A 24 hour Disco. Your thoughts, memories and suggestions...

[Gary]

For various important reasons I've agreed to provide myself as DJ plus light and sound for a 24 hour Danceathon at the end of February.

I'm taking two complete and entirely independent sound systems (right through from speakers, back to play buttons...and intend to alternate them in 6-8 hour blocks for duty cycling etc , giving each system a breather every few hours etc. similar ideas for the lights but with smaller/shorter cycles (and they're all led anyway).

I recall doing a 24 hour gig about 20 years ago, back in my agency days but can remember nothing of it now. So, what I'm wondering is what advice you fellow DJs could offer from your own experiences of extended gigs.

The only "advice" I'm not looking for is:

* Don't do it
* Just stick a lappy playlist on and come back 24 hours later (lappys not an option anyway)
* Play 24 hours worth of x 80 minute Grandmaster CDs and just wake up every 2.5 hours to change CDs

Aside from that - fire away!

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Comfortable clothing.
Energy drinks.

Is it a charity event Gary?

[Jonathan Ford]

Comfortable clothing.
Energy drinks.

Is it a charity event Gary?

Definitely. Make sure that you have a change of shoes as well, and a chair at some point. Standing in the position we do for 24 hours will take 5 years off your knees!

I did one of these for some charity thing in the mid-90's (can't remember if it was CIN or Comic Relief); be prepared for the idea that you'll probably be playing to yourself and venue staff between say, 0400-0800...I remember that this was particularly hard work. It's also a little kick in the cojones when you see staff that were with you the night before looking all fresh, rested and sweet smelling when they turn in the next day!

Oh, and a roadie, or a mate...just to give you 10 minutes every couple of hours to go for a walk, get some fresh air etc. Good luck!

[Ryu]

The real challenge would be 24hrs.....no repeat plays! :D

Having never done one, I can't speak from experience, but as with any Endurance feat, break it up into smaller chunks...think of it as an opportunity to brush up on theme nights and do 3 hours of solid 80's, 90's, 00's etc. You may even be able to convince people to come at certain times if they are a fan of the genre (I'm thinking a 3-4am Ibiza session or something similar) and you announce a "timetable" beforehand.

Good luck with it all! :)

[Ecstatic Events]

Wow, I've partied for 24 hours, but never DJ'd for 24 hours. The longest gig I can recall was a mere 10 hours for me!!! My recommendation is 200mg caffeine tablets for the "graveyard" shift - =)

If this is a local event Gary? and if applicable, what is the charity?

[Gary]

Thanks for the replies so far.

It most certainly is for charity - Cancer Research.

The event is being held in Chippenham, Wiltshire (it's like Swindon but small enough to take in when it rains)

Various groups will be attending at pre-arranged slots, so I'm expecting repeat requests as some groups finish their few hours of sponsored dancing and new groups replace them but we've already got at least a few people slotted in, even for the 4am sort of slots - its running 1pm to 1pm

[Shaun]

Perhaps you can get another local DJ you are friendly with to come on board and split the time. Two 6 hour slots each? That way it'll still be a continuous 24 hour gig.

[Jonathan Ford]

The real challenge would be 24hrs.....no repeat plays! :D


Ha! I did 5 hours last night, all chart which I hate with a passion, and was repeating by the end of it!

[Shakermaker Promotions]

As said above Gary, Energy Drinks, Slippers (joke!) and a chair or stool.
I'd never sit down when DJing but if it's a 24 hour thing I am sure it will be advertised as such and people will realise that it's pretty hard work.

When I worked for someone else a few years back, we did a 24 hour charity thing too but there were 2 of us DJing in 4 hour slots. That may not sound as bad BUT...We were all there for the 24 hour period and I was the only one that didn't have a kip. I slept for a day afterwards though!

Good luck with it!

Just re-read that and it doesn't sound right. When I say "We were ALL there..", there was a couple of other guys who were helping us with equipment etc.

[Dr Spin]

Two 6 hour slots each?


there were 2 of us DJing in 4 hour slots.

Hi Gary.

First of all, my sincere congratulations on volunteering for a very worthwhile charity.

If you are able to split shifts, I would suggest 4 hour slots in preference to 6 hour slots, if only because this has been found to be the more workable practice for watches on board ships.

If you are doing things solo, then you need to consider toilet breaks... if not 80 minute "Grandmaster" mixes, then some of the shorter 15-20 minute mixes may well be useful.

If you have internet access during the event, why not make regular posts on here, so we can all follow how the event is going, keep you company (albeit not for the whole 24 hours individually) and maybe cheer you along too!

All the best..............

[Excalibur]

Perhaps you can get another local DJ you are friendly with to come on board and split the time. Two 6 hour slots each? That way it'll still be a continuous 24 hour gig.

Makes sense to me. Longest ones I can remember solo were about twelve hours, and that's hard.

Many many years ago, some mates did a week long one :eek: :eek: in the days of vinyl!! We ran that in shifts, and you weren't really allowed to stick albums on, but I do remember being introduced to the humour of Blaster Bates, so yes we used albums. :D :D

[Gary]

Well the shifts idea isnt required as its going to be just me for the full 24 hours - although I've got helpers arranged for the setting up and the packing away, and a hotel just across the road from the 24 hour venue has offered me a room for the afternoon & night after the 24 hours gig free of charge.

Some of the other local businesses have shown their support to the event with hot breakfasts, soft refreshments etc all coming in at appropriate moments.

I'm liking the suggestions of caffiene drinks and tablets etc (still got dozens of each left over from December) - the comfy clothes and shoes makes sense. Im after loads and loads of ideas on the music "flow" - I'm thinking that I'll have to change the music type pretty frequently (as per most usual discos) to give (Warning!!! cliche alert, cliche alert) "something for everyone" amongst any given group of people.

Toilet breaks shouldnt be an issue, as I can set crossfaded/relay play between media players - So at worst (a 60's musical moment = 2 x 2minutes30seconds tracks = 5 mins (allowing a few more seconds for cueing another song), or with more modern tracks...2 x 12'' singles could be over 20 minutes easily...Jingo, Donna Summer "I feel love" etc.

I know that music quiz rounds are going to be out of the question, at that would break up the flow of the dancing, but I'm planning on doing various spot-prize give-aways over suitable instrumental breaks etc.

It would be useful to know, from those above who said that their extended gigs were "hard" - in what way did they find it hard? (that's not supposed to sound like a challenge, although it reads that way a bit). I'm already planning to keep the volume on the lower side of mid-high so that I dont have too much temporary hearing threshold shift (or whatever its called) and am planning on not using Split-Cue, but instead alternating headphone "ear" every so often etc.

I'm going to be taking requests on paper slips and by SMS text too, which "should" help variety...although I suspect some of the December party favs will keep coming back like boomerangs...Place your bets now on how often Maroon 5 gets played.

I've tried the venue already for signals etc - It's got good 2G on O2 and Voda, but no consistant 3G, and no wi-fi. So...I'm certainly liking the idea of posting on here throughout the gig... for those of you that dont know me thus far...bear in mind that if I post "ZZZZzzzzz", its' probably my wierd sense of humour kicking in, rather than me falling asleep at the crossfade. :lol:

[BeerFunk]

I hate to be negative (that's a lie! :D), but the second half you really will struggle, you won't be at your best, the energy levels will be difficult to maintain, and you may well be putting your reputation on the line (ironically enough!).

Yes you might be able to stay awake for the duration, and yes you might keep the music playing, but once the tiredom kicks in and your enthusiasm goes - you might as well have Winamp on shuffle. So, I'd reconsider shift swapping.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

When I said it was hard, what I meant was....there were periods where there was hardly anyone at the event (the very early hours 4am - 7am) and that was difficult. When you've got your other DJ behind you asleep on the flightcases with a blanket over him snoring away and all you want to do is have a kip and you've just started your 'shift'....well, I am sure you can imagine.

I'm sure you'll be ok because you'll be concentrating and you are on your own but it will get you the next day big time. Be careful with the energy drinks too and limit yourself as you'll never sleep and then you'll be playing catch up (do you still drink Diet Coke by the crate load?...that was a joke by the way).

Total respect to you mate because it's hard to do but for a good cause and I am sure you will get lots of press for it. Are you thinking of advertising your services at the event too? I'm not one for banners and all that at weddings etc and trying to force my services on people but surely this is different and a good way of getting your business noticed?

[Gary]

I hate to be negative (that's a lie! :D), but the second half you really will struggle, you won't be at your best, the energy levels will be difficult to maintain, and you may well be putting your reputation on the line (ironically enough!).

If I get even worse, I'll stick a title up on the screen telling everyone I'm called "Beerfunk" :lol: jus' kiddin' of course.

I've considered the "sounding tired" - the flat DJ bit...eg: Starting to sound like a Radio 2 presenter etc, or that I'm reading the shipping forecast etc but for me (again for the odd (very odd) few that know me, I practically crack jokes and smile in my sleep (which might be exactly right for the event... Some people sleep walk...maybe I'll sleep DJ.

Plus those who'll be there for the last few hours - (it finishes midday, so I'll be more awake in daylight), I'll be sure to remind any forgetful souls that I'm personally xx hours into the gig.


do you still drink Diet Coke by the crate load?...that was a joke by the way). I'm about half as bad as you remember me for Diet Coke now...and half seriously into Ribenna.


Are you thinking of advertising your services at the event too? I'm not one for banners and all that at weddings etc and trying to force my services on people but surely this is different and a good way of getting your business noticed?

I'm not going for brash big banners, but all the request slips have my basic details on as will the big screen occasionally. Theres local newspapers and local radio...and perhaps most interesting, one of the main organisers is a bridal gown / menswear outlet who are inviting all of their customer base for the first half of the event.

[funkymook]

I reckon if you're getting sponsored dancers on rotation and a full dance floor of up for it people you'll feed off their energy and breeze through it.

[stormproductions]

Fresh air - get outside every so often.
Water - make sure you hydrate enough, nearly as good as the caffeine.
Fruit and other healthy food - even if you're not normally a fan (like most men!) it's great for the energy.
Change of socks and even possibly undercrackers - pamper your feet. Also gives you something to do.
Wash - amazing how just splashing water over your face can help when tired.
Cheese and chocolate can be great alternatives to coffee.
Try to get your sleep pattern in vaguely the right direction before starting, remembering that you're likely to be slightly hyper beforehand anyway - you'll not really want to have been awake for 6 hours before you even start.

[Creature]

alternate them in 6-8 hour blocks for duty cycling

why ? your rig should be able to cope without any strain unless your gonna be 90% all teh time - unlikely.

I often do 12 -16 hour stints best advice

eat properly - proper meals possibly small ones but regually.
drink sensibly - some energy drinks but also juices cups of tea/coffee - vary it.
have a roadie or someone who can spell you 15/20 every 3/4 hours ( also to cover that emergency to the toilet).

have a bar stool behind your decks. or something - it need sto be an ideal height so you can operates everything easley, & its not immediately obvious out front. Also have your cds close buy so you can reach without getting of the stool.

wouldnt worry too much about duplication as you will probally get asked for some songs more than others - just space out if you can. you may want to keep write down the tracks you play - as a means to keeping your mind sharp - especially later on - but also so you can look at it to see whay you have played.


if possible get roadie/friends/family to break down your kit and DRIVE you home


oh and have fun.

[Shaun]

if possible get roadie/friends/family to break down your kit and DRIVE you home




Good advice.

[stormproductions]

DRIVE you home - hopefully after the afternoon and night in the hotel over the road Gary's already told us about he'll be nicely recovered and safe to drive.

Also Gary - are you being sponsored for this or just the dancers. There's £10 coming from this direction if you are being sponsored (as long as you complete the full 24 hours though!) and I'm sure others on here would join me?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Absolutely - is there a link or something Gary?

[Charlie Brown]

Here, here!

I'd like to donate also.

I think what you're doing is great - good luck and enjoy it.

...Just don't take any Senokot the night before. :sj:

[Gary]

Also Gary - are you being sponsored for this or just the dancers. There's £10 coming from this direction if you are being sponsored (as long as you complete the full 24 hours though!) and I'm sure others on here would join me?

Aww Thanks. I was originally working on the idea of just being "support" or "provider of music" for the dancers as the event is already on the Justgiving website. However, if there's even a tenner (not Pavarotti) heading toward the charity because of the DJ side of things, then I'd better get my own link set up, also going to Cancer Research.

I'll get my details/account etc set up and post the link - cheers guys.

I had one lightning bolt to the ear earlier today whilst playing hard drive tunes in the car...Snap! Rhythm is a dancer came on. Good tune. Unfortunate lyrics though... "I'm as serious as cancer, when I say Rhythm is a dancer". Having done a wake while ago where 1 pratt seemed intent on sneaking reference to death into his requests, I tend to think of these things as potential anti-fun mines. I'm sure theres a list somewhere of songs that shouldnt get played on Hospital radio with similar songs to be wary of. I'll check around. I dont tend to over-think things to oblivion, but this might be one of them. Should I not bother about the occasional dodgy lyric?

[stormproductions]

Don't worry about the lyrics at all, you can't be expected to pre-judge 24 hour's worth of them! And nobody will notice anyway, and even if they do then so what. Possibly try to avoid some of the overtly obnoxious lyrics from Eminem etc though...

[Gary]

Right then...for those of you kind people who were keen to sponsor me, in aid of Cancer Research - I tried to put the donate link in my signature, but it didn't work.

So here's the link "longhand" -http://www.justgiving.com/The24hourDJ

[Gary]

Lets try that again -

http://www.justgiving.com/The24hourDJ

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Donated and posted on Facebook.

[Shaun]

Very worthwhile cause. Donation made. Best of luck.

[DJ Paulie]

Raisons are good for energy as well, you can get them in small boxes and keep them in your pocket. Oh and all the best, hope you raise loads of cash ! :clap:

[Dr Spin]

Donated. Have a great time.

[Gary]

Raisons are good for energy as well, you can get them in small boxes and keep them in your pocket. Oh and all the best, hope you raise loads of cash ! :clap:

I was thinking that currants would help keep me awake - little bursts of about 5 amps should do it ;-) :daft:


Thanks to all those early donators - great support for a great cause - thank you all!!!

[Charlie Brown]

Done :)

[addoaddo]

I would not worry about swaping over equipment, all moden equipment can run for 24 hours. However I would put both sound system in and run each of them at 50% which will keep the amps at a constant low temperture which they prefer to hot and cold running.

I have done a few 24 hour events for charity. (Relay for Life) for these we run from 12noon to 12 noon with about 5 hours off in the night due to noise restrictions. I have never had a problem with equipment apart from an odd bulb blowing but that can happen at any event.

The main thing is to look after yourself. Eating drinking etc, high energy drinks are OK but their effect only lasts a short while after which I often feel worse.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Come on guys...6 donations?

[stormproductions]

Well as I said in post #20 when I first suggested sponsoring Gary that he'll have to wait until we've heard confirmation that he completed the full 24 hours. It's just a personal thing - I believe sponsored challenges should be completed to earn the pennies.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

It's not 'earning pennies'.

It's for charity....sheesh.

[stormproductions]

It is indeed but there's a difference between sponsorship and donation.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

It is indeed but there's a difference between sponsorship and donation.

Does it make any difference - it all goes to the same good cause.

If you not going to sponsor Gary, then stop posting in the thread.

[Gary]

I'm happy enough for Stormproductions to wait until I've successfully completed the 24 hour event - as he said "it's a personal thing". Besides people who live in Winchester have enough problems beset upon them already- like when "they" took away the fountain outside the Post Office...then took away the Post Office too... :confused:

I have no concerns regarding finishing this 24 hour disco, but I appreciate that not everyone here knows me to the same degree as others know me.

Final preparations are going well by the way. I'm setting up on the dance floor infront of the built in stage, rather than on the stage as its one of those daft stages that has a 8 foot ceiling but a 6 inch stage - meaning there's not enough room to set up the overhead rig on stage - the ceiling height
everywhere else in the room is about 20ft (about 4 roadies high, for those of you working in non-metric :-)

[Gary]

Well guys, an interim update.

Firstly thank you for those who have made a donation to
Cancer Research via my page of the Just Giving website. Currently the donations stand at £116 plus just under £20 additional in Gift Aid. Now considering that 10 days ago I wasn't even thinking about getting people to donate to Cancer Research for my efforts, and that it's just the discussion of my participation in this unusual DJing activity that's got quite a significant collective donation building, then I'm really impressed by people's generousity.

Still room for some more people to donate of course - even if you don't know anyone who's been touched (smacked in the face) by cancer. Plus, if you donate via the website, rather than the SMS route, you (your business) can leave a message (which could be an advert /plug for your own business - hint hint :-))

Preparation is going well: 3 play out systems (all Denon), 2 speaker systems (Bose L1s, B1's, T1's), request slips with the additional line of "I shall be dancing until...." on them in addition to the usual "requested by..." info line for dancers to complete - after all, there's no point in me playing someone's request at 5am if they left at 4:30am... (reminds me of the "my taxis booked for 10 minutes time, can you play it now?") :lol:

My rolling slide show for the event is taking shape too. There did look like there was going to be a loan of a video mixer to get me past the problem of me showing a countdown timer feed between slides but the loan of that is sounding a bit shakey now - so i'm now thinking of audio jingles of "only 18 hours left to go" which I'm compiling now.

Some more of the invited groups have confirmed their dance slots too, including ballroom/strict tempo dancers in full sequin and tafita dresses and skirts (even the females :lol:) and a local troop of Morris Dancers happy to dance to modern beats - that's gonna be surreal - I must remember not to say "they're only drying their hankies" that didn't go down well last time I encountered Morris dancers - whoops.

I've been checking other important little details too - like the 24 hour venues heating system normally shuts off on a timer every midnight - that could've got interesting... Well, I'd have had to have promoted the idea of slow dances so that we could utilise that survival technique of "share bodily warmth" with the dancers.

Oh, and did I mention... I've picked up a "normal" booking for the night before the 24 hour event too. Eeek!

[stormproductions]

Gary, I hope it goes well this weekend - make sure you do the whole 24 hours and let us know how it went!

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Yep, the best of luck Gary!

[Larry B Entertainment]

Morris Dancers happy to dance to modern beats
!


Morris dancers vs Dubstep.........Would love to see that :D

[Gary]

Latest update - everything is going well with this.

I've been finalising the hour-by-hour request lists (people have been donating to get their favourite songs played during the hour, two hours, six hours etc that they are dancing for... ) But I've got plenty of scope when to play, what, with what other choices of my own to include each hour too.

I've never mixed a Disney hour before (but I'm ready for it!) nor have I played "wombling merry Christmas" in February, nor a Wigan
casino hour between 4am & 5am but hey!, nor have I played "Orville: I wish i could fly" (at ANY time !!!) still... I love "firsts" (but maybe not the Orville one).

Slideshow for the plasma is sorted out with all the sponsor "thank you"s, request prompts, inspirational and motivational comments etc, and I've settled on "bling timer" as a countdown timer to run on the projector if it can be fitted in.

Was looking at DMX'ing the 256 individual LEDs in a Revo 4 (or the various OEM clones of it) to generate a countdown hours display, but with Mobilebeat Vegas getting in the way, none of my usual contacts were in the uk to help with such freebies, and now I don't have the time for all that programming.

But ... Aside from buying several bottles of red bull, and a disco to do elsewhere the night before the 24 hour gig, I'm all set and ready...

...still plenty of time for other people to donate via the link in my signature though :-) (hint hint :-))

[Pink Elephant]

Gary I have just done mine (as said in the other thread) :p

Everyone please donate.

If you do not know Gary - he is the great guy on the Denon stand who knows the ins and outs of all the kit. He give honest answers to your questions and knows his stuff due to being an experienced DJ like the rest of us.

Please donate even a £1, but he would prefer lots more :D

http://www.justgiving.com/The24hourDJ

Good luck Gary.

[stormproductions]

Well everyone it seems that Gary has successfully completed his challenge and should be sleeping it off any minute now (according to his other thread where he kept us updated as the 24 hours progressed), so I think it's time to collectively hype up our generosity and see how much we appreciate what he's done.

I've never even spoken to him let alone met him, but I was impressed that he was prepared to do this (without even originally arranging to get sponsored!) and realised that although it may not sound that tough it actually was going to be really quite a challenge so that's why I've clicked on his JustGiving link...

http://www.justgiving.com/The24hourDJ

...and would urge more of you to do the same.

Well done Gary!

[Shaun]

Congratulations Gary. A massive well done to you.