There has been alot of discussion lately about oakenfold. Now, before I give my opinion I just want to say I have never personally been to any of his gigs. I am still young and so for the most part the only way I can really enjoy dj's sets is to hear them on my computer. But that shouldn't make my points any less valid.
Many people complain that he is a. too expensive b. arrogant and just isn't the quality dj he once was.
There is no argueing that he is the biggest dj in the world right now. He may or may not be the best but he is definitely the most popular and most saught-after. (You know you are big when you are the the warm up act for U2) What happens when you become so popular? More venues want to book you. The more venues that want to book you the more precious your time becomes. After all, he only has alotted a certain amout of his life to djing. So he has to say to himself how do I reach the most people in the least amount of time. The answer is large venues in large cities. Many large clubs can hold up to 5000 people. Someone like Paul Oakenfold would pack it. And with such a large demand clubs would obviously raise ticket prices as high as people will pay. If you were oakenfold wouldn't you want a piece of that revenue? How is it fair that the clubs are getting rich off of him. Of course he is going to charge a large amount to dj.
Is he arrogant? Maybe, but his personality isn't what you are paying for. You want good semaritans.. go watch a church choir.
As for his dj skills, the way I see it... His job is to entertain people. He isn't the artist making the music. He just plays what people want to hear. If you are at a club and people want rap, then that's what you play. If you are playing for 20000 pre-teens demanding backstreet boys, then that's what you play. Does that make you a bad dj? No, on the contrary, you would be bad if you didn't. I am not a huge fan of pregressive, but I still know that Sasha and Digweed are great djs. The fact he sells out everywhere he plays proves he is a great dj. (and no, don't give me that 'britney spears sells 1000000 albums - does that make her talented. They are different jobs and different purposes altogether)
And finally, ya it does kinda suck he only plays two hours. But if that is what he is comfortable playing and people will still pay then why not. Who knows, maybe he has to be on a plane to get to his next gig...
Anyway the point here is, you may not like what he plays, but you just can't say he is a bad dj.

I really appreciated the way u analysed why people "hate" Paul Oakenfold , i have to say that i am one of them , but still , he doesn't deserve to be the best dj in the world

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"A style that's impossible to define. Prog? Hardly. Tech house? Not boring enough. It's like trippy twisted acid house but deep and funky. See, I told you - impossible."

Oakey is god he blew the pants off tiesto @ Creamfields


dazza

DiscoJoe,
I've seen Oakie 8 times now, and i couldn't have said it better myself.... thanks!

In all fairness to the Oakie haters, however, their leader, Twilogoddess, is not here right now.... she is in IBIZA seeing Oakie live, so she can critique and tell us how he fudged up when she gets back, lol.....

-ABT-

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Peace.

I wouldnt say personally oakey is the top dj in the world, even if apparently he gets the most money. But he still is good, and is still popular or he wouldnt get payed what he does.

I would love to be in his position, obviously i would change a few things, but he can still lift a crowd

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Just remember I never said he was the best I said he was the biggest. For me personally I love listening to his sets over the internet but I just have no idea what he's like live.

His superb live discojoe he really gets the crowd going


dazza

now that is a TRUE tranceaddict. excellent article mate. so very true.

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Thank You and Goodnight

discojoe

I couldnt of said it better myself

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Keepin' It Gangsta

i do appreciate the article.
but i must say one thing to comment on it. when you said that if people wanted to hear nsync as a dj you should play it... i could not disagree more. one problem these days is that people are making trance and trying to be a dj because they want the money and the life, not because they love the music. first, that is doing two things. it's flooding the record stores with absolute shit that some 14 year old made with his computer. now this is not some idea that i pulled out of my ass. I always chill and talk to the owner of one of new york city's best known record stores. vasquez is a regular there, talla has come in, jules has been there, any dj even remotely close to the city knows it. The owner was telling me how he hates how much crap people are producing. he said he hasto go to the distributor and sort through about 300 records a sitting trying to find a few good ones to order. Second, it's bringing about these djs who don't care for the music, they just want to live the style. they sit in clubs and blast out sandstorm. I have a friend who does this so trust me this is not a joke either.

you should be a dj because you have a deep love of the music. because if you go more than a few hours with out some trance you start hearing the melodies ringing in your ears. I once went a week vacation with limited access to a radio and i was practically dreaming about trance. being a trance addict is not a career, it's a way of life. I go each week record shopping in the city and spend all my drinking money on records. not cuz I wanna be a dj, but cuz i love the music. if that love some day gets me a job spinning, then good i'll be one happy person. but if it doesnt, then ok i'll still be spending any spare time i have jammin on my tables, and pickin up every amazing record i hear.

sorry to rant, just my opinion. I hate how the scene has become soo godamn commercial. The best djs are the ones who keep it all underground, they find their style of music that they love and they keep it up until the world catches on. not a dj who changes his style to what the world is catching onto at the time.

enjoy the long weekend guys

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"to be intoxicated is to feel sophisticated but not be able to say it"

Well Oakenfold's new album sux!

The Oakenfolds haters aren't going to be convinced by your moronic analysation. We've based our views on our experiences.
We don't THINK he sucks we KNOW he sucks. I don't like anything to do with the guy. His mixing skills, his musical taste all suck. He's just an overhyped and overpaid DJ. And he doesn't have any redeeming factors. Every time he comes to Dallas he's failed to convince me otherwise.

None of ya'll lame "Oakie" supporters are going to change that. So shut up and move on!