I just got back from my FIRST EVER gig with my new setup, VCI-100SE, Macbook pro, firebox, all new (ugraded from a dell, VDJ LE, hercules MkII that i used for a year and got my first gigs with) Anyway, played a venue of probably 700-800 but opened for some guys from out of town that did the headphone disco thing. I thought I rocked it, sure some of my transitions were absolute shit, but overall I thought it went well, plus I got invited back by the owner’s fiance (service manager) but I asked the other DJ what he honestly thought of my set… exact words “You can tell you’re just starting out, the best I can say is it was creative.” Guess I’m just confused whether he thought I shouldn’t be there or it was actually decent haha. Oh well. Thought I’d share a “first night out” story.
*Attached are pics taken by my buddy, a pro photog.
Haha thanks dude, I wasn’t too worried about it, you hit the nail on the the head, i got invited back, I guess it was just something on my mind that I didnt post from my iphone haha
it’s a headphone disco!!! after me, the other 2 dj’s played music wirelessly through headphones and you could switch between the 2 dj’s and choose which music to hear. Pretty trippy to be in a club and the only sound is terrible singing. I’m really glad I got to dj “normally”
honestly, i think he complimented you. DJs.. so, erm “us”, are way too picky and usualy very critical to others DJs. Any experienced DJ can spot a newbie just by watching him couple of minutes, so don’t worry about that (no poker player learns the poker face on a first night).
If he said creative, that means he has probably no idea about controllers and stuff, so he stays rather back and don’t want to comment cuz he’s not sure what’s goin on there exactly.
Bottom line is that your music was not shite, and that’s all it matters. If it was any kind of bad, you’d been told for sure.
I think some DJs forget that were all there for the same love of music and rockin an audience, instead thinking of every other DJ as competition, worrying about whether they’ll get booked again… you DID get booked again so it cant really be anything less of a successful gig.
dude, you played for a big crowd of people having a great time, and then you got asked to come back. Sounds like a good night. Keep at it. Congrats on the new gear too.
He could have said a lot worse, DJs are bullshitters and very defensive.
You said yourself that some of your transitions were bad. So therefore your newness was showing. Thats fine, you are new to it. You cannot hide that. Your gonna be nervous, thats natural.
Saying that you showed creativity is a massive compliment. To be honest most noobs just wanna get thru the nite nevermind be creative.
Take that as a compliment and work on it.
Maybe next time keep the same level of creativity but work on getting it all down 100%. Dont try to push yourself into doing anything new or fancy.
Do what you do but do it better. Next time you will less nervous and you will do an even better gig.
Ya, your first ever gig is what it is. You will learn alot from experience as time goes on. You don’t learn how to structure a set right away, it takes time and live audience practise, not just in your bedroom. Although I have been only playing weekly gigs for about 2 years, I learned alot over time…I still look back on old sets or gigs and think what the hell was I thinking? haha
I think they’re called Silent Disco’s rather than Headphone Disco’s.
Basically, hook up the audio output to a radio/infrared emitter or two, give the audience radio/infrared headsets to wear and the audio comes through to them. Used lots in built up places after a certain time to help keep clubs running without risk of being closed down due to noise pollution.
I know how they work cos my ‘real’ job is as a sound technician for a simultaneous translation service, so I rig up and build these setups just for people to hear translated languages rather than DJ music. Though I suppose I could take my Vestax and laptop down one day…
