Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[Nakatomi]

Yeah, I really enjoy working there. It's nice and chilled out and I know the owners well.
Funny story here - I'd never heard of the place until 8 years ago when I was booked to do a wedding there for a David Backham and his bride Victoria.
The owner said to me "If you're any good I'll get some cards off you".

I just happened to have a brilliant crowd that night that were up for it from the first song and he came over within 30 minutes and asked for cards.
Since then he's recommended me and I do quite a few there each year. I don't think I have ever had a bad or even mediocre night there.

I think I'd probably have been too starstruck to be much use for anything. Not that I'm a fan or owt I just go to bits around famous people. Probably down to a lack of exposure....

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Ha! Ha!
It was David Backham NOT David Beckham and he didn't look anything like the famous one.

[Nakatomi]

Ha! Ha!
It was David Backham NOT David Beckham and he didn't look anything like the famous one.

Here was me, reading it on my phone like you're a dirty name dropper

Anyway like I said, I go to bits when I recognise a famous face even if I can't place it.

[ukpartydj]

Here was me, reading it on my phone like you're a dirty name dropper

Anyway like I said, I go to bits when I recognise a famous face even if I can't place it.

I once did a party for Phil Collins. A less musically talented one though!

[Imagine]

Well I said in last weeks post that this weekend was to be a weekend of two halves.....tonight was the first half and I'm not actually sure what I got into there.

I was booked for this one well over a year ago. Nice chap who was to be doing a vow renewal for the 10th anniversary. He warned me at the time that it was going to be a little (in his words) "different" and would be Victorian themed.

WHY DIDN'T I PICK UP GOTHIC FROM THAT????!!!!

To be fair, they'd spent a lot of time doing up the hall, graveyard included (I actually found out about that bit on Thursday evening).
So, get set up next to a singer who's just moved into the village (could be a good contact for future work), and wait to roll.

The playlist I'd been sent was a little, shall we say....."varied" although nothing too out of the ordinary. A bit of 80's a bit of cheese, and Marilyn Manson. How is what he does music?

The room was very empty of guests I should add. When I got there I was told that around 30-40 people had cried off at the last minute. I counted just under 60 bodies in a hall which holds 200.

Got the party started with a version of Metallica's Nothing Else Matters which the groom had done his own karaoke version of (dead soppy), and handed back to the singer to complete his set....all the while crossing off the songs which he was playing from my playlist...hey ho! I did feel sorry for the singer - the buffet was opened just as he started so no dancers there then.

This was the hardest crowd I've ever had to read to be honest. They're all dressed up Goth-stylee (leather, studs, black make up), but I'm not too sure how many of them were actually into Goth. Motown worked a treat as did 70's disco (full floor). However, one particular antagonist (unusually a male and not a female as they normally are) kept coming onto the stage and telling me the groom wanted more rock and metal.

OK - let's do this then (I'd just had a full floor with Guns and Roses). Boom - floor cleared.
Back to older stuff....floor full. More metal.....you get the picture I'm sure.

Ended on Bill Medley and Jenny Warnes (it was on the playlist from the groom) and heard said antagonist yelling from the other side of the room to "get this off". He then came up and asked what i thought I was playing at, to which I simply pointed at a full dance floor. Apparently I should be ashamed of myself for playing such rubbish.

Now finally home and a quick beer before some well earned sleep and onto what I'm banking on being the saner of the two parties this weekend. It's a golden wedding and the playlist I've got so far doesn't go any later than 1975

[Excalibur]

It's a golden wedding and the playlist I've got so far doesn't go any later than 1975

I've got a night off tonight. Gimme a postcode and diesel money, you've got a roadie.

[Imagine]

I've got a night off tonight. Gimme a postcode and diesel money, you've got a roadie.

I should know better than to expect a night of pure 60s and 70s at a Golden Wedding by now, shouldn't I?

'Twas a new venue to me. The previous chap that did all the discos suffered a stroke at the start of the year and they've been looking for someone to take over for things like weddings....a handful a cards found themselves in the owner's hand as I was setting up

Unfortunately, the disco is set up in a side room, away from the main room where the guests are and away from the bar. Can you see where this is going? (I could the moment I walked in). Very minimal kit required for a good effect, and not too much volume allowed (although no limiter in place so all good there then). This was the first outing for my newly acquired KAM Power Partybar as well after rapidly adding it into the DMX programs this afternoon. My God that thing's bright! One stoopid question though...why do they always make the tripods for those things so short (2m max height).

The happy couple mentioned at the start that they hadn't seen a lot of the guests for a number of years so not to expect too much from the dance floor. They weren't wrong . I started chugging through the Rock 'n' Roll and early 60s stuff, suddenly to be mobbed by a load of teenagers asking for rare groove such as the Macarena and the Proclaimers....sigh....

Much whooping, cheering and singing followed for the rest of the evening as my role changed from being a purveyor of the music of yesteryear to a baby sitter. I did manage to educate said teenagers into a little Status Quo and Meatloaf during the evening which they lapped up. They also eventually got the hang of a little bit of Madness . One young chap took great delight in being allowed to come behind the booth to see how everything worked, have a listen through the headphones and actually press a button to cue up a track as well.

All in all, not what I was expecting but still an upbeat gig. The happy couple both came and gave much thanks at the end (they were happy just to see the kids having fun and if the customer's happy, then so am I), and a lot more cards were given out.

The best bit - kicking out time was 11pm so I'm at home with a beer already!

[Corabar Steve]

I was booked for this one well over a year ago. Nice chap who was to be doing a vow renewal for the 10th anniversary. He warned me at the time that it was going to be a little (in his words) "different" and would be Victorian themed.

& you didn't call me????

[Imagine]

& you didn't call me????

Had I had the ability to use an abacus and come to the conclusion that it was going to be that sort of night Steve, you'd have been my first port of call (e-pipe a well!).Indeed if I'm ever foolish enough to take on another one of those, you'll be getting a phone call!

I was just told in the original conversation that it was Victorian themed (i.e. they were dressing up and decorating the hall). Indeed the selection of tracks I'd been sent didn't really indicate anything like a Goth party either.

What I wasn't expecting was to see a bride dressed in black and more leather than an Ann Summers catalogue

Update on this one though - I apparently managed to do a good job

"Hi Wayne. Thank u so much for Friday you really made our gothic victorian ball go with a bang ! "

[Nakatomi]

Last night was a bit of a mixed bag. Some really good moments, some bad. The bad ones all revolving around drunk people trying to hang off my front screen (electric fence generator, anybody - so long as it's got it's PAT cert my PLI'll still cover me right?). Well that & a woofer in one of my Altos going pop. Towards the end of the night I went out to my van to get my trolley back & I noticed one speaker sounded really toppy. I inspected it closer & noticed a not very faint burning smell. Damn! Looked around the back & the gain control was set just a hair off 12 o'clock & the limit LED was on almost solid. What the hell?! I looked at the mixer & I was still pushing out around -6dB on peaks. Hmmm. So, that's £60 down the drain again.

I'm always so careful with these things because I know of the Alto's reputation in that aspect of their use. Maybe somebody'd fiddled with it, or maybe I'd been careless. I soundchecked as usual before starting & everything seemed well balanced & throughout the night everything seemed fine when I popped my head around the front. Ho hum. Just one of those things.

Anyway, the gig itself was a pretty mixed bag. Sweet Little Mystery by Wet Wet Wet was one of the night's standout requests - not a tune I'd normally consider playing at peak time, but it was a floor filler along with some quite unusual suspects. Items from the playlist weren't generally taken too well, but near the end I had a dictat delivered to me that I had to play a track from it with 10 minutes to go & it damn near wiped everything out. Great. Just what I needed. Rescued that with N-Trance - Set You Free before launching into CoTN & wound up the night with Medley & Warnes. I was as sick as a chip by that point. Roll on January.