l_rids
Hi all,
Just thought I'd share my experiences from the weekend. Xmas season has been busy and last week I was on a particular cruise boat from thurs-sat night for different work functions. I thought everything went well as usual, except I got some follow up comments from the coordinator of the cruise ship about feedback from the clients.
Apparently there were complaints that I looked disinterested and didnt interact with the crowd, didnt follow the playlist of songs they had chosen. The boat cruise operator said they were more than happy to have me back on board provided I change my behaviour and stick to the playlists. Note this lady who wrote this email to me was not on board at any stage of the the cruise.
Ok admittedly so, I can honestly say I'm no MC type of guy who jumps on the mic trying to amp the crowd. Note these are formal work functions with dinner and the age ranges from 20ish to a bunch of old farts lol. As far as the mix goes, the only time I use it is to intro myself and announce to everyone to feel free to make requests, and also announcing the last song of the night & wishing them a merry xmas blah blah. How can I be more interactive than that?
Given the playlist, I have to admit most of the time they are always biased towards the person organising it.... they always want their favorite songs played and dont really think about everyone else. I can say I played probably 60% of the list provided. I can say directly after my sat night gig I had 3 people asking for my business card saying it was awesome blah blah. At one stage of the night the captain asked me to switch songs because the boat was rocking too much also.... i thought that was a good thing!
Anyways thats just my experience from the weekend, to be honest I'm actually pretty pissed off and feel like sending an email back telling her to shove it and just hire a jukebox next time.
Just thought I'd share my experiences from the weekend. Xmas season has been busy and last week I was on a particular cruise boat from thurs-sat night for different work functions. I thought everything went well as usual, except I got some follow up comments from the coordinator of the cruise ship about feedback from the clients.
Apparently there were complaints that I looked disinterested and didnt interact with the crowd, didnt follow the playlist of songs they had chosen. The boat cruise operator said they were more than happy to have me back on board provided I change my behaviour and stick to the playlists. Note this lady who wrote this email to me was not on board at any stage of the the cruise.
Ok admittedly so, I can honestly say I'm no MC type of guy who jumps on the mic trying to amp the crowd. Note these are formal work functions with dinner and the age ranges from 20ish to a bunch of old farts lol. As far as the mix goes, the only time I use it is to intro myself and announce to everyone to feel free to make requests, and also announcing the last song of the night & wishing them a merry xmas blah blah. How can I be more interactive than that?
Given the playlist, I have to admit most of the time they are always biased towards the person organising it.... they always want their favorite songs played and dont really think about everyone else. I can say I played probably 60% of the list provided. I can say directly after my sat night gig I had 3 people asking for my business card saying it was awesome blah blah. At one stage of the night the captain asked me to switch songs because the boat was rocking too much also.... i thought that was a good thing!
Anyways thats just my experience from the weekend, to be honest I'm actually pretty pissed off and feel like sending an email back telling her to shove it and just hire a jukebox next time.
Posté Thu 14 Dec 06 @ 3:04 am
Pionara
Man, sorry to hear that. But, truth be known, it happens.
Last christmas i was doing a corporate do and some wee idiot asked me for a song. "No way", says I. "It'll kill my dance floor". Ended up I played it just to prove a point and sure enough the floor emptied apart from this one TIT of a guy.
Last week I was in a hotel doing a christmas party and some guy asks me for Razorlight. Razorlight? I mean, come one. At a Christmas party people don't want to hear about America (although it's a great song) or other stuff like that. They're not 'party' tunes.
At the end of the day, generally the DJ knows best what goes where music wise and what works well at gigs. If you want to interact with the crowd, try offering them a quick christmas quiz for them to do while they're having dinner. Works well I've found. Be WITH them on there musical journey, take them places. Go out and dance with them. SHOW THEM how to do the time warp, ymca and all that. Just do anything cheesy and they'll be putty.
Remember, you don't measure how good a dj is by how he's coping when it's going well. You measure how good a dj is by how he's coping when it's going terribly.
If you have a bad night, put it down to experience and learn something from it. That way, you'll only get better.
And another thing. Have you ever had a complaint before?
If i get a list of songs from a client that i don't necessarily agree with, I mention that they're perhaps not all good dancy tunes, which means you might have a few bums on seats for a while, but promise to do what you can. I hate meeting people who are so narrow minded that they only like one type of music, or one particular artist and want to hear that style all night. Parties are all about fun and the music makes the mood of the evening.
You're a DJ, not some mindless robot. Out there on the floor you can be anything you want to be. These people don't know you, or what you're like, so just be whatever you can to suit the mood. Remember as well that at a party, you are generally the centre of attention as a DJ. How you deal with things and make things happen can set you up for the night...or bring it crashing down with a bang.
If all they want to do is sit and drink then fine, play their bad selections, and if they're really hacked off then yeah, I agree - tell them to get a jukebox and stop wasting your time.
Just my tuppence worth. Cheers...and keep spinnin'...(",)
P
Last christmas i was doing a corporate do and some wee idiot asked me for a song. "No way", says I. "It'll kill my dance floor". Ended up I played it just to prove a point and sure enough the floor emptied apart from this one TIT of a guy.
Last week I was in a hotel doing a christmas party and some guy asks me for Razorlight. Razorlight? I mean, come one. At a Christmas party people don't want to hear about America (although it's a great song) or other stuff like that. They're not 'party' tunes.
At the end of the day, generally the DJ knows best what goes where music wise and what works well at gigs. If you want to interact with the crowd, try offering them a quick christmas quiz for them to do while they're having dinner. Works well I've found. Be WITH them on there musical journey, take them places. Go out and dance with them. SHOW THEM how to do the time warp, ymca and all that. Just do anything cheesy and they'll be putty.
Remember, you don't measure how good a dj is by how he's coping when it's going well. You measure how good a dj is by how he's coping when it's going terribly.
If you have a bad night, put it down to experience and learn something from it. That way, you'll only get better.
And another thing. Have you ever had a complaint before?
If i get a list of songs from a client that i don't necessarily agree with, I mention that they're perhaps not all good dancy tunes, which means you might have a few bums on seats for a while, but promise to do what you can. I hate meeting people who are so narrow minded that they only like one type of music, or one particular artist and want to hear that style all night. Parties are all about fun and the music makes the mood of the evening.
You're a DJ, not some mindless robot. Out there on the floor you can be anything you want to be. These people don't know you, or what you're like, so just be whatever you can to suit the mood. Remember as well that at a party, you are generally the centre of attention as a DJ. How you deal with things and make things happen can set you up for the night...or bring it crashing down with a bang.
If all they want to do is sit and drink then fine, play their bad selections, and if they're really hacked off then yeah, I agree - tell them to get a jukebox and stop wasting your time.
Just my tuppence worth. Cheers...and keep spinnin'...(",)
P
Posté Thu 14 Dec 06 @ 4:12 am
paulettecerra
Always remember,, the Custer more is always right. Always, at least until they realize they’re wrong.
To them you’re a jukebox. If your asked to follow a play list, you follow the play list in a way that keeps the party goers tapping there feet.
Go out on a gig with a fellow DJ and check out his act. You’ll be suppressed what you can learn from a comrade. Trivia, musical chars. mummy wrap eats up time, Hot hot hot pass out some maroccas.
Teach a cheesy line dance, even if you think they can do it, there’s always someone in the room that doesn’t have the steps down. (could even be the person that’s bugging you for bad music), Take that person or persons with you in front of the audience and use that person as your prop…
That’s worth double points..
Be seen smiling and herd no matter how insignificant the act and they will think your a great Entertainer. It doesn’t take much to make the monkeys happy.
Good Luck
To them you’re a jukebox. If your asked to follow a play list, you follow the play list in a way that keeps the party goers tapping there feet.
Go out on a gig with a fellow DJ and check out his act. You’ll be suppressed what you can learn from a comrade. Trivia, musical chars. mummy wrap eats up time, Hot hot hot pass out some maroccas.
Teach a cheesy line dance, even if you think they can do it, there’s always someone in the room that doesn’t have the steps down. (could even be the person that’s bugging you for bad music), Take that person or persons with you in front of the audience and use that person as your prop…
That’s worth double points..
Be seen smiling and herd no matter how insignificant the act and they will think your a great Entertainer. It doesn’t take much to make the monkeys happy.
Good Luck
Posté Thu 14 Dec 06 @ 6:21 am
paulettecerra
Add a topic asking other DJ’s to post there favorite party games.
Posté Thu 14 Dec 06 @ 6:27 am
DJ Marcel_1
Sounds like you had a bad time on the cruise there !-rids.
I've run into the same thing - every dj has I think, I've done it both ways, played the songs usually one right after another and gotten them out of the way, or told them to go jump in the nearest pool of accesable water. (Make sure you've already been paid before doing that.)
Truth is there's no way you can keep everybody happy. One thing I used to do is if the dance floor is failing, during they're playlist is the BEST time to do this, go on the microphone and annonuce that you are open for requests.
something along the lines of "If you're not hearing what makes you move, just come to the DJ Booth and let me know what you'd like to hear."
I've even said " I'm not a mindreader my freinds If there's no requests I can't play the best music for you"
Usually that opens the floodgates and i get so many requests that if "jackass" comes back i can just point to the list of requests that his guests have made and tell him to put it in the queue.
Most of the time this works so well that I get asked to play Overtime. Then I tell them to pass the hat - $200.00 minimum
Most i ever got that way was 700.00 CDN for a Boxing Day Party 350 people threw in 2 bucks each (more or less)
Bottom line I guess is get on the mic and demand requests and then play em quick, and by the time 12:00 rolls around they're so drunk you can play whatever the hell you want.
Just Don;t ever tell them You'll take Cash from the bar at the end of the night :-P
Dj Marcel
Purple Onion NightClub
I've run into the same thing - every dj has I think, I've done it both ways, played the songs usually one right after another and gotten them out of the way, or told them to go jump in the nearest pool of accesable water. (Make sure you've already been paid before doing that.)
Truth is there's no way you can keep everybody happy. One thing I used to do is if the dance floor is failing, during they're playlist is the BEST time to do this, go on the microphone and annonuce that you are open for requests.
something along the lines of "If you're not hearing what makes you move, just come to the DJ Booth and let me know what you'd like to hear."
I've even said " I'm not a mindreader my freinds If there's no requests I can't play the best music for you"
Usually that opens the floodgates and i get so many requests that if "jackass" comes back i can just point to the list of requests that his guests have made and tell him to put it in the queue.
Most of the time this works so well that I get asked to play Overtime. Then I tell them to pass the hat - $200.00 minimum
Most i ever got that way was 700.00 CDN for a Boxing Day Party 350 people threw in 2 bucks each (more or less)
Bottom line I guess is get on the mic and demand requests and then play em quick, and by the time 12:00 rolls around they're so drunk you can play whatever the hell you want.
Just Don;t ever tell them You'll take Cash from the bar at the end of the night :-P
Dj Marcel
Purple Onion NightClub
Posté Thu 14 Dec 06 @ 7:06 am
paulettecerra
Well put Dj Marcel
Posté Thu 14 Dec 06 @ 7:37 am
ktilak
too bad it wasn't a booze cruise as one of the local frats put on
now that rocked the boat haha
but at least you have something to learn from. keep spinning and keep smilin!
now that rocked the boat haha
but at least you have something to learn from. keep spinning and keep smilin!
Posté Thu 14 Dec 06 @ 10:52 am
I always thank them for the great list , it sure was nice of 'em to think of me and try and make my job easier.There songs will go great with the others. What others ? Well I need at least 75 for 5 hours so I came prepared with 3x as much , 225. I will play your songs all through out the evening and we'll have a blast.
Then of course try not to play the dogs on their list. I have become adept at that over the years you can usually do it and still schmooze people enoufgh to get a good report.
One thing I think that you were really up against is that they were expecting a lot like maybe an MC plus dancers and obviously you can only do some of that .You could tell (mgmt) them that with such a large crowd with big expectations on there part and considerable repeat business on the line that it would make a lot of business sense to have an MC who can help liaison to the clients/crowd, especially since the area is so large and the DJ has to be near his equipment........
Then of course try not to play the dogs on their list. I have become adept at that over the years you can usually do it and still schmooze people enoufgh to get a good report.
One thing I think that you were really up against is that they were expecting a lot like maybe an MC plus dancers and obviously you can only do some of that .You could tell (mgmt) them that with such a large crowd with big expectations on there part and considerable repeat business on the line that it would make a lot of business sense to have an MC who can help liaison to the clients/crowd, especially since the area is so large and the DJ has to be near his equipment........
Posté Fri 15 Dec 06 @ 12:33 am
If they were asking for cards you definitely done good. I too am still amazed at how the client can be so unconcerned about being the gracious host and just concern themselves with what they want to hear, it's a power trip of an awfully quaint sort. Have you had this happen to you....the guy says play blah blah and his own friends say oh don't do that again.....then they come up to you and say just keep doing what your doing he's had too much.....lol.
Posté Fri 15 Dec 06 @ 12:45 am
mp3jrick
You have to know by now what works and what it takes to salvage an event.
Sometimes there is just no hope and people just want to sit on their asses.
It pisses us off because we gauge an event by the action on the floor.
My biggest beef is working in venues where the bar is in a different room, or while a big sporting event is on the tube or both, neither of which we have control over.
Friday night gigs are also the most difficult because people are beat up from work and driving and just want to sit and get buzzed.
I have set up play lists for both types of crowds, ie: rock sit, and rock dance etc...
What I aim to do next is get the tv clip from Casper the friendly ghost where he says "and now here's something you'll really like" in his high assed voice and then slam it into the Barney kids track "I love you you love me" etc...
Doing multi age groups like I do is probably the hardest of all because you are trying to reach all ages and all genres. I usually do this in sets of 2 or 3 untill I find the group that wants to dance.
Then I let the haters do their thing and we go from there. Usually the disco gets them up and the disco haters move in for the kill. The Urban will most certainly piss off the classic and country crowd and then it all breaks loose and I can go to work.
But until they get off their asses its a very frustrating thing to deal with, and it happens.
So try not to let it get to you and when it happens remember we all spin the wheel not knowing what number will come up. You can't win them all in other words, and sooner or later you will fail.
I refuse to act like a clown for the sake of getting people off their asses, a la "entertainer".
I am there to play the music that will energise a crown in any given musical interest, and if my bag of tricks don't work its their tough shit, I get paid either way.
On the other hand, I have had other parties that just wanted music or in my case video.
So they enjoyed themselves just as much by sitting around drinking and partying without feeling obligated to burn up the floor, so keep that in mind also.
Timing is everything with songs also.
Even the songs you might not think will work, might kick a group I have found. So make sure you play them as they are probably waiting for them. If you blow them off it will piss them off, made that mistake also. Try Neil Diamond's - Sweet Caroline at a teen dance for instance sometime.
I use the bottom side list for party requests because it won't disappear as I load a deck and if I change my mind it's always there letting me know what I haven't played yet.
Lastly, if you got comments about your facial expression, this is important body language is everything.
Always keep a smile on and practice it.
Keep moving while you play, even a little dance or shuffle helps to let people know you are enjoying what you are doing. If you send the wrong message they will most certainly pick up on it and it could kill the party.
If you didn't care, you wouldn't have posted this as your determination over rode your pride.
So good luck the next time, it will most certainly be better.
Rick
Sometimes there is just no hope and people just want to sit on their asses.
It pisses us off because we gauge an event by the action on the floor.
My biggest beef is working in venues where the bar is in a different room, or while a big sporting event is on the tube or both, neither of which we have control over.
Friday night gigs are also the most difficult because people are beat up from work and driving and just want to sit and get buzzed.
I have set up play lists for both types of crowds, ie: rock sit, and rock dance etc...
What I aim to do next is get the tv clip from Casper the friendly ghost where he says "and now here's something you'll really like" in his high assed voice and then slam it into the Barney kids track "I love you you love me" etc...
Doing multi age groups like I do is probably the hardest of all because you are trying to reach all ages and all genres. I usually do this in sets of 2 or 3 untill I find the group that wants to dance.
Then I let the haters do their thing and we go from there. Usually the disco gets them up and the disco haters move in for the kill. The Urban will most certainly piss off the classic and country crowd and then it all breaks loose and I can go to work.
But until they get off their asses its a very frustrating thing to deal with, and it happens.
So try not to let it get to you and when it happens remember we all spin the wheel not knowing what number will come up. You can't win them all in other words, and sooner or later you will fail.
I refuse to act like a clown for the sake of getting people off their asses, a la "entertainer".
I am there to play the music that will energise a crown in any given musical interest, and if my bag of tricks don't work its their tough shit, I get paid either way.
On the other hand, I have had other parties that just wanted music or in my case video.
So they enjoyed themselves just as much by sitting around drinking and partying without feeling obligated to burn up the floor, so keep that in mind also.
Timing is everything with songs also.
Even the songs you might not think will work, might kick a group I have found. So make sure you play them as they are probably waiting for them. If you blow them off it will piss them off, made that mistake also. Try Neil Diamond's - Sweet Caroline at a teen dance for instance sometime.
I use the bottom side list for party requests because it won't disappear as I load a deck and if I change my mind it's always there letting me know what I haven't played yet.
Lastly, if you got comments about your facial expression, this is important body language is everything.
Always keep a smile on and practice it.
Keep moving while you play, even a little dance or shuffle helps to let people know you are enjoying what you are doing. If you send the wrong message they will most certainly pick up on it and it could kill the party.
If you didn't care, you wouldn't have posted this as your determination over rode your pride.
So good luck the next time, it will most certainly be better.
Rick
Posté Fri 15 Dec 06 @ 12:59 am
yeah good job a lot people wouldn't talk about a tough gig......I think myself the worse gigs are sunday afternoon/evening......people aren't in party mode anymore ,there in get home mode for work tomorrow.
Posté Fri 15 Dec 06 @ 1:46 am
l_rids
I've had plenty of tough gigs, can't say that I've ever had a formal complaint. Performing to large crowds is easy, but when to small group say of like 20... its damn hard. I've done a divorce party and guess how many were there... 5! It basically narrows the selection of music to play from.
I've got another gig on board a different cruise ship tnite for 80 people... I'll try to take everyones pointers on board (bar the dancing part). Wish me luck!
I've got another gig on board a different cruise ship tnite for 80 people... I'll try to take everyones pointers on board (bar the dancing part). Wish me luck!
Posté Fri 15 Dec 06 @ 4:38 am
paulettecerra
Good luck and keep us posted...
Posté Fri 15 Dec 06 @ 4:46 am
asymptote
I guess we've all had this type of experience. Sometimes its just because the organisers take the view of a few winging customers and think that that is the opinion of the whole crowd. Sometimes its because another DJ is winding things up to take over your pitch by getting a couple of friends to complain.
Sometimes its just that the gig doesn't fit the DJs style or personality.
The important thing is that we as DJs are the one who usually can read the crowd and make things work whereas the organisers can't, although sometimes their jealous about how much we get paid.
One of my worst gigs was a wedding where the bride and groom had been 18-30 holiday reps. They said to me. 'We really know what people want, because we're party people.' Sadly they were very mistaken. Their selection of tracks were a complete failure and I had to dump them and use my own choice to get the action going. they weren't happy.
One thing I tend to do when someone is pestering me for a track that will kill the floor is to tell them to go on the dance floor ready. Then I announce the track fingering the person as the one who has requested it. The rest of the audience will usually jeer and shout and then i drop a real good track very quickly. before they can get off the dance floor.
I only do this if they are really a nuisance though. Scary thing, though - Sometimes they are right and the track goes down a storm. ;-)
Sometimes its just that the gig doesn't fit the DJs style or personality.
The important thing is that we as DJs are the one who usually can read the crowd and make things work whereas the organisers can't, although sometimes their jealous about how much we get paid.
One of my worst gigs was a wedding where the bride and groom had been 18-30 holiday reps. They said to me. 'We really know what people want, because we're party people.' Sadly they were very mistaken. Their selection of tracks were a complete failure and I had to dump them and use my own choice to get the action going. they weren't happy.
One thing I tend to do when someone is pestering me for a track that will kill the floor is to tell them to go on the dance floor ready. Then I announce the track fingering the person as the one who has requested it. The rest of the audience will usually jeer and shout and then i drop a real good track very quickly. before they can get off the dance floor.
I only do this if they are really a nuisance though. Scary thing, though - Sometimes they are right and the track goes down a storm. ;-)
Posté Fri 15 Dec 06 @ 12:35 pm
DJ von Smoothousen
I am really impressed by all the quality reactions and solid advice.
Just 2 experiences of my own:
- I usually bring a partner with a somewhat different taste in music, if I get stuck and can't get the party going, he usually comes up with good ideas;
- to be positive: a complaint/comment is a change for improvement; if you get no feedback at all, you definitely will have no idea how people like it (apart from when the dance floor is exploding).
It helps when the people who hire you, know your style and successes. That way, they know what to expect and they will you some more room to do your own thing.
Most people, I can convince that I have a far better idea of what works and what doesn't, so to give me some credit.
Mixed aged groups (weddings ....) can be quite easy, as long as you use up-tempo oldies like 50-s rock-n-roll (Blues Bros, Shake your tailfeather) and manage to tell the kids that house will (!) be played, but not at 8 PM, but around midnight ;-)
Just 2 experiences of my own:
- I usually bring a partner with a somewhat different taste in music, if I get stuck and can't get the party going, he usually comes up with good ideas;
- to be positive: a complaint/comment is a change for improvement; if you get no feedback at all, you definitely will have no idea how people like it (apart from when the dance floor is exploding).
It helps when the people who hire you, know your style and successes. That way, they know what to expect and they will you some more room to do your own thing.
Most people, I can convince that I have a far better idea of what works and what doesn't, so to give me some credit.
Mixed aged groups (weddings ....) can be quite easy, as long as you use up-tempo oldies like 50-s rock-n-roll (Blues Bros, Shake your tailfeather) and manage to tell the kids that house will (!) be played, but not at 8 PM, but around midnight ;-)
Posté Fri 15 Dec 06 @ 2:33 pm
paulettecerra
When I ask for request I say, "What would you like to dance to", That always gets them.
Posté Fri 15 Dec 06 @ 2:35 pm
paulettecerra
Or
Take that chance to open the mic and say something like,
This next song is for so-an-so and if you’d like to make a request, come on up and let me know what you’d like to dance to”.
Take that chance to open the mic and say something like,
This next song is for so-an-so and if you’d like to make a request, come on up and let me know what you’d like to dance to”.
Posté Fri 15 Dec 06 @ 2:57 pm
If you can keep 'em reasonably happy or better until they get liquored up ......
Posté Fri 15 Dec 06 @ 6:47 pm
sbangs
he he :)
Posté Fri 15 Dec 06 @ 7:02 pm
MGuz
Glad to see that i'm not alone with having unappriciative crowds.. These people don't realize what we go through to make sure they have a good time.. We do all that is possible for them, Stick to there playlists.. AND STILL they manage to complain.. I'm just thankful that there are some people that CAN appreciate what we do and know how to have a good time and enjoy the music.
Posté Fri 15 Dec 06 @ 10:09 pm
