um? dj'ing before someone else goes on???

warm up the crowd but don't heat em up... and look up a thread started by audio 1 "the esoteric art of the opening dj"

depends on what type of event and what music youre playing, i would think.

in the rave "scene" the job of the opening DJ is to suck at mixing and kiss the promoters ass as much as possible.

don't play heaters!!!!!!

theburningbible.com

I've never had an opening DJ but if I ever did I'd let them play whatever they want. They could burn through all the top 40 bangers but I would still have confidence that I could rock the crowd. If you're relying on dropping Ke$ha, Sexy Bitch, and Pitbull to really rock the crowd you should not be the headliner DJ.

+1djchriscruz, I let the mid-week dj open up on the crazy Friday nite crowd.
He deals with alot of requests/crowd that I dont have to play. This truly leaves the gems after he has played all of the radio repeat songs.

I've opened for vice a while back and he said play whatever you want. lol

I hope one day I can say the same to a Dj spinning before me.

i would say it to anyone.... if you're not 100% confident in your game, it's a good test for yourself.

Then let's all do it! From now on, grow some balls and tell your opener, if he asks, he can play whatever he/she feels!

the job of the opening dj is to bring in a crowd earlier than the regular crowd shows up. If you dont do that your not worth the promoters money. Being an opening dj can open doors for you so if you can pull a crowd take advanatge of being an opening dj.

that's what a good dj should tell you. Only the one that's top40 dj's get scared. A headliner should beable to rock it, no matter what songz he played.

hm u have to consider ... if the opener plays the top40 requests up and down ... most people are pleased .... cause they only Know those songs .... that makes the following hours harder than they have to be ... cause ... the crowed is pleased and leaves earlier ...

so for me in the first hour or so the people should grab a drink talk a bit in order to find their "groove" for the night ...

economicly it also makes no sense to "burn" it down directly after doors open .. u have to find the right way to please the crowd and don't stress them ...make them stay as long as they could in your club ...

great thread!

i think an opening dj should be able to play whatever he wants but in general you dont wanna play all the current bangers in the 1st hour of the clubopening anyway thats just bad busnies wether your an opener or if your playing a 8 hour shift

I totally agree. I actually sometimes prefer to open at clubs rather than be midset b/c I can play whatever I want, introduce some new music, and so on. And if I do go top40, I will go top40 from like 4 years ago or something so that the crowd still remembers, but not young or old enough to forget that song.

oh boy, not this again

+1

Check these 2 sets I did live at my weekly residency. Opener sets. You'll notice I play some hits and classics but never give in... The opening of a night is important to the rest of the night. This can work in 2 scenarios:

1 - You are the sole DJ playing 4-6 hour set, Residency style
2 - You are the resident DJ or opener, Opening for a big guest DJ

I like DJ Vice's advice. Play what you want. Sure, play what you want. Most DJ's that have been DJing for some time know not to play all the hits. When I've opened, Ive never jumped on newer heaters, Left it for them to decide to rock or not. I find opening to be somewhat fun part of the night, where you can play older stuff, stuff you forgot about and some recurrents while teasing the crowd with newer materials.

Check these 2 threads for my examples on opening sets:

scratchlive.net - Live at Apt. 24 SF 02/26/2010 (10-11pm opening set)
scratchlive.net - Live at Apt. 24 SF 03/12/2010 (11pm-12am-ish set)

www.residentadvisor.net
Incredible article on the importance of the opening/warm up DJ, how to build/set the mood of the night and how club owners, promoters and all new/up & coming DJs can benefit from DJing properly. Interesting and thought provoking read.

Check out the homies JD & Jay Spring over at www.remixreport.com - They have some great articles and videos for proper opening sets and DJ etiquette.

I hope all this info helps.

Playing bangers early on tends to alienate people when the room's just filling up. People want to grab their drinks first, then find seats if they're available when they walk in. Then you'll get the people standing at the bar or off the side of the dance floor. Give people a while to settle in, and start READING the crowd right away. Most people DO want to visit and chat at first, and with less people in the club right away, there are less bodies to absorb the sound. You can still bring the volume up gradually, as people finish their first drink(s) and start loosening up and filling the room. Build up gradually, and maybe drop a few surprises to pick up the pace, according to what people are doing in the room. Start off with heaters and play them too loud too early, and you'll have people thinking there's no more headroom for the music, which just looks stupid when you've only got your first 20-40 people checking their coats and heading to the bar to start their night. Keep the heaters handy for later, be patient, and you can blow your wad with style and class later on.

lol on the "play what you want" comments - i'll up the ante one higher: when people ask me if i "mind" if they play this or that when opening for me, i'd sometimes say, "shit honey, you can play your whole set from my crates if you wanna, we still ain't gonna sound the same".. of course it's a lil different for top 40 dj's, but then the top 40 mentality also craves repetition and familiarity and i can't tell you the times i've had something requested right after i just played it and told "i know, but we wanna hear it AGAIN!!", so a top 40 dj has that leeway, within reason.

that said, as a rave/event dj who cut her teeth with an 8-year club residency as the only dj all night, 8hrs/night 5 nights/week, i can say that the first few hours are totally crucial for building the crowd and not chasing people OUT with music that seems to be making demands of them to dance when it's finding-their groove time, and also can't tell you the number of times i've walked into some event early and found some hotdog basically laying down what i'd call a "demo" set, as if to say, "see, if you'd have booked me to peak, this is what it would sound like", meanwhile just fatiguing the whole place.

so what i've always said is the groove should always be one step above the energy of the crowd, challenging them without hammering them until they're ready. it's alot like sex really, gotta warm 'em up before getting down to business, or fishing, you yank too hard too soon they'll get off the hook. so i tell aspiring dj's when they're opening and people are sitting at the bar, watch for toes tapping and heads nodding. then drop more of a beat til you get some floor, then maintain that upping it a bit til the floor has what looks like critical mass and they're looking restless, then drop the hammer but not until.

when i was responsible for booking the dj's at my party in SF, one of whose missions was to expose new talent, i'd give us all chances to play all slots, among other reasons so the less experienced ones could see how the more experienced ones built floor.

it really does seem to be becoming more and more a lost art in the age of raves and multi-dj events as opposed to the Old Days(tm) when there was brutal competition for a handful of club residencies in a town and it was kind of a farm system where you started out on lights and stuff and you didn't hear too many incompetent dj's, but you also didn't hear too many stellar ones as everyone was afraid of losing their gig and kept it pretty formulaic, music-wise. so i welcome the whole DIY thing and the opportunity to hear new, eclectic, true virtuoso dj's i'd never have otherwise heard, but yeah they do lack professionalism sometimes which just kinda goes with the territory. BUT the crowd picks up on this and the cream still rises to the top, both with dj's and promoters.

so i should start some low BPM stuff like bedrock then slam into some DNB then pack up and get the hell out before they have a chance to complain??

This has been brought up in the past.
Here's some good reading on the subject:
www.residentadvisor.net

word

This was a good read. Lots a good information. I never have an opening DJ i'm alway playing a 6hour set.

you have the hardest of all dj jobs here my friend

just take it easy do a good job its a bloody hard to be a good warm up/opening dj rep the rewards and the experience of working with established artists network dont be pushy and you will go far and a huge thing be helpful if its a change over when the club is busy but dont be over the top and brown nose

+1000