What do you play early evening

[DiscoMagic]

Just curious to see what people's thought are on this.

So, we've all been there.... You've been asked to setup up and DJ from 7pm for a standard adult birthday, people are gradually starting to wonder in sober as a judge with no intention of going near the dance floor for a good couple of hours. So what do you play to warm things up? Would be interested to hear different views.


Me - very much depends on the party, for 40th parties and over, it tends to be 60's and 70s non dancy classics, for under 40's partys tends to be 80's 90's, and for 18th an 21st, some deep house, R&B and non popular dance hits.

The danger is of course that you don't want to burn out all the good stuff early on, but equally you don't want the audience to think "what on earth is he playing???!!!"

[funkymook]

For background or early evening I just play whatever compliments my client’s requests/brief for later ... if they’ve told me they want funk, soul and Motown then I’ll play funk, soul and Motown.

[Imagine]

I'll be completely honest - I use one of the Mastermix mixes to suit the brief, gradually turning the volume up until people start hitting the floor....then I'll take over and go from there.

[Nakatomi]

Early doors it's a case of slowly slowly catchy monkey for me whatever the function but it's generally adjusted to suit the purpose of the gig. There's a fine line between keeping the energy low & sending folks to sleep.. Start low & slow, build, build build it up.

I tried sending some Buble down the line during a background segment once & his scatty 'jazz' warbling cover versions made me want to kick my speakers in, so he's now sacked. He's somewhere up there with sax covers of chart songs. Music for lifts. Lifts I'll never go in. And I like Manhattan Transfer :O

If it's a wedding gig, the energy stays lowish til the cake cut/first dance. Any other gig, it's a build, build build job. The murder misery nights I DJ at, it's generally 10pm by the time the tables are cleared & the scores are revealed & even then I don't come out all guns blazing.

Way back whenever I used to work to an ethos of 'never expect any dancing before they've had the food'. Well stuff that! Yeah it's a pain to have to coax them to dance once earlier on & repeat it later when they're done eating - but it turns out to be much easier 2nd time around on the night

[DiscoMagic]

I'll be completely honest - I use one of the Mastermix mixes to suit the brief, gradually turning the volume up until people start hitting the floor....then I'll take over and go from there.

I have never used a mastermix, in all honesty. Nothing against them, and I might indulge! Of course I have the standard jive bunny mixes when a cheeky little megamix is required mid set (great for the emergency toilet break!).

[stormproductions]

Obviously it varies with the gig, but (remembering the gigs I do generally are mostly in marquees and involve the main dancing from 10pm at the earliest through well into the early hours and the background music really is just that, to provide a little noise during loud drinks and nibbles etc) I frequently just put compilations on, such as the Cafe del Mar series for instance.

I was specifically asked to play jazz at a gig last year right through drinks and the meal (I was given some specifics to guide me) - it was awful as the client was clearly a great fan but about 4 hours of enforced jazz was torture for me, the catering team and half the guests!

[rth_discos]

Me - very much depends on the party, for 40th parties and over, it tends to be 60's and 70s non dancy classics, for under 40's partys tends to be 80's 90's, and for 18th an 21st, some deep house, R&B and non popular dance hits.

Is that not 20 years out of date?

A 40 year old would have been born in 1975 - so 80's, 90's 00s, and then for 18th/21st, it's all about the last 5-10 years.

[Andy P]

The slower chart music.

Stuff like Love me like you do, Firestone, Take me to church, earned it etc.

I'll also introduce their chosen genre if they have one so if it was rock, might do some boston etc

[DiscoMagic]

Is that not 20 years out of date?

A 40 year old would have been born in 1975 - so 80's, 90's 00s, and then for 18th/21st, it's all about the last 5-10 years.

Maybe, but in general people aren't really listening and IMO its a clear definition of the party dancing should start, ie when the music really kicks in. Of course its all about reading the crowd, if they don't like what I'm playing I generally change it accordingly. Its not a part of the evening that I particularly enjoy though!

(Might be worth noting that at 36 years old, am I ever nearing the 40 mark, and think that if my DJ played 60's music at the beginning, I wouldn't really care, its more about what they play later on )

[Excalibur]

.

Way back whenever I used to work to an ethos of 'never expect any dancing before they've had the food'.

A common policy, which I subscribe to.
Nowadays though, the buffet doesn't seem to be either the big break it was, nor the catalyst for everyone to start shaking their funky groove thang.

It was so much simpler in The Good Old Days.

I have never used a mastermix, in all honesty. Nothing against them, and I might indulge! Of course I have the standard jive bunny mixes when a cheeky little megamix is required mid set (great for the emergency toilet break!).

about 4 hours of enforced jazz was torture for me, the catering team and half the guests!

I hear you , Brethren, I hear you. Amen to both.

The slower chart music.

Fairly much. I've posted this before, but for a function with mixed ages, it's likely to be slow chart, Drivetime/Easy listening, Motown, and the like up to the buffet. After that, it's open season, although the first two tracks I'd hope to spark interest on the dancefloor would be Walk of life, and Phil Collins- You can't hurry love. I've been using those for ages as a starting point.