I don't see GTR or Menno demanding a certain style for the opener.

Kristina is def good friends with Menno and maybe GTR too, so I imagine she knows how they like things setup.

Kristina is prob one of the few openers down here I don't sweat too much about.

(A big issue I personally have had with LA trance headliner openers for years is the lack of good openers. Always either a boring attempt at good house that they works with trances all the way through or the opener might as well be the headliner. Even if the crowd is going off, the opener can be showing complete disrespect to the headliner by not respect the style of music that headliner plays and doign your best to progress their set properly to lead into the headliner well. LA openers used to PISS ME OFF -- would always hear 120-124bpm house for 130+ trance headlienrs or someone trying to be a hero and play hard ass stuff or 136+ BPM and I'm not talkign about build to a quick peak and them coming down...lame-o. Great sets on their own, bad as opening sets. SF has had it's rough period the last few years, IMO, too. Kinda upsetting since I would stand up for SF openers so much!

Nothing like hearing a track or two by the opener that the headliner produced himself (but maybe under a different alias) or the the headlnier has produced one of the biggest remixes of.

Even worse when a headliner in the main room co-produced a track and then the opener, the second opener, and two DJs in the backroom all play the track (varying remixes of it, but still)

It happens. I just stand there in disbelief! And I've seen similar things happen in both cities first hand.

Sorry for the long parenthesis note!!!)

Last edited by DaveT on Oct-19-2009 at 04:49

imo i think it's ok to build into the type of music the headliner will play. the two times ive seen armin, the beginning of the openers set was very slow and loungy, but they start picking it up with about 20 min to go.

Oh, I think it's OK to build up to the style of the headliner. Just as long as they are sure to try to not play tracks the headliner would play, or a tracklist that the crowd could see the headliner playing. You don't want an opener for Armin to play a set you could imagine Armin playing. The impact of the headliner is lost at that point and the headliner will never be able to get the same type of peak crowd response.

I think the best openers are those who play an off-style of the opener but a style that those there to see the headliner can totally dig. But that's me, and I've loved prog-trance openers for trance headliners plenty of times. too. Although, it's much easier for that opener to really screw up in my eyes.

But I hate when they are slow & loungy then build up the last 20 minutes.

Sure, let it starartt slow and loungy if it's a long opening set, but you can play a good strong set and progress into the headliner.

Anyhow, if you are gonna do it wrong and correct it in the end, it's better to start slow and pick it up quick if you have to.

What's the killer is playing too hard / too fast/ you know what i mean. In some cases, the headliner comes into the place and says something and then the opener is told to bring it down and has like 2 tracks to do it and in bring it down so quick the energy in the room is lost some. But not completely, and if the headliner is good can recover from it quick. And sometimes the opener doesn't adjust (cause he/she too thickheaded to realize what he/she is totally playing or isn't told to adjust) and just totally disrespects the style of the opener...so when headliner comes on and starts off with a much lower energy, the crowd's vibe goes *poof* for awhile. Sometimes it comes back quick (2-3 tracks), most of the time it takes awhile...really depends on how the headliner builds the set from there.

Remember, most of the time the headliner doesn't even really hear much of the opener, except the tail end....so they are basically trusting the promoter to book a DJ who they would trust to do things proper.

When the opener is bad, it reflects on the promoter. So I would hope promoters show the DJs enough respect to book openers worth opening for them.

Last edited by DaveT on Oct-19-2009 at 08:25

Kristina Sky's set was very good as an opener, though I felt she left those extended versions play a tad too long. I felt the same way when she opened for ATB a couple of weeks back.

My vids are now up, enjoy!

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