DJ Marko and the Wheels of Steel

Hey, Mr DJ, Put A Record On!

Busy, Busy

Well, as lead vocalist of Pretty Vegas and a DJ for 17 years, one way or another I’m out most weekends.  I love it. That feeling when you’re loading up ready to drive to a gig. The anticipation of a good night, when the crowd will sway and dance and fool around, and spill beer and steam will rise from the dance-floor; it gets me going. Setting up the gear is never fun, especially with a work-shy lead guitarist, but I love getting it right; the sound-check; putting on the background music and watching the guests appear; the lights illuminating the stage; the spurt of dry ice as the music surges and the band kicks off. I love it.

Fitting the Bill

We at Pretty Vegas know our music. We all have our ideas about what should be playing when we’re not. Pretty Vegas is, at heart, a rock band; it’s what we grew up on. That’s not to say we don't play with feeling and soul, but we’re never happier than when we’re rocking out with the crowd on the dance-floor, Ritchie on a chair, groin in the air, me and Leighton on the stage and a random lady in the audience banging our tambourine out of time. That had to mean we would end up being a rocking wedding band.

 As resident DJ at a successful country hotel for 17 years I know that rock is only part of the solution. I do a little set of Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi, The Killers and Kings of Leon and it always goes down a storm, but I also recognise the young ladies who want some Rihanna or LMFAO, the mum, dad, grandma or granddad who wants some ‘proper rock n’ roll’ and the 80s fans, revving up for Frankie, Duran Duran or Dexy’s Midnight Runners. I love all music. Various members of Pretty Vegas have been in various different configurations, playing all kinds of music from punk to REM to Metallica to grunge to Britney Spears to Tracey Chapman, since we were just old enough to hold a guitar! We love it all and I pride myself, in terms of being a wedding DJ, on being able to judge a crowd; to look at the spread of people in a room and to establish what they want to listen to.

New Toys

As writer of this blog, I get to talk about the new toys we’ve just bought. Pretty Vegas has just invested in a pair of RCF powered speakers. When coupled with our previous investment of a Mackie sub-woofer, we now sound, as I believe the kids say, unbelievably awesome!

As my colleagues have said in previous blogs, we try to put on a show. We were concerned when we first started out as Pretty Vegas that we didn’t have a light show. We now have a kick-ass light show!  We pay out for the little things all the time - a set of guitar strings here, a £2000 Taylor guitar there! We could get by on some bargain basement second hand gear, but we want to sound good. People sometimes seem incredulous that bands would like to be paid what sometimes amounts to £10 per hour each for a gig. They don’t see what money goes in behind the scenes to get a band to sound like that. To give you a clue, when we go out, because we want to be the best sounding wedding band, we generally have around £10,000 of equipment with us.

I tend to use a combination of iPods and laptops to run my DJ show these days. I’m always a bit suspicious of electronic technology though. I still carry my faithful CDJs and two big cases of discs to every show, just in case. My biggest enduring fear is playing the Bride and Grooms’ first dance and the laptop crashes! Accordingly I now cue the track up simultaneously on iPod, laptop and disc, so there are two failsafes! 

There’s no doubt that technology yields results and as well as the recent upgrades to our PA rig and lights, we at Pretty Vegas take pride in using the best tech and equipment we can.

Dance My Pretties

As a DJ I love nothing more than to make people dance (I think it was Don McLean said that). As I’ve mentioned, I play little sets as a DJ. Unless specified by the Client, I would play a fairly broad range of genres from dance/chart to funk/soul to motown to rock to party to jive to swing to disco to house. If people aren’t dancing then I’ll change the vibe until they do. Often Clients will supply a play list. I will make suggestions about order and what will get people dancing etc. but, at the end of the day, it’s the Client’s evening and usually when a customer supplies a play list it’s because they care about the music they’re going to listen to and the selection is usually pretty much on the money. I’ll play anything! One of my best nights as a DJ was when the Bride and Groom (and all the guests) were into heavy metal and rock. I had a ball playing Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Metallica and the Chilli Peppers. Pretty Vegas may be a pop soul and rock wedding band, but at heart we know what we love!

To tell the truth I just love to play what makes people happy.  I know that sounds really cheesy, and I try to stay away from extreme cheese like The Birdy Song and Agadoo, but it’s true. Sometimes you get a play list of tunes you’ve never heard of. You spend hours and pounds on iTunes downloading obscure sounding tracks, never expecting anyone to be into it. But it often works! If enough people are prepared to get up and cut a rug, then it’s a hit and it’s job done-client happy. 



Mark Keown - Vocals
Pretty Vegas Wedding Band 

  

New Toys For The Boys - RCF Art 715a's!

Peavey Smeavey!

Just a quick one today, as we have finally put our Peavey UL15 Messengers into retirement. Boys, ye served us well! Whilst we will look back at the time we spent together with happiness, at the same time, we know that our new babies will add an extra dimension to our shows.

RCF Art 715a - The new Addition To The Family

You would not actually believe the "discussions" we had before getting these, and it was only the untimely death of our old power amp that pushed us down this route. I had wanted to upgrade our cabs for a while as they were constantly on the limit, but as with all things, it is the justification of the price when they were still performing well for what would be an unknown benefit to the sound.

The problem with music equipment, is that it is very much a bottomless pit if you want it to be. There will ALWAYS be a better desk, better cables, better effects units, same performance but a third of the size etc... Whilst our aim is to have the best sounding equipment and as a wedding and function band make the best sounding and looking show, this HAS to be balanced with cost to both us, and what we would have to charge to cover the investment. We could have a lighting rig with Martin movable fixtures, the sort used on Strictly, The Voice and X-Factor, but it really could not be justified (sadly!).

With the PA though, you are paying for sound quality, performance and reliability, and as a band playing a wedding simply cannot afford to have a "show-stopper", its not about the investment making you money, its about it not losing you money.

As I wrote last year about how hard it is to find pub gigs, even though the band focus on being the best rock pop and soul wedding band, we still love playing pubs, and given the money paid for pub gigs really hasn't increased in many a year, this kind of investment may seem over the top, but with these new workhorses, coupled with our Mackie SRS1500 sub-woofer, means that we can go from a small pub to a 300 person function room without worry.

Well, that's the theory anyway! We have a short break now due to Mark Keown about to become a Dad for the third time, but as soon as we have our first show on 19th May with these new bad boys, I will report on how they perform, hopefully with some pictures of them in action.

Ritchie

Pretty Vegas Wedding And Function Band

Contemplating How Any Bum Notes Will Sound Much Clearer!

Pretty Vegas - "Movember Charity Event"

"Movember" Charity Event

 

 

Just a quick post to say that Pretty Vegas are playing a charity event tonight for Movember, the mens health charity made famous by celebrities and supporters growing moustaches and other facial appendages to raise awareness of prostate and testicular cancer.

 

The event we are playing is at THE UNITY CLUB in Standish near Wigan, starting at 7.30pm, with £7 entry fee, buffet, disco, at set or two by Pretty Vegas and more.

 

I will post some photos of the event so everyone will know what they missed, but hopefully word will spread and the event will be a complete success.

 

 

Please spread this if you are a supporter or care about the issues addressed by the charity.

 

Thanks

 

Ritchie

Pretty Vegas

 

Pretty Vegas - North West Function Band Supporting Movember. 'Taches to be added later!

 

Pretty Vegas - Northwest Wedding Band Blog Introduction



Pretty Vegas - Thats me on the left!

 

Back With A Bang Band

Hi all, I actually started writing a blog a while ago on various subjects, but due to various reasons, I just didn't have the time to actually do anything as regularly as I wanted, but loved the freedom of expression, so I thought I would start this blog in order to give me something more direct to focus on, so this is my blog about Pretty Vegas, Wedding and Function Band, my own wedding and function band.

Erm... Why Would I Want To Read About This?

Fair point, but I actually think it might be useful for potential clients, other people interested in playing a cover band, or even existing band members who are in the same position as us. I plan to not just post about things like up-coming gigs, but also the ins and outs of what it is like playing in a gigging band in this day and age, for people OF a certain age with families, day jobs, mortgages etc...

I know there won't be 10,000 people reading this per day, but if you do read it, and do like it, then please do let me know.

What Will I Write About?

I want to really document all aspects, from what it is like choosing the tracks Pretty Vegas play, the ones we decide against, producing the backing in the studio, how we promote ourselves, playing weddings, keeping your head up whilst playing to empty pubs, new equipment and equipment choices.

Some of this is to help me keep my sanity despite wife, baby, band, work etc... but is also hopefully going to be informative, useful and most importantly, interesting.


Please feel free to add suitable comments, and I look forward to posting again very soon.

Ritchie
Pretty Vegas

Ritchie Mellor - Lead Guitar, Pretty Vegas