Worst Night Of My Dj Career

[aaadisco 0]

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 will dance. At around 10pm, I went to the birthday boy and his mates and asked what music they liked, the response was they aren't drunk enough to dance yet.

 

I spoke to the woman that booked me and she said she was enjoying the music although no one was dancing.

 

Anyway, I've had quiet nights before and nights when there are no dancers in the room, but tonight was different.

 

At about 11pm I had a couple of girls ask me for Diana Ross so I played I'm coming out followed by some wham and whitney, then a few of the guys mates were dancing but it appeared that they were doing it to take the mick out of me for playing what they considered rubbish. (Call me paranoid but this went on for the rest of the night). At one point, I heard someone say, this isn't a wedding! Referring to my playing some cheese.

 

I repeatedly said on the mic, let me know if you have any requests and I will be happy to play them but I only had a handful and it didn't do much.

 

I got the impression that the guys friends were a bit too cool to be dancing in a hotel function room but I am surprised that these 20 somethings didn't really like anything I played.

 

At the end of the night I said the usual thank you very much, I hope you've had a good night which responded in a grunt from the crowd.

 

Luckily, I have done enough dos over the years to know that this isn't the norm and it hasn't knocked my confidence as a DJ, it's just left me feeling a bit down really. I didn't come home on a hight as I normally do. I thought, what was the point of them going to a party to just drink and stand around laughing at the DJ? At 11.30pm I went to the dad of the birthday boy and said, I've run out of ideas, I'm not sure what to play to get everyone dancing. He said not to worry, it has been a good mixture and there is only 30 mins left. Man those 30 mins couldn't end soon enough :-0

 

If I'd had this do 5 years ago when I started up as a mobile DJ, it would have probably put me off carrying on.

 

I've come to the conclusion on nights like this that once you have tried every genre and non of the usual floorfillers work then it is just going to be a bad night. Altough normally nights like this get going in the last hour but tonight, nothing worked and it felt like a job tonight rather than doing something I love.

 

It's funny, one of the guys working at the hotel told me he really liked my music and thought that it was a shame the crowd didn't appreciate it.

 

So officially this has been the worst night of my career.

 

Just wanted to get that off my chest :-)

 

I thought it might be an interesting thread to see if anyeone else has any other worst night stories to share.

Edited August 14, 2010 by aaadisco

[Dan allanthemsdisco 0]

Ahh man i do feel for you & trust me i also know that feeling!!

My friend who passes work onto me sometimes does so because he knows the client is trouble or.. he can tell already they are hard work!

This has landed me a few tough (crap) gigs where i have been standing there playing records looking at their tired, blank faces for hours, wishing it was over. Ok, by 11.45 a few may get up and dance but other than that it has felt like torture and quite humiliating for me as the DJ.

The problem with weddings is you never know what kinda family they are, what kind of vibe is going on between them as a family & how long a day they have had... Any decent crowd will let you know what does it for them and if you asked thats a brilliant start in making the party happen.. I would say the only big difference you can make as a dj is to turn up the the gig well prepared and rested so your fresh with energy and enthusiasm, i find doing gigs tired or even a bit worn out really affects my performance.

 

[UKHero 0]

Again my old adage you can offer the audience the opportunity to have a good time but it is up to them if they take you up on that offer.

 

Every DJ through out their career has gigs like this every one who reads your post can relate to everything you have posted.

 

Last weekend I had two gigs on Friday was a young 20 something's wedding and Saturday a 50th birthday party. Now I am 46 in September so which gig would you say I was more suited to? the 50th right? Wrong!!!

 

The friday gig was fantastic dancers all night dancing from the current No 1 right through to a request for the Beach Boys they were a great crowd and I left on a hight.

 

Saturday night played everything and other than for two songs empty dance floor even the smooches of which I played two at the end nothing. All the guests left no thankyou's or any comments and even the birthday girl and her husband sloped off with out a word.

Oh the other thing with the Sat gig was the Husband wanted to do a quiz fine but it was gone 10:30 before I started and we had to finish at midnight, Many people had left by then bored I think.

 

Now was it me or them. I choose to believe it was them, I am the same DJ I was on Friday night so what was different?

 

Don't let it get you down, and look forward to a great next gig.

 

Nik

[DJMickeyk 0]

I've had gigs like this too, I have also had Karaoke nights where people are very slow to come up singing, nothing to worry about, although it's a long few hours behind the Decks if nobody will dance. One wedding I did many years ago was just like the night you described and I will never for get it, I was playing after a band and when I kicked off the singer from the band come over and said "best of luck with this lot, you're in for a long night" LOL. The band couldn't get em up either, some crowds are just like that don't let it put you off your next gig will probably be a cracker.

[aaadisco 0]

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 :-)

[vokf 0]

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 :-)

 

Hey Jose - tonight will see you back on form.

 

We've all had bad gig. I did an engagement where they were more interested in drinking than dancing. The guys had a boogie in the last 30mins, and we got a sincere thanks on the night and the following day, but we felt it wasn't a good night.

 

Nik's comment;

gain my old adage you can offer the audience the opportunity to have a good time but it is up to them if they take you up on that offer.

is spot on.

You do your best, but its really up to them to make the night. The recent chat about "what makes a great party" put Guests higher on the list than the DJ, and so if the guests are unwilling to help make the night, the DJ will always struggle.

 

We chatted on the phone last year about a gig, and you sound a great guy - and I whilst I know its hard when you really want each night to be great, its not always possible.

 

Otherwise - look forward to a report from tonights gig later!

 

Jas

[deejaymitch 0]

Again my old adage you can offer the audience the opportunity to have a good time but it is up to them if they take you up on that offer.

 

Nik sums it up perfectly. Luckily these gigs don't happen too often, touch wood, but when they do just try and remember that it isn't your fault 9even though you're still gonna feel bad).

[Dukesy 0]

I once read on the forum, a comment on a debate very similar to this one which rang very true.

 

People will go to a pub with entertainment or a nightclub, and willingly pay an admission with the sole aim to go in and enjoy themselves, knowing what is going on there and what to expect. In contrast people at a family function are there out of invitation and purely through politeness and probably because they couldn't come up with a viable excuse to get out of it and a disco may not be their first choice in spending their weekend.

 

First and foremost, their sole reason for attending a Wedding or other family get together is unlikely to be the disco or the music, in fact you may get members of the audience who appreciate a good brass band or ballroom dancing or even non stop head banging trance more than Pop. You will probably also get people there, who would rather be doing something, anything, rather than be sat in that function room all night and will be praying that their spleens burst so they have a valid excuse to leave early.

 

You could also be entertaining guests engaged in a family feud, or a family whose Grandfather has just died and was buried the previous day, leaving everybody on something of a downer. Not all family get togethers are happy ones and not all families 'get on', and so view family occasions as just one of those inevitable things you just have to get over and done with, rather than enjoy.

 

Sometimes the venue just isn't right and there is no atmosphere. Occasionally when the majority of guests fit some kind of the criteria above and are determined NOT to have a good time or be sat there seething about being 'dragged along' by their OH for appearance and out of politeness, then the dice is pretty much loaded as to how the night is going to run and how much of a succes it is, and there is often nothing we can do to change that.

That said, i've had some nights that i've thought have been a complete, and total unmitigated disaster, where nobody has moved from their seats all night, and then have been heavily complimented by the client, at the end on how good it was. Folk are funny creatures .

 

At the end of the day, as long as you can hold your head up and say that you did your usual professional best then nobody has the right to criticise you. You can't hold a gun to people's heads or force them to enjoy themselves.

[PWES 0]

 

Yup, been there, got the T shirt !

 

Often the worst part of our job is not the stairs or loading unloading in the rain, the drive home, the lack of drinks or food offers, the difficult venue staff or the snotty band, it's the audience !

 

It's a strange thing, but one I've had so many times, the fuller the dancefloor during the night, the less likely people are to say thank you at the end. Have what you think is a really crap night, and often people are all over you like a rash thanking you for working so hard.... weird !!

[aaadisco 0]

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. Maybe it is an ego thing, as a DJ you want people to have a great night and appreciate what you are doing.

 

Yes luckily it isn't very often this happens and when it does I guess there is nothing you can do other than ask if people have requests / play a range of music as requested and accept it is one of these nights.

 

As PWES says, I have also had very wierd reactions liked people having a great night but then leaving without thanking you or saying goodnight. Other nights when you think it is crap you get a big thanks, nowt queer as folk!

[Rothgar 0]

We had this on Saturday night for a wedding reception. The previous week we were in the same venue for a 30th birthday and it was a great night, people danced all evening.

 

The wedding reception was completely different, nobody wanted to dance. We were contracted until 11.30pm but by 10.30 a lot of people had gone. They started taking all the decorations down at about 10.50, we were still playing of course. By 11.20 there was just the brides parents and about 3 people left still tinkering about cleaning up. No mention for us to stop playing so we carried on until the allotted time. The bride's mother did thank us though.

[sweetie 0]

I played after a band at a wedding on saturday night and whilst it was a tough gig I felt I did well. The band were excellent and had everyone up at the end but when I started (with Jackie Wilson - your love) a lot of people took a break, went to toilet or for a smoke and I had to build it back up from just half a dozen dancers which I did over the next twenty to thirty mins altho it was mainly the girls funnily enough. Saw the bride and groom (and grooms father) thank the band but when I finished up 90 mins later with a full dancefloor

and said my goodbyes on the mic they never came near me. I did make eye contact with the bride as I was breaking down and so I asked her was everything alright for her and she said it was great but it's a shame to have to ask!

Edited August 16, 2010 by sweetie