Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[stu75uk]

Well, I finally bit the bullet and did my first wedding after 15 years of doing pub disco and karaoke.

It was a god friend's wedding with a Vintage theme. I was just booked for the evening do at the local Con Club so nice and handy for me, even though it was my first time in there.

Instructions were 30s, 40s and 50s music in the background during the buffet and as the tables were being cleared. Completely different, but interesting and fun to do.

Then came the first dance ... just to catch the guest's attention it was to start with an air raid siren followed by quotes from some of Churchill's speeches edited down to about a minute in total. This worked nicely and gave everyone chance to come back into the room ready for the entrance of the B&G. Strike up the first dance, Glenn Miller - In the Mood which went down a storm followed by a request for the chief bridesmaid and her father to dance to Tuxedo Junction which was a great touch.

From there I was to work my way through the decades and intersperse the evening with karaoke.

A mix of everything from Rock and Roll (no Elvis preferred) through to Faithless, Rammstein, Def Leppard and more with very little cheese appeared to go down very well. The change of genre worked by using the karaoke requests as bridges.

An enquiry about a wedding for next year and a request from the club steward for my card topped off what was a good night. Back to the venue on Sunday to pack down and transport the gear to my normal pub venue for the regular Sunday karaoke which also turned out to be a top night.

All in all a good weekend. 2 weeks off to visit family then back to the regular Saturday and Sunday karaoke disco residency with a great crowd of regulars.

[mattydj50]

I had the obligatory PITA groom's best mate, and the gig limped along to 12.30 before my torture ended.

I had one of those last Friday. However, he decided to do a bit of thievin' and then some punchin' and swearin' and a full scale scrap started outside which ended with the PITA being hauled off by the local constabulary to face some different music than the drivel I was being asked to play, though it was to a room of four people as the others decided that the entertainment had moved outside.

I felt like using autoplay and joining them!

[little al]

Well, I finally bit the bullet and did my first wedding after 15 years of doing pub disco and karaoke.

It was a god friend's wedding with a Vintage theme. I was just booked for the evening do at the local Con Club so nice and handy for me, even though it was my first time in there.

Instructions were 30s, 40s and 50s music in the background during the buffet and as the tables were being cleared. Completely different, but interesting and fun to do.

Then came the first dance ... just to catch the guest's attention it was to start with an air raid siren followed by quotes from some of Churchill's speeches edited down to about a minute in total. This worked nicely and gave everyone chance to come back into the room ready for the entrance of the B&G. Strike up the first dance, Glenn Miller - In the Mood which went down a storm followed by a request for the chief bridesmaid and her father to dance to Tuxedo Junction which was a great touch.

From there I was to work my way through the decades and intersperse the evening with karaoke.

A mix of everything from Rock and Roll (no Elvis preferred) through to Faithless, Rammstein, Def Leppard and more with very little cheese appeared to go down very well. The change of genre worked by using the karaoke requests as bridges.

An enquiry about a wedding for next year and a request from the club steward for my card topped off what was a good night. Back to the venue on Sunday to pack down and transport the gear to my normal pub venue for the regular Sunday karaoke which also turned out to be a top night.

All in all a good weekend. 2 weeks off to visit family then back to the regular Saturday and Sunday karaoke disco residency with a great crowd of regulars.

That sounds brilliant. Would love to do something like that.

[Nakatomi]

Wedding from hell last night. Lacklustre responses to everything from the assembled hundred or so, and mood killing requests at odds with good times from the bride. I protested maybe a little too much for the bounds of professionalism, but eventually relented. Surprisingly they worked. Damnit.

Onwards to tonight where I'm working with a nameless B&G and a band. Woohoo.

[Imagine]

Well, I finally bit the bullet and did my first wedding after 15 years of doing pub disco and karaoke.

It was a god friend's wedding with a Vintage theme. I was just booked for the evening do at the local Con Club so nice and handy for me, even though it was my first time in there.

Instructions were 30s, 40s and 50s music in the background during the buffet and as the tables were being cleared. Completely different, but interesting and fun to do.

Then came the first dance ... just to catch the guest's attention it was to start with an air raid siren followed by quotes from some of Churchill's speeches edited down to about a minute in total. This worked nicely and gave everyone chance to come back into the room ready for the entrance of the B&G. Strike up the first dance, Glenn Miller - In the Mood which went down a storm followed by a request for the chief bridesmaid and her father to dance to Tuxedo Junction which was a great touch.

From there I was to work my way through the decades and intersperse the evening with karaoke.

A mix of everything from Rock and Roll (no Elvis preferred) through to Faithless, Rammstein, Def Leppard and more with very little cheese appeared to go down very well. The change of genre worked by using the karaoke requests as bridges.

An enquiry about a wedding for next year and a request from the club steward for my card topped off what was a good night. Back to the venue on Sunday to pack down and transport the gear to my normal pub venue for the regular Sunday karaoke which also turned out to be a top night.

All in all a good weekend. 2 weeks off to visit family then back to the regular Saturday and Sunday karaoke disco residency with a great crowd of regulars.

I've got a birthday party booked in December along very similar lines....could be a good night by the look of things so far

Anyway - tonight was my first night back after a couple of weeks off doing various family and Scouty type things, and boy was it good to be back on the road.

'Twas a wedding for my next door neighbours' son in the local village hall and promised to be a lot of fun (I knew most of the guests).
Went and set up nice and early.....and was really pleased with how everything looked against their vintage theme (I was on a stage behind the top table so left the acrylic LOVE letters turned on for the wedding breakfast in the right colours).

Went back this evening and waited to get cracking on the first dance, and waited....and waited some more......

This pair were by their own admission, not overly keen on taking part in said ritual but felt it was expected of them so we'd arranged to set off a confetti cannon at around the 30 second mark for everyone else to join them.....and as always it worked

However, the rest of the night up until the last hour was a real slow burner. A combination of the heat in the hall and the bride's grandmother passing away the day before didn't help matters. I had a very limited playlist, and guests were reluctant to get off their backsides and come and request, so I stuck along the lines of what WAS on the request list (mainly 60's and 70's). There WERE dancers, but numbers were in the low 20s out of around 150 guests.

Time dragged on and looking around the hall, I couldn't see too much scope for anything too modern at this one (mainly middle aged relatives as is normally the case with a wedding). I threw everything at it....apart from 90s club (I generally leave that and the chart stuff until the end once the fossils have left for the night). BOOM! Full floor (even the oldies), a chance to do some proper mixing and blending and away we went for the last hour (phew).

All in all, not too bad as nights go apart from the slow start. Looking back through the video, I didn't have an empty floor all night, it just didn't seem overly busy like it can do in that hall at times.

Never mind....time to start preparing for next week (an 18th....EEEK!). That said, the playlist is 99.99999% cheese on that one....what could possibly go wrong?

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

A rare-ish NaD gig last night and it was a belter.

170ish guests so a "big" weddng by recent standards where most have been around the 80-100 mark.

From the first dance intro I sussed they were right up for it and they were.

Nothing overly leftfield music wise - b&g wanted plenty of cheese - dj otzi, cha cha slide and the like, stuff I usually avoid tbh but everyone lapped it up.

Got a good sesh of old skool / gbx stuff in too. It was my first night out with vdj8 and the imac pro so was good to get a chance to see what was what.


End of the night I had 5 completely different sets of people tell me I was the best DJ they'd ever seen which was nice.

Even some really drunk woman who managed to break one of my belly domes didn't take the shine off things too much.

[Nakatomi]

Last night's wedding with 5 piece band. Well then. 5 piece bands in the main room of my residency don't leave much space for anything, and they're always way too loud. Last night was no exception. They were pleasant enough, but their PA sounded awful. Oh and all the songs they did sounded the same.. like early Elvis.

I got to take my new acquisition out - a nice Behringer Eurorack 1832FX.. and wow what a difference it's made to my sound. I usually use the venue's CDM8:4 & it always sounded pretty good I thought - but this mixer makes everything sound so much more punchy & clear. The low cut filter on the mic channels really helps too. The ability to set a proper gain structure is a godsend.

So, I basically got to play the first dance (an awful 'hilarious' mashup of John Legend & Gangnam Style executed so badly I was actually embarrassed to play their CD), then a couple of tunes before the band's first set. The band played up to the buffet, then I took over for background duties. From there the band returned & were due to finish at 10.30pm - no less than 5 unsolicited encores later I was back for the last 75 minutes.

From that point on it was like shooting fish in a barrel with an AK47. They'd all had more than their fill of skiffle by then & ate everything I chucked at them. Requests came thick & fast, and those who showed me their phone instead of talking to me were informed I didn't have my glasses so they had to speak to me instead! I was lying of course, but I think it got the message across. I just don't get that bit. They're going to have to talk about it, so why don't they just ASK in the 1st place? Do they go into shops & just point? Hmmm.

Anyway from the easiest 75 minutes of DJing ever, to the end.. immense fun & I accepted a bottle of Pinot Noir given to me after I'd finished packing down.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Last night I did my first gig in my new location, well 25 miles down the road actually.
I'd been chatting to another supplier online over the past week and he offered me the booking which was a join 15th birthday party for 2 girls at a small venue.
It did feel a bit strange not being in control of the booking and details were thin on the ground. I knew where I was going, the girls names and that was about it. There were no pre-requests either so once I'd set up (and twisted my back yet again), I went and chatted to the birthday girls and what I'd imagined they'd like was spot on. It was mainly current chart, RnB and the usual with a couple of action songs chucked in too which went down really well.

90% girls but the 10% guys all joined in too and I have to say that the dance floor was packed from start to finish. The only time it thinned out was when they needed to get a drink, go to the loo or get some fresh air as it was stupidly hot in the venue.
I was allowed to use the smoke machine which was good and I could hear the comments from the dance floor as to how cool it all looked.

It wasn't a family affair either. The Mum's of the birthday girls were there and that was it really.
90 teenagers in a smallish function room all loving it and for my first booking up here I was very encouraged and hope that they all go like that from now on.

I also did something which they seemed to like and that was after I noticed that near on all of them had a mobile phone in their hand.
I got them to all go on their facebook profiles when they were on the dance floor and click the 'live' button so that anyone that couldn't attend the party on their friends lists could see them enjoying themselves. They loved that. I have no idea what it would have come out like or if it worked?

Great feedback from the girls and Mum's and the venue asked me for a card too. Actually the Mum's asked me for a card and I had to say that I couldn't because I was working on someone elses behalf.

A good night.

[Benny Smyth]

I also did something which they seemed to like and that was after I noticed that near on all of them had a mobile phone in their hand.
I got them to all go on their facebook profiles when they were on the dance floor and click the 'live' button so that anyone that couldn't attend the party on their friends lists could see them enjoying themselves.

A very clever idea. I'm knicking that.

Wedding last night at a regular venue. Bit of a study in differing perspectives.

I thought that it wasn't great. Started with a lively crowd but those that were dancing filtered out through the night and it was those that were nailed to their chairs remained until the 1am finish. Had about 30 people left at the end, with maybe 10 of them actual dancers. Bar staff were bored beyond belief.

Those that were dancing looked like that they had a great time (the father of the bride was a machine and was on that dancefloor all night!). The bride and groom were very complimentary come the end of the night and said that they had an amazing time.

Differing perspectives, but as long as they're happy.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

You're welcome! I'd love to have seen how it all came out or been one of their mates online at the time and suddenly seen multiple go 'live' at the same party!

I have my moments...............now and then.