Hi, I did a disco on Christmas Eve at a pub and during the evening I had a dick head come up and wanted to sing. Prior to this he had already taken his trousers down and given everyone a front row view of his backside, so you can guess the type of guy we're talking about here. I explained to him that my insurance did'nt cover anyone else to use the mic other than myself and my son so he fumbled about in his pocket and gave me his credit card and said "here this'll cover it!! I said look mate if you break my mic I can't speak into a piece of plastic can I??? So then he went off with my mic, I turned the volume down on the mixer so he came back up again. "Turn on the mic you *********** So I replied "right what I'll do is turn the music off altogether and you can explain to all these nice people the problem you have. With that he leaned over and started turning the knobs on the mixer, saying "What like this you mean!!. Well that was it I siad "Do you often touch stuff that doesn't belong to you??? By this time one of his mates had come up and pulled him away so I grabbed the mic and carried on. Has anyone else had this kind of situation and if so how did they deal with it? :


PS. I know it's Xmas Day but I'm waiting for the Turkey to cook!!!

Always call the bouncer or management to deal with it in my opinion.Mind you if needs be, i would not run

You should of kneed him in the groin then just as he's about to fold, Head butt the !!! Works everytime

Me finks me shall hire ones self out as a bouncer Anyone want me?
Hic!

I would pay money to see you kneeing drunks in the groin Would you kiss it better afterwards or just blow on it!? (think i could be in trouble again)

I think you were 'correct' in your approach, generally, but if you work in a 'public venue' such as a pub, you will get the odd 'idiot' and attention grabber.

Unless this 'pub' has 'security' (on Christmas Eve) then I'm afraid the only person you 'could' rely on is the owner/manager - and yourself. Unless you do the venue regular, and know some of the 'punters' - even then, you can be still on your own.

Nobody likes trouble - be it any type of venue. You have to look after your gear because they are the 'tools' for your 'bread & butter' or Professional income.

I would take up 'Paula's offer' and then some. Nobody wants to argue with someone who gets fed up with 'I Will survive', 'hairy bums' and idiots on the mic.
Go get 'em for me Paula!!!!

Failing that - there are one or two members who know excellent 'put-downs' you could have used...but again, be careful.

It doesn't matter if it was a ticket 'bash' or 'open event' or 'private affair' - your gear comes first, be it speakers, electrical equipment, mic's, etc.

Perhaps one way around this is to come to an understanding with the management, and stress prior to any more work at the said venue, that NO-ONE is allowed to use your mic. (or get a 'fixed deck mic')

Hope your Christmas is going well - best wishes.

Safety in numbers springs to mind . There are usually two of us at a gig, so "dealing" with one troublemaker isn't really an issue, although having said that, I have only been in this situation about twice in almost 16 years, so if you are a "newbie" don't be put off by this thread, I think if trouble does break out, the D.J is usually the person least likely to be caught up in it!.

If it does happen to you...most D.J's are able to either Talk their way out of it or failing that, inform Security...most hotels and pubs have some form of person trained to deal with heated situations / troublemakers, even if it's not "Security" or visible Door Staff, I have seen idiots ejected by bar and waiting staff before now .

Ahhhh the public humiliation approach! Your best weapon for dealing with idiots.... make very public idiots of them. You need to be razor sharp and confident to make it work but when it comes off.... the feeling of satisfaction is unbeatable

Long story, but I god some fool giving me grief in the toilets after a gig this Christmas. That was taking it too far I thought. So, for the first time ever, I punched a customer, just once in the stomach......... and it felt good (not so good for him)! I him left the toilets and told the doormen what he'd done... and they (physically) threw him out

Well what did he expect after threatening me for refusing to turn the whole of his work's Christmas party into an non stop RnB night

I don't recommend that approach though. Just be firm when dealing with idiots and leave them in no doubt that you are in charge of your equipment.

In all my years I have had many occassions where similar situations happen, sometimes I let them use the mic, sometimes I don't.

Only twice has the situation got out of hand, the first 3 drunk guys at a wedding got very agressive & threatening and I dis strike out first, this was some 18 years ago and in hindsight was the correct thing to do.

the second time a drunk was trying his hardest to damage the equipment, so after telling him to F off etc, and he had returned to his party, i went over to him and calmly & quietly told him in front of his friend what would happen if he came anywhere near me or my equipment again, he kept well out of the way.

In my experiance if you satnd very close to them, look into their eyes & tell them quietly, it has more of an effect than a loud shouting session.

but each case needs to be handled on its own merits, also I'm over 6ft tall & 17stone of ex Rugby player so this probably makes people think twice.

Yeh, I was going to call the manager on my other mic had the situation got any worse. My son comes out with me to most gigs but he's only 16 and makes a rake look fat so he'd not be much use in a violent conflict. Luckily I did this pub as a one off favour for another DJ I can understand why now. The other thing that annoyed me was having to ask about eight punters if they could vacate the tables so we could set up, unfortunately they don't have any doorstaff or security. So thats definatley a no no for next year. My only concern now is I've been asked to do a local pub in town on a regular Friday night basis, it's not exactly the nicest place for a drink and there are no door staff there either but at least it's every Friday. So do I request some sort of security before I agree to do the venue?

I would certainly talk to the manager about what they can do to protect you and your gear before agreeing to do the gig.

I was doing Abbey formerly "Abbey Nationals" Christmas party on Sunday the 21st Dec this year. 300 people - One of my favourite gigs of all time.

Our show always looks outstanding but on this particular occassion it looked even better. This was aided by the venue, an old church, acoustics were shocking cos the ceiling was like 80ft high maybe more, but plenty of room to show off our lights!!

On this particular occassion I too had a "fiddler". God they do my box in.

It was towards the end of the night and initially she approached me as it turns out cos she fancied me - sez her boss.. lol BIG head for me.
She just coudn't be told, but my approach is always too polite with these people - afterall your client and potential customers can normally see everything that goes on.
Her boss quickly sussed what was going and to my relief took her away.
She was persistant though and came back a further 3 times to play with me gear n wot not.
Her boss sorted her out sharply after that, the threat of disciplinarry action was enough to keep her away for the rest of the night.

What a success story that night was though, buzzin all night.
Were booked for next year already - apparently nobody danced at it the year before.

This just goes to prove that providing the best and most professional service really does pay.

Ross.

On the subject of 'security' - Licensed Doorman have to be 'licensed' with the local authority, and wear 'I.D'.

Any 'hotspot' venue with previous reputation shouldn't be 'considered' if you have any doubts in the first place!

Where many of us have had 'experience' of confrontation - we can all give 'advice' and 'solutions' - but I think you have to go with what you really think is right.

Hope all goes well in the future.

i attended an outdoor dance music festival in augest, with a suspected 25 000 party people.

the security they had there was astonishing.

upon quing to get into the park where the event was being held, they had 3 trucks of riot police drive by and put on standby, but as for the bouncers and crowd control people, there was 1 dude that looked like he meant what he said, wearing shades, earphone and more than willing to punch somebodys lights out, but the rest of them did not look too scarey, afterall, you dont want to scare inocent people away from attending an event, but then again, if you were a legit party person, what would there be to worry bout?

take care for now

Stand your ground, they are usually drunk, we are usually sober, protect your gear and call the bouncer or management.

I sometimes wish I could send several thousand volts to the mic, they could gladly have it then......

I too have had a few instances like yours but i dont worry too much...

1st our contracts clearly list the hirer as "MANAGMENT" & ourselves as the "ARTIST" they go on to say that any damage to equipment will be the responsibility of the " Managment" & that only "Artist & Managment" are covered for the hire of the equipment...

2nd I always say " sorry mate my battery is dying it wont work that side of the disco" if they persist i let them go away and fade um out..... sorry mate i told ya so