Did i handle this right or wrong?!?!?

[salford1986]

hiya

did a 30th birthday last saturday. it was a good gig playing mixture of everything from 70s disco to new music and throwing in 90's dance music like k-klass, robin s etc.

there was a mixture of people there from old to 30's and about 7 kids ages from 5 to 13. Everyone asking for songs all night, and there wasnt one song i did not have (mainly the kids asking for songs) One direction.

At the end of the night on girl came up to me and asked me to play JLS - hottest girl in the world...Really not my thing at all!!! so i was thinking to myself its a couple of songs till the end of the night do i play it....i decided not to, but then her mum asked me to play JLS again for her kiddie. so i thought il just play it for them, unluckly for me it was the last song. i dont like playing over the scheduled time due to manager of venues going mad because they wanna get everyone out! you know how it is!

So i finished the night on that JLS song.

I got absuletly slaughtered for it!!! what could i do? was it right or wrong?

I was playing really good songs all night and the dancefloor was always full, but what would you class as a good end of the night song. Bearing in mind it wasnt a night for Simply the best, Dirty dancing megamix hahaha I played all the top dance songs throughout the night!

any thoughts

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Don't take this the wrong way but I think you messed up, potentially big time.

No matter how good the gig was, the guests and venue are just going to remember you as the guy who finished with a terrible JLS song. It very possibly has cost you work / recommendations.

I always announce that I'll be finished up with requests in a bit so you better get them in sharp an hour or so before the music's to stop.

You still get drunk tools coming up in the last 10 minutes but my back is covered and if they moan you point out you've been there all night taking requests so theyve had plenty of time plus you've only got a few tunes left and they're already cued up.

It's a business you run and you should always bear that in mind. Letting 1 wee girl down is unfortunate but reasonble when balanced against alienating the rest of the crowd for her sake.

[Shaun]

I don't necessarily agree that you messed up big time. You had a great gig and kept a customer happy playing the request. I've often finished non-weddings gigs off with an obscure guest request. Some work amazing some less enthusiastic. I always announce that its the final request and final song of the evening.

Don't judge yourself too harshly. By the sounds of it you had a great gig. I wouldn't let the less than enthusiastic reception to the final song worry you.

[funkymook]

Sometimes whatever you play as your last song won't satisfy the 'one more' brigade - it's just the few drunk idiots in your face you remember, and not that fact that almost everybody else had a good time and aren't complaining. I wouldn't worry about it, they'll have forgotten all about it by the next morning, and so should you.

[yourdj]

Oh well - you live and learn. Unfortunately for you the ending is everything and what most people will remember :)

I would have got the girls name before hand. When playing it - if it bombed - I would have braked it and blamed it on her and played something perfect instead.

It happen's to me all the time and the guest always finds it funny when done in the right manner as they can see the dancefloor dissipating and its their fault. This can be a risky approach though, but much better than sitting through the whole song and watching the dancefloor disappear. This is especially the case on a last track.

I would pull a really good track out if it really was not working. its a bit like in this clip (a request from a guest), although I
had run out of time so had to cut it and play the actual last dance the bride and groom requested, before it was too late.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhgCNv-cV94

[salford1986]

i wouldnt say i messed up big time either,

i know the people that mouthed off at the end were bladdered so didnt take it personal. I think the main thing i wanted to know was is the last song that important..... some people use the last song to bring the crowd down make them understand its home time. I wouldnt say its cost me work, shes already left me feedback on my page and her own recomending me.

like a said it just amazed me how you play 100 odd cracking songs then 1 song at the end can turn the crowd into a angry mob hahaha shouting abuse haha when i say angry mob more like 5 :Censored::Censored::Censored::Censored: heads!! but i still dont like it, i want everyone to leave and think wow good dj.

i understand what you say about song requests stop an hour earlier but that can be a bad thing also. If i dont like there song choice i try to tell them what other songs do you like and try get them on the genre that everyones dancing to...

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

i wouldnt say i messed up big time either,

i know the people that mouthed off at the end were bladdered so didnt take it personal. I think the main thing i wanted to know was is the last song that important..... some people use the last song to bring the crowd down make them understand its home time. I wouldnt say its cost me work, shes already left me feedback on my page and her own recomending me.

like a said it just amazed me how you play 100 odd cracking songs then 1 song at the end can turn the crowd into a angry mob hahaha shouting abuse haha when i say angry mob more like 5 :Censored::Censored::Censored::Censored: heads!! but i still dont like it, i want everyone to leave and think wow good dj.

i understand what you say about song requests stop an hour earlier but that can be a bad thing also. If i dont like there song choice i try to tell them what other songs do you like and try get them on the genre that everyones dancing to...

I wouldn't worry about the drunk idiots. I had one come up moaning about a request 5 minutes before the end of the night on Saturday. When I asked her what song it was she wanted, she was so drunk she couldn't even tell me.

From your initial post I got the impression that the whole room turned on you. If it was just a handful of bampots then I'd brush it off.

FWIW the 1 hour left isn't a hard and fast rule. Up here the vast majority of gigs will finish on some sort of Proclaimers and Loch Lommond double so you don't even have to worry about your last 10 minutes but if I get an awesome request with 20 minutes to go and I think it will work, it'll get played. The whole point of mentioning that you're finishing up with requests is so when some drunk comes up at 20 minutes to go asking for a Motorhead B-side you can give them short shrift.

Toby's idea is a good one too. If I get a tune that I'm not convinced is going to work, I make a point of asking the persons name and then making a joke out of it when I announce it. Maybe something like: "I hate this tune, you hate this tune but Bob over there. Come on Bob give us a wave you can't hide!!! Loves it so I accept no responsibility for the next 3 minutes of music" *cue Barbie Girl* A lot of the time it actually works out fine - I got asked for Gangnam Style on Saturday and it still got people up dancing :/ but it gives you that safety net and allows you to back out of tunes if they bomb or let people know that this guff isn't your choice of music.

[SoundONE]

You could just have said, sorry but we don't have that cd with us tonight.

[djdave01]

You could just have said, sorry but we don't have that cd with us tonight.

I use that line quite often when a requested song is inappropriate. I also give 'last chance' warnings to the crowd for requests 30 minutes before the end.

[Javlingames]

hiya

did a 30th birthday last saturday. it was a good gig playing mixture of everything from 70s disco to new music and throwing in 90's dance music like k-klass, robin s etc.

there was a mixture of people there from old to 30's and about 7 kids ages from 5 to 13. Everyone asking for songs all night, and there wasnt one song i did not have (mainly the kids asking for songs) One direction.

At the end of the night on girl came up to me and asked me to play JLS - hottest girl in the world...Really not my thing at all!!! so i was thinking to myself its a couple of songs till the end of the night do i play it....i decided not to, but then her mum asked me to play JLS again for her kiddie. so i thought il just play it for them, unluckly for me it was the last song. i dont like playing over the scheduled time due to manager of venues going mad because they wanna get everyone out! you know how it is!

So i finished the night on that JLS song.

I got absuletly slaughtered for it!!! what could i do? was it right or wrong?

I was playing really good songs all night and the dancefloor was always full, but what would you class as a good end of the night song. Bearing in mind it wasnt a night for Simply the best, Dirty dancing megamix hahaha I played all the top dance songs throughout the night!

any thoughts

I really wouldnt worry about 5 drunks at the end of the night, I would have said something along the lines of 'ladies and gentleman, we have a young lady here tonight who has been waiting all night to here some jls and shes been practising here dance moves for you all, so please give her a big round of applause, its also the last song tonight, thank you and goodnight'' something like that. If they still kick off over that, forget them 5 people, would you really want to work for them anyway?

[DazzyD]

I rarely play requests as the last track as I have a few end of night playlists that I drop in that are tried and tested. For the parties I do, more often than not, this involves saying over the mic that we're going to end the night with a track from the hit film Dirty Dancing. Then I play Do You Love Me (Contours version). This seems to wake people up as they're expecting me to play something else but usually brings quite a few on to the dancefloor. Then, I do go in to Time Of My Life and tell people this is their last chance to dance. When this is finished, the energy in the room is usually high. However, from experience, I've found it's best to leave them with a "calm down it's home time" track which is Goodnight Sweetheart by the Flamingos.

But, back to the OP. Have you messed up? I don't think so. As has been said, you've made someone's night by playing their song. You could have chosen something else which might have bombed on everyone in the room (unlikely but possible!!). That girl and her family are going to remember you for going out of your way to get her song on at short notice. And I'm sure that kind of "customer service" will be remembered! The drunks who were complaining - they probably couldn't even remember the last song when they woke up the next day! ;)

[Shaun]

Sometimes you just can't win anyway. I recall having a great night, finished on a high, then the chants started "ONE MORE ONE MORE ONE MORE", then a chorus of boos when I indicated that the evening was at a close. All you can do is laugh and shrug it off, and head home happy in the knowledge that you provided a good service.

[Excalibur]

Sometimes you just can't win anyway.
Sometimes? Sometimes? :confused: More like every time! On odd occasions, the last minute request turns out to have special significance, that you weren't advised of till two minutes before the end, and playing it is a masterstroke. Usually, it's completely out of context, and earns you no brownie points at all. Hey ho.



I recall having a great night, finished on a high, then the chants started "ONE MORE ONE MORE ONE MORE", then a chorus of boos when I indicated that the evening was at a close. All you can do is laugh and shrug it off, and head home happy in the knowledge that you provided a good service.
You're a better man than I am then Shaun. I pack up in a really grumpy mood, because of the behaviour of the drunks and idiots. Really cheeses me off altogether. :mad:


Once upon a time, they'd have got one more, and another one more and.......................... Nowadays, I finish when the venue say, and that's it. Times have changed.


To reply to the OP, I reckon there's no right and no wrong tactic which is guaranteed to cause you the least complaints. You take each one as it comes, some you win, some you lose.

[JTRS]

For my money there is never a right way or a wrong way to handle a situation like that.

Whatever you play for the last song will appeal to some and not to others, you really can't please all of the people all of the time.

From what you've said about having a packed dance floor all night that would indocate that whoever booked you was happy, and so it seems were most of the guests.

Your final song made someone happy (the girl who requested it and the mother of the girl), so you've got a potential there for them to book or recommend you, and contrary to what others have said about been remembered as the guy that finished with JLS, in reality in a week or two they'll remember you as the DJ that packed out the dance floor.

All you can do is learn from this and if you'd do something different next time that would make you feel happier than playing a request you know might well bomb, then use this opportunity and plan it. Personally (unless it's a request from the person who booked me) I finish with tried and tested nite-enders and any requests not in by 30 minutes before the end are met with "I'm sorry but I've got enough requests to try and fit in before we finish, so it's a bit too late, but catch em again another night and I'll play it for you", unless of course they're asking for something which you are sure is as good as what you had planned in which case it's a win-win.

If you do get backed into a corner and you really have to end with a request like that then I'd suggest announcing it as the last song and adding that it's a special request for <insert name>, that at least shifts some of the blame/dirty looks.

JTRS

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I personally don't think you mucked up or handled it wrongly.
As said already, you can't always please everybody and 5 idiots at the end shouldn't really bother you but I do understand that it can do and leave a bad taste in the mouth after a decent gig.
Some may remember that I had the same kind of thing last year when I was doing a corporate 80s thing. The night was a cracker and went really well. A guy had come up and asked for a track and I knew that it wouldn't have worked with the stuff that I was playing at the time. I left it as long as I could and was going to play it when I changed styles but the MD had requested a few tracks too. Before I knew it, it was the end of the night. It was when I was packing down the equipment that a guy came over who was a bit drunk and started having a go at me and acting the big man in front of his mates. It was a shame because everyone else had a great time and the feedback I received was really complimentary. They even re-booked me for later this year but I still came away slightly gutted because of something that happened AFTER I had finished.

At the end of the day, I could have just chucked the request on during the evening and nothing would have happened but come on, we use our experience and knowledge of reading the dance floor to try and keep people dancing.
If I remember correctly, I had a really good request list of tunes from the company. As I said, it was an 80s themed party. At the time I was playing the likes of Aha, Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, Spandau Ballet etc...and the guy came up and requested Jocelyn Brown. Great song and I was going to play it but time flew by. I would've played the Jocelyn Brown track with the likes of Chaka Khan, Luther Vandross, Evelyn Champagne King etc...but didn't get that far because the MD came over and asked if I could play some of his requests and then we ran out of time.

So, once again... I wouldn't worry about it too much mate. I'd say the majority of people at your party had a great time and the feedback you've received since the party tells you that they were happy. There will be others like it for you and for the rest of us, I'm pretty sure of that. It's all experience isn't it.

[ukpartydj]

I would have put on a sensible perhaps slower last track for the majority and then pop JLS on at background music level whilst you start packing away.
Only ever had one complaint about playing music at low volume after the set time - some venues prefer it (mainly bars / clubs though).
If you ever go to a live performance after the last song which may be a really slow one they pop on some upbeat music at low volume - I think subconcouisly if they leave the venue with a nice upbeat song in their head they will go home thinking it was a good night... maybe?

Hence I always use a funky house remix of hit the road jack as my background track.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni8PXMbEfKA

[Shakermaker Promotions]

All well and good but don't forget that some venues have a sound curfew time.
If they say "Music to finish at Midnight" then it should do.
Remember mate, you asked about residencies the other week - If you finish on time then it's brownie points. They aren't going to be that impressed if you play over time.

[theoloyla]

Agree with what others have said. Sometimes you have to do these things but make sure that your audience know why by telling them that it is a special request for a little girl called ****** from her Mum etc etc
Theo

[ukpartydj]

All well and good but don't forget that some venues have a sound curfew time.
If they say "Music to finish at Midnight" then it should do.
Remember mate, you asked about residencies the other week - If you finish on time then it's brownie points. They aren't going to be that impressed if you play over time.

Hmmm ... I see your point but it just feels very empty and awkward very quickly at the end if you don't play something.
But then the hotel's probably want the clients to feel awkward so the bugger off.

[mattydj50]

Hmmm ... I see your point but it just feels very empty and awkward very quickly at the end if you don't play something.
But then the hotel's probably want the clients to feel awkward so the bugger off.

You still have to work to the end though. Each gig, I get to around 30 minutes to go (wneh the bar closes) and then make a plan for the last half hour. Sometimes I slow it down, sometimes I speed it up, finish on a sing-a-lomg tune/medley or whatever, but I gauge the finish as I see fit.

Always finish on time as, you're right, the regular venue are looking to get in to clear up and hoover down as soon as possible - time is money - and bugger off home.

If you work in some rustic venues (there is one village hall in Somerset) where the stage electrics are cut off at 11.55pm come what may, regardless of what you are playing. There is suddenly a complete silence, it goes pitch dark, before the caretaker puts the 10,000 watt house lights on!

You can almost hear "that's all folks" coming through the tannoy speakers!!!!

[Larry B Entertainment]

If you work in some rustic venues (there is one village hall in Somerset) where the stage electrics are cut off at 11.55pm come what may, regardless of what you are playing. There is suddenly a complete silence, it goes pitch dark, before the caretaker puts the 10,000 watt house lights on!

You can almost hear "that's all folks" coming through the tannoy speakers!!!!


Is that when you go round the back and start up the gennie :D

[ckpr2]

When its a mixed crowd it is impossible to please everyone.

I have had some terrible crowds, one side telling me to turn it up and the other to turn it down.
One lot wanting older music and the younger ones wanting new stuff.
Mixing it just resulted in abuse.

I certainly don't carry every song every written and have been slated for it.
I had a woman shouting all night because I didn't have a certain Lilly Allen track.
To carry every cd ever made is impossible, I would need an articulated lorry to carry them all.

Its a bit easier now I use a laptop,
Hope to get back out on the road in a few months time now I have bought some lighter gear.

My act is very odd because when I play pubs I also play guitar too.
If a track comes up I know I will do a play along, a sort of guitar karaoke.
On the lead guitar parts I turn the guitar up over the music and give it a blast.

[DJIanScott]

You done nowt wrong. It's only music.
Personally I carry a large 12-bore shotgun and a huge Bowie knife......one sight of those bad boys usually settles any last-tune differences they may have.......

[ckpr2]

On the first disco I worked on in 1977 we always ended with na na hey hey kiss him goodbye by Steam.

I carried this on when I got my own disco but played the Bananarama version.