its the weekend 10/11 September

[C.S 0]

Actualy had a drunk man attempt to drag me backwards out of the dj booth tonight, he wont be doing it again ! Was quite impressed that my sony headphones survived!

[AnotherDiscoService 0]

Fri: travelled up to Birmingham to stay at my mothers, then

 

Sat: 50th family party at the moat house West Bromwich. with a brummy singing/comedian duo, bloody great night.

 

Sun: travel back to london, but cant be arsed with plasa, so my ticket is gathering dust

[Dukesy 0]

Friday Night - Regular, St Ives, Cambridgeshire

Saturday - Wedding, Essex

 

Was joined by 'Joe' for the weekend gigs (who I found to be a jolly nice and very decent young man).

 

Gig wise, Friday night would have been more busy but due to lack of bar staff, people were leaving because they couldn't get served!!!

 

Saturday was a long one. Set-up by 1pm. Guests arrive by 4.45pm. Background music and radio mic for speeches. Disco from 8pm till 12 midnight.

 

Nothing to really shout about this weekend gig wise....

Help and assistance wise, 'young' Joe was first class and a compliment to the disco service. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/thumbup.gif

 

Thankyou Joe. Hope you had a great time!!!!

[kazzachi 0]

Why is it that when we dont reckon much to the gig, the audience think otherwise? The 13th birthday party I did was much as I had expected, rnb, rnb and a little bit more rnb........ but worked out really well for me....... took home 225 including the tip... and home before midnight....Now, I just might consider doing a few more 13ths if this one was anything to go by... Ill only earn 25 less than a full on adult function, do less hours and have an early night..............................................................but - on the other hand.... I didnt really enjoy it... so might as well stick to weddings!

[Hugmaster 0]

Hi

 

Remember me with the Dive venue with no parking and not really looking forward ot it?

 

Well, guess what?

 

go on I dare ya...

 

What a bloody fantastic night! One of our best ever!

 

We couldn't have put a foot wrong if we'd played Handles Massire!

 

There was tons of banter with the audience and Darren J really got out there in the crowd and had tons of women poll dancing around him.

 

We had people coming up to us at the end saying they'd been to loads of parties lately and this was by far the best they'd seen.

 

Really gave us a huge lift and I'm still buzzing!

 

Just goes to show, ya never can tell.

 

We even managed to find a parking space right outside the venue's doors.

 

Been out today and spend £200 on new clothes, god I'm sexy! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/tongue.gif http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/tongue.gif http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/tongue.gif http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/tongue.gif

 

Darren

[DJTREV 0]

Well as I suspected the crowd(well not really-there were only about 30/40 there) weren't really up for it.I was glad that I had all their requests,Fergle Sharky,Stranglers and Anita Ward were the surprises but they didnt seem to keen to dance until the last 20 mins.

[High Fidelity 0]

Saturdays surprise 40th wedding anniversary, 8-12pm. Quite a strange night really.

 

Setup in a space about 6ftX3ft in a room about 20ftX20ft. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/fear.gif

 

Background music till the happy couple arrived at 8:30, had some requests in even before they had arrived.

 

First request was for something Irish for somebody's birthday, so after a few starter tracks played Pogues - Irish Rover. Everybody singing and straight on the dance floor.

 

Keeping the dance floor full wasn't too difficult as it was only about 8ftX8ft, so 6 people dancing and it was full http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

 

Reading the crowd was a bit challenging though. Stuff like Abba, Weathergirls & all the usual floor fillers just fell flat. Yet they were all up like a shot to stuff like Culture Club, Rick Astley, S Club and Steps.

 

At 11:30 they decided it would be a good time to stop the party while they cut the cake http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/533.gif

 

Just time after that for one more dancy tune then 3 smoochers to finish.

 

Went up to my room about 1am after packing up and loading the car, but didn't manage to get to sleep till well after 2:30 because of the racket the guests were making.

 

Came out at 7:45am to be picked up by ChrisP, no staff to be found anywhere so left my key on the desk and let myself out.

Edited September 12, 2004 by High Fidelity

[speedy 0]

Well i seem to be getting more 'mixture' discos than 70s. I might as well carry on as i seem to be doing ok. Or am i ->what i played

 

Wedding at letchworth hall hotel saturday night, 7.30pm - 12. This particular hotel doesn't have a HUGE hall, so when the guests finish their 3 course meals, the tables have to be cleared and a dance floor put down.

 

Meal finished at 7pm, it then takes the hotel staff an hour to set up the room! I tell the happy couple (who are in the bar on the other side of the building) that everything is ready to go, and if themselves & their guests would like to make their way round.

 

At 9pm i'm playing a background cd to an empty room, so off i go to find the guests, to be told...'oh sorry we forgot about you' http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/huh.gif

 

Guests start to walk in at 9.30pm, just as the buffet is laid out, so the bride decides 'can i continue with the background cd for another half an hour while people eat'.

 

Ok fair enough, who am i to argue! I finally get started at 10.15pm, and an hour and 45 minutes later i'm packing up £200 better off!!

[DJJ 0]

Well... I've had a pretty poor selection of weddings this week:

 

Thursday - Maximum of 30 people! Once the buffet was finished this left between 12-15 people who were not interested in the slightest.

 

The bride and groom sent the invitations out saying that the bar closed at 11pm... when it was open till 11.30. However, there was very little custom at the bar so they closed at 11pm.

 

The bride and groom left at 11.30 - they had to be away for some reason.

 

Two coaches arrived at midnight and took away approximately six people in one coach and two people the other.

 

What little trade the bar did take was mainly soft drinks.

 

Friday - I was working with a band who weren't the best in the word, but they were very co-operative when I told them about how the night would go and told them not to open the fire doors when they finished because it knocks the power off to the DJ box.

 

I'd say that 90% of bands are arrogant gits who treat the DJ like dirt. I'm never like that to bands, but they don't like it when I tell them the rules of the venue and when and where they can set up. It's my job to keep an eye on them and make sure they stick to the rules and regulations. There have been times when bands have spoken to the Operations Manager because they didn't belive what I was saying. The Operations Manager has far more important things to keep an eye on and he just tells them to do what I say and to stop bothering him.

 

Anyway, this band was a break from the norm and at the end of the night the band leader came up to me and thanked me for looking after them and being so helpful.

 

Sadly though, by the time the guests had heard the band for their second stint most of them had left to go to bed.

 

I was left with a handful of people, but the bride and groom thanked me at the end of the night.

 

Saturday - Working with another band, a band I'd experienced a couple of times before. The band leader was arrogant and didn't like it when I told him that he could not take the equipment out via the fire doors while the disco was on. They had to take a longer route through a side door.

 

Guess what though? One of the band opened the fire doors and knocked the power off. The crowd thought I'd made a major ****-up and were shouting: "Where's the music, DJ?"

 

Once power was restored I picked up the radio mic walked out and told the crowd that thanks to one of the band members the fire doors had been opened and this had caused the disruption to the night. So, I asked them to give the band a further round of applause - they duely obliged. I think I said something like: "There are words for someone like you (pointing to the culprit), but I'm not allowed to say them on mic."

 

So, the last hour was down to me and yet again the band had managed to clear most of the crowd and I was again left with a handful of people.

 

Sunday - I threw everything at this crowd, I was tempted to pull one of the speakers down and throw that at them as well!!! They were not interested in the slightest. None of the floorfillers worked. I tried every style I could think of, with little or no reaction.

 

THEN... for the last 30 minutes every single person in the room was up dancing. I couldn't believe it, why leave it so late???

 

At the very end they were screaming for more??? Eh, did I miss something here? I worked my @rse off for no reaction and then they decide to party in the last 30 minutes of the night?

 

Much to their annoyance, the venue has a strict policy on finishing times and as such I should not really play after midnight. However, I played the first dance again - Andy Williams - Can't Take My Eyes Off You.

 

They still wanted more but I cut the power to the equipment and made out that the venue had cut the power because of the time.

 

I'm hoping the functions this weekend make up for the poor four nights I've just had. Mind you, I have to work on my birthday... I may also do a night at one of my other residencies (got my YT doing that venue for me) on Sunday. I think I need a change from doing so many weddings. I need a taste of something different!

 

Well, congratulations on reading so far. You can go to sleep now http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

 

DJJ

[C.S 0]

QUOTE

Once power was restored I picked up the radio mic walked out and told the crowd that thanks to one of the band members the fire doors had been opened and this had caused the disruption to the night. So, I asked them to give the band a further round of applause - they duely obliged. I think I said something like: "There are words for someone like you (pointing to the culprit), but I'm not allowed to say them on mic."

DJJ Posted on Sep 13 2004, 02:44 PM

 

I cant believe you did this http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/fear.gif at a wedding ?

Edited September 13, 2004 by C.S

[DJJ 0]

QUOTE (C.S @ Sep 13 2004, 05:57 PM)

QUOTE Once power was restored I picked up the radio mic walked out and told the crowd that thanks to one of the band members the fire doors had been opened and this had caused the disruption to the night. So, I asked them to give the band a further round of applause - they duely obliged. I think I said something like: "There are words for someone like you (pointing to the culprit), but I'm not allowed to say them on mic." DJJ Posted on Sep 13 2004, 02:44 PM   I cant believe you did this http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/fear.gif at a wedding ? Why?   So, you would stand there, have the crowd continue to think that you had made a major ****-up? You'd definately stand there and take the flack?   I also to go out to make sure the fire doors were securely closed, otherwise they may come open again. Surely keeping the guests informed of what was going on while doing this saves on a prolonged period of silence?   I turned some members of the crowd from being slightly hostile, arrogant and sarcastic to informing them of the situation and placing the blame solely on the shoulders of the person who created the problem. I knew that the audience would see the funny side of it, but I had to make a bit of a joke about what had happened.   DJJ

Edited September 13, 2004 by DJJ

[C.S 0]

QUOTE

DJJ Posted on Sep 13 2004, 07:14 PM

Why ?

 

 

err because its somebodies wedding ,the most important days of their lives and i would of explained that it was a power failure,no fault of mine and that normal service would be resumed as soon as possible. I have images of a bride 10 years on remembering her wedding and thhe fond memory of a dj taking the p:cense:s out of a band member over the p.a. in front of the whole family. What if they hadnt taken your lead and not applauded not to mention the possibilty of a)said band member stuffing his drum kit up your********* in front of everyone, b) waiting for you to finish and then take you out outside. Is it possible that the band member could of forgotten? or the leader hadnt informed him. No matter what i would have never done that,i would of swallowed my pride and got on with the job.Would these people really have remembered that you were the dj whose equipment cut out for 4 minutes at a wedding. I personaly feel that wedding gigs are important for the bride and groom and if i have to make a fool of myself to make their day perfect then i will, i am actualy getting paid for it. To finish i think that most bands ,who have little or no respect for djs, would take an order from a dj that they must not use the fire doors to remove their gear ,that kind of thing should be dealt with by a duty manager who gets paid for doing the job.

 

QUOTE

They still wanted more but I cut the power to the equipment and made out that the venue had cut the power because of the time

 

Was just wondering if the venue would back you up and support you in this ?

Edited September 13, 2004 by C.S

[YourBigEvent 0]

Have to agree with CS

[joe 0]

QUOTE (discodirect @ Sep 12 2004, 02:30 PM)

Was joined by 'Joe' for the weekend gigs (who I found to be a jolly nice and very decent young man). Help and assistance wise, 'young' Joe was first class and a compliment to the disco service. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/thumbup.gif Thankyou Joe.  Hope you had a great time!!!!

Cheers! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

 

Now how much do I owe you? http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/whistling.gif http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/laugh.gif

 

I thoughrly enjoyed myself this weekend, thanks for inviting me Dan http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

 

In all honesty, Dan is the most amazing entertainer I have ever seen! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/notworthy.gif

And I say entertainer rather than just DJ, as that's what he is. Absolutely fantastic! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/goodjob.gif

 

Thanks again mate

 

Joe

[paula 0]

http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/stupid.gif Aahh aint that nice http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif wonder what the comment on here would be like if he came out with me http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/188.gif shall go and check my diary http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/221.gif

[BigBen 0]

Still in recovery mode. Saturday had a 21st for the most boring person in the world. But he is in a marching band and they were absolutely manic - dancing to the background buffet music they were! I did have one pain, "...put that Euphoria CD on...", "...don't you have the so and so mix of this track...", etc. Git.

 

Sunday was one of my fave days as a dj. Playing a 12 year olds party in a scout hut. I did her sisters 13th about two months ago so I knew exactly what to expect. The room is about 40 feet square and about 40 feet tall - brilliant for lights to be pointing in all directions - there were no adults present. Smoke, bubbles, complete darkness, games, props, silly songs, dances, the works. I had them rock'n'rolling, barn dancing, can canning, and every other type of dance I could fit in.

 

Everything stops at 7:30 when the PIZZA DUDE arrives!!!! Lights on and complete silence whilst we all stuff our faces, then its back for the last hour.

 

Handed out loads of glowsticks and mum gave me a tenner tip (again).

 

Back down to earth for a surprise 60th next weekend... http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/014.gif

[DJJ 0]

I'll take this point by point:

 

Why ?

 

err because its somebodies wedding ,the most important days of their lives and i would of explained that it was a power failure,no fault of mine and that normal service would be resumed as soon as possible. I have images of a bride 10 years on remembering her wedding and thhe fond memory of a dj taking the p:cense:s out of a band member over the p.a. in front of the whole family.

 

Fair enough, but does that really mean you have to be so straight laced at a function. Surely, you are there to entertain. Or do you just want to be a glorified jukebox?

 

What if they hadnt taken your lead and not applauded not to mention the possibilty of a)said band member stuffing his drum kit up your********* in front of everyone, b) waiting for you to finish and then take you out outside.

 

Without sounding like a chaver acting hard... I honestly would love to see him try.

 

Is it possible that the band member could of forgotten? or the leader hadnt informed him.

 

I was waiting for this one. I've had the pleasure of working alongside this band on four occasions, if my memory serves me right. On each occasion I have informed the band in a group that under no circumstances must the fire doors be opened once the function has started.

 

On every single occasion they have done exactly the same trick - opened the doors and knocked the power off. I know that this same person was responsible for doing this three times (the other time was by another band member.) Now, I get the distinct impression that it was the band taking the p*ss out of me and my instructions.

 

On each occasion I have bit my tongue, but when this happens to you at every gig you work with them at, there comes a point when you have to say something.

 

No matter what i would have never done that,i would of swallowed my pride and got on with the job.Would these people really have remembered that you were the dj whose equipment cut out for 4 minutes at a wedding.

 

This was a very rowdy crowd and you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife when this happened.

 

It may be classed as taking the p*ss, but I used something humourous to lighten the atmosphere.

 

I personaly feel that wedding gigs are important for the bride and groom

 

I have to concur with you here.

 

and if i have to make a fool of myself to make their day perfect then i will, i am actualy getting paid for it. To finish i think that most bands ,who have little or no respect for djs, would take an order from a dj that they must not use the fire doors to remove their gear ,that kind of thing should be dealt with by a duty manager who gets paid for doing the job.

 

As I mentioned I am mainly responsible for what goes on in the room regarding the entertainment. The Operations Manager has other things to deal with and he has confidence in me to take on these responsibilities - which I will refer to again later on in this post...

 

They still wanted more but I cut the power to the equipment and made out that the venue had cut the power because of the time

 

Was just wondering if the venue would back you up and support you in this ?

 

They wouldn't know to be honest with you. Besides, the venue does have a strict policy on the timings. It may be okay for someone taking a mobile rig to a hotel they may not work in again for a long time and give the crowd and extra 20 mins... or more, but this is not the case when you work somewhere week in week out. The management have expressed several times that the function MUST end at the agreed time. Yes, I do have a little buffer zone, but not much.

 

If you wish to take these points further, please do not hesitate to PM me.

 

DJJ

Edited September 14, 2004 by DJJ

[DJJ 0]

QUOTE (paula @ Sep 13 2004, 08:01 PM)

http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/stupid.gif  Aahh aint that nice http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif  wonder what the comment on here would be like if he came out with me  http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/188.gif  shall go and check my diary http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif  http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/221.gif

 

I'm not 100% sure if this was aimed at me.

 

I'd love to but, I'm a bit busy... from the sounds of it, the regulars here would find that hard to believe though. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

 

DJJ

 

P.S. If it wasn't aimed at me, apologies.

Edited September 14, 2004 by DJJ

[ChrisPointon 0]

QUOTE

I'm not 100% sure if this was aimed at me.

 

No it wasn't, it was directed at Joe.

[C.S 0]

DJJ Posted on Sep 14 2004, 01:03 AM

 

If you wish to take these points further, please do not hesitate to PM me

 

I think we have gone as far as the debate is going to go so theres no point http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/smile.gif

 

Fair enough, but does that really mean you have to be so straight laced at a function. Surely, you are there to entertain. Or do you just want to be a glorified jukebox?

 

 

Not at all, i do a stand up routine at weddings as part of my act ,we are very obviously very different as to where are dos\dont boundaries are,so horses for courses and whatever works for you.

Edited September 14, 2004 by C.S

[BigBen 0]

Wathcing this thread with interest - it is differences of opinion that keeps sites like this going.

 

Firstly, DJJ. None of us were present so we don't know what kind of crowd were in that night. Some crowds respond well to situations like this - it would appear DJJ got the reaction he thought the crowd would give him. Well done for reading your audience.

 

Bringing in CS's points, I'm sure none of us go out looking to rant and rave over the mic., but this situation was very important to DJJ and therefore tempers were high when the supposedly professional band purposely cut the power. My first thought would be that the audience would think I was not a professional. My second thought would be to worry about any damage to my equipment caused by a sudden loss of power - I know the mixer likes to be switched off last for example.

 

Like DJJ, I would find it very hard not to make it extrememly obvious to everyone present who was at fault. I would try to keep it very light hearted though - along the lines of "...right then, assuming we have no more band members opening security doors, we should be okay until the end of the night..." Saying it with a smile and all that. I agree, in the cold light of day it sounds very petty but in reality I wonder how we would actually handle it?

[C.S 0]

I know how I would handle it because i have been in similar situations many times in the last 30 years. I try and stick to the job at hand and if it means i have to lose face then so be it. To be perfectly honest if one of the 8 djs i employ did this kind of thing then he wouldnt work for me again but hey thats just me, perhaps i am a little old fashioned in my outlook,i come from a different generation of djs than djj. (perhaps we should start a thread on the differences between old and new djs !). I have no doubt that djj read his crowd well and did a good job and as long as b+g are happy then it doesnt really matter. Thankfully we are adults here and can have a differance of opinion without it turning into a catfight , and i respect both your opinions. Having said that i see your first worry would be that the crowd would think you an amateur and then your gear being damaged whereas i would have thought about getting things running smoothly as quickly as possible so as not to ruin the evening. I would just like to add that if this situation had arisen at a club gig then it would have been a different ballgame. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/042.gif

Edited September 14, 2004 by C.S

[ChrisPointon 0]

Differences of opinion are all well and good until it starts getting personal or approaching the point where it starts getting out of hand. If you can't agree to disagree on the forum, then take it to MSN or Email. Better still learn to live with each others comments. After all, This is a forum, not brain surgery.

 

Part of what keeps people coming back to some threads, is indeed the Soap Opera aspect. They are not interested in the topic thread, but it's more curiosity to see which member is winning the argument thus far and within reason this is good http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif, however i'm not paying to host and run this forum so people can publically tear strips from each other at my expense.

 

Above all, when posting, please keep the rules in mind, namely:-

 

QUOTE

Any member found to be causing harrassment to another member will be removed immediately. We have zero tolerance with troublemakers and the posting of Abusive or offensive material or comments will result in your membership being suspended or terminated. Please respect the right of others to express their own opinions, which may differ with your own

 

There is nothing on this thread which warrants or justifies any action on my part, but the Majority of my time is spent ensuring that threads don't reach the point where there is no other alternative and so at this point I would ask you to bear in mind the rules you agreed to abide by when you registered as you continue to post on this thread.

[C.S 0]

Thanks for drawing this to the front chris but as you can see the thread has been conducted correctly and not turned into an argument. djj and i have a difference of opinion and i think this thread has been positive as maybe other djs will start to think how they would react to this kind of situation. If it prepares one dj to be ready to tackle a difficult problem then i feel the debate has been worth having. As far as i am concerned i dont have any more to add .I expect djj will be on later and comment the last few posts and then i guess it will fade away.

[DJTREV 0]

i do a stand up routine at weddings as part of my act

 

Are you a song and dance man as well?