Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[funkymook]

Great wedding today - when tunes like Spellbound, 96 Tears, Debaser and Wade In The Water get massive cheers you know you've got an eclectic crowd.

Busy dancefloor from the start with lots of NS, Indie, Mod, Punk, 60's Garage, proper R'n'B, Ska and not one request for anything else (and all age groups were up dancing!).

Finished in a complete pogoing frenzy with Cockney Rejects 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles' (groom and friends are massive West Ham fans).

Next week playing to 1250 people at a charity concert with Bruce Foxton (there's some strong rumours his ex-singer might make an appearance) - and then straight into the VIP room to DJ the after party as well.

[Javlingames]

Sounds great funkymook . Need to see you djin because I don't know any of those songs you mentioned, got to get myself an education!!

[Corabar Steve]

Great wedding today - when tunes like Spellbound, 96 Tears, Debaser and Wade In The Water get massive cheers you know you've got an eclectic crowd.

Busy dancefloor from the start with lots of NS, Indie, Mod, Punk, 60's Garage, proper R'n'B, Ska and not one request for anything else (and all age groups were up dancing!).

Finished in a complete pogoing frenzy with Cockney Rejects 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles' (groom and friends are massive West Ham fans).

Next week playing to 1250 people at a charity concert with Bruce Foxton (there's some strong rumours his ex-singer might make an appearance) - and then straight into the VIP room to DJ the after party as well.

Sounds great funkymook . Need to see you djin because I don't know any of those songs you mentioned, got to get myself an education!!

WHAT?!?!?!?!

Siouxsie and the Banshees = Spellbound, Question Mark & the Mysterians = 96 Tears, Pixies = Debaser, & knowing Martin, Wade in the water was either Graham Bond or Ramsey Lewis Trio (unless I'm very wrong & he played Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass)

[Pe7e]

I'd have thought it would be the Ramsey Lewis version of 'wade in the water', absolute classic mid 60's NS dance track, or at least that's the one I used to play.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Took the night off to go to a wedding. Very expensive venue that was too hot, had a stupidly small area for the DJ who had no clue, didn't use the mic once, had no continuity with his songs, had minimal people on the dance floor and to top it all, the drink were £4.50 for a bottle of Peroni and £4.50 - £5 for a small glass of wine!!!!!!!

[funkymook]

I'd have thought it would be the Ramsey Lewis version of 'wade in the water', absolute classic mid 60's NS dance track

'Twas indeed, and I also mixed it into Marlena Shaws vocal version.

[Excalibur]

Took the night off to go to a wedding. Very expensive venue that was too hot, had a stupidly small area for the DJ who had no clue, didn't use the mic once, had no continuity with his songs, had minimal people on the dance floor and to top it all, the drink were £4.50 for a bottle of Peroni and £4.50 - £5 for a small glass of wine!!!!!!!

Good lad. I'm heartily sick of those who are living in the past, chatting incessant gibberish after every song. Taciturn is the future, let the music do the talking.

'Twas indeed, and I also mixed it into Marlena Shaws vocal version.

The redoubtable Deltic introduced me to that version on his radio show, it's absolutely superb.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Sounds really cool Martin. I love those moments when you play tracks that people cheer to when they hear them, especially the good old Alternative ones. I didn't know (how stupid of me), that 96 Tears was done by Question Mark and the Mysterians. I thought it was The Stranglers....D'oh!
Good luck with the Bruce Foxton gig too. He's playing in Basingstoke at our festival in a few weeks time but I'm working on that night. Should be good.

I had 2 gigs on last night and they were both weddings at my residencies. Daryll (Crimson Tide) covered one of them for me. Thanks very much to Daryll. I was at my other residency out of town.
So.....here we go. Sit back, grab a cup of tea and check this out because last night the wedding I did had it all....

As I mentioned in the 'I guess I'll just be pressing PLAY' thread, last night's wedding was at the same venue I had been at on Friday. That was a good night. As I also mentioned, I was very apprehensive beforehand with reference to this gig because of the amount of songs I had received on the Playlist (not request list) but mainly because I wasn't really allowed to add any input into it myself. I had visions of people coming over to me and asking what the hell I was playing.
Don't get me wrong, there were no outrageous tunes on there (apart from The Prodigy 'Smack my ***** up'.

I spent well over an hour the other day, sorting the tunes into different genres as they were all over the place and in alphabetical order on the spreadsheet I was sent. I re-typed it and I am glad I did as it made life a lot easier for me.

So, all the equipment is set up from the night before. The Best Man has set up an I-Pod playing background music through a small active speaker that the venue uses for the registrar outside in the grounds. I arrive at 7.10pm, ready for a 7.30pm start. I head straight for the Bride & Groom and congratulate them, they've had a great day. The place is packed. The Groom comes over and has an itinery that the Bride has made up. It is written out by the second and he says the classic line to me...."She's the boss!" (well, that was obvious when I met her!).

The Father of the Groom comes over with the Best Man and informs me that despite her best intentiones, they are running late. There are speeches to be made yet and they are still having coffee at 7.45pm. The background music continues as I hook up the laptop for back up should I need it later.
8.00pm arrives and the Groom, Best Man and Father of the Bride want to do their speeches. I ask them if they'd like to go through the system and they say "No, it's ok...it should be fine". I don't think it will be so I get my radio mic ready just incase and there you go....."Er, can we use a microphone please?". As if by magic....there it is!
Speeches are quiet funny and go on until around 8.30pm.
Then a couple of guys who are cousins of the Bride get up and play acoustic guitars for 20 minutes and get everyone singing along. They were quite good actually but now we are way behind time.

Cake Cutting was planned for 8.15pm followed by the First Dance...Well, that went out of the window. They still had to make room for the Dance Floor. I ditched the background music as they were moving the tables, congratulated the Bride & Groom and got everyone to give them a round of applause, introduced myself and seeing as I had everyones attention, I made sure I got in there as quick as I could and said....
"Ladies & Gentleman, the Bride & Groom have created a playlist of music for you tonight. I am sure you will enjoy it and there is something in there for everyone. Have a great night and enjoy".

It felt very weird looking through 7 pages of A4 and picking out tracks to play. As the tables got moved, I cranked the volume up a bit as it was very busy and I chose some of the Motown & 60s tracks from the list. People got up and danced straight away and I thought it was encouraging. This went on until about 9.45pm when the Bride eventually came over and asked if she could throw her bouquet, cut the cake and then do the first dance(s).
No Problem!

We were running late big time now. I kept thinking in the back of my mind that I had a huge list of tracks to get through, around 50 'MUST PLAYS' aswell and just over 2 hours to use my experience and skills to give this lot a good time. I wasn't worried but I was thinking about it and kept looking through the list. I know this sounds strange and I don't know if anyone else does this or has ever done it but I made sure that people could see me looking through the list, almost to show them that I was merely pressing PLAY. Not very professional I know and I guess a few people probably thought "They may as well have got an I-Pod". The bar staff did when I was chatting to them as the speeches were done.

First Dance - INXS - Never tear us apart. Went down really well with everyone singing along.
Second Dance - Bride dancing with her Father to Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing. Guests flooded the Dance Floor to join them and I thought "Great, I've sussed them, I know what they like now".
Third Dance - Bride dancing with her Mother to Don Henley - Boys of Summer. Packed Dance Floor now and I'm thinking...."What was I worrying about? This will be easy!".

I thought "80s" and went through the list picking out requested tracks and it worked well. Lots of dancing and a great atmosphere........
.........and then.........

One of the Bar Staff came over and said to me that she was closing the bar. She had been on the phone to her boss as she had seen people bringing in their own drinks (it's a recommended mobile bar company that do all of the bars at the venue and I know them well). It gets worse than that!!
She waited with me as the Bride & Groom were dancing together and then when the moment was right, she approached them to tell them what had been going on. They were a very nice couple and had no idea that people had taken their own drinks. The Bride was absolutely gutted and got very upset. She came over to me and asked if I could make an announcement. I said to her "Of course I can. I think they'll listen to YOU though". I stopped the music, everyone looked at me and I told them that the Bride had something to say. She told everyone that if anyone was drinking their own drinks and not from the bar, they should either stop now or leave!
I repeated what she had said and left it at that. I started the music again and everyone continued dancing and going for it.......

.......and then.....

"STOP!!!!!"
The venue owner came over to me and shouted "Gary, STOP everything!". I was a bit confused as to why? I had a full Dance Floor again with everyone loving it. It was around 10.45pm. The Bride & Groom were at the other end of the venue and I could see them rush towards the Dance Floor to see what was going on. Now, the venue owner is a lovely bloke, really laid back and approaching 70 years old (doesn't look it at all). He was like a different bloke and very angry and upset. I asked him what was going on as people chanted for the music to start again. He was really angry. The Bride & Groom came over, looking confused and he told them that everything had to stop. Despite the Bride's plea over the microphone earlier and the bar staff saying that the bar would close, apparently there were a group of guests outside in the car park, drinking cans and shots from the boot of a car. Apparently the boot was stacked full of booze.
The venue owner went on and explained that he had seen someone swigging whisky from a bottle and had asked them to stop because his license was at risk but was told in no uncertain terms to " off!".

He said "I am not going to be spoken to like that at my own venue" and rightly so. He had given them warnings already but they had obviously just ignored him. The Bride was obviously upset and the Groom was angry, Not with the venue owner but with their guests outside. They stormed off outside and a number of people followed. The venue owner stayed with me and we had a quick chat. Someone shouted out "Where's the music gone?" and I just looked over and shrugged my shoulders. I didn't know what was going on at the time but was told to stop by the venue owner so I did.

It seemed like ages but was probably about 5 minutes at the most. The Bride & Groom came back in and asked the venue owner if we could continue. They had told their guests to leave and they had done so. Apparently it was a bit ugly out there in the car park. I apologised over the microphone on behalf of the Bride & Groom and away we went again. It was a packed Dance Floor until the last song.

The Bride & Groom hadn't chosen a last song so I wondered what I could play that would end the night on a high. I had cue'd up 'One Step Beyond' and was around 1 minute away from pressing play when the Groom came over. "Can you play The Prodigy as the last song please". No problem.
Before I played it I thanked everyone for being up for a good night, thanked the Bride & Groom for creating a great list of tracks and then said "You don't often hear this at a wedding. The Bride & Groom have chosen this as the last song on their special day, thank you, good night".
It worked well. All ages were dancing to it and loving it and as it faded out, the round of applause started. The Bride ran up to me and hugged me and said "That was perfect, thanks ever so much". The Groom shook my hand and said "Amazing, thank you". I replied...."I just sorted the tracks out and pressed play. You created the evening, well done".

And that was it....

A bizarre night but one worthy of an epic review like this because so much happened. Would I take on another massive playlist like that again?
No. The reason being is that I think I was lucky last night. I don't feel comfortable not having any input and will add something regarding request limits etc to my website and maybe Terms & Conditions. On this occasion it worked. I didn't have anyone come over and question what I was playing as I made it obvious from the start and mentioned it a number of times that the night's music had been provided by the Bride & Groom.

To finish....Something else bizarre happened too. I've never known anything like it but during the evening I was handed 3 pairs of spectacles. I made announcements about them being handed in and made jokes after the 2nd pair had been handed in, saying "My collection is growing". At the end of the night, they were still there!

If you've got through to the end of this review....well done but also, thanks for taking the time to read it.

[WWDJ]

Took the night off to go to a wedding.

I too was a guest at a wedding, which explains Jamie's post.

To be fair I had a great day and the Band, who played a mixture of funk, sound and disco (all the standards, Commitments, James Brown, etc) were excellent, lots of energy and a slightly kooky male vocalist who could pull off some proper James Brown screams. It worked well and the dance floor was full.

The DJ was 'ok'. It's difficult not to criticise isn't it!

He played all the right songs, classics and big chart hits with a moderate dance floor. However a few points

- He sat down all night!
- despite a small dancefloor, the sound was badly eq'd and inadequate by comparison to the band (who were running Mackie v2's + bass amps etc). He was running W-Audio 12's not sure if they were active.
- Minimal mic work, which is ok, but announcements were barely intelligible, probably down to bad eq or poor mic.
- Wire police would have had a field day, but he was under pressure to setup quickly so can be forgiven.

I like to think I am better but for sure I have learned a lot over the last few years to get there!

[Jonathan Ford]

Sounds like a difficult night, Gary.

I had a really difficult night last night...in many ways one of my worst gigs for...well, since that prog rock night that ushered in my Barry Manilow fetish, probably at least 10 years.

Wedding in a new venue, The Roundhouse at Derby. The lay out of the venue was tricky, no dance floor, just a carpeted space in front of me, with a bar in another room. In terms of catering, the B&G had arranged for a burger van and an ice cream van to show up outside...so plenty of things to take people out of the main room. They provided an excellent playlist, with some amazing music - largely electronic, alternative, indie rock and metal...and I would happily listen to it all day on the radio. Unfortunately, the B&G's taste in music wasn't shared by the majority of their guests. With 103 songs on a playlist lasting 6.5 hours for a 5.5 hour gig, I wasn't able to take requests from other guests (as per B&G instructions), and there was no opportunity for me to have a wander off piste. Consequently, I spent the vast majority of the evening stood in the lonliest place in the world, playing to myself and the B&G, who danced pretty much non-stop.

In the week, they'd sprung it on me that they wanted me to play some games with the crowd - nothing complicated, they just wanted me to read out a statement, and if it applied to you, you had to dance to the song that followed. Examples included "...if you think you're sexy" (Crazy in Love - Beyonce), "...if you qualify for a buss pass" (Satisfaction - Rolling Stones) and "...if your collar matches your cuffs".. (Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough - MJ). I did ask on the microphone what guests should do if they didn't have any cuffs - got a decent laugh. Anyway, the first of these games led to one of the most embarrassing moments of my career. I'd discussed the set up in advance, and the plan was to get everyone in a circle around the dance carpet ( ), and if the statement applied they'd dance into the middle...and hopefully stay there. So, B&G come over and ask me to do the first game...the song I'm playing fades, and I play "At the River" as a bed to talk over while I do the set up - explain everything to the guests (clearly and adequately), ask them to form a group around the dance floor...and not a living soul moves toward me. I even suggest on the mic that the B&G might like to lead the way...nothing. In the end, I pleaded "if anyone could be just the tinniest bit charitable and come towards me, others may follow"...and not one of them moved from their seat!! In the end, I just let Groove Armada play out and cracked on. Later in the evening, they got a very marginal response, but I used them to play something that deviated from the playlist that was bombing spectacularly.

Having had around 5-10 dancers at a maximum all night, having turned down numerous requests, made numerous announcements referring to it as "Jo and Stuart's playlist" but not thinking the crowd appreciate the difference, and with a guest request for S-Club in hand, I approached the B&G again to ask if I could just play 20 minutes of "party" stuff. They thought about it for a bit, then said they'd go out for a cigarette and I could play whatever I want for 20 mins....so I did! I was like a kid in a sweet shop - suddenly, with the careful application of Rihanna, it was like the chairs had become electrified as people sprang to their feet, and I filled the dance carpet in record time. Fortunately, I'd saved some decent rock (Rage Against the Machine, Metallica, Iron Maiden), and managed to keep it up until the end. Loads of applause when I'd done....liberal application of alcohol and a good last hour (based on me virtually begging the B&G to be allowed a little leeway) may have mitigated the previous 4.5 hours of solitude in th eyes of the guests, but not mine. They put together a playlist of great music...just not for a mixed crowd at a wedding reception. The worst thing is, that despite my announcements, and telling every guest that came to make a request why I was playing what I was...I suspect that none of it will have registered, and the audience will simply think I'm a bit crap.