Do you have the same probs with people coming over (usually drunk) askin for requests with their pint glass hanging over the back of your set up?
Had to tell a bloke 4 times on sat to get his drink away from my stuff!
problem is they seem to take offence no matter how nice you tell em

I normally take hold of their arm and gently guide it and the drink away from my gear - I then explain that if one drop spills into the equipment we'd all die in the explosion - sobers them up long enough to move out of the way .

Paul

roadie takes requests well away from me and the gear.

any one who leans over the front gets sent round the side to talk to the roadie.

cant afford acidents with drinks.....

Yet another reason why I have no frontage on the disco.

Carol takes requests and keeps them away from the gear. If one comes to me I just point them away to her.

Absolutely why I take a roadie. Requests are 99% of the time handled by the roadie at the side of the show.

Have you considered barb wire or chicken wire (Blues Brothers)?

Get a little sign made which reads:

Please do not hold drinks over the DJ console as a broken finger often offends....

Set your job up so you are working in front of your console instead of behind it.

that's why i have a roadie to take requests and keep them away from the equipment bcoz you know how tipsy people can be with a drink and cabling.

Nothing wrong with settin up in front, but i like to be facing the people, perhaps i will try it next gig and see

Here are two pictures of the same rig, the first one in daylight, the second is what the punters see !

Can you make these pictures a bit bigger Andy please?

will some one please pm Andy with instructions on how to resize photos !!!!

Nice and easy set up. i too like working open, makes it easier to interact with the crowd.

So I assume you stand in the middle, under the truss, facing the audience, and just occasionally turn your back to them to get the next track ready, or hit play at the right time?

Am I right in thinking that you don't do much beat mixing?

During mixing I spend a lot of time at the controls, and wouldn't want to stand with my back to the crowd.

(PS: You may want to resize the pics.)

I DON'T KNOW HOW TO RESIZE THE DAMN THINGS

Yes, I stand in the middle, and do not beat mix at all, people can come up to me to chat and ask for requests etc.

It was something I did many years ago after listening to an actor who told about the invisable barrier between him and the aus=dience.

Seems its a good idea perhaps to arrange your stuff so you stay"open" as such, will try it next gig.
I dont beatmix either so wont do any harm, havin said that, i tend to look at lappy/ cd's alot and double make sure things are qued etc, play the next track sometimes in the head set just to get a feel for the beat etc, so might end up facing the gear alot more than you true pro's!

Nice pics andy...i take it the beringer mixer is for the band?

We always direct people to the side to make requests. Another occasional problem we get is people putting their drinks on our bass bins. We either request, politely, that they desist, explaining that the drink will not be safe there and could easily fall over and ruin our equipment, or simply remove the offending item and put it on a table. Either way the drinks are gone within seconds.

A variation on this subject is the time I am reminded of when someone hung his jacket on our lighting rig!!

It didn't stay there long.

Some people, and they are few, fail to understand that they are abusing the tools of another's trade. I have no doubt that they would complain immediately if I were to go into their place of work and leave something on their desk or workbench.

Yes the picture was taken mid afternoon, the band were sound checking and I hadn't finished setting up but fancied a break from it all so took my new digital camera and had a play with it, as you can see the snake was still running across in front of me, speakers weren't set up correctly, flightcases everywhere, in fact the picture must be about 3 or 4 years old as it is was the smallish set up with a DJ mixer and one amp.

gunna say its an overkill for a couple of cd players and a lappy in it!

Andy

Are the punters watching 3 UFO`s coming in to land. Possibley ET in one of them?

Thanks for the pics Andy :)

I did a 50th party in a private house (BIG house) last year and set up with the gear off to my left 'cos it suited the room and the occasion. Now that I think of it, I spoke to more people that night than I normally do. Just had to turn to the left to cue the next song up, then turned to face the audience again.

I think I'll try that next time.

Cheers,

Jack.