bilge". I love it.

I had to supply karaoke at the wedding on Saturday. This being a rare occurence as I only get one or two a year and I usually try to talk / price them out of it to save me the hassle of the extra work.

Amyway, bride it seems was the only one wanting to sing and she only did two songs. So in 1.5 hours, we did 5 songs. I got bored, turned it off, went for it, and rammed the dancefloor for the rest of the night. Until the groom fell over drunk. Finished at 1230 and the remaining guests retired to thehotel residents bar, the last of whom went to bed at 0625.

Saw the B&G next day around 1215, both admitted to being very delicate and couldn't remember much of the day.

[HeartandSoul]

Last week was the most drunken wedding I have ever done. I arrived at 6pm to set up and most of the 60 or so guests were bladdered. First dance, bride dressed as an air hostess and danced around the groom to come fly with me.he was a mix of drunk and embarrassed. Then all did some rock and roll, and after that a lot of staggering around. Bride was drinking out the bottle of wine, and insisted I played avicii wake me up four times. I was supposed to play until 12, but by 11 she fell over, so did the groom, bar closed early and at 11:15 a bloke nearly knocked over my speaker stand. 11.20 I announced the last song, they were too drunk to complain and I had enough. The funniest thing is they did everything I said on the dancefloor, it was like stage hypnosis. Conga line disappeared out the door for ages. Don't want too many like that mind you.

[Excalibur]

I have now decided what my all time number one pet hate is about this job. Venues where you habg about for two hours kicking your heels, cos the (usually ) wedding's running late, and then when they finally deign to grant you access, wonder why you aren't ready at the drop of a hat. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

That said, I had a great one last night. A wedding from a referral from a bride last year at the same venue. They wanted a more complicated rig than normal, with CD playout and slide show, which meant I couldn't deploy the new slimline, easy access, rapid setup kit. Shame. Anyhow, the kit was setup, I introduced the Bride and Groom by the bride's maiden name Oops. First dance done, I played CD's for a Scottish Gentleman to do a spot of traditional dancing, Strip the Willow, St Bernards Waltz, Gay Gordons et al.

So, away I go to try to pick it up from there. Half a dozen songs to total apathy, and then I got a request for Arctic Monkeys, and we had a mini Indie and Rock Fest, with the lads giving it plenty. From there I balanced things between big chart songs, classics and cheese, with the only track bombing being Black Lace! Oops filled the floor, as did most everything else. I finished with Wonderwall, and then uncharacteristically nowadays, gave them "one more", Charli XCX. Finished the night on a real high, after a somewhat trying start.

Tonight, a gig at Doncaster Dome, allegedly Hair Metal/80's/90's/Rock. Could be fun as well.

[BeerFunk]

I have now decided what my all time number one pet hate is about this job. Venues where you habg about for two hours kicking your heels, cos the (usually ) wedding's running late, and then when they finally deign to grant you access, wonder why you aren't ready at the drop of a hat. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Oh, I hear that Peter!!! In fact, it's something I've encountered a lot of late, and it's something I will be addressing very soon! I feel another thread coming on...

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Last night I did the annual RAF Dinner & Dance at my town centre residency.
Always a pleasure to do it for them as they are very appreciative and love the night. It's always something a bit different for me as it involves lots of 50s & 60s and Swing, Waltzes etc.
Pretty easy night too. They were eating until 9.15pm and didn't require any background music so I set up in the morning and went back for 9.00pm. Did the raffle for them and had a laugh. Then there were some speeches and it was pretty much solid dance floor until Midnight finishing off with God Save The Queen and New York New York as requested.
Very positive feedback and the organiser said to me that he is definitely going to book me twice a year rather than just the once as everyone loves the night so much. I lost count how many hands I shook at the end and how many kisses I got off the over 60s brigade.

Tonight I am doing a wedding with a great playlist that is really varied but includes a lot of classics. The requests have come from the guests.
I'm around 8 miles from town and it's easy access so I'll be leaving in 30 minutes to get set up for an 8.00pm - 00.30am gig.

[musicologydisco]

After a pitiful wedding last night (totalled 14 INCLUDING B+G!) a brilliant surprise 40th tonight really made up for it with promises of more bookings from an enthusiastic crowd!

[Excalibur]

After a pitiful wedding last night (totalled 14 INCLUDING B+G!) a brilliant surprise 40th tonight really made up for it with promises of more bookings from an enthusiastic crowd!

Snap, but in reverse! Dismal turnout for a 40th, after a great wedding gig. Nice folk, and I got to play various flavours of Rock all night long*. Another twenty or so punters, and it would have been a great night. Ah well.








* Do you see what I did there? The under 30's probably won't get that.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I have a booking next week where there are a maximum of 20 guests yet they are insisting on having a Disco. Should be interesting. I think I may just ask them to bombard me with requests.

The wedding I did tonight was a stormer. It was absolutely spot on from the first dance onwards and I was on the ball all night. The venue owner asked me for my details afterwards as did a couple of guests yet I have come away from it quite peeved off to be honest due to one comment AFTER I had finished and was packing up.
The father of the groom came up to me whilst a couple of guests were giving me positive feedback and he didn't seem too happy at all.
"You didn't play 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' - why not?" He said.
"Erm, sorry" I replied..."Was I supposed to?"
Before I had a chance to check the pre-requests list that the Bride & Groom had given me that guests and family had requested, He butted in again...."And you never played 'Our House' either!".
I replied.."Our House by Crosby, Stills & Nash or Our House by Madness?"
"You didn't play either!" He said "But I wanted to hear Crosby, Stills & Nash".

It was so frustrating. I tried to tell him in the nicest possible way that they weren't on the list and that I had been asking people to request songs all night (like I usually do) but he wouldn't listen at all. He just kept ranting as I started packing up the rest of the stuff. A friend of his took him away and then came back over to apologise and said "Sorry about that, he's been sat there all evening waiting to hear it". I explained that I wasn't a mind reader and it was not my fault that it wasn't on the list.
The Bride and Groom left the venue just after Midnight to go to their hotel and the Disco finished at 12.30am and he waited until I was packing away to have a go at me.

I had a brilliant night as did 99.999% of the guests but those comments have spoilt it for me.