The end of the night. What do "Proper DJs " do?

[Excalibur]

As stated elsewhere, when I was younger, it was immutably set in stone that there would be about fifteen minutes of slow songs at the end of the night, commonly referred to by various coarse and unseemly phrases which I will not repeat here. I always called it "The cuddly bit ". It was the law that such a section took place, offenders failing to comply would be summarily executed.

Times and rules change however, and I have found myself regularly omitting this nowadays, merely having a " wind down " section instead, with tracks along the lines of Mustang Sally, Brown Eyed Girl, Daydream Believer, culminating in Sweet Caroline.

What are your habits? I'm not asking for your last songs, more your default settings. Do you always try to have a slow, smoochy section, or do you try to keep 'em dancing non stop, and end on a high? I've regularly done this with New York, New York for example.

Other than the tracks I mentioned above, the only slow song I played last night was the first dance. 99.5% of the crowd thought this was a good idea, 0.5% didn't. What do you think? I think I'll put an anonymous poll up, if I can word the questions correctly. Floor's yours folks.

[SC Events]

At Weddings, i'll probably play one or two 'slowies' before the last song.

At younger events, I usually end with the usual indie-rock stuff - Mr Brightside etc and finish on a high.

At everything else, I judge it by ear.

[musicology]

At Weddings, i'll probably play one or two 'slowies' before the last song.

At younger events, I usually end with the usual indie-rock stuff - Mr Brightside etc and finish on a high.

At everything else, I judge it by ear.

Ditto

[Imagine]

Same here.

Last night's playlist was officially a load of Tinie Tempah stuff (which was ditched after the first 45 mins in favour of 80's and Motown with a little bit of Rudimental thrown in....it worked). The only slow dance was the last official song of the night (Luther Vandross), which is the song the birthday girl danced to when she first met her hubby.

Wound up as usual with Time of my Life from Dirty Dancing (they were singing even as I faded it out.....I'd gone past the midnight curfew on the licensing arrangements).

Don't seem to do a lot of slow stuff at all these days but remember those sections from when I was first around in the '90's

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Last 15 minutes are usually taken up witht he Proclaimers, Loch Lommond and something else big and shouty (Sweet Caroline, Oasis etc...) but I do try to slip a slow one in before that 15 minute mark to "let everyone get their breath back for the finale"

[DJColsie]

Must admit that wedding and "old parties", where the majority of the guests are over 60, are the only time I will play slow dances. At a wedding I usually end with the couples first dance.

For other parties I have got everyone in a circle facing inwards with the birthday guest in the middle singing The Best by Tina Turner. Good finish for the right audience.

[yourdj]

9/10 times I will do a fake ending on a high at about 10 mins before the actual finish time (New york, never forget, Hey Jude etc.) and then select something upbeat from their playlist that relates to the day (perhaps a bit left field), the party or perhaps their honeymoon (i.e. marihachi band for Mexico). I always try and personalise it as much as possible and add energy/emotion to the very end as that track is always a shock as they think its the end so will really be in the mood to finish in style.

Generally I will thank everyone play 1-2 tracks and for the last one do a slow track and lower the volume/turn up lights a bit.
This works especially well at my venue as it has an 11 finish, so results very rarely in "come on one more".

Got it on video a couple of years back as my friend Andy always said I finish on New York, which is not the case:

[BeerFunk]

No, I don't by default. It's something I noticed other experienced DJs doing when I was learning the trade, but I don't consider it to be a 'tradition' which needs to be continued. I must admit that I do stereotype a little, and am more likely to play a slow song if it's an older crowd in. I just find the younger crowd to be less receptive to a slow dance.

[DJColsie]

No, I don't by default. It's something I noticed other experienced DJs doing when I was learning the trade, but I don't consider it to be a 'tradition' which needs to be continued. I must admit that I do stereotype a little, and am more likely to play a slow song if it's an older crowd in. I just find the younger crowd to be less receptive to a slow dance.

I agree

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Back in the day (or when I first started DJing) it seemed to be 'the norm' to finish with some slowies or at least do a section of slowies towards the end of the night.
It was the same when I was either going to or DJing in clubs too. A DJ at a local club that I used to go to regularly many moons ago used to play the same 3 songs in the same order at the same time every week and used to call it the 'erection section' (can I get away with saying that on here? Apologies if not).

It's not often that I'll play any slow tracks during the evening unless they are on the request list. Most of the time if I do play any it will be for a function with older people and some may have popped over during the evening to ask me if I am going to play something slow.

Personally I like to finish on something that either the customer has requested in advance or something that will leave them on a high and the tracks vary depending on the event and the type of audience.