lot of compliments then some hate/get demoted??

[unknown00]

so i occasionally open here and there. when i open, i try not to play anything that is released within the last year, but i still try to play a good style of music/remixes to showcase myself

anyways, when i open i get tons of compliments from the crowd and even other djs that are just having the day off and enjoying the night. BUT, i get a lot of hate from the main dj i open for because he says i play too hard early, play all the good songs, and make him "look bad". again, i try not to play anything released in the last year, sometimes last 2 years. also, i know you have to build up the night etc etc, but some places i spin at by 11pm it's crazy packed already. obviously i don't go hard if no one is there

i'm just curious - what is everyone's experience with opening?

[Ellissentials]

I've never opened for anyone (yet)

My opinion is: DO YOU! Obviously don't play face melting stuff at 9pm.. BUT... play your style and go as hard as you normally do. Then tell the venue to hire YOU as the opening act if they think you're rocking the crowd too hard.

Basically it sounds like you get complaints that you're doing a better job than who you open for. :shrug:

[Somedj]

Hmmm....sounds to me like the headliner needs to be on their game more. If all stuff you're playing is 1-2 years old... I dont see how they should be getting mad. Maybe you should step UP your game and become the headliner. Just a thought... :)

[bmorr]

Well speaking from experience...when I open, I don't try to play hard electro ish stuff even if it's packed. The energy level of a crowd fluctuates. so If you play something hard, you have give them a bit of a rest before the main DJ comes on. If I was headlining and the opening DJ played straight up bangers (regardless of how old they are) that would just tire the crowd out by the time I came on. I'd probably be like wtf... It has nothing to do with upping my game.

[Friction]

If you're opening, open. Doesn't matter if the track isn't new, if you are playing too hard too early, you are playing the wrong track. Opening is a skill and it really does need to set the pace for the whole night.

What Ellis said is a job interview, not opening for a DJ.

[Proverbs]

You have to play differently if you're opening for someone, especially if it's someone big. You're there to get the crowd warmed up, not get them going as hard as possible. If I was headlining and the guy before me dropped every super hard track that everyone wanted to hear, I would be pissed.

[unknown00]

thanks for the responses everyone, guess it's time to apologize and hope they'll bring me back lol

[Rick_N]

A lot of people say anyone can drop bangers and get people moving. But, it takes skill to open and to know how to warm up a crowd properly.

Im sure they'll let you come back, and you can play tracks that are a week old if you want. Its just about how intense they are and what kind of mood they'll set.

[Rothgery]

Hmmm....sounds to me like the headliner needs to be on their game more. If all stuff you're playing is 1-2 years old... I dont see how they should be getting mad. Maybe you should step UP your game and become the headliner. Just a thought... :)

This was my first initial thought - sounds like people following you need to step it up a notch if they are bitching about killer tracks that over a year old.

I say keep on with what you are playing, and as long as you're following the opener etiquette, then eventually you might just run over the guys you are opening for - taking the limelight :tup:

[JuxtaPoser]

Yeah, I agree with the majority of the people in this thread. Warming up is a very important and difficult skill. The mistake that most DJs make early on in their careers is trying to impress people by going hard and trying to upstage the main act. It's totally understandable; you've just been offered a great gig opening up for a big headliner and suddenly you've got this great opportunity to show EVERYONE how awesome you are, right? Wrong. Warming up and playing the headline slot are not the same thing, they are very different indeed.

I've recently started focusing more on warm up sets than playing peak time slots when I've got a choice. Partly because I want to practice an invaluable skill, secondly because at my club nights I like to take responsibility for it myself so I know it's getting done right, thirdly because I frankly don't trust other people.

I remember a gig a few weeks ago when I'd just got into the DJ booth and was picking my first track 5 minutes before I was supposed to start. The other DJ was playing the Art Department remix of Azari & III - Hungry For The Power. "Perfect", I thought, picked a suitable track to mix in and waited for him to finish. Next thing I know he's wheeled the track up, and slammed in some drum & bass. I SHIT YOU NOT.

In summary, I'd say that warming up is one of the most important arts you can learn, and also one of the most enjoyable. It's where your breadth and depth of musical knowledge and abilities to build up a crowd and an atmosphere will really be tested.

[RINIFLeX]

Its not about when the tracks are released. Its about the energy level. Openers should not bang it out too early. With that being said, if the place is jamming, you still need to read the crowd and increase the energy levels accordingly. But you also need to pace yourself. Its a fine line.

But if the headliner is really being a douch-nozz, punch him in the grundle:teef:

[moyo wilde]

haven't played out much lately, but when i open i usually ask the dj following me what he wants to open with. that way no matter what is going on i know where he would like to start from. especially important i think when i really don't know their style. that way if it gets crowded i can take things up and bring them back down or if things are really slow i know where i need to be when i get to the end.

that being said i have i only have 600-700 songs i dj with. that spans from around 65 bpm to 160 bpm. i figure i might not have the same style of music as the dj playing before after me but i can match their pacing.

[Hygro]

One thing I do when I'm opening is I pitch down 128 house tracks to about 124.

If you're opening for a big act, you're the opener. If it's a local electro free for all night with a bunch of random DJs each bringing their friends and there's two stages to choose from etc, then the proper etiquette seems to be "play your crowd, now". Obviously don't be the dick that played right before Juxtaposer. I remember one time I was about to go on as the top act and the DJ before me redlines some electro remix of one more time, at like 132 bpm. I didn't have much room to work with. I had to start over and take them to a calmer post rage-hard space, playing largely progressive house before I was a progressive DJ. That was one of my last gigs before my recent revival, and I got kind of burnt out.

[epik1]

My flow chart is as follows:
slow chill stuff, yanno head bobbing stuff as crowd is still making their way in, etc. ---> a little harder hip-hop or older jams ----> begin to melt minds ---> somehow find the master in the high-volume of things nearing the end of the night/set ---> finish with something not too fast, but still face melting and I try to aim for something more familiar that crowd would know so they could finish off nice too ;)

But I'm still a noob so yeah lol.

I've had plenty of DJ friends who've complained about the guy before him playing songs from his set. IMO, every DJ should be prepared for that and rock 140% harder lol

[bernardgregory]

there are records (called "the hits") that are supposed to be saved for primetime hours of the club. also supposed to play warm up records in the early hours.

however, a good dj should be able to adapt.

[MeowMix]

to put it in sexual terms, you are supposed to do the foreplay. You can get naked and do some petting but nothing more intimate than that and certainly no penetration.

It sounds to me like by the time the main act is getting on you are already a finger or two deep into it and stroking.

Its hard to do foreplay for 2 hours, especially when the place is packed and the crowd is heaving with anticipation but thats the job of a good opener.

[Somedj]

On a side, slightly related note, I would pay good money to get someone to snap a pic of ANY djs face who goes on right after the previous dj does the "ramp up" twat move thats been mentioned a few times here. Specifically the dnb ramp up move that was done to someone on page 1, oh the look on your face would have been priceless.... WTF dude?! :)

[mrkleen]

I dont see how the age of the songs you are playing have anything to do with it.

As Ellissentials said - you know if you are overdoing it. I think the fact that you are trying to defend you style, probably means you are....and you know it. That is fine....I am a shit opening DJ as well, but because of that I dont take opening slots.

It is unfair to take a opening slot and then try and outside the headliner. Either learn to play more laid back, less obvious tunes - or stop taking opening gigs.

[DJ Matt]

The energy level of a crowd fluctuates. so If you play something hard, you have give them a bit of a rest before the main DJ comes on. If I was headlining and the opening DJ played straight up bangers (regardless of how old they are) that would just tire the crowd out by the time I came on. I'd probably be like wtf... It has nothing to do with upping my game.

Amen to that

[Austin GoGreen]

That's all bull, read the crowd play opening set accordingly. Your job as the opener is to get the party started, end of story.. I've had the oppurtunity to open for 3 of my city's best dj's now and I haven't had anything close to your problems. I go in, opend the crowd and do my thing. I don't play any new bangers nor do I play anything I consider peak hour. Outside of that, the dj's I've opened for tell me to play whatever I want, they will listen and work around me.

It sounds to me like dude is a little insecure or just has a problem with you in general.

[punky]

If you play a ton of bangers and get the crowd moving really hard, the main DJ is going to hate the hell out of you, and rightfully so. You are the warm up jog, not the 300 lb bench press. Leave the benching to the main DJ.

[Andrew B]

Posted this article (http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1095) in another thread. Valid here.

[Hygro]

to put it in sexual terms, you are supposed to do the foreplay. You can get naked and do some petting but nothing more intimate than that and certainly no penetration.

It sounds to me like by the time the main act is getting on you are already a finger or two deep into it and stroking.

Its hard to do foreplay for 2 hours, especially when the place is packed and the crowd is heaving with anticipation but thats the job of a good opener.
Although sometimes you should dive into sex, and then have sex a second time right after. A good headliner and good opener will know when this is appropriate, and won't bitch to each other.

[moyo wilde]

personally i have my music arranged so that i can pretty much continue a rise from anywhere. it might be a different genre than what was being played, but no matter who i am following i can take the mood/energy in that direction higher or lower.

in some ways it seems like a good dj should be able take over from where ever the previous dj left off. no doubt i would be a little pissed if somebody just knocked out all the bangers. but then i would be looking at them like "dude that wasn't a good set, anybody can play all the hits." like once i saw a battle of the bands contest and the winning band played a medley of bob marley. i thought they shouldn't have won. anybody can get almost any crowd hyped covering marley (old, young, black, white, asian, latino, male, female) that's not a skill! i could rock a crowd singing a medley of marley and i can't sing or play an instrument.

but yeah the opener should usually definitely play low key. it's the appetizer. leave some space for the prime time guy to move around.

[Hygro]

A really important skill is to know how to slow down the music and dial back the energy without throwing cold water on the crowd. One method is to move from high power energy to slower sexier energy. With pop gigs back in my starter days I used to go from like Flo-Rida's Right Round and Crookers etc to things like Britney's Breathe on Me. I bet you could do the opposite too, if you have fast and sexy energy and hit with slower but higher powered energy. This gives you or others the ability to transition back to the original programming at the right time.

[Liam]

I know the golden rule is never play the bangers during warm up and don't cut the head lining DJ's feet. But i have been experiencing something interesting recently. I regularly warm up for a mate on a Saturday night, and he actually said to me 'on the warm up play anything you want, play the biggest tunes of the moment if you want. As long as you have the crowd rocking i don't mind as i will go on and smash it'.

I put it to the test one night (by the end of my set i always have at least 500 people in front of me at 1:30am). I played some pretty big bangers and got the crowd going, and he went on and just blew the crowd to bits. I was shocked at how i watched him take a commercial crowd and got them to dance to anything he threw at them..

[LALaw]

Liam, that is a skill that not many have. The guy is totally right though - by you getting everyone frothed up, they are so wet and ready they will take anything and everything the headliner can jam into them. That gives him the freedom to play what he wants, knowing the crowd will beg for every last bit of it

[moyo wilde]

the time of the opening slot is also another consideration. if you end at 10:00 it is different than if you end at 11:00 and 12:00 and at 1:00. also something i noticed is that even with the time sometimes where you are playing will affect it. 1:00 in on city or bar might be equal to 11:00 in another city or bar.

[de.j.l]

opening usually means I play tech house, house with some techno overlays, if its a rave I just play what I want to play because you're not gonna get in crap for playin bang bang at a rave.