Hi fellow DJs,

I've personally never been fortunate enough to spin in front of a large crowd before, but have always been dreaming about it (every freaking day! ) ever since I got my first pair of turntables.
I know some of you out there have, so here's a plea to those who have been fortunate enough to experience what bedroom DJs like myself have never (perhaps never will) experience- what really happened during your first ever set in front of a large crowd, be it in a club, a bar of just in front of a large group of mates over at a small-time party. Let the stories flow.

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Melodic Progressive.

Better than sex.

Well, I've Only Played A Few Times Infront Of A Crowd. Two Christmases (Is That Correct Grammar?!?!?!) Ago I Played @ A Christmas Party But That Was With A PC So I Guess It Doesn't Count. So In That Case My First Gig Was During May Of 2001 Where Some School Booked Me And A Friend To Be The DJs At The School's Party. It Was A Great Expirience For Me, I Don't Remember Having Any Stress Or Something But I Do Recall Feeling Like Shit When I Did A Crappy Mix What Was Really Funny Was That The Party Took Place Inside A Basketball Stadium And Though There Where Quite A Lot Of People There, It Seemed Empty. Also The Headmaster Interupted A Number Of Times To Make Anouncements About Shit And I Got Really Annoyed. I Also Remember That A Kid Got On The Stage Despite The Fact That He Wasn't Alowed And Tripped On A Wire. Guess What, No Electricity. Temporarily That Is Cause I Went To The Rescue LOL :P Despite That I Guess It Was An Ok Gig, I Had Great Fun And It Got My 'Career' Started HEHEHEHE.

Ive played maybe 4 times here in Santa Barbara in front of an insane amount of drunk party goers. Its good shit, i perform alot better under pressure. Get a good sound system it makes all the difference and make sure you dont play reocrds to fast cause peole got to be able to dance to them

my first ever time spinning i was sooo hammered and it was at a house party, but my first ever time spinning in front of a real crowd other than my friends and friends of friends was awesome...

i closed a party that my radio station threw, and it went really good, i got quite a few compliments after i finished and a few people were asking me if i could make them a cd...

that's always the best feeling

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my first gig was at a party here at my college.. it was pretty cool, maybe played in front of 200 (i'm guessing) people.. i was nervous as fuck so someone offered me to toke w/ them.. which i regret cos when i got up there i couldn't concentrate and my hands were all shaking.. but when i got into and saw people dancing it was great.. for people who play in front of crowds, u can back me up by saying there isn't a better feeling than seeing people grooving to your sounds! u thrive off their energy and it makes it really exciting.. i still get nervous though before i go up in front of a crowd.. not because im afraid i'll fuck up.. but because i hope they like it.. i hate playing to a bunch of people that just stand around and stare at you, thats annoying!

the first time is always nerve wrecking, for me at least. about 200 hundred people, which i knew about 15. but after the first three mixes that nervousness turns to straight adrinalin. its feels like your the center of attention. granted those people where drunk but at least 12 people came up to me in those 3 hours and told how much they like the music, one girl who doesnt even listen to trance told me she had a different view on it now.

My first time was in my uni's student union, at "Open Decks". Basically it's a night for amateur DJ's to come along and play a set in front of some people.
The first time I did this, I had never used Technics before and I was nervous as hell. I managed to get a couple of decent mixes in though, and it didn't go as badly as I thought.
The next time I did it, I had bought myself a pair of 1210's a few weeks beforehand, and so it went a lot better!

But both times were a lot of fun, nervewracking but at the same time satisfying that you know the crowd are listening to good music for a change!

First set in front of a crowd was for my friends 18th, i'd only actually learnt the basics of decks a few hours be4, and I went down quite well, my mixing sucked, but the crowd wanted trance after 2 hours solid of drum n bass from some guy that just turned up and hijacked the decks
I opened on William Orbit - Barbers Adagio for Strings (Ferry Corsten mix)
then Chakra - Home (Above + Beyond mix)
can't remember after that, it was a while ago

quote:

Originally posted by Az First set in front of a crowd was for my friends 18th, i'd only actually learnt the basics of decks a few hours be4, and I went down quite well, my mixing sucked, I opened on William Orbit - Barbers Adagio for Strings (Ferry Corsten mix) then Chakra - Home (Above + Beyond mix) can't remember after that, it was a while ago

did you ever get at least 1 decent transition?

I just played at a local club (which is where i normally hang out) on Valentines day. Well, it feels so good to have my name up on the board announces about the coming event.. So I started with funky house.. the club has never had anyone played trance for over a year.. First track was Andrea Brown - Tripping.. then went on to more progressive and ended the night with Jan johnston - skydive .. Although people says they loved it especially the club owner who was surprised it was my first gig ever .. not many people danced.. i only saw a couple who went completely mad when Luzon - Baguio track was played.. However, I wouldn't ever go and play there again .. I ended up getting paid 1000 baht though =).. I've been drawn away from the decks lately but well.. promised myself to practise more and more..

Anyway, I really believe anyone who works really hard and is focused at what they do will definitely be successful.

@Narcissus - 1000 Thailand Baht ?!?!?!? That's Like $23 USD Or £16 GBP. You Performed At A Club And You Settled For Just That? Heck, I Performed At A Private Party And I Got Like 4 Times That. I Do Not Intend To Be Offensive But I Think You Should Have Asked 4 More.

I'm going to be DJing in my 1st live set in front of a large crowd this April 19th in Louisville, KY. <--- hehehe

I'm practicing my tables off so I don't fuck up. I'm having trouble adjusting to the mixer we'll be using though. It's less robust than mine and it's messing me up. :/