Jade arrives

The last word of the weekend fell on the 18th birthday ball of Jade Molloy, the sister of one of my mates from Charlton …and fittingly with The Addicks away at Bristol City on Sunday this week I was intending to make the trip out west for the match following the gig.

We arrived at the venue around 430, giving ourselves a nice 3 hours to get everything organised for Jades big night, and with the access door going straight onto the stage it was an ideal start for unloading. I hadn’t arrived with any kind of playlist provided, Jade just wanted me to take control although I knew she had a big love for 80’s Soul which I thought was quite unusual for an 18 year old …but the reason for this became clear when I met her parents I learnt her dad is one of the Old Skool 80s Soul DJ’s and this was the music she grew up listening to …”great” I thought, “I’m gonna be under the watchful eye of another DJ”  (I know what us DJ’s are like when we are not working  🙂  , however my mate did insist that he had told me a few years ago that his dad was a DJ, but this was whilst we were all drunk watching Charlton lose at home and he said I was ranting a little at the time about the game …so it didn’t really sound like information I was ever likely to remember.

Jade arrived in a Pontiac

I don’t really get to DJ as many birthdays as I’d like to because I get so much work in the wedding industry, but I enjoy the challenge when I get the opportunity because they do require completely different set of skills from a wedding gig …whys that ? because the guests arrive completely sober (usually) whereas at a wedding the daytime guests have usually had a few by the time the first dance begins. If your a DJ there’s no point in expecting guests to turn up and start dancing, it’s not going to happen so don’t take it personally, these sort of events are slow burners and you build the atmosphere from scratch. The key with this is not falling into the trap of playing your floorfillers to get people dancing when it is obvious guests are socialising upon arrival, so I tend to play well known music that people will enjoy without forcing the issue …so they can relax into the environment, soak up the atmosphere and I get to save the best tunes for later on when they will be appreciated. I don’t personally like playing the same song more than once so theres no point in me playing big songs at the start of a party as I won’t feel inclined to play them later when the crowd really want them.

the party in full swing

Jade says her thank you’s

Saturday wasn’t like a lot of the 18th birthdays I have DJ’d at before, there was a wide range of guest ages from 18-80 so any preconceived thoughts of a bass driven set of music were quickly quashed on the night and it was actually quite a varied set of music accommodating young and older folk. A lot of requests ensured it had it’s spells of cheese, soul and latest music …even a double helping of Bad Manners sneaked in for DJ Terry Molly which seemed to go down particularly well ! I also managed to consume one too many complimentary drinks throughout the evening ensuring that I didnt get home till after 7am …resulting in me not getting up in time to head over the Bristol for the football, and typically for the record the game ended in an easy 2-0 win to Charlton.

So a great end to another fantastic weekend and now the countdown begins to our next big date, The Kent Wedding Awards this Thursday where I am up for “DJ of the Year” at around 10pm, we then start the weekend’s work at Vicky & Adams wedding in Sussex on Friday finishing off with a local birthday party next Saturday …wish us luck for Thursday !

Article written by DJ Phil Webster 

Here’s the set list from Saturday, if you were at the party how about leaving us a comment. Click here to see more photos from this event on our facebook group.

20:48 : Beyoncé РSingle Ladies (Put a Ring On It)
20:51 : Mark Ronson – Valerie (Feat. Amy Winehouse)
20:52 : Scissor Sisters – I Don’t Feel Like Dancing
20:58 : Sam and the Womp – Bom Bom (Radio Edit)
20:59 : PSY – Gangnam Style
21:02 : LMFAO – Sexy and I Know It
21:07 : Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe
21:10 : JLS – She Makes Me Wanna (feat. Dev)
21:13 : One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful
21:17 : Mark Morrison – Return of the Mack
21:20 : Swedish House Mafia – Don’t You Worry Child (Radio Edit) [feat. John Martin]
21:21 : Calvin Harris – Drinking from the Bottle (feat. Tinie Tempah)
21:25 : David Guetta – She Wolf (Falling to Pieces) [feat. Sia]
21:25 : Usher – Scream
21:26 : Robin S. – Show Me Love
21:29 : Robbie Williams – Candy
21:32 : The Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling
21:36 : Bobby Brown – Two Can Play That Game
21:39 : Salt-N-Pepa – Push It (Radio Version)
21:41 : Wham – Wake me up before you go
21:45 : Bee Gees – Staying Alive
21:48 : Artful Dodger – Rewind (Radio Edit)
21:52 : Architects (DJ Luck & MC. Neat, CD1) – Body Groove
21:54 : DJ Luck & MC Neat – Sambuca
21:58 : So Solid Crew – 21 Seconds
22:01 : Rudimental – Feel the Love
22:05 : Disclosure – Latch (feat. Sam Smith)
22:09 : Luther Vandross – Never Too Much
22:12 : Drizabone – Real Love
22:24 : Evelyn “Champagne” King – Love Come Down
22:27 : The Fatback Band – I Found Lovin’
22:30 : Chaka Khan – I Feel For You
22:34 : Kool & the Gang – Celebration
22:38 : B52s – Love Shack
22:43 : Bill Haley and his Comets – Rock Around the Clock
22:45 : Jerry Lee Lewis – Shake, rattle and roll
22:47 : Bad Manners – Lip Up Fatty
22:50 : Bad Manners – Special Brew
22:52 : Madness – Baggy Trousers
22:57 : M People – Moving on up
23:01 : Jamiroquai – Return of the Space Cowboy (David Morales Remix)
23:05 : The Original – I Luv U Baby
23:05 : Livin Joy – Dreamer
23:09 : PSY – Gangnam Style
23:14 : Kings Of Leon – Sex On Fire
23:15 : The Killers – Mr. Brightside
23:21 : Reef – Place Your Hands
23:25 : The Undertones – Teenage Kicks
23:27 : The Clash – Should I Stay or Go Now
23:30 : The Fratellis – Chelsea Daggers
23:33 : Bad Manners – Lip Up Fatty
23:36 : Sean Paul – Temperature.mp3
23:39 : Wiley – Can You Hear Me?
23:40 : Wiley – Heatwave (feat Ms D)
23:45 : Florence + The Machine – Spectrum (Say My Name) [Calvin Harris Remix]
23:48 : Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden – Bonkers
23:49 : DJ Fresh – Gold Dust (Vocal VIP Mix)
23:52 : DJ Fresh – Hot Right Now (Radio Edit)
23:54 : Rihanna – We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris)
23:55 : Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – Your Love
23:58 : Disclosure – Latch (feat. Sam Smith)