Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I had a night off that turned into....well, not really working but getting a small little hire system together for someone who had been let down by someone else I'd recommended....Ok, I'll explain.

A couple of weeks ago I get a call from the ex manager of one of my residencies. He was organising a small party for his lad's 6th birthday. He asked if I was available to play a few tunes for a couple of hours on the Saturday afternoon in a hall nearby (that's today). I said I was unavailable unfortunately due to already having booked the weekend off (Newbury races all day and then Madness playing afterwards) and I also didn't do children's parties. He was cool with that and I recommended someone else I know. Someone I have used a number of times who lives just around the corner from me. At the time she had a clear day (she's a driving instructor full time and DJ's part time and she's very good with the kids) but that clear day soon became a busy day and so she had to cancel.

He called me up yesterday and asked if I knew anyone else but unfortunately I didn't but I said I may have a solution. He had the keys to the hall last night (party is 1.00pm - 3.00pm today) so I said I would meet him at the hall last night. Knowing that like myself, he and is son are big West Ham fans I took along 2 small bubble machines, a couple of Martin EFX2's, a cluster lazer and starcloth and an Alto combo amplifier so that he could plug in his laptop. I also took a couple of uplighters and set one to as near to claret as I could get it and the other to Aqua. We downloaded the lite version of VDJ for him and connected everything up and tested it all.

He was very happy and said his son will love it. I did it all for free too. I wouldn't take anything off him and you know what....it felt good doing that.
I've arranged to pick up the equipment from him on Sunday. He helped me out and fully supported me when he was the manager at the venue I still supply and I really appreciated it. All in all it took around 90 minutes to sort and I still had a night off and more importantly, he didn't have to let his son down.

I was quite pleased with myself

[Benny Smyth]

I had a night off that turned into....well, not really working but getting a small little hire system together for someone who had been let down by someone else I'd recommended....Ok, I'll explain.

A couple of weeks ago I get a call from the ex manager of one of my residencies. He was organising a small party for his lad's 6th birthday. He asked if I was available to play a few tunes for a couple of hours on the Saturday afternoon in a hall nearby (that's today). I said I was unavailable unfortunately due to already having booked the weekend off (Newbury races all day and then Madness playing afterwards) and I also didn't do children's parties. He was cool with that and I recommended someone else I know. Someone I have used a number of times who lives just around the corner from me. At the time she had a clear day (she's a driving instructor full time and DJ's part time and she's very good with the kids) but that clear day soon became a busy day and so she had to cancel.

He called me up yesterday and asked if I knew anyone else but unfortunately I didn't but I said I may have a solution. He had the keys to the hall last night (party is 1.00pm - 3.00pm today) so I said I would meet him at the hall last night. Knowing that like myself, he and is son are big West Ham fans I took along 2 small bubble machines, a couple of Martin EFX2's, a cluster lazer and starcloth and an Alto combo amplifier so that he could plug in his laptop. I also took a couple of uplighters and set one to as near to claret as I could get it and the other to Aqua. We downloaded the lite version of VDJ for him and connected everything up and tested it all.

He was very happy and said his son will love it. I did it all for free too. I wouldn't take anything off him and you know what....it felt good doing that.
I've arranged to pick up the equipment from him on Sunday. He helped me out and fully supported me when he was the manager at the venue I still supply and I really appreciated it. All in all it took around 90 minutes to sort and I still had a night off and more importantly, he didn't have to let his son down.

I was quite pleased with myself

Good man, Gary. Good man.

My t-bar is getting it's debut tonight. Two moving head profiles, two moving head washes and a jellydome. Will take a picture of it later.

Chauvet gig bar, eat your heart out!

[Nakatomi]

Tonight's gig saw the start of the murder misery season. There was a wedding in the other room & they had a band (they even had their own lights!) who were really very good.

Aaaanyhooo, having set up the night before all I had to do was plug in my playout & wait for the 'players' to finish. We (the staff & I) placed bets on which tables would leave by 10.45pm. Nobody was right. By the time the players had finished it was 10.30 so... yada yada yada.. yeah we lost more than half of the crowd but among those we didn't were staying at the hotel. Debbie, who was celebrating turning 50 and all her friends. Oh my, their dancing didn't leave an awful lot to the imagination. They were.. how shall I say... fun! Picture a few women who might've been on Faliraki Uncovered a few times, who'd had more than their fill of booze & you'd be most of the way there. I decided to cheese up my DJing for the occasion - not to the extent I sounded like my old Whitley Bay self again of course (that would be criminal) but enough to provoke a few laughs along the way.

So yeah.. good gig. And for a change it wasn't a wedding!

[Excalibur]

He was very happy and said his son will love it. I did it all for free too. I wouldn't take anything off him and you know what....it felt good doing that.

Well done that man. And while virtue is its own reward, I bet you get some reward in some way. It has a habit of working out that way.

" Cast your bread on the water, and it will return thousandfold".

OK, my gigs.
Friday, 50th Birthday at the local Social Club, no deckstand, two uplighters, two cabs and a sub. Lovely people, no pressure, a nice relaxed night.
Saturday couldn't have been more different. 60th Birthday in Harrogate, and a very very posh venue. With stairs like the North face of the Eiger! I'd had a hectic weekend with discos and day job, and on arrival, I was sure I'd left the DSB cover behind, so was wondering how much of it a two foot Ultimax curtain would hide. Then I decided I'd also left the DB crossbar, as well.
Turns out I'd brought the cover in and not realised, and when I got the speaker stands out, there was the crossbar also. Phew! Just as I was relaxing, I realised there was a sound limiter. Whoopee.

I got all the gear in, and because of the stairs/access only had DSB with plain black cloth, Powerbar and two cabs. When I stood across the room I was pleased to see how classy it looked, completely in tune with the surroundings.

I had a 150+ list of songs to work with, split into pre and post buffet. I was initially worried that I had a control freak on my hands, but she was lovely, and gave me full editorial control of when I played them, but was urged not to play too many requests as " they'll only be silly and ask for Agadoo ".
At first glance, I didn't much fancy the list, but as I got into it, I realised it was packed with classics, and also half a dozen styles- Chart crap, Ska, NS, Rock, Tamla, 60's, 70's and a load of Soul. I got the weaker ones out before the buffet, and then set about the big tunes. The birthday girl and I were having an absolute ball musically, but I was getting lots of requests for Abba! Also, a few others which didn't altogether fit with my list. I kept slotting in Abba, Bee Gees, Cha Cha Slide ( not often I dislike playing it, but I did that evening. It didn't fit at all, though it filled the floor).

Had it not been for having to watch the limiter all night, work with some widely differing musical tastes, and climb the blasted stairs, it would have been a perfect night for me. The music kept the floor busy all night, but didn't suit all the guests. Ah well.

[Benny Smyth]

Pretty good gig on Saturday night. It was a wedding, and it may have broken some sort of record for amount of drink glasses dropped, but it was a pretty good gig. It was a small venue, so I had to break out the t-bar and give it it's debut. Not gonna lie - I thought it looked pretty crap.





Space only allowed me a T-bar (didn't even get the option of putting it to the side, which I'd have preferred). Just looks a bit too 'packed together' if you ask me. Oh well - I'll only break it out if really needed.

[Nakatomi]

On Friday I only had room for my gigabar Benny & it did the job just fine. I angled the heads around a bit which looked less than good but it got the coverage I needed. The bottom line is always this for me: did it do the job it was intended for? If yes, even when it looks less than pretty then it's all good so long as it's safe.

Saturday was a lighting experiment for me too... Just the gigabar & RGB cluster laser. Looked fine & gave more than enough light. I might get shot of my scanners yet. For the amount of time I played (90 minutes all told) it just wasn't worth rigging anything else up.

The band next door had only a partybar shining at head height. They rocked that room from start to finish.

[Benny Smyth]

The bottom line is always this for me: did it do the job it was intended for? If yes, even when it looks less than pretty then it's all good so long as it's safe.

I absolutely, 100%, completely agree...with absolutely nothing you've just said there!

From a client's point of view, they were probably more than happy with the lighting but for me as a DJ who has invested a lot of time and a hell of a lot of money into my lightshow for not only myself, but for the very rare occasion that make people go "Wow!" it just wasn't good enough. There's more than £2k worth of lighting on that T-Bar (not including the stand, clamps and t-bar itself) - 'doing the job' is not good enough for my investment.

Saying that, there was nothing that could have been done about it. Not enough room for anything else, so I made the best of it from what I could.

[funkymook]

The bottom line is always this for me: did it do the job it was intended for? If yes, even when it looks less than pretty then it's all good so long as it's safe..

I’m not sure I agree, looks can be very important, especially at weddings where the B&G may have spent thousands decorating the venue, we should be making some effort on our presentation.

[Pe7e]

Space only allowed me a T-bar (didn't even get the option of putting it to the side, which I'd have preferred). Just looks a bit too 'packed together' if you ask me. Oh well - I'll only break it out if really needed.

I agree, moving heads need space to 'Look' and perform right, did you really need 4 of them at the gig?

[Benny Smyth]

I agree, moving heads need space to 'Look' and perform right, did you really need 4 of them at the gig?

Two are washes and two are spots.