Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Another good couple of gigs for me this week.

Friday was another night at my local and again, it was busy despite there being a number of live gigs throughout the town. What was pleasing was that a number of new faces came back from the previous week. Bit of a dampener on the night midway through though. Trouble in this place is very, very rare...to be honest, it just never happens but Friday was a bit different. I clocked a couple of guys that I'd never seen before who looked on the dodgy side to put it mildly. I don't believe in judging a book by it's cover but I was proved right. The landlord had an eye on them too as we were thinking the same thing. Anyway, at one point during the night one of the guys decided to get a bit aggressive with one of the bar staff. The landlord asked them to leave and one of them said "Make me!" (so I'm told. I couldn't hear or see anything as it happened in the other bar and well away from where I was). Anyway, it kicked off which is a bit silly as the pub is dead opposite the police station. Apparently, one of the guys went for the landlord (bad move!) and the other slapped the nearest person to him which happened to be a friend of mine. He now has a lovely black eye. The police were there within seconds as one of the locals legged it over to the police station because he sensed there was going to be trouble. As I said, it never happens in this place, it's just not one of those pubs. I have been going down there 26 years and have probably seen 3 incidents in that time. It didn't affect the night at all and most people didn't have a clue what was going on, neither did they care. It was only when the police turned up that anyone took the slightest bit of interest. It was all over within 10 minutes and everyone carried on as normal.

Last night I was at Wokefield Park in Mortimer. I didn't realise it was literally round the corner from Trunkwell House where I have been a couple of times in the past.
Spoke to the C&B Manager in the week and arranged to set up in the morning. I'd been advised before that there is a sound limiter where I'd be situated which was in the Maple suite. It's a large room but the Disco is set up in the corner where the room narrows so it's almost as if it's a dedicated Disco area. When I'd heard about the sound limiter I was a bit apprehensive but I was assured that it had never been set off before and the previous night there had been a live band playing and everything had been ok. I noticed a plug socket that had 121.3db on it so guessed that it was the level that the limiter was set at. I plugged the lighting in to that socket and took everything else from the other ones that were nearby. I set up the subs and also the JBL's so it was quite a beefy sounding and large stacked sound system. It sounded pretty bloody nice actually and I never got it past 50% volume. I soundchecked after breakfast and booted it up and the lights on the limiter didn't flinch. I booted it some more to account for 180 guests that would be there in the evening and even I thought it was loud but the limiter light flickered amber. It seemed like a bit of a task to get it to go red!

So, the evening came. Bit of a nightmare driving to the venue as some of the back lanes on the way to and a couple of miles from the venue were flooded and there was also fog (worse on the way home). I got there for just after 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start but they were running 45 minutes late. I waited around for a while, chatted to staff and saw the best man to let him know I was there etc. Chatted with the photographer who I'd seen at a previous wedding and then finally the time came to start playing some background music as the room was turned around and the dividers which separated the main room from the Disco were sorted out. The volume of the background music was louder than usual as I had a bit more space to fill and I noticed that even though it was a lot quieter than it had been when I soundchecked, the amber light on the limiter was flickering. I got quite nervous about this and turned the subs down a bit. I spoke to the C&B Manager and voiced my concerns and she once again said not to worry. She asked me to turn it right up to test it as all of the guests had now vacated the room. I did this and it went straight to red. She said "Keep going". I did this and was worried that everything would go off but it didn't. It stayed in the red at times for around 10 seconds but nothing happened. She told me that unless it was constantly in the red, there wouldn't be a problem. I walked out front and the sound seemed fine so I was happy-ish. I say 'ish' because I felt as if I was concentrating and watching those lights all night and was on edge. I was monitoring the sound all night and took most of the volume off the subs. Now and then I'd turn them up and the difference in quality was easy to hear but I just didn't want to take any chances.

The gig itself was a very good one. I've supplied 2 Discos in the past for the same family a couple of years ago so I knew they liked their Motown and 70's and 80's, Cheesiness and some Indie so it was pretty easy especially with a big crowd of people that were up for a good time. As soon as the first dance(s) were done, they were on the floor all night.
First Dance was Steve Tyrell - The way you look tonight and that was followed by Moulin Rouge - Your song. Bride and Groom were very happy and so were their guests. I got asked for a card by the C&B Manager and also one of the guests who is planning a party in January. Last songs of the night were Grease - You're the one that I want (which was really funny because all of the ladies stood one side of the dance floor and the gents stood the other side and they all sang the parts). Last song as planned was S Club 7 - Reach (haven't played it for ages but it worked well). C&B Manager was stood next to me during the last song and as it faded out and I said congratulations and good night, the chants of "One more!" came. I'd already cue'd up One Step Beyond just in case so there was a slight pause to see if I could play it and then it went mad! They loved it.

I've mentioned Wokefield Park in the Venue Discussion forum in the past because I didn't know what to expect so I hope the long description at the beginning has helped anyone that may be visiting the place in the future. I was in the Mansion House in the Maple Suite. Looking back at the thread in Venue Discussion I can see what Darren means now. Last night there was another Disco in a smaller room at the other end of the venue and that access looked easier. In order to get into the Maple Suite I had to drive round the back and take the equipment up 6 or 7 stairs on to the patio and then through the doors that the staff opened up. It wasn't much hassle to be fair although I had big subs and big full range JBL's too. After the gig it was quite well lit so there was no problem carrying them down the stairs and I could see what I was doing easily enough. I was out within 30 minutes.

Got a hire job on for later this afternoon which I need to go and set up and then pick up again so I definitely won't be at BPM. Unfortunately for me, I don't have anyone that I can get to do it all for me so I have to do it myself. I hope everyone has a good time and a few beers!

[Twinspin]

Tonight ive been a village just outside of the town of Beverley near Hull. At a lovely venue called Tickton Grange It's always been one of my favourite wedding venues. I always seem to have a really good night there. The staff are friendly there as well.

Tonight ive been down there doing a wedding and the dancefloor was full for most of the night. The bride and grooms first dance was to Shania Twain - From This moment on which is surprising for a youngish couple. I played a mix of allsorts of music. They liked a bit of everyhing apart from cheesy party music. They had some cheesy songs on their list such as.

Spice Girls - Stop,
B*witched - Cest' La Vie
Rocky Horror Picture Show - Time Warp
Lou Bega - Mambo N05.
Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince - Boom Shake The Room.
Will Smith - Miami.

At the end of the night. I picked up my microphone and told them im afraid thats all ive got time for tonight congratulations to the bride and groom and hoping everyone has a safe journey home and everybody on the dancefloor give me a big clap and a few off their seats clapping as well. Everybody seemed to have had a great night

Nobody knocked my ultimax curtain off the rail tonight. Its now the last time that will be out as my Deckstand booth and black starcloth/white led arrives on tuesday. On my next gig it will the first time with the new booth. Looking forward to getting it.

[funkymook]

Much amusement supplied by a girl at last nights gig.

It was a Ska, NS, Indie night at my local - girl comes up and asks for garage......'sorry not tonight. and point at the posters.....'why not?'.....'it's not that sort of night'.....'you have to play what I want'.......'you best go and speak to the manager then'....a few minutes later she's back....'he says you have to play what I want because I'm a customer'........'what that manager over there said that?' pointing to the person dancing with a load of skins to some ska.....she wanders off, but is back a bit later......'can you play Sympathy For The Devil by the Rolling Stones?'.....good choice I hear you say, there's hope for her yet....'what you mean the song I'm playing at the moment?'.......'oh, can you play something from the charts?'.........'aaaaargh'!

[chrisj]

Now that brought a smile to my face.

[dj foureyes]

Much amusement supplied by a girl at last nights gig.

It was a Ska, NS, Indie night at my local - girl comes up and asks for garage......'sorry not tonight. and point at the posters.....'why not?'.....'it's not that sort of night'.....'you have to play what I want'.......'you best go and speak to the manager then'....a few minutes later she's back....'he says you have to play what I want because I'm a customer'........'what that manager over there said that?' pointing to the person dancing with a load of skins to some ska.....she wanders off, but is back a bit later......'can you play Sympathy For The Devil by the Rolling Stones?'.....good choice I hear you say, there's hope for her yet....'what you mean the song I'm playing at the moment?'.......'oh, can you play something from the charts?'.........'aaaaargh'!

I've had something simular happen to me before. A woman kept on coming up and saying, you haven't played my daughter's request yet. As i was playing other people's requests and the floor was heaving, I kept telling her that I hadn't forgotten it and I would try and play it as soon as i possibly could. Finally she came storming up and said, "Why haven't you played xxxxxx yet? this song is , look at everyone getting off the dance floor"
it gave me great pleasure to point out that the song that was currently playing was in fact her daughter's request and pointed to her daughter and two friends who were the only people dancing on a previously packed dancefloor.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Martin, I had a similar thing on Friday.
I was doing a 'Back to the Future' night at my local which was concentrating on the 60s, 70s and 80s.
Everything going really well, lots of really cool requests when I am approached by a girl who says "Can you play something I like please?".
I reply "Ok, what do you like?".
She says "Oh, I dunno....not this though!".
Like your gig Martin, mine is a pretty relaxed and easy going atmosphere so I don't really have to mind my P's and Q's so I was pretty blunt with her to be honest and said...
"How am I going to know what you like if you bloody don't? Go and have a drink and think about what you want me to play".
She laughs, walks off and comes back about 2 minutes later.
"Can you play Fun - 'We are young' then?"
"Not tonight Sorry, it's 60s, 70s, 80s tonight and that's a few months old".
She laughs again and says..."I'm not doing very well here am I? Have you got any Ace of Base?".
I laughed because there are a few regulars that absolutely love 'All She Wants' by Ace of Base so I wait for a few songs and then chuck it on and the little area they call a dance floor is packed instantly.
She comes up afterwards, hugs me and then says..."Can I ask for another song?".
"Yes" I reply..."The night is called 'Request Fest' and tonight it's requests from the 60s, 70s and 80s".
"Oh cool!" She says... "Do you have any Michael Buble?" (just as I thought she was getting the idea).
I explain that Michael Buble is a 00's artist...
She says "But he sounds old?"....(I'm starting to give up now...but in a well humoured way).
"Blimey!" I say..."Come on, you must know some 80s tunes?".
"I was born in 1992" She says....
As she's talking to me I press PLAY for the next request which is Men Without Hats - The Safety Dance....
"Oh! I like this one!" She says...."Is this Duran Duran?"....
I am then 'saved' by one of the regulars who asks for....wait for it....'Sympathy for the Devil'.
She's still stood there as we talk....She's still there when the song is fading out and the bongos come in for Sympathy for the Devil...
I use the opportunity to nip outside for a quick smoke in the beer garden and look through the door. My mate keeps an eye on the equipment and she's still stood there. You can tell she's really trying hard to think of a song or two.
5 minutes later I am back behind the decks and she's still stood there. Next track is 'Come Together' by The Beatles and there's a cheer from the table that requested it.
"What's this?" She says...."You can't dance to this!"...
I reply "It's not all about the dancing. It's about playing what people want to hear".
"Nah, I don't like this" She says..."Who is it?"
"It's The Beatles!" I reply

...and then comes the classic which isn't the first time I have heard this before....
"Who!?" She says

What can you say?

[djdave01]

Had a charity night last night for breast cancer. Booked from 7pm to midnight. The organiser and a few other people arrived at 7.15, with a few more arriving over the next hour. All this time we're just playing background music waiting on the '70' people who'd bought tickets.

By 8.30 there was about 30, so we got started and a few more people arrived. No dancing, no requests at all.

By 9.15 there were 50 people. The buffet was opened which took till 10pm, then they did the raffle which took 45 minutes. Next, they did the sliding a coin to a bottle game, took 20 minutes.

At 11.05, we started the music again, and they all danced Lots of requests and shouts for 'more' at the end.

I was completely bored for most of the night, but the last hour made up for it. They raised £1000 too

[funkymook]

I've had something simular happen to me before. A woman kept on coming up and saying, you haven't played my daughter's request yet. As i was playing other people's requests and the floor was heaving, I kept telling her that I hadn't forgotten it and I would try and play it as soon as i possibly could. Finally she came storming up and said, "Why haven't you played xxxxxx yet? this song is , look at everyone getting off the dance floor"
it gave me great pleasure to point out that the song that was currently playing was in fact her daughter's request and pointed to her daughter and two friends who were the only people dancing on a previously packed dancefloor.

Makes it all worthwhile when you get that sort of opportunity.

[DJ Jules]

Last night I had a hard night in a regular club gig I do every month. It was one of those nights where once more there weren't enough people of any particular age to be able to keep everyone happy at once and one particular person.

One guy came up early in the night and asked for Motown and I said I'd see what I could do in amongst 50+ requests for chart, R&B, DnB, Dubstep and Reggae.

An hour later he came up and asked again and I said again that I'd see what I could do. In the meantime I'd tried to move into older/cheesier music to try and please the majority of the crowd which had worked for a while, but all the time I'd been playing 90's I had a few very polite young ladies come up and say that while they were enjoying what I was playing, they'd really like it "if you could play [insert current chart track here]" so I was inclined to oblige as about 50% of the people in the club were 25yrs or younger - and they were asking nicely.

30mins later he came up again and started f'ing and blinding about how bad the current music was and how I should be playing some Motown for him. I tried to explain why I was sticking with newer music, but he was getting more and more aggressive. I left it with a weak "I'll see what I can do" and he walked off. His daughter then came up and asked for Pendulum and a some Drum and Bass!!

15mins later he was back with a torrent of abuse and this time he wasn't listening to me and there was no talking to him so I ignored him and got on with mixing the next track in and he stood at the booth and continued to swear and shout at me. For the first time ever I had to put in a call for security over the Mic which visibly made him start to think about how his attitude must be coming across and he calmed down for a second and walked away. Security (and the Club manager) caught up with him a few minutes later and explained the situation to him and I thought that'd be the end of it, but...

With about 30mins to go I finally managed to get through the tirade of requests and moved on to Motown and cheese to finish the night and the guy wanders over again. I thought I was finally going to get to have a sensible conversation with him or maybe a thank you for playing his request, or possibly even an apology. But no, I got another load of abuse for playing his choice of music so late in the night once everyone had gone!!! My response. I had to wait until a few people had gone because no-one else wanted this music!! To be honest, I've never come across such a grumpy ungrateful :censored: and I felt like cutting the track dead and changing to something else to spite him.

Anyway, finally made him happy at the end of the night by finishing with a double bill of New York and My way and he had a boogie with his daughter, but I still watched my back as I left as it was clear that the guy was worse for wear and couldn't let it go.

Prior to last night I was considering investing heavily in better lighting gear, but this was one of those nights that makes me think about walking away from the whole lot again.

Roll on next Saturday with a repeat booking for the local PUMA squad for Halloween with Karaoke and games

[paul1404]

I've had something simular happen to me before. A woman kept on coming up and saying, you haven't played my daughter's request yet. As i was playing other people's requests and the floor was heaving, I kept telling her that I hadn't forgotten it and I would try and play it as soon as i possibly could. Finally she came storming up and said, "Why haven't you played xxxxxx yet? this song is , look at everyone getting off the dance floor"
it gave me great pleasure to point out that the song that was currently playing was in fact her daughter's request and pointed to her daughter and two friends who were the only people dancing on a previously packed dancefloor.

Yep had the same the other week - playing my local resisency - usually chart / dance / garage / rnb
Some idiot came up to me and asked me to play somthing meaning full
I laughed and said can you name an artist or song and will try
he then stood there for about 3 minutes try to think of a song and run back over to his mates

He then came over and started shouting at me in a Eastern european accent - I said mate A) I cant understand a word your saying and if you continue I will
get the bouncers to remove you
He clamed down and said I need music with passion - I explained that this was a club classic night and to name a club song that he liked

He then said ........ wait for it .....system of a down ??????? yeah great for a sexy club night