this article is dead on. I have no problem opening at a club, but when I headline I show up early to listen what the dj is playing to make sure that I dont repeat any tracks that have been played.
Really enjoyed reading that article.
I have always thought that warm up djs have a harder job. Well not harder but possible has to think about their set more. Knowing how to finish your set is your starting point for the rest of your set if that makes sense.
I remember when I played a gig, and I was first on. Thoroughly enjoyed building up my set, ending on a couple of big tunes that I knew would fit perfectly into the next Djs set.
I can not tell you how annoyed I was when the first song he played was the same one I played 2 songs before. He was there in the DJ booth when I played it as well!
Maybe he had a planned set and wasn’t going to change it for anything?!
Alot of headliners do that. Either a premixed CD or a rock solid playlist they wont budge on.
I swear to god I feel like sometimes I’m one of the only DJs to show up early when I go on late. It’s really annoying hearing the same song twice, and I always think less of the DJ that played it the second time.
How about opening DJs that play the headlining DJ’s current banger?
I witnessed this serveral times at WMC this year… i was thinking WTF?
i would say that you shouldnt. your job as an opener is to open. not show up the headliner.
always find that amusing…
I was at a festival and the DJ played the band’s new hit single 30 minutes before they went on.
But I wasn’t good enough to spin that festival 
I have always liked being the opener. But that may be because the style of music I play doesnt really fit a headliner role. I feel like you can be more experimental because nobody really expects any certain style or tunes from you. The only thing that is hard is that if the next dj has a similar style to you then you have to be careful not to play any of their signature tunes. I have seen people get pretty pissed about that.
srsly? a headliner gets paid big bucks to put on a cd?
really cool article. i think a lot of the advice could apply to live shows with bands as well, in regards to maintaining a nice energy throughout the night.
A couple of years ago Jurassic 5 was touring and I caught their set and their opening act was Mike Relm. Mike was kind of a surprise guest, he wasn’t listed on the bill so when they announced him before he hit the stage I was SO EXCITED. I gave er hard for Mike’s entire set as his shows are very energetic… But then once Jurassic 5 hit the stage it felt like something was missing and I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. They did a really great show but it felt like the crowd had already popped the cork before J5 even hit the stage, I remember feelin exhausted towards the end of the set and it really took some of the magic out of what would have otherwise been a truly epic night.
It wasn’t until later that it dawned on me that Mike’s set was just way to peak-time of an opening act for even a legendary group like J5 .
classic example: peter hook plays a prerecorded mix by that was mixed by pete tong (i think) that was included as a free mix cd in like djmag…
That video is almost unbelievable… almost lol
That article was pretty interesting, with some excellent advice; having cleared a fair few dancefloors in my brief playing-out phase many moons ago, paying extra-special attention to the crowd during an opener seems crucial