Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[Excalibur]

Heaven:
Saturday night in a WMC in Hull, covering for a mate. Lovely staff, who I've got to know well. Always a good atmosphere. Kit is two speakers, two moonflowers, and laptop/controller. Doddle.

Turned up early, and was greeted by a staff member who said the guests had been in to decorate the room in the afternoon, and were apprehensive because the DJ wasn't the resident.
" Will he play the 60's and 70's music we want" ? Is the Pope Catholic? Do bears live in the woods? They were informed that not only would he play it, he's lived it, so no worries. The room was decorated brilliantly, it was a 50th Birthday and the guests turned up in some wonderful fancy dress, including a brilliant Freddie Mercury, from the I want to break free video.
Played the beloved music for three hours, and opened it up for the last one. Birthday girl was very happy, thanked me at the end, and I was packed up and on the road in no time. What a contrast to the night before. If only they were all like this, eh? Happy days.

[Benny Smyth]

I was at Henley Golf & Country Club last night. It's the second time that I've worked this venue in the past few weeks. First time was nice enough, but last night was just a bit silly.

DJ's access is through the back door. As soon as you walk in, you're greeted with a wall. You turn left, and the corridor is just slightly wider than I am. Then you turn right, and you get to the stage where you set up. Last month, I tried going round the back but my flightcases wouldn't fit, so I unloaded them outside and carried the kit in individually by hand. Last night, I wasn't doing that again. If I came in through the front door, it's a very easy run to the stage with wider corridors and even though the walk is longer, everything I have is on wheels. Nice and easy...or so I thought.

Trying to explain this to various staff members made me genuinely believe that I must be a member of MENSA, 'cos it seemed pretty simple to me. First they were wondering why I wanted to go through the kitchen (which I didn't...no idea where they got that idea from), then they said that I couldn't get into the room until they clear the guests out for the turnaround (which would have been the case regardless what door I entered). Then I was told that all the other DJ's could get through the back door, by which point I opened my van and openly invited them to try. As soon as they saw what I was talking about, they left me to it. Randomly, I took a pic for Twitter when I loaded the van earlier in the day, so I'll post it here for you to get an idea of how big my flightcases are.



And this is what they were carrying:



So yeah...not gonna fit into a space that's as wide as a toilet cubical.

Another thing that hacks me off about Henley G&C Club, the first thing somebody says to you as soon as you introduce yourself is "Do you know about the limiter?" It's the automatic go-to thing for them, almost like a selling point. "Oh, you want to get married here? Well we have a license to have the ceremony performed here, we can obviously recommend some suppliers to you and, as a bonus, we have a limiter! How cool is that?" And it is is ridiculously sensitive. Trying to find that balance of sound volume and sound quality was almost impossible. Subs had to be turned right down and even then, I found myself dropping the bass on the EQ too. 80db is the limit, allegedly, but I would be very surprised if it even reached that.

Gig itself went fine. Bride was chuffed, referring to me as the best DJ that she could have ever hoped for. Enjoyed a bit of banter with the guests too both on the mic and whilst popping back and forth from the toilet. Stopping to have a chat with people is kinda nice sometimes, 'cos I get an idea of what sort of people are there. Last night, they were mostly very nice people.

Favourite moments were the running jokes with the bride. She was wearing a strapless dress and spent about 90% of the evening pulling the thing back up. I got on the mic and said "I know this is your wedding, but it is a family occasion, so if you could refrain from playing with your boobs, that'd be great!" Everyone started laughing and every time I spotted her pulling her dress back up, I would cover my eyes and she would giggle. Got a big hug and thank you at the end, so as long as she is happy, that's the important thing.

The new moving heads got their first run out last night too, and I am really happy with them. I've identified a few more DMX scenes that I would like to add, but I'm still very pleased with what I have.

I'm back there next month and after that, Henley G&C Club is going on the banned list.

[surround sounds]

Yes I understand what you mean about access and the limiter. I got disco and Dancefloor to go in next month

[Benny Smyth]

Yes I understand what you mean about access and the limiter. I got disco and Dancefloor to go in next month

Dance floor will please 'em. They store theirs on the staging area. All to one side, so it wont be in the way.

[funkymook]

Great wedding on Saturday - gastro pub in Clerkenwell, nice venue, could set-up downstairs while wedding party were eating upstairs. Played a mixture of Jumpin' Jive, old soul and Motown, Britpop and Indie (so the usual for me). There was a sound limiter but it wasn't too bad, worse thing was it was on the wall behind me, but I managed to position my iPhone so I could see it's reflection which made it much easier to work with.

Nice thank you from the B&G came tonight, clubbing in her wedding drew afterwards, excellent!

Hi Martin!
Hope you got home safe and sound! We ended up going to a club after the wedding; out till 3 am at a nightclub in my wedding dress; good times....

Just wanted to say thank you for helping make our wedding an absolute blast, best party ever, waaaay beyond our expectations! Everyone loved the music and it was a party to remember (well, maybe slightly blurry for me. but I still remember mostly!) Exquisite timing with "Common People." Hope you had a good time too.

all the best,
Liza and Henry x

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Sounds a good one Martin and fair play to the Bride!

Last night I did a wedding at one of my residencies and I have to say it was a really good night surprisingly.
I did expect it to be a bit subdued but no way. Everyone was up for it from the word go.
I was supplying Disco and Pink Uplighting from 7.00pm - 11.30pm.
Speeches over ran so I didn't get started until 7.45pm but everyone was up for a party.
A large number of the guests had travelled down from Yorkshire as that's where the Bride was from originally and they were really nice people. Once again lots of compliments and some great moves going down on the dance floor.

First dance was All of Me by John Legend (3rd time I have done this as a first dance since it came out) and there were lots of tears.
Straight in to Pharrell - Happy (again, this seems really popular for getting people up straight away).

Lots of 80s dance (Luther, Shannon, Jocelyn Brown etc...) and current chart and motown.

80 guests and most stayed around until 11.00pm which was good.
Ended up finishing at 11.15pm with the last song as Calvin Harris - Feels so close.

Another good night. In fact, a really good bunch of gigs over the weekend.

[Benny Smyth]

Sounds a good one Martin and fair play to the Bride!

Last night I did a wedding at one of my residencies and I have to say it was a really good night surprisingly.
I did expect it to be a bit subdued but no way. Everyone was up for it from the word go.
I was supplying Disco and Pink Uplighting from 7.00pm - 11.30pm.
Speeches over ran so I didn't get started until 7.45pm but everyone was up for a party.
A large number of the guests had travelled down from Yorkshire as that's where the Bride was from originally and they were really nice people. Once again lots of compliments and some great moves going down on the dance floor.

First dance was All of Me by John Legend (3rd time I have done this as a first dance since it came out) and there were lots of tears.
Straight in to Pharrell - Happy (again, this seems really popular for getting people up straight away).

Lots of 80s dance (Luther, Shannon, Jocelyn Brown etc...) and current chart and motown.

80 guests and most stayed around until 11.00pm which was good.
Ended up finishing at 11.15pm with the last song as Calvin Harris - Feels so close.

Another good night. In fact, a really good bunch of gigs over the weekend.

You lucky man. If I have to play that song one more time for a first dance, you will all see on the news a story about a DJ who went absolutely crazy, and it'll end with the words "he then turned the gun on himself."

[funkymook]

Funnily enough mine didn't want a first dance, no cake cutting either, no formalities at all during the evening, straight from their meal into a party.

[Excalibur]

A large number of the guests had travelled down from Yorkshire as that's where the Bride was from originally and they were really nice people.

Goes without saying, really.

[DJColsie]

A large number of the guests had travelled down from Yorkshire as that's where the Bride was from originally and they were really nice people.

Bet they were, bet they didn't buy you a drink though