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OK – this gig happened on Friday night and a few people asked me to post my thoughts afterwards so here goes (sorry if this turns out to be a long post):
The quick response is that it went amazingly well! Just to remind you, I’d originally posted this thread because this was my first time playing on a big club system. I’d been booked to play the peak-time slot (3 – 4.30) at a big trance club and while I’ve had plenty of experience playing out at parties and bars, I’d never played on a sound system of this size and was a bit worried about the huge difference between small and big systems.
I was very nervous on the night itself. The club had one of its busiest nights for some time (over 700 people on the main floor) and I’d found out a couple of days before that they’d extended my set to two hours: I’d now be playing 3 – 5 am. The club has a very loyal, dedicated following who love trance and enjoy a particular sound, which can roughly be categorised as “fluffy” and “uplifting”. My own style is slightly different – more tough, pumping and bouncy – and I’d decided to stick to my own style to give the night something a bit different.
I was very lucky, however, in several ways. First, I was able to come to the club before it opened and have a look at the booth and the DJ rig. I wasn’t able to soundcheck because there’s a small theatre next door to the club and they had a performance that night. However, I got a good look at the mixer and booth, and also saw that I wouldn’t have any problems with monitoring (two big monitor speakers, one of each side of the booth, both crystal clear). Secondly, I was lucky that the mixer had a very good headphone mix facility, as I’d already decided this was the best way to avoid any problems with speaker delay.
I was also fortunate because I got to restart the night after a live PA. I was really pleased about this because it meant I could get away with starting in a slightly different style and not having to worry about following on from the previous DJ. I started with a track which fitted my own style perfectly, to see if the crowd would respond (they did, thank goodness).
The set itself went very, very well and I even managed a major mistake which no-one really noticed. I found mixing on a big system much easier as it was very forgiving on small glitches in beatmatching (I could use the mixer’s bass EQ to iron out any small mistakes). Other DJ’s in attendance said they noticed no beatmatching errors which was great because I was sure I’d made a few. I guess this shows how forgiving a club system can be on small mistakes. The major mistake I made (which I’ve never done before in my life… aargh!) was to take the needle of the wrong record (the one which was playing!) but managed to drop it back straight away, pretty much in the correct place. Talking to people afterwards, they’d simply thought the system cut out for a moment so I just about got away with it!
The crowd were a little difficult to read, only because the DJ booth was so high up, and the lighting guy was very fond of pumping the whole place full of dry ice and plunging the place into darkness save for a handful of lasers. However, the floor stayed full throughout and a few friends in the crowd told me later that people around them were full of good comments. I’d planned two huge peaks in the set with a big sideways step after the first peak and I’d wondered if the crowd would stick with me after this sideways step (they did, fortunately). I certainly found that a big crowd has a lot of momentum and because of this, they’re more difficult to throw off. It also helped that it was 3 – 5 am and many of the crowd were in an “advanced state of refeshment”. ;-)
I found the advice that people from this board gave me to be extremely useful. Thank you to everybody who offered suggestions, tips and advice, and also to those who simply said good luck. Through this advice, I learnt that playing on a big system is a very enjoyable experience, that you should trust what you’re hearing in your headphones above all else, and not to panic if things go wrong. The club’s owner/promoter and musical director were very happy with the set and I’ve been invited back in about 3 months time so I guess it’s mission accomplished.
If anyone’s interested, I’m happy to post a set list and thanks again to everybody for your good advice and kind wishes. I’d advise anyone in the position I was in to go for it – playing a big venue is a wonderful experience and I’ve now learnt not to be daunted by a big sound system. 
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