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Welcome to the Forum Louis, there are a lot of really great people here who are only happy to help you out with any questions and provide support! Cheers Jose

Congratulations Jas, Great news :-)

So I had a christmas party tonight in a venue where I haven't played before. I called them and explained that I was playing there tonight and if there was easy access and any stairs, they told me that I could park just outside the doors and there were no stairs. When I got to the venue, this was in fact true however I was booked in the room upstairs which was up 2 flights of stairs with no lift and you had to park on a busy road, doh :-0 Normally I ask these questions in my booking form but it wasn't returned, I was just given the deposit as it was a friend of my mother in law t

I would suggest approaching a few and see if they are looking for professional DJ's to add to their books. Personally I've had good and not so good experiences but now have some good relationships and have made it clear I will only work for £X so I only want the top end bookings and not the average low paid pub stuff. I don't get loads of bookings but then ones I do are good and this is great for me. Once you have had a few good bookings and get good feedback you will find you get more offers of work from the agent. Make it easy for them by providing testamonials, references, so

I would call and say that I had kept the date pencilled in the diary for them, however they haven't returned the contract and you have now had another enquiry for that date. Ask them if they still wanted to go ahead with you in which case you would need everything back and sorted within 48 hours otherwise you will have to take the other booking. This will show if they are then serious about booking you and should move them along to a decision either way. If this doesn't move them along then release the date and find another booking for that day. This isn't advice just what I wou

I would ask them what sort of background music they would like. When I play background music for the meal, I normally offer a choice of Ratpack type stuff (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin etc.), Mellow Jazz (Easy Jazz is a great 3 CD album), Modern chilled out pop etc.. If you ask them then you won't get it wrong, ask them for a few songs they would like to hear during this part and if they arn't sure they say you will play a mixture. Remember it is meant to be background music so shouldn't be too loud, they should be able to speak to each other at the tables with the music providin

Great news Jas!

Hi Jas, I would be inclined to keep the fee the same but either offer an additional service for a discounted fee or if you have to free at the same price. If you get the fee you were looking for, you could offer uplighting for free as this wouldn't cost you any more if you already own the equipment. For me I would rather get the fee I wanted and give away a bit more of my time rather than money. I had a situation where a customer liked the all day package but didn't want to pay the extra for it, as it was a local booking I agreed that I would setup early and leave an IPOD

She specifically asked for me not to talk on the mic much lol :-) I've used that trick before, this one is for our lovely bride etc...

Well had an interesting evening tonight. Did a wedding via an agency and the client had said they wanted a mix with a litte cheese but no macarena etc.. I was asked to play top 40 tunes before the first dance so I did. Then after the first dance played a bit of soul & motown which went down fairly well. Then I was asked to play new stuff and this killed it, I started to build the floor up then was asked to announce the buffet which resulted in a mass exodus off the dance floor. Anyway it got going about 10.30pm and it seemed that the crowd wanted older tunes. The bride came

At a gig on Satuday I played James Brown - Sex Machine (about 5 mins long) and later on Guns N Roses - Sweet child o'mine ( over 6 mins long) Both went down well but they are long songs and I was actually going to fade out guns and roses half way through but I didn't as it was going down well. I've had people before get bored of sex machine after about 3 mins because it is fairly samey through the song and Sweet child o'mine would have been better as a 3.5 min radio edit :-) Just wondered what other people do with long (5min+) songs?

Hi Slim, Welcome to the forum, this is a great place to get hints and tips and share experiences with other like minded people! Enjoy :-)

Don't take this personally, I had a really bad gig a few weeks back where nobody danced and I had a really bad crowd. I found it helpful to get it off my chest on this forum and it was great to get encouragement from other DJ's as we have all had the gig from hell! If it was a regular occurance then I would say you may want to take a closer look at yourperformance or go out with another DJ to see how they do it. However I'm sure it was just one of those bad nights. Keep your chin up and look forward to the next gig :-) I've had some great gigs since my bad one and next time

Hey DX, Just seen this and I'm also an ex raver :-) One day I will rip my collection of rave tapes on to MP3 to enjoy again. Been listening recently to the sets from the Fantazia at Castle Donnington in 92. This for me was a great time for rave music before it split it to loads of subgenres - you would hear hardcore, techno, house all mixed up in one set. I'm finding a real mix at the weddings I do, many couples want the traditional mix of music with cheese and some dance bits. However there are couples in their 30s who want me to play loads of club classics, dance anthems and a bit

Great wedding yesterday at Priory Barns in Little Wymondley, its a lovely barn with a raised stage and the high ceiling meant the moving heads worked really well! Played the usual mix of genres and was asked to play a set of club classics at the end which went down well. There was a sound limiter which was set at 95db and it didn't go off, woo hoo! Makes a change to be able to play an acceptable sound volume with these things!

Well yesterday was a much better gig. It didn't get going until around 10.30pm and I thought to my self surely not 2 nights in a row :-) Dancefloor was packed from 10.30pm onwards and I got a round of applause from the crowd and asked for a card so came home happy! I totally agree that it is the crowd that decides whether to enjoy the night or not as 2 nights in a row this weekend the only thing that was different was the crowd as I played a mixture of music both nights. Jas, I remember chatting last year and its true what you say about wanting every gig to be a good one. M

Thanks for your comments guys, it's great to have a place like this to discuss these sorts of issues with like minded people! I'm back at the same venue for a wedding reception tonight so fingers crossed it will be a much better gig :-)

I stand up all night and have been known to have a jig behind the decks :-) If I use a roadie, they might sit down which is fine. The good think abouy my DJ stand is that my cased Denon HD2500 which sits on top of it, is at the perfect height for me to DJ. When I have had to use a table provided by the venue, I've always found it is lower than the DJ stand and gives me a really bad back because I am bending over to reach them. If it is an all day wedding, I will stand whenever I am working but during the meal I will leave bg music playing and take a seat somewhere out of the way

Well guys, I did a birthday party tonight, it was a joint birthday and anniversary at a local hotel where I'm resident. When I spoke to the woman concerned, she said that they liked all music old and new and she wanted a mixture, which was fine. From7.30pm to 10.00pm I played everything I could to try and get them dancing but not even toe-tapping was going on, I played pop, 60s, soul, motown, disco, 80s, 90s club classics, top 40, some rnb but nothing. The guy whose birthday it was I asked early on what he liked and he said just play anything when everyone is drunk they wil

As I mainly do weddings, most of my mic talk is mcing for the day. I introduce the couple as they come in for the meal, I introduce the speeches, cutting of cake, first dance, last song, wedding arch etc.. I will then make any announcements as required. I'm confident on the mic as I have done a lot of public speaking in my main job, however my own style is not one of banter etc.. It wouldn't work for me so I don't do it. I find this works for me and the couples I work for often ask what my mic style is, I tell them what I do and they are pleased as they don't want banter on th

Same here, almost all of my work is weddings so I don't display anything however I have a few cards behind the decks in case anybody asks me for a card. I also make a point of talking with the manager at the venue and giving him / her a card. I think it is different for other dos but at weddings it looks tacky

THE LONDON CANAL MUSEUM - NOISE LIMITER WARNING! Hi Guys, Last week I did a wedding at the London Canal Museum. The B&G were not informed that there was a sound limiter, I actually did a pre-event meeting at the venue a few weeks before and asked the staff and they didn't know anything about it. We agreed that I would could setup from 4pm as the museum is open to the public, the people were turning up at 4.45pm. I would be setting up upstairs so would not be a problem if people arrived as I was finishing off. On the day, I got to the venue nice and early but was told th

Timing and song selection I feel my need some fine tuning for example Human leauge Dont you want me (New Romantic) I would follow on with lets say Depeche mode Just Cant Get Enough, then maybe onto Soft Cell tainted Love. Very good point and also it really depends on the crowd,I normally get a feel after a couple of tunes as to whether I think of playing more 80s of changing to another genre. When I'm doing an 80s set I tend to start off with songs like I wanna dance with somebody / I think we're alone now/ club tropicana / wake me up etc.. The more well known cheesy tunes. If t

As said already, Motown tracks are ones that were released on the Motown label. However in the 90s Boys to Men and Shanice released tracks on the Motown label, also Rick James released Superfreak in 80, but I wouldn't play these tunes on a motown night. Saying that I would play Lionel Richie - Dancing on the Ceiling which was a motown release in 1986! I've done a few Motown nights and tend to play many of the tunes already listed but also some classic soul tunes such as: Arthur Conley - Sweet Soul Music Sam and Dave - I'm a soul man Aretha Franklin - Respect Northern Soul

It's a shame as I absolutlely love this unit! Have considered upgrading to the Pioneer MEP7000 Has anyone out there used both systems that could let me know if this would be a good move?