Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[mattydj50]

The kind of winker who only likes one artist, gets right in your face trying to intimidate you & even gives your laptop a menacing hug to show he means business. God give me strength!

I had one last night who thought that the best way to get a request played was to shout "SKA" into my face. After the third time I told him that I would play some in good time (he was the 12th requestee on my list) and he shouted "MADNESS" and (I thoough) "BAGGY TROUSERS.

Now, I was still feeling my way through the request list and, bearing in mind I only had 95 minutes left to me by the Robbie Williams tribute (who was excellent by the way), I was trying to work in as many request as I could without crashing the flow.

So I opted for a Ska mix, starting with Baggy Trousers (as per Mr Shouty), Tom Hark, Lip Up Fatty and One Step Beyond. Off we go, and Mr Shouty looks long and hard at me. About a minute in he comes over to me, lets rip a stream of abuse and said that 3 times he had asked me to play Ska and he said not to play Baggy Trousers and there I was playing it.

I tried to explain that not once did he ASK me to play Ska but rudely TOLD me to play SKA and, I apologised but I did not hear rhe word "NOT" in front of Baggy Trousers. I tried to say that if he waited another 30 seconds or so, there would be more of the same along but he called me a winker too, stuck two fingers up and told me to ball cocks (or something).

Of course, Mr Shouty thought I should only please him, immediately of course and do nothing for the other 261 people in the room. He walked out in a huff (carrying some kind of foor parcel he had nicked form the venue). I mentioned it to the venue manager afterwards and she said she didn't care, so many people said that they had a brilliant night, he's not worth bothering about. Fair enough.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

One of my pet hates too, when you get people giving you the cut throat signal. I covered a small wedding party for an older couple as a favour to another DJ many moons ago. It should have been a really pleasant evening but there were some rotten eggs present, one of whom was a woman who also did that cut throat signal when I was playing some classic reggae (bride's request): the bride was up dancing and quite a few others too, so as far as I was concerned I was doing nowt wrong. A bit later on she made a point of mouthing at me that what I was playing was "rubbish" and so I tried my smile and wave act, which led to her mouthing at me to F-off. A while later again she came a bit closer to the stage and said the music was crap, so I said, "well, how about telling me what you'd prefer then?" The response was the usual, "well I don't know, you're the DJ" rubbish, so I told her politely to leave me be or I'd be turning everything off and going home early. It worked.

That particular woman spoiled the gig for me as well. As it was because one of the other guests had been so abusive to the bar staff, the venue decided to throw them all out early.



Based on what you've typed, I think you handled it admirably. The problem you have is that you can't just walk out and have time to clear your head when it's during the middle of a gig. I think it's very hard to let the emotions go when you get some idiot giving you grief, especially so if they keep on coming back to cause further irritation.

People like Miss or Mrs. Winker need their expectations managed. I'd be amazed if she hadn't been to a similar function before. Really people like that should just stay at home or go to a nightclub. As you put, it's a Christmas party and you're going to have people of different ages there so have to play stuff that will appeal to most of them. The vast majority of Christmas party nights I've been to as a guest have been your typical affair music wise - you hear all of the obvious choices and tracks that tend to get people up dancing. You're therefore going to be less likely to have a night of the trendiest music going, rare groove stuff or pirate metal or whatever you really choose to listen to. So, if you really can't find a way to enjoy yourself if the DJ is playing - shock, shock, 'party music,' then leave or don't go in the first place.

She's probably a right high maintenance type.

Thanks for your comments mate.
It really is off putting and like I said, after many years I shouldn't let it get to me but unfortunately it does for some reason. I'm looking around at a busy dance floor with lots of happy faces enjoying themselves and the music (whatever it may be) and then someone like her catches my eye and my concentration shifts from pleasing the majority to worrying about her. It seemed like every time I looked over in her direction she was staring at me.

I remember one occasion many years ago where the same kind of thing happened. It was a Christmas party again and more or less the same scenario. At the end of the night lots of people were very complimentary and shook my hand as they were leaving but one girl made a point of saying out loud that her and her friends were going out on the town afterwards to see a "proper DJ". That left me really downhearted when I should have been really pleased with myself after a great night. I guess it's just one of those things.

I have 2 Christmas parties left this week and then New Years Eve and it has really put me off if I am honest. Like I said, I KNOW you can't please everyone all of the time and one person making comments who doesn't seem to know how to enjoy herself shouldn't matter but it does. I like positives and not negatives and no ego intended but I don't get many of these so it throws me when it does happen. Hopefully I won't have anymore like her but in reality I know that won't be the case. I've just got to get used to it.

I guess there is some comfort in the fact that afterwards when I was chatting to the staff they singled her out too as a rude prat so it wasn't just me that had to endure her. Throughout the evening I just smiled and didn't react to her and that may have wound her up even more? I'd rather do that than actually lose the plot and react and get complained about. I'd also like to be a fly on the wall when that lot meet up again and the Christmas party is spoken about because I can imagine lots of them saying they had a great time and wondering what she is talking about when she says she thinks I was rubbish (even though she danced to quite a few tracks).

I hope she chokes on a brussel sprout!

[Excalibur]

but one girl made a point of saying out loud that her and her friends were going out on the town afterwards to see a "proper DJ".

That would be a " Proper DJ " who has an audience in front of him who has an audience in front of him expecting one type of music only, who has two volume settings ( on and off ), doesn't have to take account of any external events, or hold a night together, would it?

For those of our number who think I'm having a dig at Club DJs, I'm not. I'm merely trying to point out that it's hardly fair to compare Club to Mobile, the skill sets are markedly different. Particularly at this time of year, we get wider than usual musical tastes to satisfy. My last few have really been like that, and I've been lucky that the guests have accepted other tastes cheerfully.

Dazzy, you deserve another " Ouch ", a pint of something better than Worthingtons, and probably a medal.

OK, onto mine. It was in a visitor centre in Leeds, and since it was only five miles from next Saturday's function, I took the opportunity to have a recce of this one. What a good job I did!!!!!!!!!
Customer has regularly stressed that it's not a large room. She's not kidding. I've been in bigger living rooms. Although it's in a huge pub, it's absolutely tiny. Spare time this week will be spent cutting down the small rig to become a micro rig!!

Since I'd set off stupidly early, and the site visit had taken very little time, I was ridiculously early for the gig. Good job. Sat nav said I'd arrived, and the sign on the wall bore some connection with my intended venue, but didn't look promising. The ( somewhat less than welcoming ) lady I found said my venue was the other side of the road, but there was no vehicle access!! Hang on, I'd been told it was a doddle. She suggested I ring the organiser. I did. In the course of the phone call, he realised he could see my hazards flashing, and if I did a left, through two sets of lights, and turned right, I'd be there. Phew!

He was an absolutely lovely chap, and showed me the room. Technically, it was the toilets.

Of part of a Cistercian monastery. Hundreds of years later, it's a very smart visitor centre. We decided where to put things, and I decided what to use. The lasers looked particularly impressive in the old building. I got set up, and parked the van. One nice feature of the venue was sensor controlled doors, that opened automatically each time you walked up. Neat. Very nice indeed.

It was a very informal staff party, with only about thirty expected, and we had some folk of a similar vintage to me at one end, and under 21s at the other. After a very very slow start, requests started, and hardly any of them were ones I get regularly. First one was for Rolling Stones- Start me up. Then G'n'R- Welcome to the jungle. We had Queen- I want to break free, featuring an impromptu Freddie with the business end of a vacuum, and a splendid moustache courtesy of a strip of gaffa tape. Very funny. A good helping of Northern Soul and Tamla was served, and things rolled along steadily until the time arrived for my " Request list". My, what a list. It featured such classics as Agadoo, Superman, Gangnam style, YMCA, and Sha Na Na-Born to hand Jive ( from Grease ) It wasn't met with universal approbation, but a hard core of devotees lapped it up.

We had a steady trickle of requests, I got to the Xmas finale with Slade, Mariah, Shakey et al, and of course I finished in the traditional manner at this time of year with the tune which is now almost obligatory. Yes, you guessed it, what else could it be but:




Time Warp!
Three times I played that during the night. Different. So, pack up and head for home. At this point, special mention must go to the urban motorways and road signs of Leeds. My but they keep you on your toes. Throw in the closure of the road which logic tells you is the road home, and it gets interesting. I came to a junction with to ( apparent ) options, East or West. Now when I'm out anywhere in the West Riding, home is always in the direction of M62, Hull. All the signs Th sat nav was following bore the legend " Halifax, Manchester and all points West ". I tried to go East instead, but ran up against the road closure, so decided to try to hit the M62, even if I had to got to an intersection and double back.

So I'm following all these signs forecasting my journey West, when I get to an Urban Motorway. They're very keen on those in Leeds. Pick a wrong one, and you can be a long way from where you want to be in a short time. I got two options at this one. East or West. On the M62. For heavens sake, how difficult is it to write M62, Hull on a few signs in the town centre? Turns out I was heading home all the time, it just didn't appear so. And people wonder why I don't like working in Leeds. Harrumph.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

That would be a " Proper DJ " who has an audience in front of him who has an audience in front of him expecting one type of music only, who has two volume settings ( on and off ), doesn't have to take account of any external events, or hold a night together, would it?

For those of our number who think I'm having a dig at Club DJs, I'm not. I'm merely trying to point out that it's hardly fair to compare Club to Mobile, the skill sets are markedly different. Particularly at this time of year, we get wider than usual musical tastes to satisfy. My last few have really been like that, and I've been lucky that the guests have accepted other tastes cheerfully.

I didn't read into that as you having a dig at the Club DJ's. I was one myself for a long time and to be honest, it doesn't matter whether it's Christmas or a normal night like any other night at the club, it was the same really and as if Christmas didn't exist.

One thing I forgot to mention in my review was that at all of the parties I have done so far, the guests have been of a relatively younger age. When I say "younger" I mean the majority have been younger than me (oh, how old do I feel now!!?). For the most part it's been current and recent chart stuff with a scattering of classic party tunes (Whitney etc) and the Christmas stuff has been towards the end of the night or the last songs.
At this particular booking a guy jumped in just as I'd cue'd up Mariah and asked for the Marvin Gaye song by Charlie P and Meghan Trainor. He said it was a favourite of the club so I thought "Ok, I'll gamble and chuck that on". What this meant though was that apart from the usual Christmas background music during the meal, there wouldn't be any Christmas songs because the Marvin Gaye song would take me to Midnight.

So, on it comes and the dance floor fills up. The guy who requested it was spot on and it worked. When it had finished there were a few shouts for "one more" so I thought I'd play Mariah as I'd cue'd it up just in case. Half the dance floor stayed where they were whilst the other half retreated back to their tables or the bar (which had now closed up). One of those who'd retreated was you know who. I remember seeing her face and thinking "If that isn't a re-incarnation of 'The Grinch' then I don't know what is". I just gave up on her altogether.

[djdj]

Went to Beverley, played music, came home. ( See above. In joke. )


I did indeed go to Beverley, to cover one for Dave Jackson. It's a venue I'd worked before, and it's pretty simple access. The organisers hadn't passed on the fact that guests were arriving relatively early, so I got the hurry up call as I was en route. No problem, I had time enough allowed, so got all the kit in past the tables ( which is why I needed to be early ) and into my corner. Got set up, and started with background music through the meal, picking it up a bit as dessert finished, and coffee arrived.

Couldn't move anyone, and got the time honoured " we need to get people on the floor ". After a slow start, a good handful did so, and I had a steady amount on the floor all night. Probably three quarters of the guests were more intent on getting stuck into the free bar than danmcing, so it was never rammed. Music requests were varied, rock didn't work well ( never seen Mr Brightside clear a floor before ) Tamla certainly did, as did Bieber and Little mix. Good smattering of 80's, which is being requested everywhere I go, currently. I've got an all 80's birthday next week.

The manager informed me it was last orders 12.20, bar close 12.30, disco finish 1am. Shouted last orders, gave them a reminder, bar closed 12.30, and everybody left!! Don't look a gift horse, eh? Shot my carefully chosen last records to pieces, but ah well.

On a side note, over twenty miles home, and guess how many service stations/fast food outlets I pass? Zero. From the outskirts of Hull to my house, along a major trunk road, there are no fuel stations, or anything, unless you leave the route, and go into the very towns the road was designed to bypass.

Glad it turned out sort of ok,
Sorry about the 'Hurry up call' I was unaware it was an early set up as my usual contact was on holiday and not passed the details on!
will do better next time!

[Benny Smyth]

Eat. Sleep. Arrive. Set up. Play music. Rave. Take down. Repeat.

For the past couple of weeks, I've been performing at a venue that I hadn't worked before. A corporate venue (no weddings!) and they've been good gigs. Last Saturday was for a chain of vets surgeries (mostly 20-something women and about 90% over 6 foot tall!), and it proved to be another 'good, but nothing worthy of note' night but since Peter has threatened me with violence unless I post more*, I thought I'd tell you about it anyway.

So I'm there and ready to set up for 6:45, expecting a 7pm start. Turns out they're not being sat down until 8pm. Righto...

So while they sit and eat, I leave Traktor on auto and I alternate between watching Netflix on my tablet and talking to a mate of mine who was DJ'ing at the same venue, but in another room. After dinner is done, a small 'awards ceremony' is done and off I go playing music. I was given a list of about a dozen tracks a week ago which generated the emotional response of a watercress sandwich, so I just plodded on with what I do and got a much better reception.

Good to have a bit of banter with them too. One girl asked for YMCA and Macarena, and I pull the standard 'I think that I'm going to vomit' face. I got on the mic and announced that we had such a request, and asked for a general consensus. Everybody cheered. These people are clearly not as cool as I thought they were, and I made sure that I told them that!

One girl kept on coming up for Christmas songs. She wasn't being rude per se, but I get really annoyed by the lack of pleasantries. "Christmas songs? Is that by Mrs. Please and Mr. Thank You?" She seemed very sheepish after that.

Finished dead on midnight, packed away and in the van in 15 minutes and then went to the other room to help my mate finish packing down. Home, showered and in bed with a cuppa by 01:05. Job done.

*Statement depicting threats of violence probably isn't true.

[Excalibur]

Glad it turned out sort of ok,
Sorry about the 'Hurry up call' I was unaware it was an early set up as my usual contact was on holiday and not passed the details on!
will do better next time!

Did I name and shame you? Did I? Did I?

It matters not a jot, Dave. The event team were justifiably checking that a disco would be on site in time to get the kit in before punters arrived. The timings of the event make very little difference as long as I'm there in good time. I like playing that room, it's a lot easier than the big events one.

Thanks for passing it on, it's much appreciated. Any time.

[mattydj50]

At this point, special mention must go to the urban motorways and road signs of Leeds. My but they keep you on your toes. Throw in the closure of the road which logic tells you is the road home, and it gets interesting. I came to a junction with to ( apparent ) options, East or West. Now when I'm out anywhere in the West Riding, home is always in the direction of M62, Hull. All the signs Th sat nav was following bore the legend " Halifax, Manchester and all points West ". I tried to go East instead, but ran up against the road closure, so decided to try to hit the M62, even if I had to got to an intersection and double back.

So I'm following all these signs forecasting my journey West, when I get to an Urban Motorway. They're very keen on those in Leeds. Pick a wrong one, and you can be a long way from where you want to be in a short time. I got two options at this one. East or West. On the M62. For heavens sake, how difficult is it to write M62, Hull on a few signs in the town centre? Turns out I was heading home all the time, it just didn't appear so. And people wonder why I don't like working in Leeds. Harrumph.

Ah, you took the same route as me then after we visited the First Direct Arena last Tuesday to see Simply Red. Once I saw the sign for Harrogate, I guessed I was on the wrong road, so turned round and tried again. Ended up right back where we started outside the arena! At least I knew which turning was wrong the second time. Oh, that was after taking an hour to get out ofthe car park!

[funkymook]

I’m on hallowed ground tonight, playing at the Beat Club in London with a top notch Stones tribute band for a 50th birthday.

It was formally known as the Speakeasy and anyone who was anyone in music frequented the club in the 60’s and 70’s, here’s a short list of who's played there: Elton John, Cockney Rebel, The Rolling Stones, The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Pink Floyd, The Marmalade, The Mothers of Invention, Yes, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, David Bowie, Deep Purple, Bob Marley, Jeff Beck, King Crimson Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Hawkwind etc etc.....(and I haven’t even touched on the punk bands).

It was a good night, a complete surprise to the birthday girl (lots of secretive emails via a 3rd party to organise everything) and the Stones band were excellent, plenty of Mick Jagger banter with the audience.

I was chatting to the band as we were setting up and they were amazed that none of the staff or the duty manager knew the history of the club (despite all the rock star pictures on the walls!), they made sure they mentioned it in their act though, which was a really nice touch (they obviously got a real buzz from playing there).

I did a bit of a musical history lesson of the acts who had played there during the early part of the evening while people were eating and mingling, the band mentioned that I was the first DJ they had worked with who had played appropriate music before they went on (contacts swapped for mutual referrals).

House PA was a very nice Funktion One system, bands like Cream sounded awesome through it, I could really hear a lot more going on than usual, Ginger Baker’s drumming in particular was a revelation.

After the band it was a slightly more general set but still a lot of 60’s and 70’s.

Slightly disappointing ending when the duty manager demanded I cut the music halfway thorough the last song as I was a minute over the finish time, he seemed more interested in clearing everyone out than being a good host. He had a bit of attitude earlier as well when myself and the band needed his help in setting up and we were polite enough to check with him what we could unplug before plugging our own gear in - was very tempted to ‘accidentally’ crash the computers controlling their video mapping lighting and the PA distribution system (both marked ‘do not unplug’) as I left but decided I was more professional than that.

[Excalibur]

Once I saw the sign for Harrogate, I guessed I was on the wrong road, so turned round and tried again. Ended up right back where we started outside the arena!

Yeah, I tried to correct the apparent fault, and I too just ended up going back the way I'd come!

Unlike you, Harrogate/York is a viable way home for me. Harder work than the motorways and dual carriageways, but passable.

I worked in Leeds a while ago, and the journey in seemed to need me to use about seven different motorways to get there. Coming out, turn left, drive straight home.