Ever had one of those nights??. You know the type I mean!. I think there are three different types of gigs:-

(1) The gig where everybody has a good night (Or as good as they could have assuming they didn't actually want to be at the gig in the first place!).

(2) The gig where the audience are all over you like a rash. You couldn't do wrong if you tried.

(3) The gig where a minority of people do nothing but moan at you all night, and if looks could kill they'd be digging a 6ft hole and putting you in your flightcase.

Currently, i'm experiencing no3 at a resident gig I do every fortnight . I manage to keep the dancefloor continuously at capacity all night - yet the amount of hassle that the regulars give you is unbelievable. The usual comments like "Put something decent on" are making a return, and when you ask them for suggestions they just say "Oh anything but this"!!! - That particular statement really makes me mad!!!.

I just Wondering if it's time to move on?, I have had an offer from a rival venue in the same area, but it makes it difficult for me, with knowing the actual management of the existing Venue and remaining loyal to them - take up a rival's offer even though i'd be the first to admit that business is business .

Maybe i'm just getting disillusioned with the same old fortnightly routine and maybe ditto with the audience's reaction to me. So in the lyrics of a song "Should I stay or should I go"??.

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I just Wondering if it's time to move on?, I have had an offer from a rival venue in the same area, but it makes it difficult for me, with knowing the actual management of the existing Venue and remaining loyal to them - take up a rival's offer even though i'd be the first to admit that business is business

If I was in your situation Chris; I'd explain to the management of the existing gig that things aren't going great with a section of the regular punters, and that maybe it'd be good for both yourself and the venue to have a change. That way you're not leaving him in the lurch, plus you can negotiate a time frame for him to find a replacement, which then also enables you to say to the rival venue that you can start in however many weeks.
Whatever happens, it sounds to me that you need a change. I would never work somewhere where I wasn't enjoying it, as it will affect your performance, no matter how professional you are, if you're regularly getting stick it will drag you down.
We are some of the lucky few on the planet who earn a living from doing something we love, but in order to do a good job, in my opinion you really do have to enjoy the gig otherwise it's reflected in your performance.
Good luck.

Thanks for the feedback, yes i'm of the conclusion that a change may need to be on the horizon. The point is that I do enjoy it...that was did enjoy it up until a phone call earlier from the manager of the venue.

Apparently the comments from some of the punters has got back to him and he's mentioned it to me "in passing". As far as i'm concerned it's just a handful of his regular's who are doing the complaining, the fact that 85+% of the audience are on the Dancefloor all night has no bearing on the issue! . Based on this, and the fact that we play a usual "Mobile" selection of music made me think that everything was okay...until speaking to him today

What makes it worse is that the manager is also a D.J , and he plays "opposite" me on the weeks that I'm not there, so obviously he's going to have people loyal to him, as I know I have people there loyal to me. I'm just wondering if he's treating these few comments as a "D.J" rather than looking at it from a Managers' perspective!.

He isn't aware of the rival's offer, which came in about a month ago and I would have turned it down without giving it a second thought, however I'm now wondering if it's maybe time to move on and take up this offer and make the change?.

Either way i'll say it again - NEVER work for a venue manager who is also a working D.J. The conflict of opinion is a nightmare

Don't worry Chris, his loss!!!

Go for the other offer, least you get a new venue, new crowd etc...Plus you don't have to put up with the abuse.!!!

AS

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business is business

Hmmm I read this with interest, and my first inclination was that your loyalty should be to the venue, not to that handful of punters causing you grief. If the dance floor is full you can't be doing much wrong and if they don't like it tuff, there are more than enough who do enjoy your evening.

Then I read on and I can see what others are saying, however i still have this niggle in mind about the devil you know etc. However as you say the conflict of interest by this manager does'nt make things any easier and maybe a change would be better.

Chris
Stay ahead but never burn your bridges
Take the new gig and supply an alternative to the existing one to keep it fresh.
Get Spin, Ian & naughty Paula to do a gig there.
Ideally get Spin to demostrate the use of Gaffa tape on Paula while Ian works his magic on the funky soul sets.
Paula its only a joke honest Agh

Oh its time to move on Chrissyyy!!!!

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Get Spin, Ian & naughty Paula to do a gig there.

Can we do this guy's, who fancys driving to Chesire? not to sure about the gaffa tape bit!

We'll pack our bags & leave right away!

Bad Petteeee

Thanks for the advice, it really helps when you can look at it from another persons point of view...or several in this case.

I arrived there a little bit earlier last night in order to have a word with the Manager. I brought up the subject and casually mentioned that it may be better for all concerned if I moved on, and perhaps he did every week, instead of bringing in other D.J's. That way, his regular punters would be happy and he would get the night done exactly how he wanted. .

The main problem is that we are two different D.J's, with Different styles and formats, and that was the point of rotating the nights, so that neither D.J gets bogged down with the same routine and the audience would have something different. However the conflict began when the manager started offering "advice" and trying to mould me into doing the same format and style as him!. This often resulted in him looking over my shoulder all night...which for me is a big no no!. - either he trusts me to do the Job or he doesn't..I don't need a babysitter.

However, the result is, that he's perfectly happy with what i'm doing, and he doesn't want me to leave. I played to an almost capacity crowd again last night and the atmosphere was amazing. The manager also kept a low profile which suited me .

What we did decide..since the Mobile side is extremely busy, is that I would take a month out from the place in order to think of some new idea's...and just serve as a break, since I haven't missed one gig up there for 12 months. Now whether this is just a smoke screen for him to try out a few other D.J's in there, I don't know , but it was MY suggestion that I took a few weeks out, so it's a chance i'm going to take.

That was another option which I had thought of but failed to mention............... would it not be easier for all concerned if he took on 4 DJ's and you each did a week with three weeks to concentrate on other stuff, coming back to it fresh once a month?

I've got me gaffa tape ready, now all I've gotta do is convince Paula!

The problem with having DJs with different styles doing the same venue for the same people is that some will prefer DJ A and others DJ B. What makes it harder is when one of the DJs is also the manager.
We all have different opinions on what to play at a gig which is the way it should be. In this case the guy should be looking at his books as a manager rather than interfering with your style.
Sometimes a change is as good as a rest and maybe it is time to move on but leave the door open to come back.
Paul S

Hi y'all, Im back from sunny majorca! Just to add my two pennies worth - there are always a few punters who think that they know more and could do a better job than you... obviously they are blind to the fact that you have 85% of the people on the dance floor..... but the ones that moan are the ones who are criticising you - so why aren't they they ones at a club behind the decks getting sack loads of wonga for doing what they think they can do? Chris, you know what happens, they moan, you leave then they beg you to come back - they only know what a good thing they had until it has gone! xx

Hi Chris,

I would suggest you take a leaf out of my friend Mark Ferrell's book.

Establish what you are truly "Worth" to this manager.

ASK FOR A RAISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The extra money will help contain your frustration

I think most of us 'older' DJ's have been in the same situation. When it happened to me, on more than occassion/venue I put other DJ's in there each week, so there was a different face/style every week, punters still wanted me back with my set/routine as they knew what to expect. But after a while the venue was happy, I was happy, the punters happy, untill new management took over and one of the DJ's I put in there undercut me to get the gig. No great loss to me, as I was only doing one now and again there but the DJ who undercut me lost all the other work I had given him, including most nights in December.

I always work by the following rule "you cant please everybody all of the time but you can please most people some of the time" Its worked for me for many years,there are always going to be people who are going to moan, they like moaning. Sounds like you really care about your work and you probably lie awake if you feel a nights been under standard. You just have to reset and move on to the next night. I think i would be tempted to continue as it sounds like the other jock has a few mates who are being difficult as you do a better job ! If you moved on would you manage to take the punters with you ? Bet you the ones who complain would follow too ! Good Luck either way