Gig Report - Confrontation With Guests

[MintyDave 0]

What should of been a text book gig last night (local wedding) turned into a pain in the posteria.

 

With ref to a recent post cheeky clients i dutifully turned up at 5.45 for a 6pm access. They were just doing some speeches and cutting the cake and they were to finish on time.

 

This is when things went slightly downhill

 

The venue had 2 weddings on and there was nowhere for the guests to go. I had to setup infront of 80 people who were milling about, standing in doorways etc with kids running all over the stage and some cheeky eeejoy said "just stick some background music on mate" on my 4th trip from the van (not the best access as the revolving door was broken and wouldnt open fully)

 

the minute i got gear out of boxes kids were fiddling with it but i was up and runing in 50 minutes. The stage is just big enough for me to stand behind the rig but sideways movement only so i soon got a bad back, hips and knees.

 

First dance was 7.30 on the dot with the 2nd and 3rd being cheryl cole then hed kandi remix of man in the mirror. The music was to be modern chart and dance remix stuff with no abba and that kind of :crap: (quote the bride and groom) however looking round i knew it wasnt the right kind of music.

 

after some softer modern charty type tunes i dropped in some stevie wonder and 4 tops to judge the reaction but considering it was only just gone 8 and we were at full vol it was too early.

 

Thats when the first motown request came in (is 4 tops not motown?) and i rattled throught a couple of other specific requests while building a motown playlist. Very soon a guest came over and said ditch this :crap: and put some motown on we dont like this, yes i replied politely im just digging some out and playing the last few specific tunes that the bride and groom requested.

 

More or less straight away another woman came over and started to give it the big i am. Ey im the third person to tell you to turn this :crap: off and put some motown on, we want to dance and you need to play motown all night and no more of this :crap: she then went on are you not listening or are you just ignorant you dont know waht you are doing really... blah blah blah

 

Thats when i lost it a bit. Excuse me madam but i am a professional dj. i do this for a living and have been to more weddings in the last 6 months than you have ever been to. I know what im doing. Im playing the music the bride and groom have specifically requested and i am going to play some motown, 70, disco, 80, and dance music etc but not everything right now. I begrudge playing some classic motown tunes this early in the evening for you and you friends to sit tapping your feet too just because you dont like modern music.

I am booked until 12.00 so there is pleanty of time.

 

I suddenly thought oh :crap:. What have i said, did that really come out of my mouth, it should of been the little voice inside my head. to which she replied Ok sunshine i suppose you have to keep everybody happy, give it half and hour and we will be ready for a boogie.

 

For the rest of the night what ever i played somebody came whingin turn this :crap: off play blah blah.

 

The B&G left at 10.30 as they were catching a 4am flight and the majority left soon after. i eventually had some peace and quiet and those left were just in the mood to dance to allsorts with the father of the bride singing a few elvis tunes.

 

Ended well but not the best ever gig and looking back i should of kept my big mouth firmly closed as opposed to ranting....it could of turned nasty.

[Teez 0]

Maybe you should have said "Mee no speeka de Engleeesh!!"

 

Glad you got the MITM Hed Kandi sorted

 

:joe:

[deejaymitch 0]

This is happening more and more often. It's a combination of a number of factors, mainly the "next" culture of instant gratification. These days people don't just make requests. It isn't enough to say "yes" when they ask for a song. In almost every case this is followed by "play it next". I have genuinely had people requesting songs then coming back a minute later, while the SAME SONG is playing that was playing when they made their request, complaining that I hadn't played their song yet.

 

Couple this with the "something decent" mentality where people believe only their favourite music is any good, and everything else is terrible, and it creates a nightmare. By their very nature weddings, or any family gathering, will contain a diverse group of guests encompassing all ages and many different backgrounds. Even before I was a DJ I had the common sense to knwo that at these gatherings there would be music I love, music I can live with and music I don't like. But the DJ has to try to keep everyone entertained.

 

However the lack of respect for our profession, and the general attitude of most people these days, means these situations will become only more frequent. Oh, and for what it's worth, I don't see anything wrong with the way you replied to the rude guest.

[milhouse 0]

This is happening more and more often. It's a combination of a number of factors, mainly the "next" culture of instant gratification. These days people don't just make requests. It isn't enough to say "yes" when they ask for a song. In almost every case this is followed by "play it next". I have genuinely had people requesting songs then coming back a minute later, while the SAME SONG is playing that was playing when they made their request, complaining that I hadn't played their song yet.

 

Couple this with the "something decent" mentality where people believe only their favourite music is any good, and everything else is terrible, and it creates a nightmare. By their very nature weddings, or any family gathering, will contain a diverse group of guests encompassing all ages and many different backgrounds. Even before I was a DJ I had the common sense to knwo that at these gatherings there would be music I love, music I can live with and music I don't like. But the DJ has to try to keep everyone entertained.

 

However the lack of respect for our profession, and the general attitude of most people these days, means these situations will become only more frequent. Oh, and for what it's worth, I don't see anything wrong with the way you replied to the rude guest.

 

The joy of just working in bars and clubs, when I get obnoxious people who won't go away I say "if you don't like it, leave and go somewhere else". If they swear at me, tell me the music is "sh..." they're removed

 

I'm all for the polite people who, smile, say 'please' when requesting songs, and totter off and enjoy their night after they've asked for a song. It's such a minority now that I actually TELL people that I appreciate them being polite with me, as the rude ones are a majority now.

 

The reason most of these people hassle you again and again about the music, is that they're not having a good night with the people they're with. If you think about when you go out to a bar, club, function, you're probably very busy enjoying your drink, chatting to the people you're with, or whatever. I know I certainly am. I don't put 100% of my energy into having to have one particular song played. These people are incapable of having a good night, they have no social skills and quite probably have no friends. Don't let them get you down

Edited February 21, 2010 by JonWhittaker

[Robster 0]

I have them coming up asking when I'm playing there request when the song is playing!

 

I empathise with all the comments but that is part of modern day DJing when people at home used vinyl they knew it took time to change records and make the next song come on , now they can pick a song and shuffle it in a second , they turn tv channels over after only a few seconds , my kids watch 5 seconds of every channel before it becomes boring and they move to the next channel !

 

i want it now culture is in full force , impatience is everywhere , next day delivery , where's my parcel! ...but you ordered it at 11:58pm on new years eve on line... when new years eve was a Friday and you still expect it next day when it wasn't even in stock ?

 

people are more demanding full stop, In every walk and facet of life and they want it for less

 

Some gigs are fantastic because you don't get any hassle others you get the moaners ...any play list that only caters for the bride and groom and not the other guests is going to fail and at the consultation i tell them this.

 

I have lost gigs or more accurately... purposely avoided doing them because i felt i wasn't going to make them happy and be happy doing the gig , i like to under promise and over deliver, if i think that they are awkward un reasonable , rude and too demanding at the consultation i am either already booked or overpriced.

for the ones that are reasonable , have valid requests and are polite i work my socks off for them for a fair price.

 

But even for the nice customers you can get the awkward guests as you mentioned ,i feel for you matey but for every bad one you normally get 20 good ones so you should have a nice little run now.

 

 

 

 

 

[Teez 0]

It's great to have the advantage of doormen to remove these twits. I wish we could have them at weddings etc.

 

Recently a drunk woman requested the same song three times in as many minutes and stood in front of the desk waiting for me to put it on.

 

I turned the music down, turned the mike up and told her that I would not be intimidated and that there were other people here to think of. It was not long before her more sober friend dragged her away. But this was a private party with no backup and these, I think you will agree you are at your most vulnerable.

 

If it was not for my equipment and my professional pride I would gladly smack these lowlifes with a baseball bat. It's about all they understand. :ouch:

 

 

:joe:

Edited February 21, 2010 by Teez

[Norfolk DJ 0]

 

I agree with what is being said here.

 

10 years ago a request from a punter would be noted and played at the right time of the evening. This could be up to 2 or 3 hours later to keep in with the flow of the party. Nowadays a number of punters are frequently rude and offhand insisting that thie track is instantly played.

 

The outcome to all of the this is to cheese off the DJ and tp prevent the party rwaching it's peak.

 

Personally if I get problems I always talk to the groom at the wedding.

[deejaymitch 0]

The joy of just working in bars and clubs, when I get obnoxious people who won't go away I say "if you don't like it, leave and go somewhere else".

 

According to the guy who owns the bar where I have my Saturday night residency, saying that to a customer is a sackable offence. I've since had to find other polite ways of telling people to clear off.

[Robster 0]

According to the guy who owns the bar where I have my Saturday night residency, saying that to a customer is a sackable offence. I've since had to find other polite ways of telling people to clear off.

 

 

similar here but i can empathise ..we have all said things we wished we had worded differently at some point or another.

 

and rudeness does push my buttons

 

I saw this a few years back on a forum cant remember which

 

Ten things not to ask a DJ

 

1. PLAY SOMETHING GOOD... SOMETHING WE CAN DANCE TO!

The DJ has to play for more than one person... so what you hate may

be another's favourite song and EVERYTHING played here can be danced to,

one way or another!

 

2. WOULD YOU PLAY SOMETHING WITH A "BEAT"! …Get real! We know of NO songs played in a club or pub that don't have some sort of BEAT!

 

3. I DON'T KNOW WHO SINGS IT AND I DON'T KNOW THE NAME OF THE SONG, BUT IT GOES LIKE THIS............

PLEASE don't sing for the DJ. We have to put up with rooms full of smelly people and loud music levels all night long... Do us a favour and DON'T give

us a rendition of your favourite song, however good you might think you are, if you can’t remember the title or artist of your favourite song it’s hardly going to be that good!

 

4. EVERYBODY WANTS TO HEAR IT!

OK...So you just polled everyone in the club /pub and, as their spokesperson, you're requesting the song… I don’t think so.

 

5. EVERYBODY WILL DANCE IF YOU PLAY IT!

The DJ won't. I guess that blows a hole in your theory!

 

6. I CAN IMPRESS A GIRL IF YOU PLAY IT AND I MIGHT BE IN WITH A CHANCE!

Why settle for one night? Buy the CD, flowers and chocolates for her that will impress her much more.

 

7. I WANT TO HEAR IT NEXT!

The ONLY people who can get away with that statement sign the DJ's pay cheque!

 

8. WHAT DO YOU HAVE?

It's a lot easier for you to go have another beer and figure out what you want to hear than it is for the DJ to recite the name of every record in the box!

 

9. HEY, MAN, NOBODY CAN DANCE TO THIS!

It's NOT advisable to say this when the dance floor is packed (but some

people do anyway)! HOWEVER, even if there is only ONE person on the floor, it STILL contradicts the statement!

 

10. PLAY IT SOON BECAUSE WE'RE LEAVING!

If you're going to leave after I play it, why shouldn't I wait until the

very last song so you can stay all night!

 

I know of one dj that had this printed by his booth

Edited February 22, 2010 by Abuse Controller

[vokf 0]

I know of one dj that had this printed by his booth

 

 

I encourage requests via my request sheets, some people can't be bothered to write- but I normally ask them to write it down "in case I forget".. This normally keeps conversations short and sweet. It also allows me to flag any gaps in my library.

 

The 40th I did on Friday had the party stopped due to "some people had to leave - so can I play "new york, new york early" (ie now!).

As it was a request by the birthday girl - I let the current song end that had a busy dancefloor, play nyny, and then an Elvis (wonder of you), then try to get them back into the party spirit.

All at the same time of being asked to "play old something we can dance to", and also trying to tend to requests by teenage daughters of the client.

 

It was fine, but did break the party up- and could have easily caused other guests to leave.

 

Carmen sussed the best line when we were being hassled for playing "Tik Tok", she simply said "Someone requested this!". Must be her piercing, cold blue eyes scaring them away from giving her more hassle! lol

 

 

I don't think the bad attitude is any different from that seen by shop workers, bar staff, takeaway staff or taxi drivers.

Anyone at the front end of dealing with the public will get rude comments/demands.

 

How many times have we seen drinkers waving £5 notes at the bar staff, and getting visibly upset when the staff don't serve them next?

 

 

I guess one way to avoid getting grief is the leave the headphones on all the time... You can still smile, but they'll have to write down any requests - and if they're looking to have a moan... it suddenly becomes more difficult if you're not going to listen to them! lol

 

[kenny wisdom 0]

I did a gig last Saturday for a 21st birthday party, but with a mix of the host and hostesses friends (the oldies) and the birthday girl’s friends (the younguns), so it was a good mix. Everything went swimmingly; until right near the end when alcohol and hormones started taking affect on some of the younguns, and it being near the schedules end time the hostess asked me to start winding things down to chill them out. This lad comes up to me, obviously the worse for wear, and asks for The Libertines, "What Katy did" - not something I'd normally play at the best of times. I explained that I'd been asked to quieten things down and that I wouldn't be playing requests at this time...not happy with that he stumbled off to find the hostess who agreed to allow one LAST request and that would be it. So off he comes back to deliver the news and he says to me, "You haven't got it, have you?" He turned to the by now small crowd and shouted to them, "HE hasn't got the Libertines. Who wants What Katy Did?" and he turned back to me looking all smug.

 

"Look mate, I don't actually have to prove anything to you..."

"You haven't got it. Oh my god...ha ha, you haven't got it".

I was dialling up the libertines on my iPod, used for carrying all the obscure rubbish that crazed disco fan boys might just ask for...I showed him I had it. "Happy now?” I said, looking at him smugly. I told him to get ready; I was going to play his request. He stumbled off, I played the Libertines.

Then, unbelievably, the guy who was competing with Pete Doherty in intoxication stakes came back up to my booth.

“Can you play the Libertines, What Katy did”.

“You what? I just played it”

“No, you haven’t got it have you? Go on, play The Libertines”

“You’re the new doctor, aren’t you”, I replied.

“Huh?” was the mooted response.

“The new Doctor Who. You’ve just got here in your TARDIS from five minutes ago”

Then disco boy’s mate comes along. He turns to him and says, “He hasn’t got the Libertines...he won’t play it”

“What?” said his mate to disco boy. “He just played it, five minutes ago...”

Disco boy just looked at me with the look of someone who was in a waking memory loss nightmare, and mumbled a “Sorry” as I high-fived his mate and played Frank Sinatra to end the evening and one of the funniest requests I’ve had in a long time!

 

[MintyDave 0]

truely amazing kenny, i played summer of 69 and living on a prayer the other night then some bright spark came over 5 mins later and said play summer of 69 and that bon jovi tune - that will get em going. He was sat in the room all evening and how he missed it is beyond me

 

i dont have the libertines btw

[stoke53 0]

It used to be a lot easier to dj in the 70's there wasnt such a vast catalogue of music to go through and the parties had a lot more people in attendance so it was much easier to please everyone. The younger ones seem to want to listen to the music but generally wont dance until theyve had a skinfull of booze.

 

Alan

[superstardeejay 0]

“Can you play the Libertines, What Katy did”.

“You what? I just played it”

“No, you haven’t got it have you?

 

I can beat this!

 

I've had requests for songs that have actually being playing at the time.

Edited March 29, 2010 by superstardeejay

[Mick H 0]

You have to admit it gives you a laugh on Sunday morning when you are recolletcing the night with mates. I recently had a v drunk girl stumble through her rendition of a tune off the telly "Lambrini advert mate you must know it". After hearing her version, I tell her it's 'The Snake by Al Wilson' no its not, you havent got a clue have you, your :crap: you !!!! OK love I'll put it on in a bit, lambrini you say ?? Played said Mr Wilson she danced away with her mates and sure as eggs is eggs 10 mins later......"Have you got...........Now where is my service revolver Jeeves ?? :ads:

[bigMCben 0]

It's true what they say, there's nowt as queer as folk. Being a taxi driver during the week, I know of the idiosycrasys of the general public. The thing that really hacks me off is where you're doing a theme night like 70s or soul motown and someone asks for Bon Jovi or N Dubz, and you ezplain it's a themed night and it's like, go one, just the one song. I do think it's important to say no to people. Mostly they will understand if you explain why you're saying no and if all else fails, I direct them to the person whose function it is to make the final decision, particularly if I've been given certain restrictions on what I can play.