TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- DJ Booth
-- Starting a set from scratch
Pages (2): [1] 2 »

Starting a set from scratch

On new year's eve i went to a techno party with some friends and after seeing an amazing performance by Claude Young (the guy scratched with his elbow and head) came a local dj - Jesus del Campo - with a nice, powerful sound.
After that was Marcus Schulz (sp?) a well-known international dj.
However, Marcus stopped del Campo's sound and started his set from scratch.
I have seen many dj's make that, but only a few can succeed in such a risky move. Marcus failed miserably.

Marcus started with a slow buildup, very slow, which killed the dancefloor. Many people got out. I was on E at the time and as you can imagine i didn't find that funny at all...

I think you can only stop the sound from the last guy if:

a) you're a local/global superstar and people love you
b) you're going to make a 1 minute buildup and then destroy everybody on the dancefloor with a massive track

Marcus wasn't a local star and he didn't use a massive track. Instead he did a 5 min slow buildup and then i left to sit a bit, returning only when he finished his set. I got angry at him for doing that shit.

What do you people think of this? Do you agree with me? Have you stopped the sound of the last guy before playing?

I don't know who does the programming at that venue, but he / she deserves a good kick in the nuts.

Programming a progressive / trance / whatever he spins DJ after Claude Young and another DJ with a powerful style is just embarassing.

Ever heard of building a night?

Markus is a fabulous DJ and producer, I wouldn't be so quick to blame him. Perhaps he should've started in the warm-up or 2nd DJ spot, but the promoter figured that he was probably the most famous out of all 3 so he had him last. He didn't kill everyone on the floor because that wouldn't be being true to his own style, the most important thing to remember when DJing.

double post

But the fact is he wasn't the warm-up or 2nd spot Dj. If you're a good DJ you adapt to the party and not kill the dancefloor by doing something completely else.

The warning bells should go off when you see people leaving...

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Mystery But the fact is he wasn't the warm-up or 2nd spot Dj. If you're a good DJ you adapt to the party and not kill the dancefloor by doing something completely else. The warning bells should go off when you see people leaving...

But then again, if you play one particular style of music that doesn't fit in to the slot, then all you can do is play the records you have. You can't conjure up a completely different set of records out of thin air that will fit the atmosphere better. Perhaps that is what happened here, and Markus wasn't told that he would be following on from something as banging as that.

That's what I was saying You can't blame the DJ fully for this..

Just kick the guy / girl in charge of the programming of the event in the nuts / whatever else

Agreed, that's not really the DJs fault, but what it does do is reinforce the things that were said in the thread about being a warm up DJ.
As a DJ that is one of your worst nightmares as it makes you seem really crap. Sounds like he was booked to play totally the wrong sort of crowd and night to be honest so a big kick in the nads to the one who arranged the night.

I have been in the same situation once when all I could do is search my record box for harder remixes of the usual stuff I play and then pitch it up as high as I can, not the ideal solution but it's better than getting grief from the promoter for not playing. Then afterwards it's time to talk reality with the person that organised it.

Cheers
Nem

Yeah I'd say its the promoters fault... though honestly I know Markus could have transitioned better than just killing it and dropping a slow tune... hes got some harder tracks in his box, I know he's played Cass - Kenjin before, and he also played Mauro Picotto - New time new place @ Space. Not that I'm blaming him, but I'm sure he had something in his box which could have moved the flow over. Oh well, shit happens

It's hard to say who the blame should go to. The promoters should know that Markus is not going to be playing stomping tracks and should have booked opening DJs that would build up to Markus.

Also a good opening DJ would not play bigger tracks than the headliner. It makes him or her look stupid and it is disresectful IMO.

quote:

Originally posted by jesten It's hard to say who the blame should go to. The promoters should know that Markus is not going to be playing stomping tracks and should have booked opening DJs that would build up to Markus. Also a good opening DJ would not play bigger tracks than the headliner. It makes him or her look stupid and it is disresectful IMO.

Yes but IMO the night shouldn't just begin to pick up at 2am. I love Markus but his sound is much more chilled and deep, and if he's headlining any warmup DJ's would have to keep it pretty boring for 4 hours or they'd start to overpower Markus.

This is what I think happened here @ a fairly large event that AVB was headlining. The duo that played ahead of him threw down one hell of an amazing and high energy set. Honestly it was prolly one of the best sets I have heard live here in Calgary, and I have seen the big guys this year (PVD, AVB, Tiesto, Jules, Lashes, and Digweed). Anyways.. They drop there set, and the AVB comes on.. the sound STOPPED, then he started his set, it was a fairly normal set from AVB, maybe a couple more floorfillas that usual, but nothin out of the ordinary, and he built his nite up.. But he defineately killed the mood that I was in. And me and my mate actually walked out before AVB even finished his set. It was just a really bad way to setup such a huge event (huge for Calgary). Maybe the Promoters are just getting worse these days.

Cheers.

*sigh* ok it can't POSSIBLY be the promotor's fault all the time can it? I mean isn't the dj BEFORE a big name supposed to lead UP to the main headliner? If they know the main headliner is dropping a certain style like w Marcus Shulz playing a more mellow type intro or a certain style of trance w proggy elements in it then WHY would the djs on before him drop insanely hard or more banging stuff? Isn't it out of respect that you do not drop that because the main headliner should be doing it? It's like they're not being allowed to do their job if the dj before is dropping all the insane tunes.

quote:

Originally posted by Endlesswave *sigh* ok it can't POSSIBLY be the promotor's fault all the time can it? I mean isn't the dj BEFORE a big name supposed to lead UP to the main headliner? If they know the main headliner is dropping a certain style like w Marcus Shulz playing a more mellow type intro or a certain style of trance w proggy elements in it then WHY would the djs on before him drop insanely hard or more banging stuff? Isn't it out of respect that you do not drop that because the main headliner should be doing it? It's like they're not being allowed to do their job if the dj before is dropping all the insane tunes.

That was in a techno party. It was supposed to be banging all the time. It was about 8-9 am, after Claude and del Campo (and a few others before them). After him was one or two spanish dj's and then Valentino Kanziani (another big techno name) was finishing.
I didn't knew his style, but if he's a slower one, he'd better been before Claude.

So it's both the promotor and Marcus fault. He should have known in advance the hour he was playing and program his set, at least mentally.

He also was playing with Final Scratch, so i'm sure he had a lot of decent banging tunes in that little green iMac he brought with him. It's hard to understand such a behaviour...

maybe he did it on purpose? maybe his intention was to wind down the night, and not bring the energy higher, but rather lower?

That is very unusual in techno parties. Usually the energy is always going up to the last guy, which winds it down a little bit before finishing.

Anyway, if his intention was to wind down, he shouldn't have stopped the sound, but rather make a very very long transition to his first track.

Re: Starting a set from scratch

quote:

Originally posted by borron I was on E at the time and as you can imagine i didn't find that funny at all...

Doesn't E make you appreciate music, no matter what it is?

I had a friend that spun at club recently and he said that the guy before him started spinning progressive knowing he would come on next, I think if you're an opening DJ you should work up to the style of the guy coming up next out of respect, for example making your last track similar to the style of the guy coming on. Markus is a big name DJ with a style that every DJ should know, there's no excuse for not anticipating this, maybe the DJ before felt that he could try to look better than Markus, whatever the reason I feel it's partly the responsibility of the DJ before you.

I would blame the person responsible for scheduling it that way...and maybe the Dj before Markus, as he should have warmed up for the final dj and not do his own thing. Wouldn't blame Markus though, he has his own style and thats that.

Re: Re: Starting a set from scratch

quote:

Originally posted by DJ_Laszlo Doesn't E make you appreciate music, no matter what it is?

You're just saying that because you've never tried...

It really depends on the person... While on E, i become more sensitive to music and as a consequence more critic. But usually i'll want more "pounding" music than while i'm sober.

Sounds like the warm-up Djs aint doing there jobs properly. They usually meant to warm up the crowd not make them go nuts just before the international dj comes on.

i think its the promoters and the warm up dj's falt. the promoter shoudlt have booked a warm up dj that plays banging music, if i was booked to warm up for schulz id b fucked cus i dont play prog, maybe the warm up dj was in the same position.

I think you people didn't read what i wrote.

This was around 9-10 AM. Before him there were 4 dj's, two local warmup ones, Claude Young and a local superstar. So he knew what he had to give.

Re: Re: Starting a set from scratch

quote:

Originally posted by DJ_Laszlo Doesn't E make you appreciate music, no matter what it is?

Sadly it has the complete oposite effect. It makes you more aware of the quality of music and DJing and therefore a crowd on E is more demanding to play for than an alcohol fueled crowd.
If a DJ is crap or has had to kill the vibe through the promoters mistake then eventually the dancefloor will be empty appart from a few die hards.

As a headliner it's also very frustrating to see DJs come on after you who just shouldn't be there. Sadly the days of the quality resident DJs seems to be over in a lot of places and they give the rest of us a bad name.

Cheers
Nem

quote:

Originally posted by Unknown DJ i think its the promoters and the warm up dj's falt. the promoter shoudlt have booked a warm up dj that plays banging music, if i was booked to warm up for schulz id b fucked cus i dont play prog, maybe the warm up dj was in the same position.

Agreed!

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.