A mate and I could be doing a little club night in a month or two, focused towards the DnB and Dub lovers out there.
We were thinking that a mixture of high tempo ‘agressive’ tunes and alcohol could spark the odd scuffle. Its not a huge concern of ours but definitely got us thinking… Does anybody have any tips on how to deal with this sort of thing. Obviously these things are ultimately inevitable, but once its all kicked off (large or small) how would you deal with it?
I’ve heard of DJ’s in the past simply stopping the music if a fight breaks out and announcing over the mic that it won’t start again until the fight stops. This maybe acceptable for a DJ with a large fan base/lots of experience/respect etc but what about DJs that are just starting out?
Or should you simply trust the abilities of the security at the venue and just focus on the music.
Bouncers and Security should handle that stuff, theyre looking out for that kind of stuff, by the time you notice it most likely they will already be doing something about it, unless you arent really dj-ing
^yep. Bouncers will be at the club, and its their job to make sure everything is peaceful. If your booth/table is upfront center, maybe see about getting some crates to put infront as a buffer.
In the event that you spin this kind of event at a houseparty (more likely for fights), bring your biggest gorilla-esque friends to crack the skulls of those pesky dbags.
I was playing a rave in the smaller second room and a fist fight broke out. Guy bumps my turntable while I’m mid mix. The needle jumps and lands back on the record and I was still beat matched! I was so amazed I stood there, mouth open, going “holy shit”, I wasn’t sure what suprised me more, the fight or the record. I just kept spinning while the fight kept going.
[QUOTE]A mate and I could be doing a little club night in a month or two, focused towards the DnB and Dub lovers out there.
We were thinking that a mixture of high tempo ‘agressive’ tunes and alcohol could spark the odd scuffle. Its not a huge concern of ours but definitely got us thinking… [/QUOTE]
Seriously ? … I’ve never been to or seen any trouble at a DnB gig EVER, mostly cause everyone is too blasted off their face on weed, that goes for parties, festivals and club nights
Generally the crowd who make an effort to go to Specialty nights (House/DnB/Techno) are more into the music and less into acting the maggot and more into the scene than the commercial partygoers / weekend millionaires.
I’d be way more concerned about attracting an underage drinking scumbag crowd at a club playing the latest lady gaga, SHM or David Guetta.
Anyhows ss regards your input to a fight, if the bouncers are any good any fight will be over before it begins and I certainly would not stop the music TBH under any circumstances unless explicitly asked to by the venue management.
It only serves to aggrevate yet more people and can turn two blokes having a scuffle which can be brought outside easily into a full fledged bar-room brawl once other people realize there’s something brewing and the music has stopped as a result.
If you wanna play extra safe have a bouncer near the DJ box who you can call on if you see trouble anywhere brewing up or any complete idiots near the DJ box pricking around that they might miss.
Trained bouncers should/will be well versed in dealing with troublemakers and sorting it out AFTER they have brought both parties outside and away from the club environment - this should happen regardless of music playing or not.
I have only stopped playing music midway through a clubnight twice:
Gas Leak - club needed to be evacuated
Fire Eater knocked over his propellant bottle on the dancefloor which caused a severe mess. No injuries though but we never had one in again.
it’s only happened to me once, I stopped the music, put the lights on, announced on the microphone “if you want to fight. come and fight me”, they stopped and left …
not something I suggest you do though, the world is a mean place and these days people carry weapons, so leave it to security.
Had some cracking nights out in Southampton including a young James Zabiela on warm up duties before he rightfully hit the big time, The Artful Dodger often on downstairs too.
James is a very nice chap indeed, amazing what he could do on just 2x TT and a mixer. Think I’ve still got a copy of a home mix cd he gave to me, starts with a Blade Runner clip. Awesome.
turning the music off works sometimes. Where I play its understood that when i cut the music there is something going on, the bouncers react like sprinters reacting to a starting pistol, also it makes people stop and generally look at the trouble which shows the bouncers where it is
Put on some off that Piano music they use in oldskool westerns when a fight breaks out in the saloon…
20 years playing out… never notice one single fight and I used to drop tech step mothership amens …
but I have played in proper events where trouble makers would not get in the first place and people went for the music, or they where just too ripped to the tits to even start!
Or the massive door guys snuffed it out before I noticed. (thank god)
