you guys do it, lol. I'm too busy right now to be doing this. Maybe next week, haha.

___________________
I'm the trouble starter, fuckin' instigator.
I'm the fear-addicted, danger illustrated.

quote:

Originally posted by Cosmic Fur I'm going to take this time to mention that I really disagree with the whole opening set idea that the opening DJ has to suck in order not to steal thunder away from the headliner. First, to me, an opening set should be more about setting up the feel for the headliner, and you can have a good set that does it that isn't necessarily composed of huge club bangers. Just don't make it boring. Second, fuck the headliner. No DJ should sacrifice his ability to deliver a good set just so the headliner looks better by comparison. The reason the headliner is the headliner is that he/she should be able to deliver no matter what. If the opening DJ decides to throw down a banging set, the headliner's job is to continue where the opening DJ left off, not bitch about stolen thunder. WTF are the headliners getting paid for then? Any DJ can seem amazing if the guy before him fucks up on purpose.

Thank God you are not a DJ, otherwise you wouldn’t be getting very many gigs.
First of all, the headliner is what the club is paying for. You don’t want an opener banging it out, already wearing out the energy of the crowd before the club is even full or the headliner goes on. I don’t like hearing the same song twice in a night. Unless you are Larry Levan and it’s the Paradise Garage back in ’79, no DJ’s should be doing that. I know Garage disciples like David Morales and the like do stuff like that, but David is a legend as well.
I think it takes more talent to open for a DJ than to play all the hits. You need to work the room and play tracks that have energy, but are more of a tease than anything. If you drop all the hits before people have time to get tweaked or drunk, you are wasting the track. There’s a reason DJs produced peak time anthems or warm up tracks. A warm up track should not be played during peak time and vice versa.
If a DJ thinks they are going to make a name for themselves by stealing thunder, think again. Most Djs get big because of production skills, I can’t think of many DJs who have got big by just playing sets in their local city...

quote:

Originally posted by ChemEnhanced I've always said if you had 10 DJ spin the exact same track list and you couldn't see which DJ was which, I don't think 99.9% of the people could tell which DJ spun which set.

Not if you know your locals and not if you know your headliners. There have been several times I have been able to tell if it was the headliner or the opener playing without even looking at the DJ booth. Just this past Sunday for example, I knew Victor Calderone was already on, by not even knowing the time or entering the Beach Club. I know his track selection/style so I could easily call something like that.
In fact, last week I was listening to a promo that a well known DJ was playing for me. I have never heard the track before, and after listening for about a minute, I figured it was Sharam from Deep Dish and I was right. This DJ is on the promo list for a lot of the big labels in the world, and I was able to call who produced the track. All you need is a good ear to figure stuff like that out.

quote:

Originally posted by teufel-man Yeah I totally agree with you.... it really raises the question, why do we go see international DJs at all in the first place? all they do is play music... the only reasons I can think of are: 1. they are a big producer and you like a lot of their productions, so you go see they play at a local club to support them even though you know a local DJ could play the same tracklist and produce an equally good set 2. they have a really unique style, whether they play a really unique style of music or they use a lot of special effects or whatever... but for the other 75% of DJs who just come and play all the latest popular songs? why do we pay such high cover to go see them?

There’s way more to it than that...

When I think of certain DJs, I know a lot of them have promos that local DJs wish they had. Although a lot of the local DJs in Toronto/Montreal are well connected with getting promos, there are still a lot of tracks that the locals can’t get and you can only hear by listening to the international DJ.

Also, if a venue is going to spend money on bringing in international talent, they are also likely to spend money on sound upgrades and impressive decor. There’s a lost art sometimes with Toronto parties that decor and improved sound enhance. If anyone has ever been to a Benson and Hedges Goldclub series event, you will know what I am talking about...

mark is the king!
and thats all i have to say about that.

___________________
Samhouse on Facebook

quote:

Originally posted by Big Boss Not if you know your locals and not if you know your headliners. There have been several times I have been able to tell if it was the headliner or the opener playing without even looking at the DJ booth. Just this past Sunday for example, I knew Victor Calderone was already on, by not even knowing the time or entering the Beach Club. I know his track selection/style so I could easily call something like that. In fact, last week I was listening to a promo that a well known DJ was playing for me. I have never heard the track before, and after listening for about a minute, I figured it was Sharam from Deep Dish and I was right. This DJ is on the promo list for a lot of the big labels in the world, and I was able to call who produced the track. All you need is a good ear to figure stuff like that out.

Like I said....if each DJ was given the same track list to play....99.9% of people wouldn't be able to tell which DJ was which. You may be the lucky .1% that can tell.

___________________

quote:

Scott has been introduced to the rave scene, and Ecstasy, by Craig. The two of them go out on the weekends, with some of Craigs friends, and stay up all night, dancing in a drug-fueled trance.

Last edited by Moral Hazard on Apr-26-2011 at 07:48

Mark is a good DJ... but why has he never succeded on the International Market? He's been around Toronto and The Guvernment for so long that it might be time for a change... Maybe playing every week-end the same venue made the Toronto crowd asking for a change? THey are so many DJ's who would just dream of playing Guvernment, Koolhaus once every 3 months... I wouldn't be against a rotation of DJs including guys from Montreal, Ottawa. Toronto is a huge market other DJ should benefit in playing!
Dom K.

quote:

Originally posted by activate Well Joe told me that they had to play some Canadian shit...

yes, joe and fab have to play canadian content because their set on z103 is before 12am. read what i said originally.

___________________

quote:

Originally posted by ChemEnhanced Like I said....if each DJ was given the same track list to play....99.9% of people wouldn't be able to tell which DJ was which. You may be the lucky .1% that can tell.

Well, thats part of why I go see certain DJs - they have an impressive collection of music, a range of stuff that I've probably never listened to before. It's their job to go out, shift through the crap, find the gems, and present the music in a way that knocks my socks off.

In short - they have a better taste / ear for music than I do, and are able to build sets in such a way that pulls me in more than simply being a jukebox. If I simply wanted to hear 'this summers hits', I'd download the best sellers from beatport and put my iPod onto random.

However, then you take the great DJs - who layer tracks for extended periods of times, cut between them interestingly, have custom edits/cuts and promos - tease tracks in and out building a sense of tension, then destroying the dance floor at the right moment, only to build it back up again.

You have DJs like Lee Burridge or Craig Richards that really take you on a musical trip and keep you captivated wondering whats going to come next. Or people like Jeff Milligan who cut between 4 decks so quickly it blows your mind as 'new' tracks are almost being built on the fly.

Then people like Ricardo Villalobos who throws shit out of left field, and some of those tracks if I was to simply listen to on their own might not excite me, but how he took you there, how he tweaks them and what he does with the track makes me love them for that moment.

A good DJ is more than just a glorified juke-box, if all a DJ is doing the entire night is mixing the first few bars / last few bars of this seasons biggest hits - they are not a DJ IMO.

A big part of what makes certian DJs unique is their track selection / sound / style, and limiting them to the same set-list is a bit defeating, you might as well put the songs on random & auto-beat match in your favorite software and call it a night.

Last edited by kaniz on Aug-21-2008 at 01:17

quote:

Originally posted by kaniz Well, thats part of why I go see certain DJs - they have an impressive collection of music, a range of stuff that I've probably never listened to before. It's their job to go out, shift through the crap, find the gems, and present the music in a way that knocks my socks off. In short - they have a better taste / ear for music than I do, and are able to build sets in such a way that pulls me in more than simply being a jukebox. If I simply wanted to hear 'this summers hits', I'd download the best sellers from beatport and put my iPod onto random. However, then you take the great DJs - who layer tracks for extended periods of times, cut between them interestingly, have custom edits/cuts and promos - tease tracks in and out building a sense of tension, then destroying the dance floor at the right moment, only to build it back up again. You have DJs like Lee Burridge or Craig Richards that really take you on a musical trip and keep you captivated wondering whats going to come next. Or people like Jeff Milligan who cut between 4 decks so quickly it blows your mind as 'new' tracks are almost being built on the fly. Then people like Ricardo Villalobos who throws shit out of left field, and some of those tracks if I was to simply listen to on their own might not excite me, but how he took you there, how he tweaks them and what he does with the track makes me love them for that moment. A good DJ is more than just a glorified juke-box, if all a DJ is doing the entire night is mixing the first few bars / last few bars of this seasons biggest hits - they are not a DJ IMO. A big part of what makes certian DJs unique is their track selection / sound / style, and limiting them to the same set-list is a bit defeating, you might as well put the songs on random & auto-beat match in your favorite software and call it a night.

Many of the things you mention are the exact reasons why I only venture out to see only a few DJs nowadays.....I do believe that there is a small percentage of people who would be able to identify DJs by how they take the tracks they have and work with them....I think you could get very different sets from different DJs if they had the same list of tracks to work with. I just don't think many people could identifiy them....I know I couldn't.

___________________

quote:

Scott has been introduced to the rave scene, and Ecstasy, by Craig. The two of them go out on the weekends, with some of Craigs friends, and stay up all night, dancing in a drug-fueled trance.

Last edited by Moral Hazard on Apr-26-2011 at 07:48

Yeah, I tend to like DJs that have an identifiable "sound". I know for me, I can generally tell a Jamie Kidd set within the first track or two. I think this is also why I tend to gravitate more towards Live PAs a bit more than DJ sets for stuff that really gets me excited.

Too many DJs simply play the big hits of the moment and with not much creativity. I like going out to hear new music that excites me, not stuff I've heard 50 times before.

quote:

Originally posted by samhouse mark is the king! and thats all i have to say about that.

+ 1

that's all i gotta say...

quote:

Originally posted by kaniz I like going out to hear new music that excites me, not stuff I've heard 50 times before.

+1, thats the main reason I go out, to hear new music! I hate hearing songs I know for the most part.... probably because I get sick of most songs pretty quickly, some songs never get old though