Mark 00's words as they are about the best advice I have seen on this forum.
I have warmed up for him in the past and a friend of mine did this just recently.

Ignore all this stuff about play your own shit and out do the guest. That simply is a good way to give yourself a really bad rep and eventually get yourself fired.
I sometimes get to headline and I can tell you that there is nothing worse than having some prick with an ego wrecking the night for you. Especially as even most guests like to start of low key and work the place into a frenzy.

If you are a warm up DJ that is strictly what you are. There is no shame in it, hell I still have to warm up from time to time. And as John Flemming says, name DJs will request you if you do a good job. That is also great for future reference as people will remember you and in some cases even become friends with you.

If you are warming up, make it tight and make it relevant. Give the guest something to work with. I even ask them if they have a preffered key they want to start in.

It can however be frustrating if you are warming up for a DJ who you know is not as good as you, but you still have to respect that he is guest and you are the warm up. There is nothing better than having the guest looking a little sheepish when you are mixing. But that's all skill related and not music choice. And at the end of the day the only people who will notice that (unless he is really bad) are DJs.

Something that really gets on my nerves is when people disrespect residents as they are very often the heart and soul of the club.
Besides, there is an upside to being a resident. Steady work for one, something that is getting harder in the DJ business as there are so many of us now.

Not so sure there is anyone I would like to open up for but I would definately enjoy a four deck battle with Eddie Haliwell.

Cheers
Nem

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https://www.mixcloud.com/Calvin_Karass/

Yeh same here, Eddie Halliwell. He's the DJ I have the most respect for, I think I can spend all my life trying to reproduce his Essential Mix @ Good Greef, it's impossible. That mix is art for me

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Please visit my website www.djbammer.com and download the monthly mix! Thanks!

James Zabiela... because he owns, no way how hard anyone tries,
you cant outdo him. not to mention, he needs someone to properly
open for him, last 2 times its been a shitty resident that couldnt
tell left from righ. first time he was here though, Steve Porter
spun before him, that is what i call a CLASS night...

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check out my guest mix for OndaSonora Podcast (aug.2009)

quote:

Originally posted by jeremie you spin what you want!!!!!!!!! who care if armin is there after you... you can try to beat him and play all the newest best traxx before his set!! :P

to me, mixing has never been about beating some else. it's not a race. you play your records the way you would normally play and they play their records. if you can get the crowd dancing and screaming then you've done your job. if not, then you prob. tried too hard. you're a good dj or you wouldn't be a resident, or at that, an opener for a big dj.

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OUTER BASS
Subterranian

I SO agree with those words about warm-up...

Even though I never spun out (yet?) I can imagine bigger DJs would be quite f**ked-up if you screw up the warming-up.

Unfortunately, most people are only spinning in their bedrooms with some 2-hour peak time set in their mind.. Not bad, but the first opportunity you will get is probably a warm-up one.. Warming-up is way harder than just blasting away tune after tune.. It's a certain form of art, even. An art that not too many understand.

Personally, I'd love to warm up for Adam Beyer.. I play a little slower, a little more melodic, but I can finish with a few stormers to hype up for him

** dreams on **

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d&b session 20090519
My take on... (various mixes planned, updated when I can be arsed)

I think at the moment i could do a nice prog / melodic warm up for a G&D set.

(actually prolly more suited to a house party where the line up is Misty, Dstrukt and Kr00t0n, although if i play my favourite feeling tunes i'd be after dstrukt but the parties normally at his place and he likes to end *coughhogsthedeckscough )

From my own experiences, I've always been in the trenches. I think I enjoy warming up, 'cuz in a way it feels like the DJ is riding your vibe.

You manipulate the crowd into a trance and from there on out the guest DJ takes over and takes them for a journey.

I play epic/progresive trance sets, so I usually try to see who the guest DJ is. If he or she is a big progressive or epic trance headliner, I have a breaks set ready to go to warm up the crowd. If he or she is a cheesy trance DJ, I pound away on my epic/progressive set.

cheesy trance

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[ ALL THIS B!TCHIN` IS MAKIN` ME SKRATCH! ]

quote:

Originally posted by jeremie you spin what you want!!!!!!!!! who care if armin is there after you... you can try to beat him and play all the newest best traxx before his set!! :P

Damn right. If Tiesto was after me, I'd be damned if I wouldn't drop Flight 643 among others. That's my time on the decks. I'm in control. I guess he'd just have to set those records aside that I played.

Or, he could spin them again, but I doubt it would go over very well with the crowd.

Besides, those guys have an endless selection of tracks to pick from between their boxes of records and stacks of cds. I doubt they would care either way.

It would still be cool to drop a Djs signature track right before that Dj got on the decks.

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Dj SHO........TGP - Digital Horizons - Eternal-Rhythms - Fuller Productions
ETS Global...Live Sets 24/7....More Trance Than Your Dealer Has
_____________________________________________________________________
Gigs
07-10-2004 EDM Sound System:Live Radio/Net Broadcast:10PM - 11PM (Fuller Productions)
07-17-2004 Dj C.O.M.P. V1.0:Globe Theatre (TGP)
07-24-2004 Details TBA (Fuller Productions)
07-31-2004 Details TBA (TGP)
08-??-2004 Details TBA::The Masquerade

This is not aimed at anyone in particular in a bad way. Just a few harshly put statements that happen to be true.

I can appreciate that you have your style and that you would like to play what you want, but you are forgetting that it's not just the guest DJ to take into consideration. Hit a dance floor with the type of stuff you are talking about that early and you are also going to make it a pretty shit night for the crowd.

Whether or not they have a stack of other tunes in their boxes is beside the point. You are there to help them get the best out of the crowd and ultimately give the crowd the best possible experience you can.

There are a load of dancefloor dynamics to take into consideration. The main one being that the majority of people (In Europe atleast) are high on E. Why is this an important factor? Well, because people drop their E's so that they start comming up about the same time as the headliner starts getting his set into full swing.
With that in mind, you spinning major tunes early on when people are not as up for it is going to make you look like a prick and will piss people off. Especially if the headliner has to come in and rebuild the mood from scratch.

Number two. People on E just are not able to handle four hours of wall to wall anthems. It will drive them to a point where they just don't have a f*cking clue what's happening (That happens to some people anyways but that's all part of the deal).

If you have a warm up slot you will have atleast two other DJs behind you. It's good to keep them sweet because if you don't, your oportunities to work will get pretty slim. Word travels fast in this business and no one wants to play after a warm up DJ like that. Some people even make a point of making sure you can't work in other places.

DJing is all about respect. You earn your way to the top either through solid DJ performances or producing. Neither path has any guarantees or makes any promises. It's all about who respects you and who wants to work with you.

If you get the chance to warm up at a club, do it well and don't showboat because the breaks in this business are becomming less and less due to the amount of us doing it now. It's your chance to do the best job on the planet, so don't blow it.

If one day you are in a position where all the promoters want you and you get to headline a major event then all you have to do is worry about the warm up DJ wrecking your set.

This isn't a flame to anyone, I am just telling you they way it is. What you do with this information is up to you.
Just so you know, I am a professional freelance DJ and see a lot of this stuff going on all the time. It's from experience speak not what I have read in a magazine or on a website. But it's also something I feel strongly about.

Cheers
Nem

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https://www.mixcloud.com/Calvin_Karass/

I have in the past warned a warm up dj he was playing too hard too early- he refused to change- he doesnt warm up anymore..

quote:

Originally posted by Dj SHO Damn right. If Tiesto was after me, I'd be damned if I wouldn't drop Flight 643 among others. That's my time on the decks. I'm in control. I guess he'd just have to set those records aside that I played. Or, he could spin them again, but I doubt it would go over very well with the crowd. Besides, those guys have an endless selection of tracks to pick from between their boxes of records and stacks of cds. I doubt they would care either way. It would still be cool to drop a Djs signature track right before that Dj got on the decks.

I think it would be EXTREMELY stupid to play a mix or remix by whoever you were opening for. You would be so pissed if you were playing an event and the DJ before you played your remixes.

You're right though. They prob. wouldn't care. I just consider it the right thing to do.

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OUTER BASS
Subterranian

It's really simple.. Warming up is an art in itself.. Play anthems too early, and you'll be likely to see the consequences Nem stated before (those were wise words).

What would you do if you were the headliner and the warm-up DJ played all the anthems you brought yourself too? Wouldn't you be pissed?

Dj SHO, not to be harsh, but that kind of attitude just doesn't appeal to me.

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d&b session 20090519
My take on... (various mixes planned, updated when I can be arsed)