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first gig- how it went
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nerdgrl416
Got a call from a friend Friday night to play at a Hip Hop/Latin night last minute yesterday. He wanted me to play my music. Even though it was a hip hop crowd I thought what the hell.

Got there at around 11:30, when I heard the dj play some latin music I was worried they wouldn't take my music well. The dj was nice to bring the bpm up to 135 for me so it was easy to mix in.

Dropped Nyana T4L mix. The crowd really responded to it well.
After that though they lost interest. I tried spinning the cheese because of the crowd obviously but it was hard to please everyone. It also seemed that they were afraid to like it since it's not the norm. The djs that play there go from one song to another in a matter of 2 minutes. I guess the crowd gets bored easily.
Played my last song Marcel Woods-Advanced and everything started to pick up however the promoter was worried the people were bored so they put the hip hop back on.


One thing I learned was, come a lot earlier to know the equipment. They had a Rane MP 44 Mixer. The channel faders controls were taken off. Since I mix with only channel faders it was kind of hard to control my mixing. Bleh should have gotten there earlier to practice I guess.
One thing I did noticed was the sound system was very forgiving on my errors. I think the only person that noticed my errors were me.

The great part was I had some people from the crowd come up to me and said I was good. A great compliment from a hip hop crowd and a house promotor came up to me to ask for my contact info.

So it didn't go as long as I would like it to but I got to play out.
BOOsTER
Actually I think it went quite well
I have a long experience with playing trance and house in clubs that are more open to hiphop and mainstream pop...if you have some people comming up to you saying you were good then it was a success...I believe that many people have exactly this same experience.

Keep your head up and play out as much as you can...also
but you realized yourself, it's much better to arrive earlier, with clubs I've never been to before, I usually have a talk with the owner to be able to come in before opening the door to public...that way I can look at the equipment..spin let's say 4-5 songs and get a feel for the room and gear.

Then I usually like to stay around and see what's the vibe of the night, talk with people have a drink and such...catching the atmosphere...that's great.

then you're pretty well prepared and know what to drop ;)
miamitranceman
The first time is always tough, but it seems like you've already figured out a better way to do it next time. (Coming early is a must). Congrats for gettin through it!
nerdgrl416
Thanks for the pat on the back guys!
Fl@k Monkey
Nice one indeedies :D So glad to hear you got to play out. To bad it didn't go down much better than mine with the hip hop and the bored audience. Same as you i realised people who are generally into hiphop etc.. don't really seem to have an open mind to appreciate EDM.

As some of my bestest mates have already told me, Once you've done the first gig it only gets better :D Keep playing out and evetually you'll find a awesome crowd.
Beat Blog
You dropped Advanced to a hip-hop crowd and you're wondering why they didn't respond well?

Try to think it from their point of view...

Even some people who have been into techno and/or trance for 2, 3 or even 5 years would find Advanced to be too hard and fast for them, imagine what an inexperienced hip-hop crowd would think.

Half of being a DJ is about playing appropriate music in different situations, and personally, I couldn't think of a more inappropriate song than this in a hip-hop joint, though I suppose your friend did ask your to play "your" music.

Well done on getting approached by the house promoter though; just make sure not to play Yoji Biomehanika when the crowd is expecting Bob Sinclar.

p.s I saw Marcel play on Friday night, had to throw out my underwear after hearing him play Advanced...
Fl@k Monkey
True, But when your told to 'Play House' or 'Play Trance' or 'Play what you like'.. It's a little confusing. From my experience iv learnt its never a half bad idea to bring some top 40 songs.. perhaps in remix form.. so they know the songs yet there still EDM.. Even if you dont plan to play them.. Theres never enough music.
nerdgrl416
quote:
Originally posted by Beat Blog
You dropped Advanced to a hip-hop crowd and you're wondering why they didn't respond well?



Um.. if you read my post I said when I did dropped Advanced things picked up. As far as making the crowd happy I didn't say I was surprised they didn't respond well.




:)

The promotor switched to Hip Hop because he just didn't know how they would react from there.

Oh and the gig I played was for free so I ain't dropping any top 40 to appease them. Either you like it or you don't. :p
Beat Blog
quote:
Originally posted by nerdgrl416
Um.. if you read my post I said when I did dropped Advanced things picked up.

The promotor switched to Hip Hop because he just didn't know how they would react from there.


I was referring to your entire set, not that specific song.
nerdgrl416
quote:
Originally posted by Beat Blog
I was referring to your entire set, not that specific song.


It seemed like you were talking about just Advanced. Fair enough.

wesleysnipez
Gald it went good providing the crowd was more into other stuff. But best part out of it all the promoter came up to you and all.
all-nite-freak
You did the best you could have under the situation you were put in. I would say not gigging > gigging in situations that do not suit your style. I know it must be hard to be selective, but finding the right gig to fit your style is essential. At least you got to play what you wanted. Not even International Headliners get that privalege most of the time. Often they will have discussions with the promoters that book them before hand to discuss what style he should play. If a club has bottle service, you can forget a DJ playing with carte blance. Even the big names have to dumb it down sometimes. In time you will learn to read this a little better. That is the reason i only really enjoy going to afterhours, because not only are the sets extended, but the DJ can show you what he is really capable of with no restrictions. Congrats for not getting shot and the next time find some tribally RPO type stuff (kind of trancy peep the Entrena remixes) to satisfy the latin crowd while you add your own flavour.
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