After reading the few posts about hosting your own club night and finding DJ’s to play i was inspired to host a Halloween themed party for a bunch of locals and college buddies next friday.
Location is a half acre backyard in northern Arizona
DJ Lineup for the evening is set
Event staff is already accounted for including a bouncer who will be attending the gate and entry fee.
since its a friends/freinds of party there will be alcohol available included in the cost of entry as well as free registration for a beer pong tournament.
What im looking for is some advice, some do’s and dont’s from people who thrown hundred’s of similar events, mabey some issues that can be brought to my attention and fixed before next friday.
Id appreciate any info on the matter, or even links inside our own DJTT forums as well as other forums posting on the same topic.
i really lucked out with the location, there’s a small business to the right of the location, an empty house to the left and a nursery/orange grove behind it.
so theres no one to call the police within a half mile.
I always recommend somebody staying sober who’s in charge, or dividing up “responsible” time amongst a few people so if you are visited by the Police or Neighbors there’s somebody coherent to respond.
pretty much, if you’re not bothering anyone in terms of noise levels, and it’s not just a huge rave where ppl are buying and selling drugs (Alochol isn’t too big of a deal for cops), you shouldn’t have much to worry about. The cops just want to make sure ppl are partying in a safe manner. And have someone who’s sober at all times to deal with by-law officers or whatnot, if they do end up coming around.
yea im gonna kick it for the night and stay sober, i just might have to cut my set short or move it to the beginning of the night so i can make sure to be out and about entertaining and maintaining some peace.
I’d also recommend having a few radio’s/walkie talkie’s between whoever is in charge(ie you) and your bouncer/door guy. That way if there’s a “visit” you can intercept before entry. In the past we’ve also had a video camera at the gate just in case but that may be overkill for this. How many people are you expecting?
i like the walkie talkie idea, that should help out alot.
as far as the video camera, do you mean for surveillance?
we do have a guy coming down to shoot some video for a late night public access show called Arizona Underground, to interview myself and some of the other DJ’s that are going to be there
were expecting anywhere from 150-200 people.
im just not sure what to expect if we end up having to deal with a larger crowd. its gotten alot of hype over the last month
Walkie Talkies and video cameras sketch people out; and if they are on drugs and in a bad place; it’ll put them in a worse place. Bad idea. If you must, be very discreet.
any ideas on a cheap dj stage?
i was thinking of picking up some loading pallets from behind a local food store, combined with some plywood it should do pretty well.
[quote=“DJ_AveNew, post:11, topic:15176, username:DJ_AveNew”]
yea we’ll just do the walkies most likely.
any ideas on a cheap dj stage?
i was thinking of picking up some loading pallets from behind a local food store, combined with some plywood it should do pretty well.
open to any other suggestions though
[/quote]Hahah that’s a great idea. I wish I would have thought of that.
I, personally wouldn’t do a stage, I always prefer to DJ on the same level as the crowd. It’s a give and take and when you put the DJ on a higher level than the crowd it gives the impression that the DJ is “more important” when in fact it’s a very symbiotic relationship. Just my 2 cents. and as for the video camera, it’s totally on the DL and only at the gate to potentially capture any “illegal entry” to a private event by law enforcement.
yea. that’s exactly what im trying to prevent from happening..
i want to keep us right in front of the crowd without having our all of our gear assullted by cigarette ash, beer splash, and drunk guys that epic crowd dive right onto the dj booth.
i guess i’ll invest in some caution tape or something?
theres alot of gravel in the backyard we were gonna dig some fake graves, spread em out in front of the table, that way people wont be able to walk right up on us, give us a few feet to breathe.
found some old led strings i should be able to rope off the area without making it look like i am.
still curious on if i’ll need a generator or not? i have a feeling were going to need one especially for the flood lights, but i’m not sure if its smart to hook up extension cables to a generator?
