Impressions of the new guy.

Disclaimer: The following post is my own impression of my weekend of work at an entertainment company and in no way represents the company for which I work for, nor in any way attempts to offer any service in which they provide. Names have been removed and are not intended to accurately reflect those who may or may not have been involved in the events that I worked at. Any likeliness is merely coincidence.

What a contrast, the two gigs that I have had the opportunity to work at. One a wedding, the other was an anniversary dinner party. The prior was held at a county owned multipurpose center turned guest hall. The latter was held at a posh country club with private golf course. Attire for the guests ranged from revealing at the wedding to restrained at the dinner party. For the first gig, musical selections ran from Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle to the Electric Slide by Marcia Griffiths. The second gig had music by Maxi Priest, David Grusin, Fernando Ortega, Ray Obiedo, and Anne Murphy.

The wedding was a celebration of the beginning of a new relationship in which the guests dined on chicken francaise, crabmeat stuffed steak, and grilled salmon. They hopped and danced to Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight, Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You, Louie Armstrong's What a Wonderful World, DJ Casper's Cha Cha Slide and 50 Cent's In Da Club. For some of the guests, it was open license to "relax" and uninhibit themselves from their normal lives. The "sandwich" dance (think of meat surrounded by two buns) was very much in evidence as well as close contact body dancing.

Besides that, there were the unusual requests to get the bride and groom to perform karaoke, the requests for music that shouldn't be played at a wedding (we were asked to play Gold Digger by Kanye West) no matter the veracity of the claims, and for one woman, a request to dance alone with the bride in front of the guests. Intoxication and thinking clearly really didn't go hand in hand that night.

Perhaps the funniest part of the evening had to be when the emcee, in an attempt to get people on the dance floor, hopped on one of the subwoofer cabinets, then directed them out of their seats and onto the floor where he had them dancing to Dollar by Colin Lucas. I could barely repress my laughter as he did this, especially with the sight of all those people dancing to such a risque song. When he finished directing them, he got off the subwoofer and commented to the DJ and me that he hadn't had to resort to that tactic in years. Then he demanded that we not tell anyone. Since I am not naming names, I can't really be telling anyone about it can I? ;)

The room, itself, was the common room of the building. It had a peaked ceiling with support beams stretched across the room and chandeliers hanging from the peak between each crossbeam support. Fake ferns had been stretched across the cross beams to hide the various electrical fixtures that powered the room's spotlights. Candelabras hung from the walls with those tapered chandelier bulbs. We set up in the recessed stage opposite from a six foot tall fake fireplace covered with white roses.

For a first gig, it was a wild night that certainly kept me amused as I listened to the commentary from both the DJ and the emcee. I suppose that both, having been veterans of this industry, that they have just about seen it all and become jaded. Only through the eyes of a new guy, like me, would they ever notice that what was being said might sound a bit inappropriate. One made the comment to me during the reception that after a while, each engagement becomes impersonal very quickly. And he was right.

I am probably going to burst a few bubbles and misconceptions about professionals in the entertainment industry. Yet, how can it not become impersonal, when all you really remember are the names of the people responsible for the decisions as well as the name of the guest(s) of honor? When all we do is present our "professionalism" that is intended to make you feel comfortable about our competence, regardless of how green we may actually be.

If we do our jobs correctly, the guests will remember a happy time that had no mishaps. They will only remember the antics of friends and family during the reception. We, the guys providing the music, won't remember it very well because there were no screw ups. We will have heard the delightful music that is played at weddings ad nausem. And tomorrow, we might have another gig that could be as far different as an anniversary party.

The anniversary party, that I did the next afternoon, was a celebration of the continuation of a relationship that had been going fifty years strong with the intention of lasting even longer as they shared heart warming stories about their life together and how their love for each other began. Inspirational toasts and recollections abounded. There was the hired violinist who seranaded the happy couple as they were surrounded by their extended family. Jazz and Jamaican music played softly in the background as they dined on chicken marsala, teriyaki salmon, or stuffed filet of sole. Dancing was expressly prohibited by the client.

And I mustn't forget to mention the cake. Jamaican Rum Raisin cake with a crumbly whipped sugared icing. Wow. One small slice and I felt like I had taken a couple of rum shots. My poor asian metabolism reacted immediately to all the alcohol, which was exhibited by my bright red face. If I ever find out who made that cake, I suspect I am going to be a repeat visitor to their kitchen to lick up the extra icing.

The event was held at a posh gated country club that had a mansion built on the grounds surrounded by a private golf course. When we arrived, the rain had relented enough that we were actually dry when we wheeled the equipment in to the dining room. This room had a vaulted ceiling with solid oak beams of which the bottom sides of the beams had been covered with mosiac tiles that gently glinted the light shone up from below. Peaked windows along the sides of the dining hall allowed the greyish light filter through. Colored flood lights lit the oaken beams to highlight the slightly moorish architecture and pale beige stucco walls. Bejeweled candelabras mounted from the walls light the main dining area. At one end, which had a wonderful view of the nine hole, the bar and beer tap had been wheeled into place. We set up beside the bar.

I made a comment to the DJ prior to entering the dinner party after reading the "party schedule sheet" that judging from the requested music, we were going to be a glorified sound system, and in the end, that is exactly what we were. The music we were asked to play ranged from quiet inspirational music to instrumental jazz. I can't help but liken listening to jazz music with nothing to do akin to listening to elevator music when the elevator stops working. It's not bad when you want to relax. Yet, when you've been up until three or four in the morning doing the previous gig and working this gig with four and a half hours of sleep (I never did get back to sleep), relaxing music puts you in that mode where all you want to do is sleep.

Sadly, during the dinner party, there were some major technical glitches. One issue is due to the DJ not doing a proper sound check. (This guy was not part of the same crew I worked with the night before, plus there wasn't an emcee.) There was a considerable amount of unwelcome feedback during the speeches and toasts. The other was a snafu that I have seen time and time again. We are supplied with "fresh" 9V batteries to power the microphones. Well, let's just say that they were not very fresh and the microphone cut out several times.

I was quite embarrased, but since I wasn't the "lead" guy, I couldn't do much about it. I was there only to set up and break down the equipment. It was at this point that I learned how green my "lead" guy was. He had been a DJ for less than a year, and a roadie for two years. He apparently wasn't familiar with how the microphones were connected to the DJ board, and had been turning the wrong volume knob the entire time.

When he figured this out, I decided that now was a good time to really look at the board using my own experience and I saw something I was taught to be wrong. He was running the board at max volume. Besides the risk of burning out the board, this was likely the real reason why we were getting feedback. Don't get me wrong here, while he is very green in my eyes, his potential as a DJ is high, because he knew when the right time to switch moods using the right music. He just needs someone to teach him the finer points. More importantly, doing this gig stretches a DJ giving him experience in areas he would never go on his own.

All in all, I have seen what I suspect is the gamut of celebration, from unrestrained to elegant. I am learning a new occupation by watching what each DJ is doing right and what they are doing wrong. I am getting an eye-opening lesson on the entertainment industry that will change how I see these professionals. If I can get over my concerns, my natural intelligence may take me far in this company.

I suspect that my major concern as I continue to do this type of work is that as time goes by, I will probably be able to know just about every possible way to play wedding music and through this repetition, these songs may not have any more real meaning to me. That I will be as jaded as the DJ and emcee at that wedding, able to portray that happiness without the feeling that once existed there. Will I become as impersonal as time goes by and I learn what I need to know to do this job?