Good Gig, Bad Gig.

[Excalibur]

Sorry Peter....I'm about to mutter those immortal words which will inevitably doom your party tomorrow night

AWESOME GIG!

Nah mate, you're safe this time.

Just.

Tomorrow night's been cancelled so I shall invest the deposit into a bottle of something alcoholic and enjoy a night in.

My last two Saturdays have been cancelled, and filled at the last minute via NaD, thus ensuring my income dropped by £25, not hundreds. ( No, I didn't get full fee for cancellations, due to it being The Legslappers. Don't tell me it's wrong, that's just how it is, and I can live with it. )

I've been poor at reporting in on this thread recently.

But wanted to share tonight's gig with you.

Was a marquee gig. Marquee was a bit cold this time of year

All mine lately have been ing cold! I was offered a driving range this week, ie a roof, and three walls, looking out over the hills of Sheffield. After last week, we made an executive decision to move indoors, where it was merely chilly!
Re your gig Gavin, I'd have loved it. I could have done that one blindfolded in my sleep, with one hand behind my back. Nice one, well done. Don't you just love laid back clients?

OK, to the gig. Was it a good one? Well yes, definitely. Especially when you take into account the errors I made. First one was inputting a wrong address into the sat nav.
I read half the customers postcode, and half the venue's. Since the wrong road came up,I used my phone as well with directions to the venue, and all was well until I got nearly there, and the dreaded message flashed up " recalculating "! Aaaargh.
I sat down with the map, believing I was near the venue, and it turns out I was. On putting the right details into the sat nav, it lined up with the phone, and I arrive bang on time at a driving range near Sheffield.
Both mapping systems had kept me on the motorways as much as possible, and well away from Sheffield centre completely. This meant some very narrow steep roads, with the bonus of one of the most breath taking views of Sheffield I've ever seen. Wow!

The room was small, so the micromax with fusions and VBars on the uprights was used, and one Maui 5. I got set up after we'd moved some furniture, and was just about ready to go when I couldn't find my phone. I started playing, and the birthday boy's Mum arrived, so I couldn't devote more time to a search. It was an 18th, and a surprise. I had no playlist, merely a suggestion to play the number one from Sept 1999, and anything else round that time, and perhaps Altered Images - Happy Birthday.

We welcomed the guest of honour in with Congratulations, and a chorus of Happy Birthday. Everyone then disappeared to either whack golf balls down the range at the front, and grab some pizza from the lads with the wood fired oven outside. Mum kept me company a lot, kept me fed and watered, with apologies for the lack of interest, but lots of compliments on the music choice. Shortly after, her mates got stuck into the Abba, and we were away.

As it got colder and darker outside, more folk drifted in, including the younger ones, and requests ranged farther and wider. We had three from Billy Ocean, a bit of Rap, some Alice Cooper, Killers, Kings of Leon, more from Abba, Wham, Hi Ho Silver Lining ( after some idiot DJ continued to not read things properly, and started the Black Lace version. Oops. ) and lots of stuff from the late 90's.

Half an hour before the planned finish, I was told we were on for an early, as the birthday boy had two mock A-Levels to sit today!! When I finished, I got a round of applause, a handshake from a very pleased birthday boy, and shouts of approbation from the folk already in taxis, so definitely a good gig by that yardstick.

Packed up easily, and mentioned to the venue staff I'd " misplaced " my phone. The helpful lad offered to ring it, and while I listened for it in the van, it was found in the venue, having slid under a table! Phew!! Relief, or what? Seems I was riding my luck somewhat.

I set off on the journey home at midnight, when I should have just been switching off, and wasn't surprised when the sat nav instantly set me off in the opposite direction to the way I'd come in. Within a mile I was on a good road, and soon entered the outskirts of the city, which I hadn't really planned to do. It was however the obvious way to go, and what I'd expected the sat nav to suggest.
Fortunately, I soon got to parts I recognised, and then got onto one of my regular routes round town, including driving past my daughter's old house, so it was an absolute doddle. I wouldn't have fancied doing it the other way at five o'clock though, so again, fortune was on my side.

So, home early, having had a good gig, but one which could very easily have been a nightmare if I'd turned up late and lost my phone. Think I'll buy a lottery ticket this week.

[mattydj50]

Packed up easily, and mentioned to the venue staff I'd " misplaced " my phone. The helpful lad offered to ring it, and while I listened for it in the van, it was found in the venue, having slid under a table! Phew!! Relief, or what? Seems I was riding my luck somewhat.

So, home early, having had a good gig, but one which could very easily have been a nightmare if I'd turned up late and lost my phone. Think I'll buy a lottery ticket this week.

Ha ha. I did exactly the same on Friday night. Needed my phone for something andit wasn't in its usual place. It just happened that the venue manager was alongside, so she rang it for me but, as it was on quiet mode, I couldn't hear it. Fortunately, the screen had lit up and stays on for 3 minutes, so I noticed this glow coming from down below. It had somehow fallen onto thefloor and my jacket was partially covering it.

Later in the night I had an even worse experience. I was cueing something up on my headphones when I noticed the night porter had come alongside, so I whipped my headphones off to talk to him and caught my glasses in doing so, sending them flying through the air.

I couldn't see them anywhere, not having my glasses on you see, and with my back uplights flashing away, it was impossible to see them and I was scared to move in case I trod on them. I started shuffling across the floor without lifting my feet, hoping to catch a glimpse and find them before the next track was due.. Fortunately, Danny was there and had his torch with him, so he shone it across the floor and the light reflected back from my glasses which had shot right across and under a chair which I had there.

Picked 'em up and put 'em back on with a minute to spare! I did have a spare pair in my bag, but whether I would have actually found the bag is another matter!

Oh, and the lottery ticket didn't come up either.

[Imagine]

Today was an all-day wedding, from lunchtime to midnight.....a loooooong day with a lot of standing around and not doing an awful lot.

This is the one which if you're a paid up member will know had to have the venue re-dressed prior to the wedding (I'll say no more on that score...you'll have to subscribe to the member's area to read more about that one).

Turned up in good time....one of my subs has moved in the van on the journey to the venue and crashed into LOVE letter "E"....it's not a pretty sight (glad I carry sellotape....although I still wasn't happy it managed to stay together for the duration).

Got set up in between an ENOURMOUS set of light up initials which had been hired in from elsewhere and started testing. Love Letter O isn't responding to DMX.....it's going to be one of those days . Manually tripped the dip-switch on the back to the correct colour code and left it at that whilst the guests filtered in and sat down.

Now, my afternoon was easier than normal on account that a member of the Guild of Toastmasters had been hired to do all the introduction and speaking bits....and he was BRILLIANT at his job (I've learned a lot just watching him and will certainly be putting some of that into practice). So, light-jazz mix put onto auto-play and let the guests enjoy the meal.

Speeches etc. out of the way, and the toastmaster takes over for the cake cutting, bouquet toss and a human-arch of guests from the cake at the far end of the venue to the dance floor for the first dance. We'd discussed the plan of action for this whilst eating a plate of less than appetising sandwiches and it worked an absolute treat.

First dance dispatched and everyone went outside. Hey ho! The problem was though, a lot went home too.

The playlist I'd been given wasn't (to my mind) going to cut the mustard. I'd been asked to play "oldies" i.e. anything before 1990 between 7pm and the first dance at 8pm, and then modern and "kisstory" (which actually equated to Garage) for the rest of the evening.....hmmmm....

9pm, and everyone went outside for sparklers. I actually went against all of my own rules and put the booth into auto-mix for about half an hour (something I never do during an evening reception).

About an hour in (and after the selfie mirror chap, the togs, the videographer and the bar staff had resigned ourselves to one of those nights, one of the bridesmaids makes a request for Thriller, "and then stick a load of other 80s stuff on". This was obviously against what I'd been told....but what do you do? Play the playlist you've been given to an empty floor, or go off-piste and get people dancing?

What do you think I did ?

The dance floor was suddenly full with the 40 odd remaining guests, and stayed that way for the rest of the evening. Yes, I went into some 90s trance, yes - I played loads of 80s stuff, and yes, I eventually got around to doing a few of the more popular Garage and chart hits. It worked.

Hugs and handshakes at the end of a very long day and finally home with a couple of beers. I've got some LOVE letter repairs to do tomorrow, plus I'm off to meet a bride and groom for a couple of week's time....the fun never ends.

[Excalibur]

Friday's gig could have been up there with the great ones. What seemed like a standard 18th Birthday party at a local rugby club. The number of guests seemed a bit high, 150, but some folk are just popular, right? Access is via stairs, so micromax, powerbar and Mauis were the way forward.

Arrived early, venue staff were lovely, and the place had had a facelift since I was last there, quite nice. Set up fairly well forward in the disco area, so as to be within reach of the punters. Now here's where the divergence from the truth starts, which would have resulted in different kit going in the van. .

It was a 6th form prom/party/function. We did indeed have the full 150, no question. We also had door staff ( thank heavens ) and an entrance fee on the door. What we didn't have was space to spare. Had I known all the facts, the DSB might have gone up the stairs with the Proels.

I had a playlist quite light on charty dross, split almost equally with Rap/Grime/Hip Hop and Indie. From about fifteen minutes in, the floor, and the micromax were rammed! As we've said before, if the crowd isn't up for it, it makes everything such hard work. When they're with you, everything seems so obvious, all the next tunes spring into your mind unbidden, and the music flows like a babbling stream of aural pleasure.

I was on fire and on edge simultaneously. I had to move the Mauis back as far as I could to protect them, and regularly warn punters about drinks near me. At times it seemed like the whole venue was leaping up and down, arms aloft, and you remember why we do this job. The playlist was working, guests were fairly polite and good to deal with, ( if a little well lubricated perhaps ) and things were OK. For the last hour we went completely off piste, and phones were thrust into my view regularly, with to be fair, some well received tunes on in the main.

A great night, with the edge taken off by not being given all the facts, resulting in me not taking the best kit for the job ( although what those little Mauis did was unbelievable. Over 150 eighteen year olds going mental, and they're performing like they have no right to. I turned the bass up for the first time since I've used them, and we had no complaints. They shouldn't have done what they did. Wayne's 28s are beginning to feature on my radar I think. )

So, I'm by now completely wired between the adrenaline from stress and euphoria, and the caffeine I'm not allowed from the coffee. So much so, that at 7am Saturday morning, I was the most bright eyed and bushy tailed person on the potato grading line! ( Mind you, by 5pm, I was zonked )

Saturday afternoon saw a party near Doncaster. Or rather should have seen a party near Doncaster. I arrived early again, and was informed there was no party on. Further digging revealed my client had cheesed the venue off immensely, and been given her deposit back, in July! Not only that, another DJ had rung up the venue a couple of days before to check all was well. So we potentially had two discos, and no party. You couldn't make it up. At this time of year, life's too short to get excited, so I'll just write this one off. Especially because......

On the way to my aborted gig, I driven past the lair of one Mattydj50, the Holiday Inn. I called to meet him on my way home, and recced the room where I'm covering a couple for him in December. It was good to meet him, and have a chat, and I gained valuable info for the future, so not a wasted trip at all.

[Imagine]

Wayne's 28s are beginning to feature on my radar I think.

Keep your paws off MY Maui 28's - get your own

To be honest, last night was the first night where I wish I'd have put the Yammy 15s out instead of the Maui's. They wanted it LOUD (and to be fair, the venue was already shaking but it wasn't loud in the bar which was to the left of the dance floor...well that's not how column arrays work is it).

I actually saw the red clipping light come on for the first time last night, so now I know exactly what they're capable of.....and it's frightening!

[Excalibur]

I actually saw the red clipping light come on for the first time last night, so now I know exactly what they're capable of.....and it's frightening!

It's very, very difficult to make the 5s clip. Never once saw a flicker on Friday. My, but the little fellas were working hard!!

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Totally forgot to post about my gig last Saturday.....D'oh!
It was a good one too and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time as it was a last minute thing and a classic case of somebody saying "I know a DJ!" because somebody had been let down at the last minute.

I'll be honest, I didn't feel like doing it at the time and had to get the energy together because I'd been driving around all week with early starts and late finishes but I knew I had a couple of days off coming up so thought "Why not?" plus the fact it was in a social club just down the road and it was an 80's themed night so it was right up my street.

It wasn't a special occasion or any kind of celebration, just a club putting on an 80's night. That's all I knew about it. I didn't know what the attendance would be like and I'd never been in the place before either. Called the venue once I knew I was covering the booking and asked the usual questions (Is there a sound limiter? Can I use smoke?) and talk about laid back.....blimey! horizontal more like. It was like being back in the 80's! I don't know if they were getting into the theme but I did chuckle when I got off the phone. I chuckled a bit more when I arrived to set up as it was like something from Hi De Hi.... Well, the club was in the middle of a holiday park. It had a large stage with plenty of space for the equipment and I noticed that they had a massive screen (absolutely huge!) and projector set up too.
Once I'd set up, I had plenty of time to spare so I asked if they'd be up for me putting my 80's visuals through it and they loved the idea. I nipped home and got my iPad and connected it up and it looked great.

Anyway, the place was packed out with regulars and holiday makers. I played from 7.30pm - 11.30pm and the dance floor was full for the majority of that time.
Lots of children there too who seemed fascinated by the rotating rubiks cubes and other visuals, the smoke and lights and I also had a few requests for current chart stuff from numpties that obviously couldn't see or read the numerous posters around the venue advertising the night as an 80's night. They weren't a problem though and understood when I told them I had to stick to the theme.

Overall, a really good night and the venue were very happy with what I did. They asked me for a card and they got one.
Funny though as when I moved up here it wasn't my intention to have anything to do with the cheesiness image of the holiday camp (no offence intended) and I have taken it easy for months now on the DJ front. I pick and choose what I want to do because I am doing other things now but I have to say, it was a good night and an enjoyable one. The time flew by and I came away thinking, if they call me in the future....fair enough, if they don't...I am not bothered whereas if I was still doing the DJ stuff full time as a business, I'd be a bit more up for it.

[mattydj50]

On the way to my aborted gig, I driven past the lair of one Mattydj50, the Holiday Inn. I called to meet him on my way home, and recced the room where I'm covering a couple for him in December. It was good to meet him, and have a chat, and I gained valuable info for the future, so not a wasted trip at all.

Indeed it was sir. Always good to put a face etc....

And I thought I was running late for my set up so got a pleasant surprise when it was all up and running and checked inthat I still had 20 minutes to play with.

Thank you for the help, may see you at BPM or if not, in December.

[Excalibur]

Well, Friday turned out fairly well, although I'd been fed some dubious information. Surprise 40th, arranged by birthday boy's friend. Said friend runs an Indie bar in town, and alleged that this was very much the birthday boy's chosen genre. Well, only to a certain extent, as will become clear later.

Having acted on the steers from the organiser, and the fact that I've got a wedding tonight, the Micromax and Mauis were evicted from the van, and replaced with DSB and Proels. What a mistake!! I arrived to find poor access, and I'm in a room the size of my living room! House lights blazing, so mine were a waste of time. I downsized the 15" Proels to 12" LDs and somehow shoehorned the DSB in a corner. Guests gathered ready for the grand entrance, and away we went.

Or didn't. Until the last hour, I had no more than four or five in the room with me at a time, apparently on a rota basis. Everything else in the pub was outside my room, so I just played whatever I thought fitted best. I was getting a lot of singing along with the Indie biased stuff I was playing, so that was OK.

We had the totally unexpected arrival of a cake ( thanks for telling me, so I can have Happy Birthday ready, eh? ) and the less unexpected arrival of chili rice and wedges, which was lovely. So, we limp gently along to the last hour, and my room fills up. Now it becomes apparent that the birthday boy in particular, and perhaps other guests as well may not be rabidly heterosexual. Suddenly, I'm away with Disco classics, and also guests are finding that a DJ who will play requests seems to be a rare and somewhat wonderful thing.

So, midnight arrives, and I pack up. Birthday boy is the manager of the pub we're in, and wants to book me for Halloween. Even though I felt I'd been on the back foot, seems I made a good impression. If I go back next time, it's the tiny rig though.

[Imagine]

One good, one AWESOME.

What a weekend - I'm cream-crackered.

Wedding 1 was in one of my usual haunts (I've done around 20 in there this year). The usual routine of turning up, setting up, waiting until 8pm first dance (they insist you arrive for 1830 just in case things get brought forward), and away you go.

Unfortunately I was getting over the tail end of a severe dose of man-flu and spent the evening going from shivering uncontrollably to sweating like you wouldn't believe.

Full-ish dance floor with plenty of requests and lots of interaction, but was glad to get packed away and find bed after that one.

Incidentally...I've found a venue where the Maui's don't really work. Don't get me wrong, they more than carried their weight, but being a largish permanent marquee, they felt like they lacked the ooomph that the Yammy rig punches in there.

Wedding 2 (I'm starting to feel like a full timer). This was in a venue I haven't been in for a couple of years, but it's a jolly nice place to work (even if a little tricky to get in and out of).

Eeeeek....somebody's fitted a sound limiter since my last visit

To be fair, it's not an unexpected addition to the venue furnishings. They have a neighbour who likes to create a bit of a fuss on a weekly basis so it was always going to appear eventually. No problem, it had been set up properly and didn't cause too many problems....the big issue though is it's one of those damned single-socket sized things with just three lights on it. If you see the middle (amber) flashing....panic and turn down quickly because there isn't much leeway if it hits red. Why they can't just fit something like a Sound Sentry out this way is beyond me.

Anyway, the party. I arrived in good time, and persuaded the nice function manageress to let me unload into a little ante-room rather than getting the kit out of the van as the guests were leaving the function room for the turnaround (plus is was hammering down with rain and it was warmer in the venue than in the van).

So, gear unloaded, and it's time to wait......and wait.....and wait. The best man (who I've worked with on other weddings as he's a TOG) read the entire contents of War and Peace. It was one of those speeches where every now and then he'd stop for a round of applause, causing the venue staff to start the charge to turn the room around only to realise he'd just paused for a drink and a breath.

An hour AFTER I was supposed to have been plugged in and playing light background music....access is gained to the room. Luckily I was using my nice minimal "all-white" rig which I can setup in just under 20 minutes. Game plan is discussed with the venue on how things like cake cutting and bouquet toss is being done and it's show-time.

Now, I learned a lot from watching the Toastmaster I worked with a couple of weeks ago, and this was my first chance to do things like introductions to cake cutting, bouquet tossing and first dance intro since then (the other venues tend to do this for me). So, I opened the mic, took a deep breath....and made it FUN. It worked a treat

Musically, I was blessed. I met the happy couple a few weeks ago and was stunned to be told "no chart music, absolutely no Rihanna and no Uptown Funk. We want 70s to 90s, cheese and alternative rock". Well....who am I to argue with that?

There was a worrying point during the evening. Bridey approaches the booth and asks if I can smell burning. I could - and strongly. I was a tad worried because one of the MegaTriPars on my T-Bar had stopped working about 5 minutes earlier....and it was a really strong electrical burning smell. It disappeared and it wasn't until the end of the evening when the house lights came back on that I realised one of the venue's downlighters had blown, and left a sooty ring around it....that was the cause.

Lots of hugs from all of the guests at the end, and back in the van 30 minutes after unplugging. That's what I call a wedding

Next week....something different...a charity race night for a local PTA I do a lot of work for...should be a lot of fun