Hooters, here we come...

[Wolfie]

Cheers, folks.

John Mixon, president of the Downstate DJ Forum referred us to a gig at Hooters in Rehoboth Beach for this coming Thursday night.

I just got off the phone with the manager. Looks like it's a go. He needs a professional DJ with a pro equipment system who won't let the "F-word" slip. Evidently they had a local radio jock before who got them in some trouble due to his colorful language. This gig is a special that's being promoted quite well.

Rehoboth is a popular resort town. Audience age ranges from 30-ish to 50-ish. All clean fun and some emcee work during the show. From the sound of it, this will be similar to the bachelor auction we did last year for Curves.

Here is where I need your professional input:

I haven't DJed a restaurant or bar in over nine years. I've never been to a Hooters establishment although I am familiar with the venue. We will need a general list of popular tunes for this age group in a Hooters setting.

Can you help? All suggestions are welcome. We'd greatly appreciate it. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

[Professor Jam]

I use Funky Mix and Ultra Mix as well as Clean edits from Promo and others... Its a family property and you should also have some classics as you will get requests..

Have a HOOT!

Ops... I mean FUN! Leave the HOOTS on the girls [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

[John Allo]

What about some medleys, like the Tight Fit 60's medley?

I also have a nice Motown medley, an Atlantic Soul medley, a Stones medley, a Beatles medley, a 70's funk medley, a 26-minute 60's dance medley, a Van Morrison-Jimmy Buffett-Stones medley.

Those might work?

[Michigan DJ]

Just play to them like a wedding reception crowd. They are, after all, the same people right?

Just remember the heavy hitters and floor fillers. Also playing some hits from the 70s and 80s that aren't "dance" material may work as well.

[Wolfie]

Thanks, guys. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

Jimmy Buffet is one of the artists the owner mentioned when we chatted. I picked up the new live album after work this evening.

Also, I'm hoping we can use our east coast beach music collection and some old Motown as well.

As I understand there's gonna be a bikini contest and I get to MC (Hmmmmmm.... what am I bid? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img])

I'll post an update to let you know how it went.

[Wolfie]

Cheers, folks.

Thursday night was the final installment of the regional Hooters annual swimsuit pageant. Last night's winner is on her way to the finals in Atlantic City. The AC winner goes to Miami for the international competition.

Ten contestants vied for the coveted award. There were two rounds of judging -- judges were chosen from the audience via raffle. Monies go to the Childrens Miracle Network. The first competition was tee shirts (dry) with an auction for the shirts. The second round of judging was the bikini contest.

We had a couple of hours of music before the contests began. Venue was mostly 80s R&R... anything as long as it's clean and upbeat. No hip hop or rap. There was no dancefloor so we got a break from the "cheese". The system thumped the house quite well with an overall good tone. That surprised me considering the size of the crowd and the fact that our tops were not elevated.

We lucked out as far as the emcee duties went. The emcee was a local radio personality from 93.5 FM who did a superb job of keeping the crowd pumped up and happy. We supplied the wireless mic and intro music; he did most of the real work.

The house was standing room only all night. The folks who arrived early and got seats were the lucky ones. There wasn't room to set up our speaker stands so we stacked the cabinets. We set the system up in mono and faced one stack toward the dining area where the contest was and the other stack faced the bar area. They have a long bar there, too and it stayed filled and busy all night. We were lucky to have a spot to stand in at all. Several folks were outside watching through the windows -- there wasn't room for them all inside.

This show was the first outing for our new console rig. I'm getting acclimated to the new mixer and CD system layout. It's much smaller (and lighter) than the old Gemini coffin rig we worked with for many years.

All in all it was a good show though a bit tiring. We're not as young as we once were. I haven't worked a gig in a bar or restaurant in many years and had forgotten how tiring it can be. But the crowd had fun, we had fun, we got paid and we got compliments from the owner and staff. That's the important part.

We didn't get photos -- cameras weren't allowed. We did see quite a number of camera cell phones, however.

[SirWolfy]

Congrats Fred, sounds like you and Shirl rocked the house. It must have been a refreshing contrast for the owner and staff, compared to their prior experiences...

I bet the new, lighter gig-rig was much more sweeter at the end of the night when you were wore out, too! lol

[Wolfie]

Thanks, Charles. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

Indeed, it was nice not having to lug that big 50 lb coffin rig for a change. Besides, there wouldn't have been room for it in this venue. We were backed up a few feet from the bar service entrance to our rear with a short wall to the front. The beverage dispensing area was to our left and the main waitress traffic was at our right. I'm guessing a 6-foot footprint, left to right. Even with the slimmed-down console system we couldn't move without bumping into someone. Shirl slipped out for an air break and someone filled her spot. Standing room was at a premium, believe me.

The owner had an especially stressful night. He had a full staff but this was a special promotion that has been publicized throughout the regional Hooters chain. It went through Pennsylvania and New Jersey and ended up in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware for the finals. The house was packed like a city transit bus at rush hour and the waitresses ran their arses off all night long.

As with any gig of this nature you have your share of underage patrons trying to buy drinks, too many people crammed into too little space etc. We got the impression from the owner that he was concerned about inappropriate music and language. He didn't have to worry about that with us there. The emcee was professional, yet laid-back and right at home with the crowd. It was a tough gig for everyone involved but it came out well and they raised a boatload of dough for charity.