opening djs: dont break the ten commandments

[Karlos Santos]

I agree. If you heard a DJ playing a tune you just HAD to have you would be stupid not to try and find out.

If you know the DJ, even if you have just been introduced you should just ask him.

If you try do it in a sly way and make it obvious then the DJ will get pissed but thats probably cus your leaning over his shoulder.

Most DJs dont mind been asked by the warm up guy what a tune is as long as your not getting in his way, disturbing his flow or asking about every bloody song.

[willrjmarshall]

Yeah. I can imagine having someone standing behind the decks watching you would be annoying, even if they're not really getting in your way. That said, if someone asks me for my tracks I'll give them a CD, and I'm happy to let someone stand with me in the booth if they want to see how I play (I use Ableton, so I do get occasional CDJ/vinyl guys wanting to see how it works).

Personally, I'm working on sending the names of all the tracks I play to my VJing app, so anyone can see then without having to be in the booth.

[LiveFastStephen]

well bro, those aren't "top 40" rules...

1. if you the opener, please keep your fan club out of the booth, nothing like getting in the booth and a bunch of kids are jumping around etc. I know I put my equipment in the booth during sound checks and leave it there. The average person has no clue that they shouldn't be putting drinks around the equipment etc.

2. if you are opening... you really shouldn't be playing the artists own tracks since he or she may plan on playing them. have some respect and self control.

3. You really need to learn what the opening set is all about if you think you should be killing it up there. You are there simply to warm up the crowd a bit. Lets say the headliner is Dubfire... Your set should consist of opening with some minimal and deeper tech stuff. You shouldn't break about 126bpms, and only towards the end of your set and his arival should your set really build up to the tech house stuff. You really need to know your headliner. Again you need to learn some self control and respect. You are the opener and you are there really to only get the room moving a little. If you are in there banging it out then the room is gonna b a bit tired by the time the headliner goes on.

Its those reasons that lots of headliners now have to have the manager do a little research as to who is opening. I know most djs are bringing their own openers, since the local kids just can't grasp what it means to open. Its not a showcase for you the opener....

1 hah my "fan club" is not a "bunch of kids" and my hype men and women are the last people who're going to put drinks next to the equipment, there actually my front line from people who will, As well as my first defense from drunks distracting me from doing my thing///

2 I said "remixes" of there tracks - on more than the occasion done by yours truly.

3 maybe you need to learn to kill it like i do and you wont be opening, ZING!

[DJPhaidon]

So much animosity

Not that I'm religious, but even religious folks can't even follow their 10 commandments, so why would DJ's follow some from the interwebs? Lol. Not that I don't agree with the general idea, but basically the "10" are what you should know not to do anyway, to a point.

"Hi, I'm that guy that does his job, you must be that other guy" great quote.

[LanceBlaise]

All djs should be approachable and there really is nothing wrong with asking the name of a track... its more creepy when dudes are standing over my shoulder trying to see it. Just ask me the track name... its not like its something that you can't have, and if its not out yet than you can't get it anyways... Sets should be about programming and how well you know all your music and how well you use it!

[Segfault]

I like the term 'musical blue balls' when referring to opening DJs. Not that they get it, but that they give the crowd as a whole blue bits, and then the headliner comes in and finishes them off.

Not that I'd know. I don't get out of my bedroom much, but that's my take on the matter. Building up tension for an entire set without getting boring seems like it'd be /really/ hard, though. There's always gotta be a payoff or people get disinterested.

[ibarry]

What I like to say is, an opener is as important as the main act. If the opener kills it, by not following simple rules then they kill the night either for the headline dj or the crowd.

[cutflow]

@cutflow Don't worry about what we think! If you like the technique, use it on your own tracks. If you feel like you're biting Luciano's style too much, then change the technique to make it yours. Practice, and once you're comfortable I bet it'll be easy to tweak things a bit to make it your own.

thanks your post was helpful.


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back on topic
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my opinion on set openers is as followed.

i believe a dj who is opening a set for someone like luciano, tom novy or marc knight. should have a opening set of a constantly stabilized BPM. what i mean is that, this bpm should be lower than what the DJ of the event will spin. it should be on a level that will keep the consumers waiting for the dj to come. i believe your bpm should stay the the same because it should be the event-dj who should decide when he takes the customers down, mid and UP. but hey thats my opinion. and thats how i would do it. i would have drops that are all the same bpm. and avoid less going up, up and up and then the drop. <- thats something i would avoid if i was to do an open. simply because i would wan't the main event dj to do that.

[Karlos Santos]