Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[Nakatomi]

Half the guests complaining that I shouldnt finish the night with fairytale of new york... I'm not sure they even knew the song!

Sounds like par for the course. The big Christmas tunes are all very marmitey now I find.

I let myself loose on my first xmas party of the year last night. I took my micron, 2 Altos, Gigabar & QuadPhase HP into the ballroom at my residency where I was expecting a total of 31 guests. The night started with me being told that the DJ I employed last week had been left a poor review on TripAdvisor for being too loud. I checked on him at one point next door at the time & remember thinking "God, he's got the Mackies cranked". And this was with them not even turned up to 12 o clock. Hmmm.

Anyway, this was the first gig where I've had to do a tour of the tables in a long time. My first round was met with a near frosty reception ("Hi, I'm Justin & I'm your DJ tonight..." and they're all like "SO?!") but between main courses & dessert they were much more receptive & I got a good feel for the music they liked. If you're one of those people who stays behind the booth all night watching autodj whittle through a big list of tracks I recommend you try doing this at least once in your life. I've been asked to do this by the venue so don't have much choice in the matter. Hey, it's all good character building I say.

A tray full of shots was produced by the head of one of the two tables & I thought "aha! Here we go... tonight could get interesting" & I wasn't wrong. I love it when venue staff prejudge the outcome of the night going by first impressions & they couldn't have been more wrong. The worst prediction was that we'd be clearing up at 11pm but even the people who said they had taxis booked for 11.45pm were still going as Mariah Carey faded out at the very last bong of midnight.

Tonight I'm employing a new walkin DJ (God, I hate having to find new people.. infact I hate not being a one man band) who's going to do the Christmas party (that should be interesting - the meal is in a room adjoining the disco room) - and tonight I'm playing at my last wedding reception of the year. I met the couple last night as I was milling around setting up for the party & they're really nice. I'm looking forward to this one a lot.

Lastly, a word about a little band of DJs on Facebook - it's soon to become an association proper & as such has a code of conduct, entry requirements & so on... so imagine my surprise when I was messaged yesterday afternoon asking if I was working last night. I said yes but they carried on trying to convince me to take a gig off their hands. £50 more than the residency pays & longer hours AND much further from home. "Just drop them in it!" he said. It wasn't washing with me. I'd have to be a special kind of muppet to leave a venue in the lurch when they owe me money - some of which I've already paid to stand in DJs - and for what.. pocket change? NAH. Do one! The ethos of the group is partly to try & eliminate these kind of sharp practices

I should add here that it was a group member who contacted me, not the group itself. The group stands for all that is good in the world of DJing & is all about improving standards & the public's perception of our industry.

[ppentertainments]

Lastly, a word about a little band of DJs on Facebook - it's soon to become an association proper & as such has a code of conduct, entry requirements & so on... so imagine my surprise when I was messaged yesterday afternoon asking if I was working last night. I said yes but they carried on trying to convince me to take a gig off their hands. £50 more than the residency pays & longer hours AND much further from home. "Just drop them in it!" he said. It wasn't washing with me. I'd have to be a special kind of muppet to leave a venue in the lurch when they owe me money - some of which I've already paid to stand in DJs - and for what.. pocket change? NAH. Do one! The ethos of the group is partly to try & eliminate these kind of sharp practices

I should add here that it was a group member who contacted me, not the group itself. The group stands for all that is good in the world of DJing & is all about improving standards & the public's perception of our industry.

An uphill struggle as once you make some people see sense, other new ‘DJs’ enter the market – it is great to see small groups trying to combat this and hopefully one day things will improve. The problem is how can we deal with people like this ? I assume they are banned from the group which leaves them free to continue, but allowing them to stay doesn't promote good practice - catch 22 situation.

The situation you mentioned is one which occurs regularly – it is a fact that, although it does happen, it is rarely venues themselves looking for last minute DJs. Normally it is DJs who have overbooked or have a better offer – you just need to look at the amount of ‘need a DJ tonight 7-1 £100’ posts at the moment.

SO, my gig last night was the 8th Xmas party at my residency where I have planted myself for the rest of the month – apart from next Mon, Tue, Xmas Day and the 27th I am there every night now till the 2nd January. Far easier than in past years where I have been running around like a headless chicken all month. Mainly parties with a few all day weddings thrown in for good measure and to make things a little more awkward.

Last night had 8 groups in and (not blowing smoke up my own bottom) 4 groups were booked on the back of brides who’s wedding I had done in the past 18 months and the other 4 groups were repeat bookings off last year. The GM also mentioned that they had the highest percentage of repeat bookings in the group, and many had came from rival hotels after hearing about the parties last year – cue a pay rise request which after discussion came out better than expected.

Night itself was standard Xmas party affair to be honest, a marketing tactic I devised for the venue worked really really well and dancing began within 30 seconds of people entering the room – need to make this quicker.

It took until about 10pm before I twigged that it was all female, literally me, the barman and 5 other males in a room of 110 people. Normally this proves to be very challenging but not so last night as people were very receptive to the fact that not every song played will be for them/their group.

I never really play xmas songs, but a request for xmas music saw Jive Bunny being reintroduced which satisfied demand.

One major gripe is the venue have decided on a 1am finish instead of midnight which sees people trickling out instead of a huge finale which is a shame.

I HATE selfies, but seems to be a trend to get a selfie with the DJ this year – really missed out on a trick their which may need to be looked into.

I am stopping over at the hotel, who have had 9 different groups so far who have asked to be put on the list for next year already – should have tried for a bigger pay rise lol.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Welcome to the world of facebook DJ groups where you'll attract everyone from the bottom up.

The best group I'm on is invite only and has around 12 members and even then there's a few of them I wouldn't buy a pint.

Last nights gig was a loooooong (7:30 first dance, 1am finish) wedding in a hotel not too far away.

The groom sent me a list of really heavy metal tracks and I had to say to him at the start, I'll play them if you want but you'll have an empty room by ten. He was pretty relaxed about it all so I played heavier and rockier than usual but you know the score once people start coming up to make requests.

Got to throw in a 90s punk section which was pretty cool - the bride and her pals loved it.

Best part of the night? There was a little girl there with Downs. I'm relearning makaton for my new job so I was able to have short "chats" with her and understand her requests. I even got DJ Martha up to start off a One Direction tune she'd asked for and the crowd loved it - the wee girl literally danced all night except for when her mum and dad made her sit down to take on some water she was an angel and her parents were so grateful that I hadn't brushed her off and had actively made her feel like it was her party when a lot of times people don't know how to react to her.

By my token it wasn't a fantastic gig but the massive cheer for me at the end of the night suggests the crowd thought it was great so hey ho - home by quarter past 1.

Got a NaD corp gig in a really cool Edinburgh venue tonight. I've had a lot of good comms with the organiser (which is nice for a change) and I've got a feeling in my bones that this is going to be great.

After that I'm at the glorious Ibrox Stadium next week which will no doubt be a supporters bus Xmas do and then that's me for 2016. Not much rest though, got a wedding the first week in January.

[ppentertainments]

Welcome to the world of facebook DJ groups where you'll attract everyone from the bottom up.

Nowt like getting straight to the point lol. That is why I left all FB DJ groups last year as found them just naff and people thinking they are great because they can type on a keyboard

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Nowt like getting straight to the point lol. That is why I left all FB DJ groups last year as found them just naff and people thinking they are great because they can type on a keyboard

Might as well tell it like it is.

I'm not known as the most personable of chaps on the Scottish forums. That's mainly because I don't rely on anyone except myself for gigs so I don't need to worry about ing someone's pal of a pal of a pal off and losing work and I don't see the point in beating around the bush - if you're a sid or a prat, you might as well be told and I've done it to several folks face too before I get accused of being a keyboard warrior

[Imagine]

Might as well tell it like it is.

Couldn't agree more.
I'm a member of the two big FB groups, but rarely post anything....everyone's an expert on there but knows nothing.
I'm also a member of a private group with around 50 of us, all of whom actually know and trust each other.

As for the number of requests for last minute DJ's - it's getting silly at the moment and one can only hope that the pillocks letting people down for whatever reason eventually fall flat on their faces.

Anyway - tonight's gig.....oh dear

I've been due this one for a long time, and had an inkling that after last night's most excellent gig....this was going to be it.
This one was for a friend of mine (in another life, I'm a Scout leader and she's my boss in Scouty circles). Nice big hall, nigh on 100 guests invited and a playlist which covered all bases.

The only thing it didn't cover was only 24 people turning up. For the first 45 mins or so it was just the birthday girl, two bar staff and yours truly.

We did get a little dancing going, mainly to cheese but with so few people there, I was never going to have the pleasure of a busy floor for too long as they all did 2-3 tracks then went and sat down for a breather.

Hey ho.

Busy week ahead now with a couple of corporate Xmas dos in Cambridge colleges, a couple of school discos and a presentation evening, all between now and next Sunday night. Then that's me done until my first wedding of the year on 7th Jan (those who are paid up members of the private forum.....I need advice on that one....)

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Well tonight's Xmas party was pretty good up to a point - the point where, not dissimilar to last night's wedding - a handful of people got over drunk and made an arse of it.

I got the usual queue of people wanting to put requests in at 20 to 1, the lady who had 5 or so requests played earlier call me rubbish because I wouldn't play Everything I Do for some random couple - I actually just said "charming - I've been playing your tunes all night" turned on my heels and walked away from her. By this stage she didn't deserve any more energy or explanation.

and 2 young males who rushed my stage then ran through a wee natural hidey hole corridor is . It's dark, cramped and full of electrical bots and bobs as well as my cases and backups. Bouncer had a word and they mellowed.

Wasn't the worst by far but it was heading in a bad direction punter wise. The venue staff got it worse - they said the same thing - folk were nice up until the last hour then became prats. They found 4 separate puddles of sick underneath tables - this was a largely older, professional crowd

Anyhoo I'm home, packed away and have a bottle of wine and a hot tub calling my name.

[ukpartydj]

Anyway, this was the first gig where I've had to do a tour of the tables in a long time. My first round was met with a near frosty reception ("Hi, I'm Justin & I'm your DJ tonight..." and they're all like "SO?!") but between main courses & dessert they were much more receptive & I got a good feel for the music they liked. If you're one of those people who stays behind the booth all night watching autodj whittle through a big list of tracks I recommend you try doing this at least once in your life. I've been asked to do this by the venue so don't have much choice in the matter. Hey, it's all good character building I say.

I remember a few years ago when I thought of that idea having not heard of it before. Automix background music was doing my head in and the hotel I was working in was very slow at service. First few times it worked great, and everybody was very warm to the idea of having a chat. Then one day I get an unpleasant table of older people who gave me loads of songs they'd like which is great all part of why I did it even if they were a little niche and unlikely to please the other tables.

Party time and I just got constant nagging, whenever they didn't like a song. "Why ask for requests if your not going to play them" and that was maybe 3 tracks in! Horrible people, one of them said to me I'll make sure you never play in this hotel again after I told her I wouldn't be playing her track for another couple of songs at least. I was very polite but honest and told her that I'd been there a while, so I didn't think that was going to happen so she complained to just about every member of staff and other guests... So I'm getting the manager asking me to play requests, I'm getting guests come up to me telling me I'm being unfair!

Then the next day the hotel staff complain that I'm not doing the rounds! It was my flipping idea in the first place! Very lonely job when you're being attacked for all angles.

I always get asked if I'm a magician, I probably should bring a couple of my basic tricks to keep em happy haha!

[DJ Jules]

Interesting wedding last night.... this one came in off the back of another wedding I did last year for the Bride's brother. The gig sticks in my mind because the Best man (the Groom's brother) was overdrunk and a persistent annoyance throughout the night (continually coming up and requesting the Courteneers) and I knew he'd be there last night because he'd be the Bride's brother this time round. Anyway, I was prepared for issues...

Turns out it wasn't from him though. The Best man got overly drunk this time and made a nuisance of himself from the word go.

Firstly, because of the poor weather they hadn't had a chance to throw the confetti earlier in the day so the Photographers and the Best man came up with a plan to throw it during the first dance. The Best man had it all organised, his mate would come up and do the announcements for the first dance and organise everyone to throw the confetti and... Err no. That's my job - and I'm pretty sure I can do it better than your drunk mate. So once we had the roles sorted and I'd introduced myself and got his name and made it clear that I was happy to help organise anything like this, he went into more detail on his plan and then I pointed out that it would result in the B&G standing in the middle of the dance floor by themselves for a few minutes in silence while they handed out the confetti and it might be better if the B&G stayed back until I announced the first dance and everyone threw the confetti as they arrived onto the dance floor. He agreed, and then handed out the confetti to everyone ahead of the cake cutting so they all got it before I'd had a chance to give them instructions and a few people threw confetti at the cake and the rest all looked confused. He also failed to organise the B&G so the confetti throw had to happen DURING the first dance, which could have been ok - except the confetti was real flower petals - which don't go far when you throw them. I'm hoping the photographers managed to get some good shots in between people walking right up to the B&G and tipping the confetti over their heads :facepalm:

The photographers were also a bit odd. They were friendly enough and had some top notch kit with them, but acted like they'd never seen a DJ (or a laptop) before. They also didn't use flash for the first dance. And weren't bothered about my Pink/Purple lighting tinting the photos. And set up a flood light on the balcony, and then didn't use it. Just odd.

Anyway, back to my drunken best man. People are being a little slow to filter round the dance floor so he decides I'm not being loud or forceful enough and asks for a Mic. I've been reluctant to let him anywhere near my kit, but I'm concious that if it all goes wrong he'd be very vocal about how the DJ didn't let him help so I figured I'd better let him have a go and if he makes a mess of it I'll have my justification for not letting him do it again. He's also not going to be announcing the first dance, just moving people into position so it's not like it could ruin the start. He gets on the Mic and he's a knob as expected and then he starts to swear - cue lots of shocked faces on the small children in the front row and cue me cutting him off and giving the cut throat sign to the B&G to show what I've done. He comes up and asks what happened, I tell him not to swear as there are children present and then I give instructions for the confetti and announce the first dance. Properly. Without swearing.

As the night goes on he then turns up a few times at varying intervals and I basically tell him to go and join in with the guests. The dance floor has been average all night because the room is very hot (in winter??) and the bar area in another room is a lot cooler and also because the guests are split 30/30/40 for R&B, Cheese and Indie/Alternative and quite specific in their tastes. Around 10:30 the Best man comes up again and asks for S Club, Reach and the Mic to introduce it as it's the grooms dance(!) I figured this could be funny and might get people's attention so I let him do it. He brings the Groom up, gets the guests to crowd round and then gets him to dance to Reach and others to join in. It does actually work (though I do have to cut him again as he keeps on talking and talking) and gets more people onto the dance floor. The bride asks that it is the final time he is allowed to talk. I tell her it would be anyway. I have a feeling I might have to justify my decisions to the bride later.

So... dance floor is picking up nicely and I now have a new problem. Inappropriate requests from the Groom. Play Champagne Supernova now (at 11:15 - I was going to finish with that?) I oblige and as it fades at the end I'm immediately bombarded with questions about why we're finishing early. We're not, it was the Grooms request. Yes, I knew that would happen, carry on people

Cue more tricky requests from people to work in before the end, and more "input" from the best man (who can barely stand up now), which is duly ignored.

I plan to finish on Oasis, Whatever (since my planned finish has already been used) and start playing it. And get very little reaction. Cut half way through and into NYNY and we're back on track to the finish. And then both the Groom and the Best man are on my case for one more. I announce that the venue license is Midnight and there is nothing I can do, and they keep pestering me. It's the GROOM who is instigating this, which makes it really tricky, so I walk away to find the venue staff to get the venue lights turned on. Come back 30 seconds later to my stand pushed back (guess the best man has been in there) and NYNY playing quietly (lucky I lowered the faders at the end). I let it play and drop the volume further and get on packing up lights until it ends. At least the venue staff know it wasn't me as I was with them when it started.

Not a happy bunny, but if I'd kicked off or cut it, it could have soured the end of the night.

The bride looked tired and fed up by the end. I probably looked the same.

I don't get it when people do this. Clearly the Best man knew that he had a big responsibility to make the day go well for the B&G and had a real desire to make that happen, but he was hammered before I even arrived. Generally if I'm given something important to do I try and keep a clear head!

Did I mention I'm also having issues with customers for dry hire too at the moment (keeping to timings, following directions to find us, cancelling and then calling at 9:15 at night when they realise their mates bluetooth speaker isn't going to cut it for their house party).

Anyway, for the remainder of this year I have 2 more dry hires, 1 wedding, 1 birthday party, 1 childrens party, 2 Adult Xmas parties and 2 Childrens Xmas parties. I'm also expecting my usual flurry of last minute dry hire requests for NYE. I'm looking forward to the end of this year...

Julian

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Sorry mate but allowing someone who is knowingly drunk on the mix was never going to end well. Unless the b&g specifically ask for them to be allowed to do so (and 99.57% of the time they won't want them to do it either...) a simple "sorry pal but if I let you say something, everyone else will want to use it." Suffices and if they're drunk and persistent it's just an annoying part of thejob we've got to suck up.

As for doing the rounds, I'm quite surprised this is even a talking point. I do it several times a night - at the start, buffet, after lights up. Don't ask for requests (because you're actively encouraging 100+ people to give you songs you'll never be able to cram in) introduce yourself and ask them how the day / night / meal etc... Is and have a bit of banter if they're receptive - folk who have a request will say to you but you've not got slews of people hassling you for tunes.