Paranoia - The DJ's worst enemy!!

[NKR]

We did an all day wedding on 27th December. Kev did two vocal sets at night and hardl anyone danced to anything. Disco the same and I was getting very paranoid and quite stressed as they had paid a lot of money for this.

I just couldn't wait for the pain to finish.

End of night major thanks for a brilliant day from loads of people and few days later one of the most glowing e-mails I have had from a bride in a long time about how we made the day.

You just never can tell sometimes.

Kev summed it up perfectly during the night. "I'm not worried as I know nobody else would be doing a better job than we are doing!"

[simonp]

Perhaps we bring this upon ourselves by perpetuating the myth that we can "read the dancefloor"

Can't read a dancefloor if you haven't got a dancefloor (original point)

Don't know about reading - but ridding a dancefloor full of dancers ain't too difficult!

We've all done it

[DiscosMobile]

Sometimes it really is just hard work. I am still in the 90's when everyone used to get up and have a shin dig. Now it seems paranoia sets in alot easier and quicker in a night if those first few tunes dont work. Where's the Plan B oh black eyed peas I gotta feelin, oh that didn't work hmm Journey??? No oh Abba anyone.. Bit of Barry White.. God what do you lot like and dance too.. In these sort of scenarios I tend to go over to the popular sing a longs, Never Forget, Cant take my eyes off you, somebody else's guy to at least uplift them a little bit "feelgood songs" and if know one dances hey ho at least I have had them singing and foot tapping all night.. But this is worse at a wedding because the bride and groom want everyone to dance (even though they don't always dance) and think its a failed night and the DJ must be rubbish and must have played completely the wrong music.. So wait for the complaint letter if your booked by the hotel or agent..

I learned about 5 years ago that not everyone wants to dance, I know I don't dance when I am on a night out. Dont take it personally (I know its easier said than done) If your room is full of Men your going to struggle there is only so long you can run with the Jam, Madness, Killers before it wears thin on them.. But if your full of women jobs got a little easier.. And anything like my NYE where the average age was 65 remember the reason why its hard work for this age group of dancers, winter and arthritis set in.. (I still had a full dance floor all night they loved it but I was board to tears)

Rick

[NKR]

Wow another Lancastrian.

We may soon outnumber those of the wrong side of the Pennines, who god himself punishes by dropping snow on them more than on us. We are his favourites even though they think they are gods own county. He may own it, but he don't like it. We are like his Tenerife. We are where he holidays.

Anyway I think that was off topic a touch.

[Andy Goodtimes]

I don't worry any more but I used to in my first few years of the job. I have lost count of the number of times people have come up at the end of the night shaking hands and hugging etc. saying what a fantastic time they have had and I'm thinking which party were you at?

Don't forget too that this time of year is a bit of a funny time because lots of people have been to various parties with work and clubs that they belong to and so on, there has been lots of drinking and eating and also loads of people have been unwell with various colds, flu and bugs. I did 4 jobs between Christmas and Ny and Weddings the last 2 nights and except for last night which was an amazing party the others have all been a bit of a let down after the wild Christmas parties.

You often see folk staring or mouthing something to their mates and sometimes you manage to overhear something someone might say on the dance floor. Sometimes you can pick up on what they are getting at i.e. if its a couple of young trendy girls and you are playing 60s its pretty likely that they are waiting for some charts so you can say something like " just a couple more oldies and then we'll have some chart" and watch their faces light up. I'll always ask for requests and sometimes if they're not forthcoming I'll say "you're making me work too hard so lets have some requests", but at the end of the night as long as you can say you tried then there's not much else you can do.

I have had a fair few DJs that are pains and in particular the local radio station...oh my what a load of stars they were...lol. I ended up inviting them up to do a bit or shut the up, after they decided they weren't getting anywhere with me they started on the hotel staff...you can't close the bar on us do you know who we are and so on...they are banned from that hotel now. On the other hand I met a DJ the other night who was a totally nice chap, actually going to introduce him to this forum so look out for him...Paul from Manchester way.

As for going up to that woman...yes I would have gone up to her table and also other tables too so as not to make it look too much like I was picking on her. Always good to go to the punters and say hi and see if there is anything you can do for them and also good if you can get to know some names and bits of info and so on.

[Excalibur]

Wow another Lancastrian.

We may soon outnumber those of the wrong side of the Pennines, who god himself punishes by dropping snow on them more than on us. We are his favourites even though they think they are gods own county. He may own it, but he don't like it. We are like his Tenerife. We are where he holidays.

Anyway I think that was off topic a touch.

And dangerous. And wrong.

OK, I suppose I'd better try to stay on topic.

I reckon it's virtually impossible to not feel the dread as you realise that your dancefloor is going to be all night long, despite you pleading for requests, and trying every artist from the Tweets to Metallica! Then as they leave, you hear them saying what a good disco it was. Hey ho.

I also reckon I know what Soundtracker's trying to say. As far as I'm aware, none of us have the gift to instantly realise what to play at all times to magically pack the dancefloor. At best it is trial and error, though of course we should have at least an inkling of what is likely to suit a given crowd or age group.

I'm finding it harder to come up with exactly the right track sometimes, because there are so many more to choose from, and also the punters are becoming less stereotyped in their tastes, and thus harder to predict, eg " it's a 50th, so I'll play 70's all night" for example no longer seems to be a good plan. You're just as likely to be asked for BEP, David Guetta, and Tinchy Stryder as Mud, Suzi Quatro and T Rex.

It's very rewarding when you get it right, but it's a grueller when you can't tell whether or not you are.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Spot on!
Just like the majority of DJ's on this forum, I like to think that I CAN read a dancefloor well enough to cope but you can't please everybody all of the time. I just don't see what benefit there is going up to someone and asking them if there is anything they would like to hear after seeing them mouth something or turn their nose up to what's being played at that moment because they don't personally like it. If you have said over the mic throughout the night that you are taking requests then there really is no excuse for them to get the hump really is there?

All they need to do is ask. They may come up and ask for something that is totally inappropriate but then you can ask them if there is anything else that they would like. At Christmas at one of the parties at the hotel, I had some rather good looking club type girls who were the 'too cool for a christmas party' types. They knew everyone was looking at them because they were gorgeous and wearing next to nothing and they mentioned to me when I mingled earlier that they would be going clubbing afterwards.

One of them asked for the 'Gyptian' track which I didn't have at the time so they asked for some Rihanna instead. I had already played a track by her around 10 minutes before they came over so I said I would see what I could do. They turned their noses up and then got all touchy feely with me and cuddly and asked again. I hate that when girls think that they can do that to try and get you to play something....anyway, a bit later I played Rihanna again for them and what did they do? They stood there talking and the dancefloor cleared because it was 'Rude Boy' that isn't really the most danceable of tracks. They left to go clubbing afterwards but for around 30 minutes my concentration was on them and not everyone else (not because they were gorgeous but because I wanted to try and keep everyone happy).

I think this is another thing with the paranoia scenario. You could have a full dancefloor with everyone having a great time and then you notice one person turning their nose up and your focus goes on to them. It's wrong I know but it happens. I also think it depends on the kind of function you are doing. If you are doing a party that has a theme, like a 40th that has an 80's theme, you can't really go wrong. Ok, you may get people that go "Oh I hated this track when it came out" but that's fine by me. If you are doing a party like a christmas one or a wedding etc...well, you have to try and please everyone with different genres and this is where you will get some people who don't like stuff and they will let you know too.

[ppentertainments]

If you have said over the mic throughout the night that you are taking requests then there really is no excuse for them to get the hump really is there?

That's one theory I still hold - if you welcome requests and have a majority of them, a majority of your work is accomplished. No excuse for anyone complaining the music is rubbish.

[Jonathan Ford]

That's one theory I still hold - if you welcome requests and have a majority of them, a majority of your work is accomplished. No excuse for anyone complaining the music is rubbish.

+ 1.

That's the killer trick with join-a-parties, Gary - trying to please all of the people all of the time. I always try and do it, even if it means playing something that the majority will not appreciate. Sometimes you get a bite, but more often not you get nothing....especially from the person that made the request. I had this over Christmas with a table full of hairdresser and "Swedish House Mafia" .

[Excalibur]

They left to go clubbing afterwards but for around 30 minutes my concentration was on them and not everyone else (not because they were gorgeous but because I wanted to try and keep everyone happy)..

Ooh yes. To paraphrase the good book: " There is more sadness in the DJ booth over one punter who is unhappy, than joy for the hundred and ninety nine who are happy ".