Dedicating this one to the warm up djs.

[Soiree]

The ones that know how to hone their sound at a reasonable volume!

[Seeerious]

[mIrReN]

I once entered a gig and heard Diskoh Rekah being played, best opener of my life, can tell you that! Big ups to him! Made the rest sounds even more big!

[Pistonsbeneath]

i love playing regardless of numbers

i relate a lot to this thread but wouldnt say im an amazing dj

ive had people down to dubkulture that are pure though and just brimming over with technical ability

best ive seen are Syte & DJ 2E

[steppo]

cheers pete

[the wiggle baron]

Ha! What a thread

Back from the openers then, I say big up to the dancefloor pioneers! Even if you got a pretty commited bunch of wall huggers, theres always someone that will break eventually. They always end up dancing extra hard to make up for it too. Legends also

[burialed]

there are times when i get to the party early and sometimes when I don't, i won't lie but big ups to all the smaller djs opening and warming up them crowds without throwin complete brostep in peoples faces.

[bassrael]

[prisoner]

and big up to the label owners and producers that put out and make the tunes that we get to play during said opening slots!

=)

[Jake Daniel]

Great thread. It really annoys me when warm-up DJs don't actually warm up and just play banger after banger - totally takes away from the dynamics of a good night. Perfect example being I went to this night in Liverpool the other week and within half an hour of the club opening and with there literally being only about 10 people in there the warm-up DJ was smashing out mad tunes by Noisia and Teebee - was ridiculous.

[AxeD]

'The esoteric art of the opening DJ' (from RA)

*Article*

Very good read. But if you add up all the skills it states a warmp up dj should have, it seems
like an impossible job. Playing deep and progressive music and keeping people from
sticking to the bar / corners is very hard at a lot of clubs.

I always pay a lot of attention to warm-up dj's and I definitely show respect if they are doing
a good job.

I'm glad my first bar/club gig isn't opening for a bigger name. This way I can learn to
read the crowd without having to consider the next set

[TooMuch]

yeeee big ups to em all

[WooDz]

Done my 1st club gig on 11th Feb.
Things are a bit more old school at this place as they have just 1 DJ for the night in each hall.
It was the 1st time Dubstep had been played there and the club usually caters for EBM/industrial.
Plus I'm in Germany where some people are just starting to hear of this new music thanks to Magnetic man but most have never heard it before.

I was there the whole night 6,5hours of just one genre. All I can say is thank god Dubstep can be so diverse.
I did fall into the trap of playing a few bangers before I really got into my prime set, however quite unintentionally.
I just wanted to easy people into the music with the lighter commercial stuff like Modestep, Katy B, Jakwob's remix of 'The Flood', etc before I hit them with Rusko, Datsik, Skrillex and Skism. Of course there were a couple of lads there who had to inform me I was playing all the good stuff too early but I couldn't tell them I had nero, fenech-Soler (demons) and flux Pavilion waiting in the wings.

I'm under the impression; when introducing people to a new genre of music, you don't hit them with the hardest and most abstract stuff you've managed to find. You let them settle down into your warm jacuzzi of smooth beats and slowly turn up the heat. feed them stuff they're used to and not hammer them out the door faster then they came in. I did want to play more chilled music but an hour and a half in and I'd already got a fair few on the dance floor so I kept the light upbeat momentum of more (dare I say) poppy stuff.

I guess this a long way of me asking "was I right?"

I've been asked to come back for Part 2 in April, so it wasn't a disaster. I think next time I'll hold a few back for the 3-4am slot. Although that's just the problem, I know next time it'll all be different.

[lami]

not being a DJ myself i've always wondered, if you're warming up for a big name later in the night (say Skream in this example), who has their own tunes, their new tunes that everyone knows and the older tunes that are "theirs" (Request Line). assuming you dont go out and drop every big tune the big DJ is likely to play, are all tracks from that DJ off limits, or just the ones which you know theyd want to keep for themselves. As in would his La Roux remix be off limit but something like simple City be okay to play?

[Shum]

Personally I would stay well clear of any well known tracks from headliners.

[TSH-Tim]

8 times out of 10 the warm up DJ's are normally the best DJ's on the night

[cityzen]

Definite to this. I've got a lot of respect for you guys. You may not realise it but sometimes it's you and not the headliner that make peoples nights. Keep putting your work in, keep the faith in what you do and realise that when you're up there, doing what you love, you're making people happy!
Your collective chests!

[grillis]

8 times out of 10 the warm up DJ's are normally the best DJ's on the night

i'd say it's closer to 4 times out of 5

[mikey_g]

I love doing opening sets because you can really play what you want to play (within reason) and like that article says really go on a journey.


On the other hand if someone wnats to give me a headline slot.... BAM I'm there lol.
Saying that playing early also means you can drink more after you've played without worrying about trainwrecking

[WooDz]

Never be afraid of a train wreck..

At least the crowd will realise you're actually there... The knowledgable will appreciate you're not using SYNC.