games and prizes? i dont think the thread starter is playing a sweet 16 or a highschool prom where people do the electric slide

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Originally posted by ******** Hey before you attack me you might like to try it atleast once. Don't take my word for it. My other advice was to have free drinks at the front of the booth/floor but I thought that might get expensive. The two combined could be outright dangerous if they are bottled drinks. ----- I'm having major dejavu for some reason... none the less whatever. If people don't feel like dancing you won't you need to know there taste. People are there to have a good time, etc.. and that is what matters. Anyway the least you can do is be entertaining. Everything else is moot. As for what clubbers are looking for I could care less. I think the dj's role is to provide entertainment and background... depending on venue this stuff could differ drastically. I would go into a long rant, and personally it is mind numbing. It is a no brainer... if you'd like more people in open the doors earlier wave cover to x number of people if applicable.. get some games and prizes on the dance floor other activities, put on a show so people wanna get close.. play good music .... etc..

It's about warming up the people that are already there, not about getting more people in.

If people don't feel like dancing, they don't have to dance. But you can atleast try to give them a good time, and shouting at them won't really contribute to that if you ask me...

ok...

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Originally posted by bas we're just rolling in that sweet sweet Beatport chedda SON. I PUT DIAMONDS IN MY SALT SHAKER SO I CAN HAVE CRUSHED DIAMONDS ON MY FOOD...it makes my dookie twinkle!!!

To me the point is more that the warm up doesn't have to be about getting people dancing as soon as possible - everything you've said is geared towards getting people on the dancefloor as a matter of urgency, but most people simply don't want to dive straight into it, so massage this a bit - let them stay at the bar for a while but get them interested and nodding their heads / tapping their feet while they order drinks and chat to their mates.

And if people don't feel like dancing of course you still need to know what they like, because it's your job to slowly start persuading them to dance.

You mention that a DJ's role is to provide entertainment - of course it is, but that could go either way for a warm up DJ. On the whole, people aren't going to want to walk into an empty club to see some twat jumping around like a tit in the corner or shouting into a microphone. I have, however, thought in the past that having a turntablist on as you enter a club could be quite cool - not the kind of thing you'd dance to, but something quite cool to watch while you're having a drink etc. The only problem is it would need quite an open minded crowd (not a trait of your typical house/trance clubber unfortunately!)

I heard once that in some clubs in Italy they used to (and maybe still do) play an hour or two of ambient/chillout stuff to start a night off, so people would actually come in, get a drink then sit on the floor relaxing to the music, until the first big tune was dropped, when everyone would get up and start dancing (already being on the dancefloor)... slightly odd but an interesting concept! I've always wanted to do something pretty similar for a closing set tbh, but I know most people would just think of that as their queue to leave, rather than hanging around, taking it easy and having a rest.

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Stu Cox |

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Originally posted by ******** I think you are mistaken though.. I think that many people will stick around for a twat on stage.

They probably will, but it's not going to get them in the mood for clubbing and they'll moan about it on messageboards etc afterwards - you wouldn't get booked again!!

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Stu Cox |

quote:

Originally posted by ******** Hey before you attack me you might like to try it atleast once. Don't take my word for it. My other advice was to have free drinks at the front of the booth/floor but I thought that might get expensive. The two combined could be outright dangerous if they are bottled drinks. ----- I'm having major dejavu for some reason... none the less whatever. If people don't feel like dancing they won't you need to know there taste. People are there to have a good time, etc.. and that is what matters. Anyway the least you can do is be entertaining. Everything else is moot. As for what clubbers are looking for I could care less. I think the dj's role is to provide entertainment and background... depending on venue this stuff could differ drastically. I would go into a long rant, and personally it is mind numbing. It is a no brainer... if you'd like more people in open the doors earlier wave cover to x number of people if applicable.. get some games and prizes on the dance floor other activities, put on a show so people wanna get close.. play good music .... etc.. I could post a long long rant... and I really don't have time to... there are tons of factors, and people go out not only to dance. Just provide some music that fits the mood and bring it to a higher level. Either you are trying to create an environment or not.. but the night itself can have lots of factors.... it all depends on what you are going for.

********, I'm not attacking you on a personal level as I have nothing against you whatsoever.

I can't speak for the other guys and their areas in the UK. But I know for a fact that you would empty a club in no time in Brighton, London or Birmingham. Unless the night you were playing was specifically aimed at Gabba and Noisecore/Terracore. It would simply be too full on for most people even at peak time and you would wreck any credability that you had as a DJ. You would get pulled from the deck within a minute of playing your first track.

The music types you have mentioned are very unique to quite a small following within the dance music scene and don't work on a broad spectrum at more 'regular' dance events. Bottom line is that most people can't stand the sound of it, let alone get into it.

The club will most likely have a music policy if it's on the scale that the topic poster mentioned.

I'm not going to dismiss your advice totally out of hand but I would be willing to bet that it's fairly unique to the club/crowd you play for.

Nights generally have to build eneregy and as correctly stated earlier there is a need to create tension/anticipation. Destroying the dancefloor with a full on Terracore set doesn't really alow for anything else to follow after. Energy levels would be shot to bits and all over the place.

When people are paying to hear a particular type of music it's pretty rude not to give them what they are paying for.

Cheers
Nem

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

quote:

Originally posted by Stu Cox I heard once that in some clubs in Italy they used to (and maybe still do) play an hour or two of ambient/chillout stuff to start a night off, so people would actually come in, get a drink then sit on the floor relaxing to the music, until the first big tune was dropped, when everyone would get up and start dancing (already being on the dancefloor)... slightly odd but an interesting concept! I've always wanted to do something pretty similar for a closing set tbh, but I know most people would just think of that as their queue to leave, rather than hanging around, taking it easy and having a rest.

Yes, they do this at Brancaleone in Rome. They don't open the main room until late and the rest is just ambient, chill music with interpretive dance, movie screenings, art exhibitions, etc. It's an awesome place. Not so much a nightclub as a "centro sociale" "social center", established by the left wing government (who also allow promote smoking/rolling of joints)




It's really not unheard of other places too - I go almost weekly to Francois K's deep space party here in NYC and get there about 9 PM. From 9 until 12 it's all dub, chillout, ambient, and downtempo music. Sometimes they serve food on themed nights. People trickle in, and all of these people are simply in love with the music that he will be playing (it's a monday night after all) and they just chill out and relax with one another. There are a lot of very free souls that dance and express themselves on the dance floor. some may call them freaks. i look forward to their personalities every week. at some point francois k decides to make people dance and when he does, it is an unmistakable force aided by light, volume, musical phrasing, energetic mixing, etc. i absolutely love it


there are other parties here where you can lay on big couches and they hand out pot brownies. films are projected on four sides. at some point they remove the couches and it turns into a dance party

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Originally posted by nefardec It's really not unheard of other places too - I go almost weekly to Francois K's deep space party here in NYC and get there about 9 PM. From 9 until 12 it's all dub, chillout, ambient, and downtempo music. Sometimes they serve food on themed nights. People trickle in, and all of these people are simply in love with the music that he will be playing (it's a monday night after all) and they just chill out and relax with one another. There are a lot of very free souls that dance and express themselves on the dance floor. some may call them freaks. i look forward to their personalities every week. at some point francois k decides to make people dance and when he does, it is an unmistakable force aided by light, volume, musical phrasing, energetic mixing, etc. i absolutely love it

Now that sounds awesome.

There aren't many experimental nights like that over here, or if there are I haven't come across them. There's a promotion in London called Planet Angel who fill venues without any promotion whatsoever, just spread by word of mouth, who have giant Connect 4, Jenga, plasticine to play with and all sorts in one room, while the other two rooms bash out the house and trance - I've been meaning to go for ages but still haven't got around to it.

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Stu Cox |

congratulations, you just might be the biggest idiot on the internet. (********)

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something im surprised no one mentioned is when you want to bring the people out there, one of things that seems to work is to throw on some classics that everyones knows and loves. you got some serious tension goin, now you want em out there..the adventurous girls (who are almost always the first to step out on the floor) are just waiting to hear "their" song so they can cut loose. where the girls go the guys follow..
i wouldnt worry about feeling too cheesy playing that daft punk song because (at least around where i live) most arent there to train spot or
only hear the most underground songs ever. their there to dance and have fun! and for the music elite, your playing an opening slot so you can play those weird unreleased rarities early on that appeal to them.
easier said than done, and event and location permitting of course.

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Originally posted by moodywang something im surprised no one mentioned is when you want to bring the people out there, one of things that seems to work is to throw on some classics that everyones knows and loves. you got some serious tension goin, now you want em out there..the adventurous girls (who are almost always the first to step out on the floor) are just waiting to hear "their" song so they can cut loose. where the girls go the guys follow.. i wouldnt worry about feeling too cheesy playing that daft punk song because (at least around where i live) most arent there to train spot or only hear the most underground songs ever. their there to dance and have fun! and for the music elite, your playing an opening slot so you can play those weird unreleased rarities early on that appeal to them. easier said than done, and event and location permitting of course.

no, that's what works when you're desperate to make people happy and you use up all your tricks before you really need them



when you give people "their" song, you give them cheap satisfaction and then they go home. you're basically like a cashier giving back change or an ipod responding to the press of their fingers

why not give them a new "song"..