Unbeleivable...

[Planetary]

OK, so tonight i was doing a DJ set as part of a popular local monthly event which includes some live music, acoustic acts and a DJ (me).

I started off playing popular tunes of all genres between acts throughout the night, then gradually drifted toward hip hop which people were dancing to and seemed to be enjoying. At about Midnight i stopped playing Hip Hop (which people were still dancing to) and moved onto some chilled out dubstep.

Then about halfway into the first song the barmaid comes over and bluntly tells me that everyone has gone outside (a few people went out to smoke) and is saying the music is "shit". I ask her to explain and she just says "everyone just thinks it's shit". I tell her to go and get them to tell me themselves, to which she just shrugs and walks off.

I then stop playing and speak to the promoter of the evening (this night has nothing to do with the owner/staff) who tells me that the landlord asked him to tell me to stop playing "nigger music" because he doesn't like it. He also tells me there was no truth in the 'everyone thinks you're shit' story. For whatever reason, i had to ask him what was going on before he told me any of this stuff.

I was left shocked and angered by the fact i was spoken to like shit, lied to, and told to stop playing "nigger music" which, incidentally, everyone was dancing to.

I spent money i don't really have on cd's for this event (for which i wasn't paid because the promoter is a friend), as well as a few weeks worth of preparation.

What a fucking joke.

[ms.peachy]

Out the landlord in the local press. Letter to the editor.

[checkyourprez]

burn it to the ground.

[mikizee]

Out the landlord in the local press. Letter to the editor.

Yep. This one.

[paul jones]

the barmaids in my local pub tell me all the time that my music is 'weird shit' when I step up to the jukebox but really they love it and wish they could be as crazy as me.

[Adam]

I feel you man. I used to have this regular slot on a Friday night years ago to play alternative and I used to mix in some hip hop, never any complaints and people kinda like the difference from the same old Rage and Nirvana people only ever asked for. Turn up to do a set as normal and some chump is already setting up and we wasn't told just cus the owner decided he had enough. After carrying all the stuff in the city centre, man I was pissed.

DJs do get treated pretty bad in my experience, if you want to keep at it though you gotta be prepared to take some shit, I kinda stopped playing from then and deciding it wasn't worth it. The plus point where that you kinda get into an in-crowd with other clubs and promoters so free/cheaper drinks/entry at places that cross over, along with the feeling people are having a good time cus of you. The low pay and general annoyance of having to deal with the one chump who wants to spoil it all are the low points.

Yeah, you should burn it down.

[Kid Presentable]

"nigger music"

I get this just for listening to hip-hop.

[ericlee]

Man that story sickened me. The promoter and barmaid are both sacks of shit.

Sorry to hear about your shitty night p, I know it's hard for a dj these days. People are tools and want to go the bar and listen to the same shit they hear on the radio everyday.

[cj hood]

i got a lot of that 25 years ago when hiphop was a fraction of what it is today....now everybody has at least a few hiphop cds in their collection....


i played Hit It Run on the jukebox last nite in between Bon Jovi and other shit....

[Planetary]

I'm actually surprised this many people read my story, so thanks for listening (y)

I'm not sure which way i should respond (if any) at the moment. I'm still mulling it over and taking up a rational stance.

It's funny, i actually found the Landlord's facebook and it turns out he's engaged to the crazy lady who lied that everyone had left because the music was shit. On his fiancé's page, she talks relentlessly about her open-mindedness and reluctance to 'judge people without getting to know them'...

[Audio.]

well buuull shit, amirite?

[yeahwho]

The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x235s_bloodhound-gang-the-roof-is-on-fire_extreme?from=rss)

[rirv]

You know what is the most unbelievable thing about this? Your spelling of unbelievable. It's really winding me up seeing it everytime I log on.

[jabumbo]

I before E, except after C, eh?

[Bob]

Out the landlord in the local press. Letter to the editor.

i agree

[Planetary]

You know what is the most unbelievable thing about this? Your spelling of unbelievable. It's really winding me up seeing it everytime I log on.

It was a typing error, but I take solace in the fact that just reading this is winding you up. Saves me having to think up a witty retort.

[Dorothy Wood]

once a friend of mine DJ'd the wedding of some mutual friends. he spent a lot of time on the playlist and had a lot of people dancing to 60's R&B mostly...then the groom's brother started freaking out about the music sucking. and the grooms friends got in on it. and they basically forced my friend to put on a CD of stupid pop crap, including a couple of songs by William Hung.


people are rude!

[b i o n i c]

make up a flyer for some ill hip hop night with free drinks/no cover, scatter them about the neighborhood with the boominest car stereos in town and wait

[Planetary]

make up a flyer for some ill hip hop night with free drinks/no cover, scatter them about the neighborhood with the boominest car stereos in town and wait

This is the best suggestion yet... (y) i think just walking along with a boom box on my shoulder would be more effective though.

[jabumbo]

i wonder...

do you think that these people would have acted the same if you, as the DJ, weren't a friend? i mean, if they had gone out to hire you all proper, would they do the same?

[Planetary]

The only person that i actually knew was the promoter who i consider(ed?) a friend. The landlord and his fiancé didnt know me or anything, they just decided that they didn't like the music and so fed me an elaborate lie about people leaving because of what i was playing. So on the one hand, no it didn't make a difference, but i think had i not been friends with the promoter who put me on, two things would have been different: I'd have been paid for the five hours i played, and he'd have stood up for me/backed me in some way when the dispute arose. I think the reason he didn't is that him and the landlord have a deal of sorts where he stays loyal to that venue, and through that the night and the venue are sort of associated, which works out better for them. Obviously he wanted to protect this...

The promoter's acting very apoligetic now but i still feel i'm owed some sort of compensation considering the circumstances.

[Freebasser]

I deal with 'nigger music' remarks every time I put my ipod on shuffle at work.

It's crazy how narrow-minded people in small towns can be; especially small towns full of dole-scum white trash. BNP membership is on the up in Wigan, yet I can count the number of black people here on one hand.

[Planetary]

I dunno, it sort of came as a shock to me, having not really experienced that sort of thing too much growing up here.

The guy was ex-forces though. And he was from the north, probably Wigan. Probably a pier dweller...

[jabumbo]

i thought all the rappers over there were white dudes?