Hey so I’m a member of a two person dj collaberation. We have just recently started getting gigs and have been playing a lot of heavy electro house, lots of MSTRKRFT, Bloody Beetroots, Aoki, Justice, A-trak. Ya know, the bangers right!
Well we just got a very very early timeslot at a massive club here in Denver, CO which is great, aside from the fact that we are opening and have been told explicitly not to pound the dance floor into submission. Basically we can’t be playing bangers. Is there any tracks you guys could suggest we look at while making our set, or any example opening sets from artists who you think would be good. Knowing that we play sets similar to that of MSTRKRFT’s, are there artists out there you think we would enjoy that would also warm up the dance floor well.
Tips and Advice would be awesome
Thanks
Chase Orrick http://www.myspace.com/2dubaii
Warming up is an art. Get it right and I’m sure you will get a lot more gigs coming your way. If you’re playing that early just remember not many people will probably even hear your stuff so your trying to impress to club not the crowd imo.
Hey thanks you guys, that is a ton of help. Yeah I have been looking at Classixx and Aeroplane stuff as well as Crazy P. I appreciate all the help
And it’s Beta in Denver that well be playing at.
Thanks again
this may not be of much help but think Justice- One Minute To Midnight. slow funky and groovy. when using buildups build up but not toooo much and drop into only very slightly higher pace and bring back down to chill groove. try to do this semi consistently but bear in mind not to change up the pace to a noticeable extent. even if its only slightly higher or lower energy the crowd may not know it, but theyll definately feel it. and so will the club management. good luck!
Don’t play electro. Think space, breathing room. Downtempo, funky chill house, vocals, even some hip hop. Of course it all depends on the type of club/night you’re playing to.
I’d put some 120/123 bpm deep groovy house while people start entering the club. Nothing too fancy, only something that people can start moving smoothly, talk, get some drinks…
Remember to keep the volume low. At this point people want to talk and feel at ease with the place. No to jump or dance over the speakers…
Even if people start dancing you don’t want to get too hard. At this point the crowd still needs more time to get hot.
It’s like creating the first layer of a cake, before putting the chocolate and cream! You have to think in terms of the full cake, not the single ingredients.
Plus, if the promotor has asked you specifically to be quiet, if you go too hard he won’t be asking you again to dj.
agreed with everything said here. aeroplane is some serious business. but i think you can gradually increase the pace over your set (gradually being the key word), so the last song you play can lead into the headliners bangerful set. even if you’re not mixing into them, it’ll still leave tension in the air for them to smash with.
opening up really is the hardest position in a night. do it big and good luck brother.
