Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Last night's gig was a wedding for me and as I previously mentioned, it included a singing duo that were good friends of the Groom. More on them in a second but to go back to the start when the enquiry came in..... I was booked for the gig just over a year ago and I'm not exaggerating at all when I say that the Groom had been in constant contact with me right up until last night. He would sometimes call me just to say hello believe it or not.

When he enquired about my services he was very particular about what he wanted music-wise but also sound-wise. I ran through some of the various sound systems I use and he wasn't interested in JBL or DB Technologies and said that he loved the Mackie sound so booked me (strange but anyway...).
He asked if I would be able to supply mics and effects etc for 2 singers that he would be flying over from Benidorm to do some songs at the wedding so I quoted slightly extra for it and he booked.

We finally went through everything a couple of weeks ago and he told me a bit more about the singers. They were on the X Factor the year that Leona Lewis won the show, appear in Benidorm on TV regularly and a few other things. It sounded like it could be a bit different. The Groom advised me that they can sometimes be a bit OTT with regards to their sound etc and can moan a bit so I was ready for that. I'm no sound man expert but I know what I am doing as I have done a number of gigs myself and also used to do regular acoustic and band nights.

On Thursday I met the 2 singers as arranged and I set up and soundchecked them. They were over the moon with the sound, saying that it was exactly what they wanted and weren't akward at all and were actually very good. We got on very well. My first reaction to them when I heard they were going to be there was that they would be glorified Karaoke crooners. They are a father and son act called Matthew & Son and the son is also in a Take That tribute band. I was also advised by the Groom that I shouldn't expect too much dancing etc from the guests as they were an older crowd (and they were).

Last night went very well. I bigged the singers up and at around 10.00pm they went on and did their set of around 45 minutes going through classic singalong tracks etc. They were very good but there were some funny moments.

They'd originally said they would go on at 9.30pm but for some reason (not sure what it was?), it didn't happen. After the first dances earlier, it was a bit of a struggle getting people to get up and dance but it wasn't too bad. Around 9.45pm I played some of the rock tracks that had been requested in advance and the dancefloor started to fill up. The funny moment came at around 9.55pm when the dancefloor was at it's busiest when I was playing 'Sweet Child O' Mine'. The singers came over and said "Right, we're ready Gary". The older guy nudged me and said "Come on then, introduce us" so I got on the mic with around 3 minutes left of the song. There was a big "BBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" when I started fading out the song so I turned it back up and said to the guy "Sorry, you'll have to wait a moment". He wasn't happy at all and got in a right strop! The other singer then asked "What's happening?"....I could sense some awkwardness coming on from them both and said "Can we give it another 15 minutes or something? I have a full dancefloor here for the first time all night" but they wouldn't have it and I heard one of the funniest things come from their mouths. I had to keep a straight face.

"We're in our stage gear Gary. We can't stand here for 15 minutes dressed like this, let's just get on with it".

Their stage gear was identical black shirts, blue jeans and black shirts!! Nothing out of the ordinary at all. I think their 5 minutes of fame had really gone to their heads big time. Anyway, I introduced them and they went into their set which was actually very good to be fair. The father stopped halfway through and the younger one carried on the rest as a solo. He had people up dancing and singing along to stuff like The Mavericks and Temptations and obviously chucked in a couple of Take That ones too. The crowd loved them.
They did the obvious though and at times I knew exactly what they were going to say and I cringed... "We were on the X Factor", "We met Simon Cowell", "We're on Benidorm on TV regularly and it's not as bad as the TV makes out" etc etc

I finished off the night from 10.45pm - Midnight with lots of requests for 70's (Disco and Glam) and 80's and it picked up with the remaining guests dancing.
We'd arranged in advance that the last song of the night was going to be 'Greatest Day' by Take That. About 15 minutes before the end of the night, I went and saw the Bride & Groom and asked what they thought of the singer singing their last song seeing as he was in a Take That tribute band. They thought it was a great idea so I asked him and he jumped at the chance. I said my usual bits to everyone and then handed over to the singer. He bigged me up and everyone applauded me and then he did a brilliant version of the last song.

I was there a lot longer packing up as people kept being complimentary about the evening (which isn't a bad thing is it). The Bride & Groom were over the moon and I got a £50.00 tip from them too.

[Silver]

You get all the best gigs. Jammy swine.

Personally I think pre seventies all night could be a bit of a toughie, unless you have a rock and roll crowd. I love the sixties, I was dragged up on it but all night .... not for me.

[theoloyla]

Unusually for me I did a little girl's 7th birthday party last night. I have hardly ever done this type of gig. The mother is family of the brewery of the venue where I do most of my work; so I needed to please her. She had seen me doing my annual charity disco for the Rotary/Special Needs last Xmas where she was helping and insisted to the hotel management that she wanted me for her daughter's party.
The good news was it was 5pm to 8pm; so an early finish. We arrived and set up and met the birthday girl and her 5 year old brother (who were both sweeties) and dad and mum (who was yummy!). They went off to get changed and returned and the other children and parents started arriving at 5pm. There were about 30 kids and the mum had put out a lot of balloons. The boys all went mad fighting each other with them. I started in earnest at about 5.15. I had a list of requests which were lots of recent pop stuff (Jason Derulo, Wanted, JLS etc) and party dances and cheese (Cha Cha Slide, Mamma Mia, Grease etc). Unfortunately they were more interested in fighting than dancing. After a short while mum and I decided that I should get their attention and she would remove all the balloons. I had asked her to bring some spot prizes; so I got them all to form a circle. One of the things that mum had liked was my big inflatable banana and I was told to make sure I brought it (I usually do as many audiences of all ages just cant resist playing with my big banana). I decided to play pass the banana. It worked a treat and mum collected all the baloons. All the kids loved the game (apart from one little girl who burst into tears when she was out and had to be comforted). After that they all danced and I did lots of action dances like Music Man, Agadoo, Hokey Cokey (which went down a storm) interspersed with most of Now 79. Top tracks of the night were Jessie J "Price Tag" and Tinie Tempah "Pass Out" (little boys trying to breakdance). Jan and I had to keep them in order a few times as the boys got boisterous but on the whole they were good kids. I had loads of parents congratulating me afterwards and lots of thankyous from the kids telling me they wanted me for their next party. Maybe I've found a new niche! Not what I was expecting.

[Corabar Steve]

You've just reminded me Theo.

I did a 13th birthday last night, & I have to say I've never encountered such a well behaved & polite bunch of kids of that age group.

They liked dancing to say the least. Hardly stopped from start to finish (something that is unusual for that age, they actually danced to entire songs as opposed to buggering off half way through (why do teenagers do that??)).

Mainly R&B & dancy stuff Usher, Bieber, LMFAO, BEP, Example, Guetta, Minaj etc but they weren't afraid to Cha cha slide, Macarena, Saturday night, or Conga. It flew by & I was done & loaded by 11.

I don't usually blow my own trumpet & I won't now. This was all down to fantastic kids.

[JAMdisco]

I too had a great (double) 13th birthday disco on Saturday night at Beverley Rugby club, it was also a bonus that I was literally 5 minutes drive from home

I arrived at 5:45pm for a 7pm start (it was up a flight of stairs but I already knew that). All set up for 6:45 and the girls dad asked me if I could start 10 minutes early as the guests were already arriving - he said he'd buy me a pint if I did - who was I to argue lol.

Anyway, as soon as I started they begun to dance, as more arrived, they too joined their friends on the dancefloor. It was pretty much packed all night (around 80-90 13 year olds all having a great time).

The 2 girls did supply me with an extensive playlist (about 5 hours worth of music for a 3 1/2 hour disco - but isn't that normally the case ) I played some of the more "appropriate" songs but they also did cha cha slide, macarena, grease megamix dances too).

Basically it was another stonker of a disco and at the end a lady came over and asked if I was available on 27th Jan. I checked my diary (yes I was) and she booked me on the spot (said something to the club owner about cancelling the DJ she'd already booked - I told her she may loose the deposit she paid but she said "I don't care, I want you - that was fantastic". So another 3 1/2 hour disco in January good times!

[theoloyla]

Well thats three of us then that had good junior disco experiences this last weekend.

[JAMdisco]

Well thats three of us then that had good junior disco experiences this last weekend.

yeah, that's the second 13th birthday in as many weeks, both been great!

[chrisj]

Just home from a wedding blessing, 35 years of marriage and they were early 60's. Booked via a telephone call and I sent a contract which was correctly returned. The function was to be in a house.
I received a telephone call 6 days ago from my client asking if everything was ok and advising me there nay be as many as 90 guests. The dance floor was to be 4m square.

On arrival last night I realised it was a big house. 6 bedrooms and there were actually 80 something people there after the blessing ceremony at the church.

No-one in the lounge where the dancefloor was so I set up a minimalistic rig. 4 led par56 mood lights , 1 RCF 725 speaker on tripod to one side of my deck and a Warlock (wizard copy) on tripod to the other side. Great comments on the music, mostly 60's and 70's with about 10% modern. Great night 7.30pm until midnight and a £50 tip. WOW I have never has a tip so big before.

When I spoke to the guy that booked me and I commented on the house he said 'Well I am a millionaire and like a nice place'. I never realised until he told me.
£240 for a great night plus the tip and I really enjoyed it.

[DazzyD]

80 people in a house??? Must've been huge!!

Sounds like a good night. And, the best thing is, "money-folk" tend to move in the same circles so if he's really impressed then he'll tell his associates who may also be looking for a good DJ and you may well have found yourself with the door opened to a new market for you!

I once did a lottery winner's daughter's wedding. Sounds good so far but I got paid in Scottish £50 notes. You should have seen the bar staff's reaction when I tried to get a drink! You'd think I was trying to pay with babies or something!!

[Mark Wild]

That awkward moment when the lappy turns off mid-set because to charger isn't connected properly and the relief when you realise that could have happened on the first dance