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When does a crowd start to dance?

I was just wondering, when you play a set, how long does it take before the crowd really starts to dance (at least almost the entire crowd, not everybody)?

The reason I'm asking this is because I hope to get my first gig real soon, and that I won't start to worry when the crowd won't dance when I start my set...

So, what are your expierences?

I haven't ever spun in front of a crowd but I wopuld imagine that this question hard to answer because of all the factors it involves. I fgure it would depend on a lot of things. Are you the first DK of the night, how well was the DJ before you, what tracks you play, are you the last DJ to spin. I mean there is a lot that could sway the crowd to dance or not dance. It might not always mean you are a bad DJ if they don't dance, maybe they are all tired and you are one of the last DJ's to spin. Just my opinion.

You are right about the many factors, Veldrid.

But since I am the first (and only) DJ for the night, the other DJ's don't really matter.

It's quite a 'commercial' crowd, so I will have to play quite a lot of cheesy tracks to keep them satisfied.

I mean, the probably won't like 'Soultrance - Evolute' or 'Frank Brook - Daywalker', so you can expect they won't really dance to that.

I guess they will really go nuts if I play a tune they know, like 'Reeloop - Fucking Society', but that's not my taste really.

So, what do you say? Play my own style, or give them what they want?
Or maybe a combination?

Give them what they want...then sneak a few of the stuff u like in about every other 4 or 5 songs......

I agree. Play what they want but sneak in a few of your favorite songs and see what their reaction is. If they like your songs, start playing more and more of them. Good luck with your gig man!

The people will start to dance as soon as the first hot chick gets out there and starts shaking it.

big name clubs and bars actually pay hot girls to do this, just to get the dance floor started, because nobody wants to go out and be the first one.

seriously!

I don't care though, i dance when i hear a beat that moves me.

i'd say hot chicks most of the times start dancing when a really commercial tune gets in...

play some of them when you see they won't get too excited, keep the powerful tracks for the end of the night when everybody is starting to get tired. that would make the chicks dance more (cause they see the guys having more fun) +keep the party going...

usualy later into the night.. if your starting off.. it gets.. quiet ountill you got the brave ones that like to make fools out of them selves.. but then it's hard to find thoes...

if your in da middle it's kuul everyone just dances.. or sits depending on their tastes...

when the muzik gets going thats when ppl get out and up.. they need that inner confidence to get into the mood to dance.. and not to be scared to show that they cannot dance at all

A while back when i went to a rave, around 11 or 12, there wasnt anyone dancing and not too many people were there until 1 or 2am. I wanted to go out and dance but didnt want to be the only one and look like an idiot (because i cant dance ))

So anyways, the djs were doing a great goods with the tunes and mixing.

I think the more people out dancing, more will follow. Once you get a group of people to go out on the floor, more people will join.

Im not sure what advice to give you, just play good music that can appeal to the people who are going to be there.

Here's one of my experience with a commercial crowd...
it was a sweet 16.. me I thought it was a reglar party nightuntil i get there... So I said to myself : "there is no way i'm gonna play commercial shit ! If they don't like well hell with them... I'm gonna do my own fun by playing my favorite tracks"
I start my set... I did a transition from a hip hop dj just before me... and damn I worked it good ! the kids (thats what they were) were dancing like crazy from teh first track... "Charlie you're doing good.. they kids like that" yeah right... just before the first track ends... a few girls came to ask requests... (HELL with request) I'm not DJing for single one of them,... i'm doing it for everyone... so I ignored their request... I was seeing the crowd dancing like they never did before... (whats the probleme)
so I kept on playing my tracks... not a few minutes after.. more girls came to ask request.. and one of them told me "cut that off and put this song" WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAID !!! cut that off .. right girly.. turn around and look at your friends how they are enjoying my music... teh other dj did understand what the problem was... we analized the situation and thought it would be better if I play what they wanted... which by the way I did had... lol lucky for me the guy and his friend had commercial songs... so I switched from trance which we all know well to their requests...
Here's the result: teh dancefloor is getting empty.. no more gusy on the dance floor .. girls dancing alone... girls getting bored cause all the guys were sitting down... girls left the dance floor...
all in 2 songs... DJ Sammy - Heaven and Sylver - turn the tide...
girls come back to me and say "What have you done !!!"
my answer: "I played your request !"
funny tho... the other dj couldn'T believe ... for him I was the shit of the night ...

My lesson from this experience.... NEVER PLAY REQUESTS !!!!!!!!!!!

Yeh i see what u mean. But when you spin in big clubs for people its hard to get to dj boot and in this case you will have an advantage. Well, i see you're form Montreal so i can talk about it. The last time i was playing at Medley i had some kids asking for some crap but i didnt listen to them, but usually i dont get requests. At Sona, during Vinyl nights, i was selecting some good trance tracks but at places like Sona no one has requests, everybody likes what u play

30th August, Im playing again atr Medley, if you want, pass by. Some good techno trance stuff will be playing.

i never played in front of any crowd, but what one of my friends, who was a dj for 5 years told me, is not to always play the best songs, not like i am saying play shitty songs, but you know how you have your favorites, well anyways, yea, so he said dont always play the best songs, cuz when you see the crowd, and you are playing an average song, and you see that they need a kickin, you throw down that phat track, and watch them go nuts =)

I hate to say it, but sometimes you have to play that cheesy trancy crap to get the people going. Sometimes they don't really know what good music is so you have to throw in that *please forgive me for saying this* alice deejay and sandstorm. SORRY. Maybe not so drastic of songs like that but sometimes it works. Then when the crowd gets into it, no matter what you play, if it has a beat and its loud, they'll dance to it.

Seriously though, don't take requests. They'll just kill the fuck out of the mood. They'll start requesting hip hop and cheesier trance and it gets you in a terrible mood.

I know but they kept asking for them... and all the girls wanted that stupid fuckin' song...
like I had to do it cause they were asking it about 10 times in less then 10 minutes...
lol me I didn't get a fuck.. I played it.. it was a sweet 16..

I've done some gigs in teh past and that one well... it was the cheapest... lol

So DanB
how was your night at Sona ? you did good ?
what did you play ?

well.. i didn't read too much of this post but basically.. it depends on the situation, if you're the first dj, whether the dj before sucked, the crowd itself, your appeal.. etc.. i saw u said ur first.. now this can be a good thing because it will allow you to read the crowd a little bit w/o them really comparing you to any dj's that would be spinning before you. since u already know they are a commercial crowd, u can drop commercial tunes and know that you are probably pleasing them, .. my biggest tip would be to have ur mixing down, don't mix bad because YOU will get nervous.. from my experience, the general audience isn't too critical on fuckups (unless they are major trainwrecks) and even then, you can disguise them.. anyhow, if u do trainwreck, try to remain calm, audience can sense if you are doubting your abilities and when u start to flip out because you think you suck, this will reflect in your mixing. if ur trainwrecking and you can't fix it, just pull out of the mix and slap it over to the new track because there's no sense in dragging your feet any longer than necessary. and as people have already told you, or will tell you, just relax and have fun, afterall we do this because we love it right? if its not fun, then y bother? so just keep relaxed, try to avoid trainwrecks, and if they do happen, move on because chances are the crowd will forget about it (if they even noticed) within a couple mins. the only people that will talk shit to you are other dj's who are there to criticize you instead of give you tips, and those types of dj's are dicks and u should take there best record and crack it (or steal it if its a good tune).. anyhow, good luck, and if the crowd doesn't dance, just act like it doesn't bother you, the more fun you look like ur having will motivate the audience to get up and have fun instead of standing around w/ drinks in their hands..

I was playing mostly trance. I don't think i did extremly good because it was a little bit hard to mix trance with the mixer they have. Did you see it? Vestax Knobber. This was THE worst thing i ever toched. Basically, everything in the mixer is fine except the headphones volume. It just wasnt loud enouth compare to the sound they have there. So it was a little bit hard to do some good tricks in mixing. But i didn't worry about it at all, even if i was the first one to play, i just did what i have to do. The music was loud and good, croud was happy. But from the start, i knew that i will not be able to go far with that Vestax. I wish they had a pioneer.. But no worries. I'll be playig at Medley this month (30th) and they have a "human" equipment there so if you are intreasted, come check it out. I will start warming up the croud with some crap then i'll kick some trance in my set. For more info email me at [email protected]

Depends on what crowd youre playing for. Most likely, your crowd wont be trancEaddicts so youre gonna have to resort to some serious ass shaking tunes. If you dont want to play something something too commmercial, Ill say that Tech/House tunes never fail. I recommend the song Dylan Rhymes - Thunderdub and if all else fails, drop songs with a latin beat. That never fails.

I would have just told them I don't do requests. What were they gonna do? go cry and not dance while all their friends were?

Once I start spinning(once amit helps me out haha =P) I don't think i'll take requests at all. They'll hire me to do what I do, and that will be to just spin what I want to spin. Of course you gotta feed the audience with a little commercial shit, but for the true clubbers you get to give them all the underground stuff you want =D

quote:

Originally posted by Srezic I would have just told them I don't do requests. What were they gonna do? go cry and not dance while all their friends were?

I always thought a succesful DJ always cares about what the dancers want. Obviously, you cant cater to everyone's requests, but a DJ that does not take take requests might as well DJ for himself in his bedroom.
Not tryin to start anything, just my 2cents.

Of course you care about the dancers. But when someone requests a shitty song, and everything is going fine already, then I'm not going to play it. Once things die down a little I might play it for them, but not when things are already going good.

There are two things I want you to remember if you're going to spin in club or disco:

1. TALK to the people!
If you're not spinning at a single event where different DJ are booked to play their style, the audience is usually used to some listening habists. In disco's you're hardly gonna be alone behind the decks, either there's another (resident)DJ or LJ or whatever... they usually know "their crowd". Ask them!
I'm talking from experience here, as I'm working as an LJ, i've seen some (quite well known) DJ's f**k up, just because they stuck too much to their set.
Anyway most of the party (depending on location) will take place around and inside the DJ booth. Remenber that and have FUN!

2. Do some requests.
Not all. Just if if they suit you and your set. Don't play the requested "dancefloor hits" (-> cheesy stuff) right away. Keep em for later, use them to recollect some dancers if the crowd starts to leave.
Remember your best anwer to requests: "yeah, I'll see, if I can fit it..." the requester is happy and you have promised nothing

anyway... good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by halo There are two things I want you to remember if you're going to spin in club or disco: 1. TALK to the people! If you're not spinning at a single event where different DJ are booked to play their style, the audience is usually used to some listening habists. In disco's you're hardly gonna be alone behind the decks, either there's another (resident)DJ or LJ or whatever... they usually know "their crowd". Ask them! I'm talking from experience here, as I'm working as an LJ, i've seen some (quite well known) DJ's f**k up, just because they stuck too much to their set. Anyway most of the party (depending on location) will take place around and inside the DJ booth. Remenber that and have FUN! 2. Do some requests. Not all. Just if if they suit you and your set. Don't play the requested "dancefloor hits" (-> cheesy stuff) right away. Keep em for later, use them to recollect some dancers if the crowd starts to leave. Remember your best anwer to requests: "yeah, I'll see, if I can fit it..." the requester is happy and you have promised nothing anyway... good luck!

could you explain me what is an lj ? coundn't figure that out...

sorry if that's out of topic.

An LJ is someone who takes care of the light in a club.
Like a DJ takes care of the sound, an LJ makes sure that the light lookes nice and bright...

LJ = Light-Jockey
DJ = Disc-Jockey

Hope this made sense....

djxtension made a good point, but normally I try to make it look dark and flashy

And always remember LJ's are the DJ's best friend

quote:

Originally posted by halo There are two things I want you to remember if you're going to spin in club or disco: 1. TALK to the people! If you're not spinning at a single event where different DJ are booked to play their style, the audience is usually used to some listening habists. In disco's you're hardly gonna be alone behind the decks, either there's another (resident)DJ or LJ or whatever... they usually know "their crowd". Ask them! I'm talking from experience here, as I'm working as an LJ, i've seen some (quite well known) DJ's f**k up, just because they stuck too much to their set. Anyway most of the party (depending on location) will take place around and inside the DJ booth. Remenber that and have FUN! 2. Do some requests. Not all. Just if if they suit you and your set. Don't play the requested "dancefloor hits" (-> cheesy stuff) right away. Keep em for later, use them to recollect some dancers if the crowd starts to leave. Remember your best anwer to requests: "yeah, I'll see, if I can fit it..." the requester is happy and you have promised nothing anyway... good luck!

OMG you hit the nail right on the head!!

"i'll try to fit it in" <- that has got to be my most used line ever!
usually, if the request fits what i'm playing and will fit the energy i'm going with i'll try to slip it in, but if it's way out there... i don't bother

like this one time i was playing a party at my college campus bar and i was into my set and goin strong, when this black guy comes up and askes me to play some hip hop... i laughed and told him i don't play hip hop

just have fun and feel the crowd out

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