today something very strange happened to me during a gig. Now I’m a resident and I play like 3-4 times a week and this has happened before but I wanted to ask if it happened to anyone else.
Bscly I started the night smoothly, played good tunes, but then at like 2am I completely lost all concentration, suddenly I didn’t know what tunes to pick anymore and when I did finally pick one I just couldn’t beatmatch it for shit and no I did not consume any alcohol or any other substances
this went on for like an hour when things turned back to normality again, but this almost ruined the night for me. Has anyone had similiar experiences?
I don’t drink like I used to. I used to drink quite a lot at gigs but diabetes came knocking and the drink had to be cut right down but even now I will have one pint of beer at my gigs usually half way (or a little later) into my gig.
If I play a 4 hour gig, I buy a pint on the dot of the 3rd hour. It seems to refocus me, calm me down and is a kinda mental reward.
It’s only standard pissy lager but it always feel like I deserve it and it gives me a kinda “ok you earned your pint, let’s smash this last hour” feeling.
Maybe that’s just an insight into someone who has had to change his relationship with alcohol but it works for me.
I also agree with the ‘time off’ advice. I dj a lot and I get burn out regularly. I have to take planned time off to recharge and get hungry for djing again. Creativity is zapped by overwork and tiredness and feeling of going around in circles but then I’m doing a lot of weekly residencies. They can be mind numbing anyway !!!
Bottom line is , don’t expect to bring your ‘A’ game every night. Everyone feels like they do a bad gig now and then. It’s usually those gigs when someone comes up and says “great set tonite mate”.
Yeah that’s exactly what I’m talking about! Thanks for all your input, I thought I was the only one
Now we just need to find a way to combat this, taking days off is good but you lose the money
But I have to admit, I play 7 hour sets, from 10 in the evening to 5 in the morning 4 days a week for little pay (sometimes 3 days if I really need a day off) and people expect you to be creative every single time, it’s harsh out there!
Yep! …been there as well. I describe this as “hitting a wall”.
Once you manage to push through it, the rest of the night usually goes fine.
I keep a selection of fairly generic 20 minute mixes. They normally live on my iPad or on CD for backup purposes, but i’ve also got them in my DJing library as well. If I’ve hit the wall & i’m really struggling, i’ll stick one of these on, grab a drink & just stand back for 10 minutes.
I’ll also probably do this with my headphones on, but nothing playing through them. …just to give my ears a rest as well.
seems like everyone hit the nail
id say its a sign of burnout. This happens to me often becaues not only do i do 2 gigs a week playing solo almost each week for a 5 hour set
but i also do two live shows each weekend for my radio station at 2 hours each
its a lot of music to prepare and i find doing it at 3 week intervals is good
and every so often i just do a ONE hour live broadcast. Pre record it, and program it to play at the right time
this way i can just sit down and get away from the music for a bit
Keep in mind, doing it over and over for long periods its pretty much like doing a marathon set each week
unless you plan on being 24-7 in a K-Hole, your brain is going to at one point say “Dude, im taking a break”
I usually get a drink when this happens, and it happens at almost every gig. When I start throwing in songs with clashing drum patterns I know that I’m off and just need to step back for a second and see how the floor is doing and change up what I’m doing if its not working.
Heh, I’m the resident DJ at a stripclub, I know what you’re talking about we have more of club like atmosphere, people dance a lot in this particular stripclub which is really unusual and I get to play my normal club music. Altho I am now pretty much indifferent to the girls, seeing so much nakedness does this to you I suppose. They’re more like random furniture to me lmao
this is a great idea! I should really get my hands on some nice mixes that fit the mood to fall back on.
yeah I actually had a lot of stuff with me that night. Normally I bring nuts, those are my favourite. That night i had chocolate bars and crisps with me, but it happened regardless. Also I don’t smoke and I rarely drink alcohol. Drinking a beer is mostly out of the equation when I’m gigging there because I go there with my car so I can transport the gear I need and I have to drive back safely somehow.
And red bull, lol, I can’t drink that stuff anymore because I drank so much of it, it now tastes like catpiss to me.
One night I consumed like 6-8 red bulls, after the sugar effects ceased from the first 2 cans I just had to get more until my hands were just shaking violently haha.
No need to mention that I couldn’t sleep for 7 hours after my gig. Thank god it was sunday and not another work day.
Dude an apple is kinda a secret weapon, It has just the right amount of sugar and also a little caffeine, and also you look like a total bad ass just mixing while eating an apple. (and also there is no “straight” way to eat a banana, its just not possible hahaha.)
Also save up some of your very favorite tracks, for this point. Just to get you interested in the mix again.
and no I did not consume any alcohol or any other substances
we have more of club like atmosphere, people dance a lot in this particular stripclub which is really unusual and I get to play my normal club music. Altho I am now pretty much indifferent to the girls, seeing so much nakedness does this to you I suppose. They’re more like random furniture to me lmao