Advice for longer gigs ?

[djmad]

Hi all

I have played a few 1 - 2 hour gigs but have a 4 - 5 hour set coming up on the weekend

I'm after tips or help from anyone who plays longer sets what do i need to do differently than a normal 1 - 2 hour set ( other than play more songs =) )

The manager has asked for nu funk / party breaks if that makes a difference at all. and the bar is fairly trendy but does dinner until about 1030ish im starting around 9.

Cheers for any help

mAd

[D.I.P.]

This might sound obvious but if they do dinner until 10:30 i would do real mellow/low energy stuff from 9-11 (dont be afraid to stretch your tracks here, let them play out!!). Obviously build from 11 on and again dont be afreaid to let SOME tracks play most of the way through. If your mixing like a mad man for 2-3 hours you'll run through a million tracks and feel like your mind just took a dump... (been there)

[Era 7]

eat well before going on

[Bullet]

eat well before going on

This^^^ Make sure to order a nice Dinner plate from the Menu if they're providing the meal. jajaja

[ben mills]

1. Eat food before you start.

2. Take a dump.

3. Play deep house for the first two hours.

[fueledbymusic]

My first gig was 5 hours long! My client offered me something to eat. Yeah, be sure you dont need to go to the restroom while on the gig. Be sure you have plenty of songs for it. And perhaps bring a comfortable chair!

[b.ill]

Good heavens you've gotta pee on a five your gig! I do 4 1/2 - 5 hour gigs all the time, and no one expects you to stay at your DJ station the whole time.

It sounds like they're gonna want dinner music - light dancing music for the first hour or so. There's no shame in having some pre-rolled stuff ready to go for the start of the night. Every DJ I know (including me) does that. But you'll get a feel for what to do as soon as you look it over.

Don't eat a huge meal before you start or you'll be nodding off during the night. Eat light though. You don't want to be hungry either.

[JackStalk]

Let songs ride out a little longer if you can, especially in the beginning and at the end of the set.

[DJ ATX]

All my gigs are 4 hours long. I mainly do bars and commercial clubs.

Here's my advice music-wise, think driving uphill at a moderate pace.

1st hour - downtempo stuff but still with bit of energy. Get the people head bobbing. Set the atmosphere and get them to start drinking.

2nd hour - old hits. In my open format bars, I do 80's, 90's and Top40 hits that are 6-month to a year old. 2nd hour is also the time I entertain requests as long as they are not the bangers I am gonna play in the 3rd hour. Use this hour to get people moving and getting their appetite to go nuts. Some booty shaking hip-hop. May be break out some new tracks and see how the crowd reacts. Poke and prod the crowd to see what music they will groove to.

3rd hour - give it all you got, hit em and hit em hard, dance floor should be packed. I typically do not entertain request at this point and honestly, if you are reading the crowd properly, and playing all the bangers, you will not get requests anyways. Mix your heart out, tricks, effects, etc. Let em have it. This should be peak time.

The last half hour, bring it down. Again I would typically throw in some brand new tracks I would like to break out. See how they react, whether or not the crowd likes it. By this time everyone is drunk anyways.

Of course this is a not a hard and fast rule. That is why I always advice DJs to not practice sets, but rather practice mixing and learning their library so that they can flow with the crowd.

[fueledbymusic]

Probably would not be a bad idea to bring a snack and a bottle of frozen water. So that the water will be cold through out that long gig while it melts. lol