Is DJing always enjoyable? Well I'd like to think so but things can go wrong and when your responsible for people having a great time and when you're being paid...well it can be a little stressful.
Last week we went to a new venue to see a DJ playing. Barrie's Saga Tunes. Barrie had a gold crushed velvet curtain over the front of his set and a sign made from glue and glitter, Barrie it yelled. Barrie it shone.
Barrie had a bow tie on. An enormous one. He said it kept the kiddies amused.
His equipment (not a double entendre BTW) was odd. Set up like the set of the Sooty Show. Lights on all three sides and a small hole he could pop his head in. He spoke in an American come Mike Reid accent after EVERY song. A little ditty about the songs.
He played a very odd mix of music. The Quo and The Jam and some Irish ditty and Gloria Estefan.
Rather fortunately we had to leave as I was getting up early the next day.
The following week we found ourselves in the same place as Barrie. I was a bit worried. If THAT was what they liked... then we didn't have a hope.....
We set up. Our gig is small and bright.I like to be seen and accessible.
Brassey set the CD on 2 tables. In the middle. We have always done that before.... never a problem.
The gig started. All was OK.... not a lot of people in (it was bloody cold outside)but we didn't mind.
Then the Cd's started jumping... not just a little but full blown unplayable. After about 6 of them jumping I began to get panicky. What the fuck?
Brassey said they were my Cd's and dirty, then his started to jump too.
We cleaned the discs. They still jumped. Then I looked under the CD player. The tables were so unlevel one of the feet of the player was rocking very slightly t enough to make stuff jump. Also the tables were really crap and uneven.
After a while we took a deep breath and told the dance floor to hang on a sec and moved the CD player.... it would have been OK but Brassey accidentally switched off the amp... so, panic and no music until I realised what had happened. The dance floor were unfazed though.
It was a bit better, we still had a couple of minor jumps. Then Brassey tripped over a lead whilst the dance floor was busy and pulled out the electric.... total silence.... replug... reset and miraculously the dance floor got back up.
I was soooooo relieved when it was over. We have NEVER played such a problematic gig.
I felt a bit down and miserable. Then someone approached me. She asked us when we were playing there again. She loved our music. Her mates had all loved it. She said we were million times better than good old Barrie.... she never danced when he played there.
She made my night.
So, is it all fun? well no. I guess even top DJ's have to learn to cope with things going not quite the way you'd planned them. But at the end of the day the people still enjoyed our music.
Made it all worth it.
(BTW we played every single one of those bloody jumpy cds the next day at home and not one of those fuckers jumped. A combination of bad tables and jumpy wooden stage.
Grrrr)
Last week we went to a new venue to see a DJ playing. Barrie's Saga Tunes. Barrie had a gold crushed velvet curtain over the front of his set and a sign made from glue and glitter, Barrie it yelled. Barrie it shone.
Barrie had a bow tie on. An enormous one. He said it kept the kiddies amused.
His equipment (not a double entendre BTW) was odd. Set up like the set of the Sooty Show. Lights on all three sides and a small hole he could pop his head in. He spoke in an American come Mike Reid accent after EVERY song. A little ditty about the songs.
He played a very odd mix of music. The Quo and The Jam and some Irish ditty and Gloria Estefan.
Rather fortunately we had to leave as I was getting up early the next day.
The following week we found ourselves in the same place as Barrie. I was a bit worried. If THAT was what they liked... then we didn't have a hope.....
We set up. Our gig is small and bright.I like to be seen and accessible.
Brassey set the CD on 2 tables. In the middle. We have always done that before.... never a problem.
The gig started. All was OK.... not a lot of people in (it was bloody cold outside)but we didn't mind.
Then the Cd's started jumping... not just a little but full blown unplayable. After about 6 of them jumping I began to get panicky. What the fuck?
Brassey said they were my Cd's and dirty, then his started to jump too.
We cleaned the discs. They still jumped. Then I looked under the CD player. The tables were so unlevel one of the feet of the player was rocking very slightly t enough to make stuff jump. Also the tables were really crap and uneven.
After a while we took a deep breath and told the dance floor to hang on a sec and moved the CD player.... it would have been OK but Brassey accidentally switched off the amp... so, panic and no music until I realised what had happened. The dance floor were unfazed though.
It was a bit better, we still had a couple of minor jumps. Then Brassey tripped over a lead whilst the dance floor was busy and pulled out the electric.... total silence.... replug... reset and miraculously the dance floor got back up.
I was soooooo relieved when it was over. We have NEVER played such a problematic gig.
I felt a bit down and miserable. Then someone approached me. She asked us when we were playing there again. She loved our music. Her mates had all loved it. She said we were million times better than good old Barrie.... she never danced when he played there.
She made my night.
So, is it all fun? well no. I guess even top DJ's have to learn to cope with things going not quite the way you'd planned them. But at the end of the day the people still enjoyed our music.
Made it all worth it.
(BTW we played every single one of those bloody jumpy cds the next day at home and not one of those fuckers jumped. A combination of bad tables and jumpy wooden stage.
Grrrr)
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