losing your focus during a gig

Yep! .....been there as well. I describe this as "hitting a wall".

Once you manage to push through it, the rest of the night usually goes fine.

I keep a selection of fairly generic 20 minute mixes. They normally live on my iPad or on CD for backup purposes, but i've also got them in my DJing library as well. If I've hit the wall & i'm really struggling, i'll stick one of these on, grab a drink & just stand back for 10 minutes.

I'll also probably do this with my headphones on, but nothing playing through them. ....just to give my ears a rest as well.

seems like everyone hit the nail
id say its a sign of burnout. This happens to me often becaues not only do i do 2 gigs a week playing solo almost each week for a 5 hour set
but i also do two live shows each weekend for my radio station at 2 hours each
its a lot of music to prepare and i find doing it at 3 week intervals is good
and every so often i just do a ONE hour live broadcast. Pre record it, and program it to play at the right time
this way i can just sit down and get away from the music for a bit

Keep in mind, doing it over and over for long periods its pretty much like doing a marathon set each week

unless you plan on being 24-7 in a K-Hole, your brain is going to at one point say "Dude, im taking a break"

Hope you take something to eat for those seven hour sets. It could be a drop in blood sugars that are causing your lapse of concentration.

I usually get a drink when this happens, and it happens at almost every gig. When I start throwing in songs with clashing drum patterns I know that I'm off and just need to step back for a second and see how the floor is doing and change up what I'm doing if its not working.

Sometime on a slow night not like I forget how to mix just just can't figure what song to play next. But I only 2 nights a week 4 hour each.

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Originally Posted by Mojaxx

Just dive into your 'guaranteed bangers' crate and power through!

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I've never considered taking a box of quality sausages to a gig but this might be my new secret weapon.

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Originally Posted by D-Kem

Hope you take something to eat for those seven hour sets. It could be a drop in blood sugars that are causing your lapse of concentration.

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AVB eats bananas during his set.

I eat only bananas and nuts when I go rock climbing all day. That would keep you going through a long set

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Originally Posted by dripstep

That's why you don't let topless girls stand by your gear. Breaks my concentration 100% of the time, every time.

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Heh, I'm the resident DJ at a stripclub, I know what you're talking about ;) we have more of club like atmosphere, people dance a lot in this particular stripclub which is really unusual and I get to play my normal club music. Altho I am now pretty much indifferent to the girls, seeing so much nakedness does this to you I suppose. They're more like random furniture to me lmao

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Originally Posted by thisisian

I keep a selection of fairly generic 20 minute mixes. They normally live on my iPad or on CD for backup purposes, but i've also got them in my DJing library as well. If I've hit the wall & i'm really struggling, i'll stick one of these on, grab a drink & just stand back for 10 minutes.

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this is a great idea! I should really get my hands on some nice mixes that fit the mood to fall back on.

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Originally Posted by D-Kem

Hope you take something to eat for those seven hour sets. It could be a drop in blood sugars that are causing your lapse of concentration.

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yeah I actually had a lot of stuff with me that night. Normally I bring nuts, those are my favourite. That night i had chocolate bars and crisps with me, but it happened regardless. Also I don't smoke and I rarely drink alcohol. Drinking a beer is mostly out of the equation when I'm gigging there because I go there with my car so I can transport the gear I need and I have to drive back safely somehow.

And red bull, lol, I can't drink that stuff anymore because I drank so much of it, it now tastes like catpiss to me.
One night I consumed like 6-8 red bulls, after the sugar effects ceased from the first 2 cans I just had to get more until my hands were just shaking violently haha.
No need to mention that I couldn't sleep for 7 hours after my gig. Thank god it was sunday and not another work day.

Dude an apple is kinda a secret weapon, It has just the right amount of sugar and also a little caffeine, and also you look like a total bad ass just mixing while eating an apple. (and also there is no "straight" way to eat a banana, its just not possible hahaha.)

Also save up some of your very favorite tracks, for this point. Just to get you interested in the mix again.