Originally posted by djjoshuaallen
openers need to know their roll. They are part of a long night, and need to construct their set accordingly, and show a little respect for international headliners that have been paid $$$ to come across the globe to play. The key is to make your set solid, but have it compliment the headliner's set at the same time, putting the crowd in a position to explode once the headliner gets on.
However you don't want to play some boring ass tracks for 2 hours just cause you are the opener. It is your job to set the headliner up, but at the same time you need to get the energy brewing. Its a tough job and takes a lot of practice and time digging for those perfect tracks.
That is a big reason why i moved into playing progressive. I built my sound around setting up The big DJs cause I knew that opening slots were the spots I was aiming to get in the club scene around here. Progressive is perfect because the build ups are not to crazy, and the BPM's are completely flexible and can be progressed accordingly. With the absence of the big build ups, for trance crowds its perfect for setting up because they are eagerly awaiting those big trance buildup tracks by the time the headliner gets on. Additionally, progressive sounds have such a wide variety that you can pick stuff to set up a headliner's sound but still remain consistent with your own sound at the same time.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Your last paragraph is something some people need to read and understand.
Nov-09-2009 19:13
Victor Dinaire
Supreme tranceaddict
Registered: Dec 2002
Location: The Lost Episode
Great topic
My .02
Playing an opening set is very challenging. You have to find the right music to keep people interested while staying within your limited boundaries. The last year or 2 it even got harder for me as BPMS overall have slowed down across the board. Around 2005/2006, it was appropriate to leave the headliner off at 131 / 132 but nowadays, you would be crossing the line. Right now in most cases for trance nights, you should be at around 128/129 land to be respectful unless the headliner tells you it's ok. Some DJ's WILL let you know immediately if you are going overboard and they have every right to. It happened once or twice to me but luckily I was just a hair too heavy so it wasn't an issue and I immediately brought it down to keep things kosher. Before I knew about this, I had a couple of gigs where I was clearly out of bounds and I cringe thinking about how inappropriate my opening set was, hehehe.
I am careful to choose who I open for because I know I can't open for just anyone. I limit it to mostly trance DJ's. I would never dare to open for artists such as Steve Lawler or Danny Howells as I know I would do a shitty job setting them up and they would end up being pissed at me (for good reason). I just opened for Kyau & Albert in San Diego (Voyeur) and that took quite a bit of research and effort as their musical style is very much in the low 130's these days. My last 2-3 tracks leading to them were very simple and proggy so they have the freedom to go any direction they wish.
It's perfectly ok to flat out ask the headliner what they think of your set so far and how they want to be left off and they probably will respect you for that.
I have to say, I love opening almost as much as headlining because I get to play a ton of tracks I love that don't fit in my trance / techno sets
The best act to open for hands down is Infected Mushroom. There is nothing you can play that will out-do their intensity lol
Nov-09-2009 19:13
Nerologic
Reduce Reuse & Recycle
Registered: May 2007
Location: San Diego
quote:
Originally posted by Cool1g
what's funny in context of that article coming out is Theo banged it out pretty hard at Giant on Sat opening for Robbie Rivera (granted he played until 1 so i guess that's late enough to turn it up at some point...)
Thee-o plays tech house. So even the most headbanging tech house is no where near the big room music Robbie plays. Robbie plays big room house and all kinds of electro, that's way more up pace the tech house. So in reality its a good mix and Thee-o was the opener. He has been DJing long enough to understand the roll of an opener, you might just have gotten it mixed up.
quote:
Originally posted by gypsygirl
reza's opening set for lawler has to be hands down one of the worst i've heard. problem there is, reza didn't play like an opener and didn't act like he was opening.
Its been about 5 years since i say Reza act like he was opening. In modern times he just plays what ever he wants.
Granted, his mixing has improved; but that doesn't give him the right to play a mainline set every time. Maybe he doesn't want to upset his fans? And yes he does have a decent sized fan base.
Nov-09-2009 19:21
MikeLord
tranceaddict
Registered: Jul 2007
Location: Homeless USA
quote:
Originally posted by msilin
Here's a good article on that:
The problem with opening for other DJs that I have found is that while you wanna keep it down low, you also gotta get the crowd to move. And I personally know that there are a few big tracks that will just get everyone to stampede the dancefloor and get into the music, from there you can kinda go back to doing your own thing. It's really tempting to play those tracks because otherwise you feel like people aren't feelin your stuff that much.
So it's all about balance, like you guys said. Not going balls out but at the same time getting the crowd into it.
good article. i think this one should be posted at circus instead of the la weekly one and distributed to all opening dj's in the future
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Nov-09-2009 19:23
DaveT
NEED PERSONAL COPY-EDITOR
Registered: Jul 2002
Location: San Francisco
That article is awesome. It's like every part of it are words taken right out of my mouth!
Nov-09-2009 19:34
gerard6975
GERARD NOT GERALD
Registered: Dec 2005
Location: Culver City, US of A
quote:
Originally posted by Nerologic
Thee-o plays tech house. So even the most headbanging tech house is no where near the big room music Robbie plays. Robbie plays big room house and all kinds of electro, that's way more up pace the tech house. So in reality its a good mix and Thee-o was the opener. He has been DJing long enough to understand the roll of an opener, you might just have gotten it mixed up.
i totally agree that thee-o wasn't banging it out. i think he did it perfectly with a good progression throughout the night. if a headliner gets on at 1am, the opener should be warming up til midnight and get the night grooving til the opener passes it on. this is the only way to get the crowd hooked and not get them bored.
i'm sure he recorded his set and listen to it. then we can all make our opinions.
I find the best parties are ones I attend. Never been to a good party where I haven't attended!
Nov-09-2009 20:54
MikeLord
tranceaddict
Registered: Jul 2007
Location: Homeless USA
quote:
Originally posted by DaveT
I find the best parties are ones I attend. Never been to a good party where I haven't attended!
sounds like to me you are the party
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Please Support Your Local DJ Joshua Allen, DJ Woody, Robert Stern and Gil La!
Nov-09-2009 21:03
Cool1g
Supreme tranceaddict
Registered: Apr 2006
Location: Hollyweird, CA
quote:
Originally posted by gerard6975
i totally agree that thee-o wasn't banging it out. i think he did it perfectly with a good progression throughout the night. if a headliner gets on at 1am, the opener should be warming up til midnight and get the night grooving til the opener passes it on. this is the only way to get the crowd hooked and not get them bored.
i'm sure he recorded his set and listen to it. then we can all make our opinions.
i didn't get to Giant until around midnite... so i can't comment how much Theo built up his set as the nite went on... and of course it makes sense that the opener would be spinning near peak-room bpms/tracks right before the headliner comes on...
i think in context of the interview with Robbie being published 2 days before it was kinda of amusing to me to hear a set by Theo that i thought was a bit more energetic than what Robbie had just described as being a proper opening dj set.
but it was nothing like what we had to endure at Playhouse last week...
Doesn't this thread pop up every couple of months? Maybe that's just in the music discussion forum, but I feel like this has been said so many times. Which leads me to ask the question, why are there still shitty opening DJs?
