Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Sundays.....Arrghhh, I have got to get out of this horrible habit of waking up at stupid o'clock after a few hours kip. Not sure why it happens but it does.

So, Friday first and after another week of meetings it was time to do the 'proper' job and get out there and play some music! I set up at a local golf club for saturdays gig and put the full kit in there. I knew I had other stuff I could use to get me through Friday night as it was a gig at my local and one of my 'Request Fest' nights. I decided that I would use VDJ on it's own with the controller for the first time ever and also used it as an opportunity to test the Crown XLS802 amp that I had repaired over a year ago and haven't used in a gig situation since.

Both were flawless so I was happy about that. I also decided to use the 4 x ADJ Megabars that I bought recently and placed them around the area I was set up in and linked them altogether to highlight the area, they looked really good and gave off loads of light. It was a busy night with 3 birthdays in attendance and some great requests. I love these nights as they are very eclectic and I played everything from Sac Noel to Disturbed. A few new faces in aswell who all loved it and said they'd be back in the future as they never knew that a place existed where the DJ literally played anything that you wanted. Great stuff. I also joined in the party and had a couple of beers for once and the night flew by. I only did this because I knew I had a relatively easy saturday having set up for the wedding in advance.

Saturday was a wedding for a nice couple that are regulars at my local. I've known them for about 3 years and they love the 'Request Fest' nights too. In our meeting we went through the music they'd like and it was predominantly 60's, 70's, Some 80's, Motown, Northern Soul & Ska. They didn't want too much current stuff and said that it was an older crowd attending. The couple are very laid back and simply said "Do what you do best, we trust you".

To be totally honest, I was actually quite nervous about this one and I think that's a good thing. I knew a few of the regulars were going aswell as the landlord and I just wanted to make a good impression (they said I was worrying too much as the reason they booked me was because they knew I was good - that sounds egotistic, it isn't meant to!).

It was a bit of a slow start really. Guests didn't seem up for it. It didn't help that the bar was just outside the function room and as always, lots of people congregated there. There were handfuls of people getting up now and then to the 70's stuff but it was around 9.30pm when a guy came up and asked for some Northern Soul. He was really enthusiastic and also complimentary about the night so far. I decided to go into the Motown stuff and then lead into Northern Soul and Ska. It worked brilliantly! Loads of people dancing to classics from Frank Wilson, Carl Carlton, Dobie Gray, R Dean Taylor (Funkymook would have loved this gig) etc and the next time I looked at the clock it was 11.30pm! The last half hour was Ska and Two Tone and then the Bride & Grooms 2 chosen last songs which were 'Chasing Cars' and 'Angels'. Everyone joined them on the dancefloor and it was great with them all singing along.

Lots of thank you's at the end and a round of applause. The guy from earlier who had requested Northern Soul came over and asked for a card and then it was 'Freaky Moment' Time...... We got talking and he commented that it was great to go to a wedding and hear classics rather than the usual (I laughed). He said that he'd been to a wedding last year where the DJ was excellent and played more or less what I had played. It turns out that he attended the wedding that I did last year which was for a guy who runs the local Scooter club. I mentioned in my review at the time that it was one of the best gigs I've done over the years and when he realised that it was the same bloke he simply said...."You're doing our wedding!". He called over his other half, told her the story and she asked "Can we book you?". I'll be contacting them later this week.

A great night and very enjoyable....

One negative however and it doesn't bother me at all. Water off a ducks back and all that. Just as people were getting on the dancefloor when the Northern Soul and Motown were coming on, a 'lady' around my age who is also a regular at the pub, came over and asked for 'Pump up the Jam' by Technotronic. I said I would try and play it later on for her if I could but the dancefloor was starting to get busy so I wanted to keep them there. She huffed and puffed and then went back to the bar. About 30 minutes later she came back, a little bit more drunk and shouted out "Where's my Pump up the Jam?". This annoyed me a bit because she's usually fine and was probably just having a moan a bit because she knows me and usually gets what she requests at the pub.

She was standing there in amongst everyone on the dancefloor who were really getting into the music and she did the 2 classics that every DJ hates. First of all she did the cut throat signal as if to say "Turn it off" and it was all Me, Me, Me and then she shouted out "Play it NOW!". I called her over to me and asked her to calm down a bit. I explained the situation and that now they were all up dancing, I wanted to keep them there and I would try my best to fit in her song if I could. It didn't get played in the end. I had a packed dancefloor for the last 2 and a half hours and I wanted to keep it that way. When everyone was applauding and thanking me at the end, I could see her standing at the bar in the background with a right face on.

That was a bit of a downer for me and I'll speak to her properly when I see her again.

[Charlie Brown]

Very challenging children's party today. I normally find them a breeze but the kids today were very challenging.

I didn't remember when I took the booking but as soon as I arrived at their house I knew I had done this lads 6th birthday party. Even two years ago it was a challenge. The mum had decided to put me in the garage - I wish I'd taken a photo because it was very very small. At 4.00pm 23 rowdy boys with loads of energy descended on me and the mum had booked me for 4 hours!!!

I strongly advised her at the time of booking that it wasn't suitable but she assured me it would be fine.

There were two challenging twins who would participate in anything! Their aim was to ruin all of the games. At first, I lost my temper and told them to leave the garage if they didn't want to join in and be sensible. Then a few other lads started messing around and one managed to dislocate his knee cap! Apparently, it wasn't an issue because it keeps 'popping out'

I told them all to go inside to get a few drinks. I walked to the front of the house and had a smoke before taking a few deep breathes. I decided to give the troublesome twins a bit of responsibility. They had to help me behind the stand - it worked! Absolute bliss! They cooperated and enjoyed getting people out/deciding when I stopped the music etc etc.

An hour had only past and I was running out of ideas. The games were lasting no longer than 7 minutes because they were bored. I decided to turn everybody into space rockets & red Indians - we ran around the garden making these weird noises for ageeesss. Then we did a congo and I kept making silly games thereon. Everybody began to behave and I had calmed down.

The last hour did drag (3 hours in, I agreed with the mum to let them eat and play for the last hour) so we played hide and seek, dob - silly games you'd play outside.

Two things I learnt - I'll never do a kids party again for any longer than two hours. It doesn't work. I don't think discos are suitable for boys of this age group. 8/9 year olds don't want a blonde orange fool trying to encourage them to play games. I knew straight away I'd have to approach it differently without patronising them but it was very difficult throughout.

Oh..I think the pictures sum it up...

[chrisj]

Well done Charlie, that was some feat entertaining boys of that age for 4 hrs.
I wouldn't want to do it and I have been working with kids for nearly 8 years.
You won't be doing more than 2 hours in future? I don't blame you.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Well done for keeping going, but a couple of points.

If you are the 'expert', why on earth let someone tell you that the party should last for 4 hours? You should tell them 2 hours is what you do and have games etc for.

Why on earth didn't you make a small plan so that you could refer to?

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I was going to say the same thing.
I had an enquiry last week for a gig on a saturday for 8 year olds from 2.00pm - 6.00pm. I quoted a price that was slightly discounted as luckily it was at the same venue that I would be in later that evening (Kill 2 Birds with one stone and all that).

I advised the customer straight away that 4 hours was far too long for 8 year olds and said 2 hours, maybe 2.5hrs would be enough but she wouldn't have it. She ended up looking elsewhere.

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Indeed Charlie your the experience one here, stick to your guns.

Well done though, I will put my hands up and say I couldn't of performed like you in that environment as well as you did so kudos young man.

[Charlie Brown]

Well done Charlie, that was some feat entertaining boys of that age for 4 hrs.
I wouldn't want to do it and I have been working with kids for nearly 8 years.
You won't be doing more than 2 hours in future? I don't blame you.

Thanks. Next time I will feel more confident in telling the client it's not going to work.

Well done for keeping going, but a couple of points.

If you are the 'expert', why on earth let someone tell you that the party should last for 4 hours? You should tell them 2 hours is what you do and have games etc for.

Why on earth didn't you make a small plan so that you could refer to?

Cheers daz. I don't really feel like an expert? But I see where you're coming from.

Me dear? Plan dear? No dear! I'm not making excuses, but I really don't think you can plan these kind of events. I've got tons of ideas in my head but I never know what will work 'on the night' If they were 20x idyllic sensible 'Ben's' it would have been easy but unfortunately some were

I was going to say the same thing.
I had an enquiry last week for a gig on a saturday for 8 year olds from 2.00pm - 6.00pm. I quoted a price that was slightly discounted as luckily it was at the same venue that I would be in later that evening (Kill 2 Birds with one stone and all that).

I advised the customer straight away that 4 hours was far too long for 8 year olds and said 2 hours, maybe 2.5hrs would be enough but she wouldn't have it. She ended up looking elsewhere.

Good point. I don't know whether I'd rather just 'do it' instead of letting the booking go? Depends how busy I am.

Indeed Charlie your the experience one here, stick to your guns.

Well done though, I will put my hands up and say I couldn't of performed like you in that environment as well as you did so kudos young man.

Cheers buddy.

...I still stink of squirty cream. I think they enjoyed squirting me more than anything!

[Shaun]

A big well done Charlie. There's no way I could have entertained them for that long. I would have struggled with 2 hours if I'm honest. Great job!!

[funkymook]

Going by the pictures they look a right bunch - you deserve a medal Charlie!

I was seriously considering doing children's parties as I've really enjoyed the last couple I've done for friends (and apparently I'm a natural) - if I do I'm restricting it to under 8's only.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Good point. I don't know whether I'd rather just 'do it' instead of letting the booking go? Depends how busy I am.
!

The reason I let it go was because I had a booking that evening anyway.
The thing is, I don't do any gigs for that age group that are over 3 hours. It's hard to keep them entertained for that period. The final hour of 4 hours (and I have done it before) sees them tired and not that interested no matter what I do. I would rather finish it earlier than drag it out just because the customer wants to get their money's worth (that's how it felt on this particular enquiry). I think it's better to leave it on a high than to just drag it out and then the customer may think that it was a mediocre party because they'll remember the last hour.