what does a warm up dj do?

IME warm-up DJs should not expect many people to get up and dance to their stuff as the crowd will be waiting for the big show and not wanting to wear themselves out. Folks will be buying drinks and drinking them and smoking and talking, but at a big proper club, I don't know really besides live shows I've been to, where the DJ generally played quirky odd personal favorites while keeping it pretty low-key and unobtrusive.

being my first big club gig, i think i'll end up having a bit of a nightmare if theres no dancing- even if it is because people are chilling out a bit before they start popping pills and getting mental. maybe i should go out and ask them while im playing. 'hi there, what song would make you dance!'

in my own perfect club scenario, the warmup dj would be playing the sort of techno/house that usually gets played at 5 in the morning. the stuff ilm seems to go mental for. nice to listen to, nice to dance to.

why not do that then?

I mean you've been given a tabla rasa, the only unwritten code being that you shouldn't be as loud and exciting as the DJs coming on later.

Personally I'd probably play a lot of really odd moog and 80s soul obscure bullshit.

yeah, i know... fuckit, stop worrying. just have fun. confidence makes a good dj etc

Openers establish the atmosphere and mood. Build the set up, don't throw bangers down until the end, and never play any any of the headliners tracks. Have fun. Probably really duh answer, but hope that helps.

Do you have any way to talk to the people you are going to be opening for? If you can find this out, what style/what tempo... you can plan your set accordingly. That is really what establishes the pace of the night. You can start anywhere, but finish where the next wants to start. Pass the baton...

I am the opening DJ at my weekly. This is actually really nice because I can start anywhere I want. I usually play some low tempo disco at 105-110, work my way up into the teens, and by the time I hit 120 I can go in a lot of directions. The party is ready to go by the time I am done and the guest comes on. You don't want to go too hard in the beginning because people are not there to see you. You are there to build it up.

If you do well people will nod their heads and sway a little. If not, they will just ignore you. Mainly, just worry about the technical stuff. Mix well, keep an eye on your level and don't try and do anything too flashy. Mainly, get in there and get out without looking like an asshole.

Also, don't be a rock star. Get there early, do your job, be nice to the staff and promoters and stay relatively sober the whole night. Treat it professionally, like it's a job. If you are competent(not great, just competent) and reliable people will ask you back because you are easy to work with. Do this long enough and you will move up the ranks. You will need talent to be a star, but you only need to be professional to be a working DJ. Just shoot for working right now, don't worry about anything else; that will come in time.

I hope this helps. I hope I don't sound like a patronizing jack ass. Pay attention to the last paragraph because most people wash out because of a lack of work ethic, not a lack of talent.

yeah, thanks disco, we've all met up for drinks now and i've spoken to all the residents and they all seem ace.

its funny, for me this is going to be much harder than going out and playing a 2+ hour kind of set. i've got a few years worth of stuff all remixed so its got a bit of my stamp on it and re-edited so i can go out and jam with it / play with the crowd. hearing one of those mixes is what initially got her exited. but for the time being i think i'll eat my ego and just assume a record selector role and concentrate on doing some nice straight mixes.

one other question i have, how do you find playing records from different decades over a club pa works out? i mean, modern stuff and stuff from the 80s/90s *sounds* so different way that i'm kind of worried about mixing those kinds of records together. do you just subtly eq stuff so you don't lose that energy?

Good point about not playing the headliners tunes. One gig I got really into it (actually blame the crowd, they showed up early and wanted to DANCE) so I played a lot of tunes I knew would get a big reaction. The headliner came up a few times and said (jokingly) that he was planning on playing the same tune during his set. At the time I thought it was sort of atta-boy but really alarm bells should have been going off in my head.

Needless to say the DJ has been a bit skeptical asking me to warm up for him again.

D'oh.