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A couple of weeks ago, I got a message from a couple of friends, saying "Person X is looking for a DJ and we've recommended you", so I got in touch with them. And as a result, ended up doing a four-hour set last night for the Barfleet party at LonCon3/WorldCon 2014 at ExCel, London.
The Barfleet crews are nice folk who put on organised parties at US SF conventions, with bar, cocktails, DJs, and so on (and carefully placed plastic wrap on the floor in front of and behind the bar tables, to ameliorate spillage), and an alleged belief in "responsible drinking to excess". They had a small away team at LonCon3, and were therefore looking for auxiliary crew. Unfortunately, they were also on the road for the fortnight before the event (transporter lag?) (actually, they were touring Scottish whisky distilleries, and filling their luggage with everything that wasn't shipped to the US already), so the mission briefing was ... err ... brief. And necessarily second-hand. Still, I turned up with a recently acquired folding trolley stacked with CD boxes, my decks, and a second-hand netbook with back-up tunes on it (I didn't want to rely on a partially-tested bit of kit for the whole night, so it was a test of concept), was directed to the helpful guy who'd managed the booking, bearing a fine waxed moustache, and headed down to set up in one of the conference suites (well, two, with the dividing wall pulled aside). The Barfleet crew set up their 'dispensary', with plastic tubs of cocktails and serving measures (small jugs), while I hooked my stuff up to the room's PA and one of the con volunteers popped in to wrangle some LED PAR cans for lighting. And then the punters started to turn up (slowly at first), so, on to the music ...
According to one attendee, I made it so ...
( Setlist )
¹ At this point the Barfleet crew thanked everyone for attending - and then announced that the cocktails had run out. "These idiots ... people ... in front of the bar with their hands in the air, have in their glasses the last dregs of the Photon Torpedo². These drinks do not like each other. They definitely do not like people. We salute them!" Announcing that the booze has run out does put a certain amount of pressure on the DJ - a bit like the main bridge crew teleporting off mid-battle, turning, as they dissolve, to the remaining ensign and announcing "You have the conn".
² Which I believe is a cocktail analogy of the drip-tray dreg mix.
The Barfleet crews are nice folk who put on organised parties at US SF conventions, with bar, cocktails, DJs, and so on (and carefully placed plastic wrap on the floor in front of and behind the bar tables, to ameliorate spillage), and an alleged belief in "responsible drinking to excess". They had a small away team at LonCon3, and were therefore looking for auxiliary crew. Unfortunately, they were also on the road for the fortnight before the event (transporter lag?) (actually, they were touring Scottish whisky distilleries, and filling their luggage with everything that wasn't shipped to the US already), so the mission briefing was ... err ... brief. And necessarily second-hand. Still, I turned up with a recently acquired folding trolley stacked with CD boxes, my decks, and a second-hand netbook with back-up tunes on it (I didn't want to rely on a partially-tested bit of kit for the whole night, so it was a test of concept), was directed to the helpful guy who'd managed the booking, bearing a fine waxed moustache, and headed down to set up in one of the conference suites (well, two, with the dividing wall pulled aside). The Barfleet crew set up their 'dispensary', with plastic tubs of cocktails and serving measures (small jugs), while I hooked my stuff up to the room's PA and one of the con volunteers popped in to wrangle some LED PAR cans for lighting. And then the punters started to turn up (slowly at first), so, on to the music ...
According to one attendee, I made it so ...
( Setlist )
¹ At this point the Barfleet crew thanked everyone for attending - and then announced that the cocktails had run out. "These idiots ... people ... in front of the bar with their hands in the air, have in their glasses the last dregs of the Photon Torpedo². These drinks do not like each other. They definitely do not like people. We salute them!" Announcing that the booze has run out does put a certain amount of pressure on the DJ - a bit like the main bridge crew teleporting off mid-battle, turning, as they dissolve, to the remaining ensign and announcing "You have the conn".
² Which I believe is a cocktail analogy of the drip-tray dreg mix.