I recently got my first gig playing at a bar every other saturday playing mainstream hip hop - pop/top 40 - house mashups… it’s not a huge bar or anything but it pays some bills. i can tell people are diggin the music but i can’t seem to get them to get out there and dance for some reason. it’s kind of awkward and embarrassing for me and downright irritating that i’m spending my saturday night playing music so people can just nod their heads to it.
i know the whole routine (or at least i think i do!) where you should start out at a slower BPM then work your way up for the first hour to the house-ier stuff then transition back to the 80 bpm range and work your way back up and so forth for the night. but the crowd just still stands around talking with each other. it’s like they don’t even notice me.
what are some suggestions on how to get some people out there dancin? i am completely open to any suggestion that is thrown my way.
I’ve found that playing old classics - early 80’s, Michael Jackson, stuff that every one knows will get them moving or at least acting a fool and then they start dancing.
Under the right circumstances you could even play stuff like Cupid Shuffle…but be careful! LOL
age range is 21 to probably 26-ish.. i’m the only DJ they have playing so far haha.. this place just had their grand opening about a month and a half ago.. it’s kind of a weird venue.. it’s a sports bar/resturaunt during the day and then just the bar at night.
I would think you need to start promoting saturdays as club night because your current crowd is not there to dance. I’d say make some fliers, spread the word, and dancers should come in
for the most part people dont dance in bars, but you need to read the crowd better, play something late in the night that the ladies will love, something thats gonna get them screaming and even phoning there girl friends scream “o.m.g there playing your song” keep a few of your very best tunes until the time is right and as charly sheen would say “BOOM, WINNING”
hell it could be anything from any year, just read the crowd,
remember, its not about the music you like or about the mixing, its about what they (the people listening) like. and as any good comedian would say
yea, i’m playing again on the saturday of labor day weekend and just sent a flyer to the manager of the place and they’re putting them up all over the place.. hopefully that will bring some more people in.
I got to a nice bar in a high rise in downtown Miami that has some really good DJ’s playing and no one dances. Sometimes you’ll see a small pack of girls dancing and in their group and then it fades. If that’s your crowd I wouldn’t expect them to be packing the dance floor unless it’s promoted as a club. Bar’s people just want music they can feel good to. Nothing wrong with that either.
Maybe you need to play something not usally heard on the radio, music people hear on the radio they associate with head nodding or shuffling their feet not dancing. Go for simple beat heavy with no lyrics at a slower tempo than the top 40 then each track raise the BPM by about 5 for 5 tracks and see what happens, works for me. Like Haze 324 said start that sequence with “Beat it” or similiar but dont play out the main bit just loop the intro and keep an eye on the girls to see if they respond.
Cheers, Maxy.
Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Lady Ga Ga, Michael Jackson, and Britney Spears. These are your gods now.
Honestly, at a bar, you want to get people dancing? Go buy a bunch of crooklyn clan club bmore 2step shit and just mix in and out. Keep the beat steady. It’s not exactly inspired DJing but a bar isn’t the most inspiring place to DJ.
Play the cha cha slide, then apache by Sugar Hill Gang, then teach me how to dougie. Anything with dances involved. cough cupid shuffle, cat daddy, wobble, and then really wow them with Nelly’s hot in herr.
After holding down a gig (which was my first) at a bar for close to a straight year now on Saturdays, I can agree with the people who are saying most people don’t go to bars to dance. They come in for a couple quick drinks, (re-)group, and then head out to a place to dance.
Occasionally if you time it right, you might snag a few of them and keep em hooked, but they’re probably just content relaxing and enjoying the music. It’s tough to keep bar hoppers, so don’t worry about it.
Also, bars are uninspiring x100. Use it as paid practice and to flesh out some new tricks with the tables. Chances are you will goof and no one will notice as they’re too busy taking in SportScenter, news headlines, or whatever the bartenders tits look like at that exact point in time.
I like to play danceable reworks of pop songs/greatest hits when playing in a bar. You know, ToomanyDJ’s kinda reworks, not the tacky ‘4/4 beat added to popsong X, Y and Z’ tracks.
Yo… I’ve been to and played in plenty of bars all over where people get up and dance. I hate formulas… but have to admit that the following works for me almost every time:
Ambiance… the bar can’t be very bright. The dance area should be just bright enough for people to observe others dancing, but not to be able to identify who they are.. there should be incentive to have people congregate in this area… high-boy tables where patrons can place drinks are good for this purpose and they can be moved latter in the night if / when the dance area gets full.
Sound… you’ve got to have a sub, or at least a full range system capable of putting out deep frequencies at sufficient SPL’s, but don’t play at uncomfortable levels, ever.
Timing… You’re right to start out slower and build the bpms and energy level, but you also need to work the volume and frequency range as well… (if you’re blasting the system to max before you even drop your dance floor gems then there will be no headroom for dramatic impact.) I suggest playing non-complex, beat heavy music in the beginning of the night focusing on changing up the groove/ rhythmic structure… 4/4, broken beat, ect… the object of the game here is to work with songs that have frequencies that don’t snuff out conversation (because people will leave if they can’t talk)… bass heavy groovy stuff with high frequency accents works real nice here. You should be giving the sub(s) a healthy workout at this point.
Be patient and watch your crowd. (this is super important… don’t let your computer get between you and your crowd) Your looking for signs that your crowd has reached ‘critical mass’ (a somewhat crowded bar with peeps that have already had a few drinks). It is at this point where you prepare to drop the the first round of gems by working a more complex song with significant mid-range frequencies into your mix (not the gem)… the intent here is to remind people that there is a DJ… While your mixing the more complex tune in begin to slowly cut out some bass, lower high frequencies slightly, and raise the volume slightly… and then… BOOM… drop your first gem whilst putting the full range of frequencies back into the mix (bass and treble you had reduced). At this point, if peeps don’t immediately start moving you should again begin to remove mid-range frequencies, move into a less complex tune and prepare for another try in 10-15 min time.
Repeat… even if your crowd continues dancing you should continue to cycle through frequencies… move back into less complex, deeper tunes… and prepare for another go.
This is usually my bar / small club strategy and I’ve had lots of success with it.. of course you need to make it your own, but I’m sure it will work for you as well.
