Homecoming Dance. Slow Songs?
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  1. #1
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    Default Homecoming Dance. Slow Songs?

    Hey guys,

    Hoping some of my more seasoned mobile DJ vets can help me out with this one. I'm doing a high school homecoming dance this Saturday night for a private school. I come from a mainly club background here, and the school has apparently specifically requested us to go heavy on the EDM side of things. I was going to do a lot of top-40/billboard remixes and touch on some popular trap and hip-hop. My question here is this:

    Back during these dances when I was in high school (long before I started DJing), I noticed there was at least one or two slow songs peppered in throughout the night. Is this still pretty standard, or should I avoid it and treat it like a bar/club and go high energy all the way through? On one hand, it would give me a chance to kind of break the night into segments, and give me a chance to see where I want to take things next. On the other hand, I worry that with it only being like 3-4 hours, it would completely kill the floor vibe if I'm at a high energy point. Worst still, people could think it was over and start to leave.

    Anyone have experiences doing these kinds of things? If the verdict comes down to throw at least 1-2 in, any good recommendations? (US side of things here).

    TL;DR: High school homecoming dance. Should I play a few slow songs or keep it upbeat the entire time?
    Traktor Kontrol Z2 | 2x Stanton ST-150 Turntables | Traktor Kontrol F1 | MacBook

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  2. #2
    Tech Guru 031999's Avatar
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    Don't do it dude. You'll lose em. It's really risky to drop below 115bpm (unless your hitting the hip hop range) at a high school function. Kids these days don't know what a slow dance even is. Seriously..... It will be really awkward and uncomfortable, and tough to get the floor back.

  3. #3
    Tech Guru Kwal's Avatar
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    Once you play Levels and get the energy going, back spin levels and drop only time by Enya, after that just do what any good dj would do, run the trap.

  4. #4

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    The slow dance of yester-year is the grind of this year.

    Also, Kwal's thing.
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  5. #5
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    You wait till you move onto the cheese before you start dropping your slow-dance bombs. In fact, finish on those epic slow romance songs, like Aerosmith - Don't Want To Miss A Thing.
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by 031999 View Post
    Don't do it dude. You'll lose em. It's really risky to drop below 115bpm (unless your hitting the hip hop range) at a high school function. Kids these days don't know what a slow dance even is. Seriously..... It will be really awkward and uncomfortable, and tough to get the floor back.
    This is exactly what I was afraid of. I think I'll err on the side of caution and keep it upbeat.


    Quote Originally Posted by Kwal
    Once you play Levels and get the energy going, back spin levels and drop only time by Enya, after that just do what any good dj would do, run the trap.
    This however, is one of my favorite answers
    Traktor Kontrol Z2 | 2x Stanton ST-150 Turntables | Traktor Kontrol F1 | MacBook

    www.mixcloud.com/sunshineraleigh

  7. #7
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    Well guys, it was a great success, and all the kids had a great time. Here's a time-lapsed video of the insane A/V production we implemented for the event. Enjoy!

    Traktor Kontrol Z2 | 2x Stanton ST-150 Turntables | Traktor Kontrol F1 | MacBook

    www.mixcloud.com/sunshineraleigh

  8. #8
    Tech Guru 031999's Avatar
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    shit dude that was bad ass!!!...

  9. #9
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    I love that the load out was included on the video. What was the total setup time, dance time, and load out time?
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  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by soundinmotiondj View Post
    I love that the load out was included on the video. What was the total setup time, dance time, and load out time?
    Load in was at 3, we had everything set up by about 7. Dance went from 8-11pm, then strike took just under 2 hours. We recently built a cadillac, so that helped IMMENSELY with the strike portion. Our last strike of this magnitude probably took about twice the amount of time.
    Traktor Kontrol Z2 | 2x Stanton ST-150 Turntables | Traktor Kontrol F1 | MacBook

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