So no one ended up showing up

[bmo]

this happened to me a few weeks ago on a Thursday for an event I was putting on. Our previous events were packed, and this venue was by far the nicest club so far. In the end It was pretty much EMPTY like only the few ppl putting it on with me, and our few close friends... Most of the ppl who told me they were gonna come bailed at the last minute too, which was a buzz kill. I was so upset. Especially since I didn't cover cost for the night...so not only was the night a bust, but I had to pay to play a shitty night.

There was a pub crawl that night that was going on, and apparently the guy putting it on was fired from the club I was spinning at, and he pretty much did the pub crawl for every single venue in the town, except for the venue I was spinning at. And this guy was the guy who booked the date for my event too...Me and everyone else throwing our event had no clue about the bar hop, so we didn't adjust the cover accordingly.

[Nesquigs]

Cant agree more. I get the high when i spin house and tech that i use to get from token greens.

so fucking true. best substitute for us oppressed by the facist drug laws.

and seriously dood be your biggest fan and talk yourself up to people. all you need is that one chance to make an impression and word will get around. so keep at it.

[Coldfuzion]

Firstly man, i've never played at a big gig but i'm sure that happens. Honestly though truly keep your chin up. If people didn't show up for your gig, their loss. It's the same thing with my radio show, some weeks I just don't have any viewership short of a few people from DJTT + my parents lol. The only thing I think in my head is "Your loss mother fuckers. I was going to introduce you to some amazing music. Oh well."

Crazy part is sometimes that's super true, people will not listen in to my radio cause they're too "busy" and then they'll come over or will be in my ride and they'll be like "holy shit Kunal you should send me all these songs and the play list!" and i'll reply "Uhh you mother fucker, I played this same set on my show. If you tuned in you'd know what it was and the songs and everything. If you had tuned in you could've heard all of these. Go to my website if you really want to check them out."

and seriously dood be your biggest fan and talk yourself up to people. all you need is that one chance to make an impression and word will get around. so keep at it.

Thing is with this is you gotta have swag. Don't brag about yourself, but be super duper confident. I am no DJ pro nor have I much experience in the art of getting gigs, but I find that if you have a certain swag about yourself in any regard of life you will impress people without coming off as a total tool.

Three of my really good friends (two of whom are those "extremely popular" kids) never get to tune into my show because they're always in class when I am spinning but whenever they see me in school and whenever we hang out they always go like "WHATS UP DJ KUNAL!" really really loudly, and honestly they get me more attention from everyone around, especially cause I never say anything at all about DJing when i'm out or about me DJing.

I am sure I get so many hits on my site just simply because of them lol. Yesterday we were in the general area of our business department building and they yelled "WHATS UP DJ KUNAL" as I walked up and everyone around us (like 20 people) were all talking to us, and after they said that the whole conversation turned into about me DJing, and the best part was I did not have to even say one word about it. They were doing all the talking.

When other people praise your work (regardless of how good or bad it is), people tend to pay more attention.

Anyway man, I feel for you. If I was in the city I would have definitely stopped by.

[BellectroniQ]

It's rare I get gigs tbh but I've had some soul destroying ones in my time. Gigs where I've gone home and thought fuck it, I give up. The last gig I did was in a small bar for a friends new night and I decided to play on Ableton for the first time. I'd prepared all week with what little spare time i get warping tracks, making edits etc and was really excited for the night but in the end no one bar a few of my mates turned up. To make it worse though, one of my mates was absolutely smashed and was shouting bollocks at me. Proper fuck my life moment I tell ya.
The gig before that I was asked to warm up at the last minute for a big night round where I live. I spent all day preparing some old vinyl and was again really excited. Lot of my mates were coming down too. Ended up, again, playing to an empty room bar about 4 people but this was because the staff at the venue had got the times of their shift wrong so basically the place wasn't even open for my set! My fukkin mates couldnt even get in!

Funny now like but as I said can be soul destroying stuff at the time and I'm sure everyone, if not most have been there.

[Prone]

...so not only was the night a bust, but I had to pay to play a shitty night.

That seriously sucks man, sorry to hear that. Because even playing to an empty audience is okay if you can try some new stuff, play things loud etc. But if you pay for an empty venue that's even more frustrating.

[josh@firestorm]

a good place to start is make yourself a facebook fan page and bomb your friends list with a link to it, and get them to do the same to their friends list... do a promo mix and link it on your fan page to garner some interest.

record another mix and burn it to cd, then when it's gig time advertise on your fan page that the first 25 people will get a free mix cd. its not a bad idea to do this for every gig really. it will keep the fanbase healthy!!

have an extensive read through 'the big thread of promotion info' link in my sig below.. it has all the info you need to get you started in building your fanbase and how to promote yourself and your events.

[Fraa]

Happened to me a few times, that's why I actually don't DJ on gigs anymore. I just see it as a something I do when I'm feeling like it, at home, as a hobby.

I've had a lot of big gigs between 2003 and 2008, from small cozy clubs with 300 people to big clubs with 2000 people. Since 2008 it's been pretty quiet. The last year I've had a couple of gigs that were basicly just disappointing. Preparing, packing up gear, driving for 2-3 hours, getting there and eventually no one shows up. If you were used to having the sweet slots and playing for a lot of people, it really gets to you.

So, I just spare myself the disappointment and I don't really put any effort into promoting myself anymore, it's just not worth it.