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to all opening DJs (pg. 3)
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| Jim Carson |
| quote: | Originally posted by gerard6975
i totally agree! |
Yes, that's why I usually get closing or headlining bookings. :)
If I do on the odd occasion get an opening slot, I'm pretty respectful, keeping it to progressive house and electro when it's a trance DJ coming on after me. It depends on the venue and the promoter really. If the promoter knows what they are doing they will usually have a discussion with the opening DJ and let them know what they expect out of them. When I've been in charge of bookings, I make sure all communication is crystal clear. All you have to do is communicate with your crew and clearly express what you need out of your DJs and reiterate the important points so it becomes locked into their subconscious. They won't even have to think about it. It will become automatic. |
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| Jim Carson |
I was co-headlining a set at a rave in North Hollywood earlier this year with Jonathan Morning and he was banging it out at 138-140BPMs. I had an electro set prepared at 130BPM. I wasn't going to bring down the energy of the party. Screw that. I kept the beats betweeen 138-140BPM with the same tracks and it went off. The kids loved it. I also noticed that the headlining trance DJs at Circus played in this range as well and the crowd responded better to faster BPMs so I had to adjust to this as well at Circus when headlining the main room.
At Circus you have to play no less than 136BPM on the main floor. Anything less is completely un-danceable there. Just ask Hatiras and Alex Kenji who played to less than 10-20 heads in the side room when Eddie Halliwell was there for the Winter event last year. I felt bad. I was excited to see these guys play but the crowd really wasn't up for the house DJs on this night. They should have brought in some other DJs and promoters to help out for the promotion. EC Twins had about 5 people on the floor before Hatiras and Kenji while the main room had a decent turnout with an amazing LED wall. Eddie Halliwell's set was really good and Marcus Schossow had a good set too. I think if you really want to make things pop at Circus, you have to put in just as much production value in the side room and upstairs as you do in the main room. That's why the Fetish Nation nights work so well. It is stimulation overload. That's what make the nights interesting and more reminiscent of the rave scene where we all come from.
This last weekend at Circus was really good. They had it set up nicely. Simon Patterson went off. It reminded me of our set up on January 2nd this past year.
All in all, you have to know the venue you're playing for and those playing with you.
Later this month, ironically, I'll be at AVEC for my birthday for an old school classics, progressive house/trance set which will be a departure from my usual electro and tech house sounds. I'm up for it!!! |
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| Quazar |
Circus is interesting. I like it, but it's different from what I became used to at trance events in Atlanta.
Back home, Liquified is the only promoter that brings in big trance talent, and it's always at club Opera (formerly eleven50). There are few different DJs that alternate as openers, but they're all deep house (ATL is a house, dnb, and dubstep town). I became used to hearing house upon getting to the club, and no trance was played at all until the headliner came on.
It ensured that the energy didn't peak until the headliner, but the flipside was that people like myself who didn't care much for deep house would just pre-game at a bar down the street, and show up at the club at around midnight, which clearly hurts the club's alcohol sales.
Circus, on the other hand, uses some extremely talented openers and closers, but they're almost always progressive and trance. Thankfully, they know what they're doing, and know just how hard they can go without hurting the headliner's entrance. It's also the rare place where sometimes I enjoy the opener or closer's set MORE than the headliner, which just further proves that California probably has the best trance talent in the US.
In any case, when I get to the point where I'm comfortable making a mix to use as a demo or reference of sorts, the first part will likely be tech house and progressive, and I'll move to trance later in the set. That way a potential client can hear what I'd be like as an opener or closer. I imagine that it's pretty hard for a person who only plays 140bpm trance to get their first gig. |
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| djThomasPhan |
| quote: | Originally posted by Jim Carson
nice one thomas! I USED to have several girls like this in the past at home, but now my girl is totally cool. |
Thanks Jim Carson :) |
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| DaveT |
Circus' choice as an opener to Martin Roth was a disaster. So don't say Circus book extremely talented openers. It's also been indicated by a few people over time that the supporting DJ timeslots at least sometimes are based on how many people that DJ brings, and not indicative of earning that spot based on the actual quality of their sets. Which I hate.
And Martin Roth showed you didn't have to play fast to keep a crowd on the floor at Circus. And you know what, his style makes for a very good opener for more harder/faster/epic trance act.
No one left the room during his set, in fact it just got more full. And it wasn't super fast at all. |
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| Jim Carson |
| quote: | Originally posted by DaveT
And Martin Roth showed you didn't have to play fast to keep a crowd on the floor at Circus. And you know what, his style makes for a very good opener for more harder/faster/epic trance act.
No one left the room during his set, in fact it just got more full. And it wasn't super fast at all. |
What BPM was he playing at? |
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| DaveT |
I'd say low 130s at most.
It was a great set and a few of us were surprised how the crowd actually ate it up, overall.
That said, of course at least a couple people complained he was too slow. :p |
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| Jim Carson |
| quote: | Originally posted by DaveT
I'd say low 130s at most.
It was a great set and a few of us were surprised how the crowd actually ate it up, overall.
That said, of course at least a couple people complained he was too slow. :p |
Haha. That's funny about people complaining. Typically, a trance DJ is going to play 132-133 BPMs at minimum. 130BPM and lower is usually reserved for opening DJs, progressive house DJs, house, DJs, electro DJs, etc.
I've heard some of the recent headliners over the summer and into our fall and winter here up in the 140PMs and 150BPMs at LMD.
John Askew had it up around 150BPM when I closed for him last year.
A lot of the European trance and old school UK Hard House DJs are comfortable in the 150-160BPM range and so are their crowds.
I remember friends from Canada (Mike Downey) and Ingo (from the UK) asking us Americans why we played so slow. :haha: |
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| DaveT |
| prob because of our education system. us dumb american's need slower music to comprehend it all. bwaha |
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| Quazar |
| I agree about the Halloween opener, but that seemed like a rarity. It was the only DJ with that type of style that I've seen open at Circus. |
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| Brian Scott |
| quote: | Originally posted by DaveT
The worst is when an opener bangs it out too hard and then the headliner comes on, and brings it way down from the beginning because that's the headliner's style. That murders the energy in a room until the headliner basically builds it back up again. When a headliner has to do that and the energy dies because of it, that's the openers fault |
I witnessed this first-hand this weekend. I chatted with the headliner about it and all he could do was shrug it off and go about his business. |
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| Jim Carson |
| quote: | Originally posted by Brian Scott
I witnessed this first-hand this weekend. I chatted with the headliner about it and all he could do was shrug it off and go about his business. |
Way to go, Brian. Bum out the headliner right in the middle of his set ;) |
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