[u]EDIT 2: Here’s part one of the gig log for this event! It went great! Part one just shows some planning/setup. Part two will have the actual event. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OiYUc_-JrI[/u]
EDIT: I’ve responded to a lot of questions and suggestions so far, please read my post on page 2 to get up to speed on what’s been discussed so far.
So basically, there’s this really long gig coming up in February. It looks like were only going to be able to set up on the day of, we’ll have about 10 hours to do it, and we’ll need all of it. Then, the gig itself, runs from 9pm till 9am
I’m not the only DJ, there should be about 5 DJs total. We’re all going to have probably at least two, 1 hour sets. My concern is not really having not enough music, however, I do have 2 significant issues.
1: How am I going to stay awake for 36 hours.
2: How am I going to keep a crowd excited after hours and hours of music?
Any advice is welcome, and if you want something cleared up, just ask.
He’s doing 2 x 1 hour sets. That is a piece of cake no matter what the genre.
As for staying awake… how old are you? If you younger than 40 it should be easy. Eat at regular intervals, drink juice, have a few beers. Hell even have Red Bull if you aren’t that bothered about your guts.
As for keeping the crowd interested, well that’s easy… Just don’t suck. They are there for a reason, they want to be kept dancing so just don’t suck and they will dance.
This whole day sounds more like a fun day out than anything to worry about.
Totally 100% agree with Karlos. 2 hour set’s really are a piece of cake, heck I love being able to play 3-4-5 hr long sets, it takes me the first hour or so just to get into swing eat well, (flapjacks, seriously), drinks, and just have fun! Sleep well the day before. The excitement of the night should overcome any tiredness.
yeah but what i’m saying, is that if the whole day consists of top 40, people will get burnt out pretty quick.
and if you come on later in the day, and people have been listening to that all day, it’s gonna be real hard to keep their attention.
Now its a whole different story if, its music like house, or nudisco, or progressive, you can make the music flow a little better, like having big long breakdowns, and 1-2 minute buildups.
But if your really into what your playing man, then adrenaline should keep you going.
You’ve got plenty of time to sort this. Karlos has some sound advice about eating regular. Your body will need energy to survive it!
Make sure you plan your set up properly. Estimate how long it will take you to do certain parts (allow more than you initially think) and crucially allow time for a proper break with food early evening. This will fuel you properly before the last slog before opening and well into the night when the adrenaline is flowing
Get together with the other DJ’s and work out who’s playing what and when styles wise so you create a proper flow to the night and you can each plan your sets around it
Enjoy it! A full night of music has it’s own magic. The crowd will ebb and flow as groups of friends take breaks from the dancefloor. Don’t worry about it just make sure those that are on the dancefloor are having a good time. When others come back from taking a break that good time energy on the floor will drag them back in.
I DJ and run sound for professional dance competitions. It is common to start on Thursday afternoon or evening and run continuously until the wee hours Monday morning. 18 hour days are common.
You’re not…at least not while functioning at a level you’re willing to claim later.
Plan on a 3-4 hour “power nap” in the “middle” of the event. In particular…the load out crew should get some sleep right before load out starts. The load out is when most damage / accidents / injuries happen, people get tired and a moment of inattention causes an accident. If needed, throw a sleeping bag into the back of the truck, van, trailer, and go lay down in there to get some sleep.
Having people each do two 1-hour sets is a good idea. I would have an “early pair” and a “late pair” and let the middle fall where it may. That will let half of your guys have a 3-4 hour block of time to get something to eat, grab a nap, etc. The people who are playing late can finish up the load in, and the people who are playing early can handle the initial load out.
You have not mentioned the context of the gig. That will be key in getting more specific music recommendations.
You will not get away with playing bangers all night long. There must be some pace to the time and some pace to the music. The details will depend on the details.
You have until Feb to prep…that’s good. Start exercising now. By the event, be able to run a 10k (even better, run 10k in the morning and 10k in the evening). Be able to do 45 minutes of body weight resistance exercises (e.g. push ups, pull ups, lunges, burpees, etc). You will be standing an ENORMOUS amount of time during the event…so start doing that now. Try to avoid sitting as much as possible through the day between now and then. The better shape you are in, the easier everything else will be.
Cut out caffeine in the 3 to 4 weeks leading to the event (or now…).
At the event… Avoid sugar. Avoid junk food. Avoid alcohol (if applicable).
Eat real food. Drink water. Bring a cooler with pre-made stuff for the crew. Know where there is a 24-hour restaurant nearby. Have a significant other deliver food to the gig. Do whatever it takes to get REAL FOOD into your system through the night.
Bring a couple changes of clothes. Two sets of load in/out clothes, a set of “gig clothes”, something to nap in, etc. Bring something to use to wash up during the event. You will want to clean up after the load in, before the nap, after you eat, and so on…so toothbrush, washcloth, soap, hand towel, deodorant, hair products (as needed), etc.
OP: What style of music is the night? Underground House, Techno? Mersh? Drum n bass, etc. Prepare an intro for your set. I’m fussing your going to be there the whole night so you can read the crowd and listen to their sets. Chuck in some classics, play extended mixes.. It’s hard to say when I don’t know what style of music the night is.
WARNING!!!
this may seem like a good idea, but it’s not.
-Coffee will make you extremely dehydrated, For every one cup of coffee you consume you will piss 2 cups. Dehydration can have some nasty side effects.
-You need the energy that comes from Carbohydrates, bring bread, bring snacks, bring water.
-Drink water because you will be sweating like crazy.
Also, remember that this is a 9pm to 9am show. Without advocating anything, and if it is a 19/21+ event, your crowd will dance to anything you put on. Just don’t get too mellow towards the morning. Also, 2 sets, an hour each is easy peasy. If you have hunted great tracks, you should have no issues.
Wear comfortable shoes, I’ve done parties where I dj for about 5-6 hours straight and oh man the shoes I wear that night totally save my body the next day. Have fun enjoy yourself, and see it this way if you can push through this, all other shorter gigs will look like nothing!
Okay wow, I was not expecting such an overflow of advice! So let me start by saying thanks a LOT.
This is going to be quite the long post, as I intend to reply to a majority of the comments and suggestions, and of course, answer all the questions.
So, let’s start with clearing up all the questions so far:
The crowd is going be quite the varied bunch. So, literally, all kinds of music.
Now, I see this as a good thing. Myself and 2 other DJs are going to be mixing EDM. Mainly electro house, some dubstep, trap, and maybe a smidgen of trance if we’re lucky. We also have a top 40s DJ, and a guest DJ, who is very popular with the crowd, that mixes mainly moombahton and his own mash-ups which consist of underground hip hop and modern trap.
This crowd in the past has really enjoyed electro house more than anything in the past, which is why we have 3 EDM DJs. Of course, we’ll pace ourselves with the bangers. However, we don’t want to neglect anyone else’s music selection. This event is attracting all kinds of people.
It’s a charity event for something called THON. It’s really popular in my area. You can look it up if you’re interested in donating or something. The event I will be DJing at is called a Mini THON. It’s basically a “scaled down” version of the actual THON. There’s a bunch in my area. The real THON lasts for 24 hours. Most Mini THONs look a lot like regular parties. I’m involved with a bunch of people who typically host much more extravagant and large scale events. So our Mini THON is kind of going to be a small music festival. It’s completely different than any other Mini THON before, and it’s completely different than the real THON.
It’s kind of hard to explain. But basically, we’re producing/hosting something like a small music festival. The crowd really digs EDM, but we’re making sure to (hopefully) make everyone happy during at least one point throughout the night.
I’m 17. We have a 19 year old DJ, and the other three are all 18 (if I remember correctly…)
For those of you who are surprised by our ages, we work with a team of professionals for events of this scale. We’re not structural engineers, and we don’t pretend to be. We make sure we have all the proper security, external production companies, managers, etc. ESPECIALLY when it comes to something like this. I cannot stress enough how seriously we take safety and professionalism.
Here are some points that I missed in my initial post:
At this point, I have no idea how the age group will range. The entire event will likely attract near 1500 people, I’d bet money on a minimum of 1000.
I’m in good shape, but I’m no body builder.
As for energy drinks, I will be taking advantage of them. I’ll try to be safe, and I’ll definitely make sure I stay hydrated.
I’ve been DJing for roughly 4 years. I could do two 1hr long sets in my sleep. I wrote my initial post when I was pretty tired, and so I’ve realized that I confused some people haha. Just to straighten things up, music is not reeeeally a concern of mine. While keeping a crowd entertained for 12 hours does seem intimidating, I’m confident that the variety in the DJs will keep the crowd engaged and interested.
Okay, and here are responses to all your advice so far.
Absolutely, this is something that I thought of almost immediately.
This is excellent. It’s definitely important for me to focus on the immediate crowd. It seems simple, but I totally over looked it when I was thinking about how daunting this event seemed. I’ll remember that when preparing.
Your entire post, in my opinion, is the most helpful so far. I can’t even begin to tell you how helpful this is. Everything you mentioned is fantastic advice. Seriously, I would reply to each one of your suggestions, but I figure it’s easier if I just tell you that all of your advice is fantastic. Thank you.
That’s what I’m hoping for!
It really is. I need to remember that.
Above all.
Please, if anyone has more advice, I’d love to hear it! I cannot thank you all enough, this is outstanding.
031999 already covered this quite well in terms of the hydration effects of caffeine. Some moderate amount of caffeine can help you extend a 12 hour day to 18 hours. BUT…there is not enough caffeine in the world to get you to 36 hours AND keep you functioning at a reasonable level. As with all things, there is no free lunch…and too much caffeine will lead to a “crash”, and will leave you more tired than before.
The best overall strategy is to stop using any caffeine by the event, or (second best) to keep to your “normal” caffeine consumption. REAL FOOD is the best “energy source” for really long days.
You are welcome. That is the net wisdom of 20 years of doing “long weekend” events for professional dancers. After this event…you will see the “tour rider” and all the “creature comforts” they ask for in a whole new way.
It may increase your alertness but it does so at the expense of raising you metabolism. The result being that you burn off your energy reserves quicker.
Try to steer clear as much as possible and only use it as an emergency pick me up in tandem with something to eat.
I regularly pull 24hr days running sound for events and over consumption of caffeine too early on in the night has been my downfall in the past
Make sure you have plenty fruit nearby. The sugars in fruit are slow-sugars and actually healthy and useful for your endurance. For a quick boost you could eat like a snickers, but keep away from energy-drinks and/or caffiene as discussed earlier.
Another important thing is that if you decide on drinking alcohol, your body will dehydrate as well which means you lose more bodily fluids than you drink which means loads of piss-breaks after a while.
eat well, (flapjacks, seriously), drinks, and just have fun! Sleep well the day before. The excitement of the night should overcome any tiredness.
