Pivoting a DJ Set in Real Time
Last night, just about an hour out of town, I did a DJ set for one of the guys who booked me. It was a 60th birthday and there were about seven or eight people there. Weather turned so instead of being outside we went inside. I put a speaker outside and was fully charged for battery power and the light.
About an hour in they told me I was a little poppy and clubby, and I made the decision to take about 10 minutes to transition out of that into something else. I think a younger DJ wouldâve panicked, sweat, and tried to do something that wasnât as smooth, but I wanted to taper it majorly. Maybe I even took 15 minutes, but it was a huge payoff.
When you think about a DJ set, it doesnât have to be 100%, shock-and-awe awesome from start to the end. You just have to make it a moment for a few key people. I got that done with the feedback, which I asked for, which I always ask for and always want.
So when youâre constructing a DJ set, every bit of experience in every set youâve ever done, and all the listening youâve ever done, really goes into being able to pivot when things arenât working.
This absolutely applies to the live electronic set that Iâm setting up. I kind of redid it from the ground up today when I wasnât getting the results. I had a chord set with Expressive Chords that was working, but I knew it was kind of beginnerâs luck and it was super discordant. Challenging. And Iâm not trying to challenge anybody. Iâm trying to make it cool and nice and provide the atmosphere for people to have a better time than they would have with me not there.
Thatâs it.
So I guess the lesson of the day is a good set in anything should inform everything.
Like me having a good set DJing last night, which if you ever get a chance and youâre DJing and youâre reading this blog, if you have the chance to do a tiny party do it immediately. It is super fun. People talking to you, taking whatever random request. Somebody requested âBurning Loveâ by Elvis. It couldâve been my favorite part. What a jam. And it kind of informed the rest of the stuff that I was playing.
You know, go with it. Be flexible.
I donât know what the hell Iâm talking about today, but Iâm just super grateful that I had a good gig. Thanks to the booker for setting it up.
Setlist: Slipping into Darkness-The Senior Allstars Love Will Tear Us Apart-Capitol 1212 Ain't No Sunshine-YASUSHIăIDEăPRESENTSăLONESOMEăECHOăSTRINGS 21st Century Dub/ Beggars Suite Pt. I, II, III-21st Century Dub There's Nothing Like This-Ash Walker Stir It Up-Bob Marley & The Wailers Boderation-Bunny Wailer War Ina Babylon-Max Romeo & The Upsetters You Could Meet Somebody-UB40 Get Up Stand Up-Bob Marley & The Wailers Femmes Pays Douces-Raphael Toine Pass The Dutchie-Musical Youth Arabesque-Coldplay Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)-Post Malone & Swae Lee Skin Trade-Duran Duran The Guns of Brixton-The Clash Virtual Insanity-Jamiroquai List of People (To Try and Forget About)-Tame Impala Excursions-A Tribe Called Quest If You Have To Ask-Red Hot Chili Peppers Where I'm From-Digable Planets I WIsh-Skee-Lo Kiss Them For Me-Siouxsie & The Banshees Paradise-Sade Set Adrift on Memory Bliss-P.M. Dawn Could You Be Loved-Bob Marley & The Wailers Only Love Can Break Your Heart-Sait Etine The Humpty Dance-Digital Underground Breathe Deeper (Lil Yachty Remix)-Tame Impala & Lil Yachty Down Under-Men at Work Where Angels Fear to Tread-Disclosure Powerless (Say What You Want)-Nelly Furtado Too Shy-Kajagoogoo Secrets-The Weeknd Ogou (Pran Ka Mwen)-Lakou Mizik & Joseph Ray I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)-Daryl Hall & John Oates Crazy-Gnarls Barkley Pelota (Cut a Rug Mix)-Khruangbin & Quantic CONSTANT Pt.1 Pt.2 (feat. Slick Rick)-Black Eyed Peas Can't Get You Out of My Head-Guy Gerber A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturdays"-De La Soul Featuring Q-Tip & Vinia Mojica Jeopardy-Greg Kihn Band Lola The Kinks If I Was A Dancer (Dance Pt. 2)-The Rolling Stones It's Only Love-ZZ Top Mr. Jones-Counting Crows Shakedown Street-Grateful Dead Burning Love-Elvis Presley Hot Dog-Led Zeppelin Well All Right-Blind Faith Acadian Driftwood-The Band Dixie Chicken-Little Feat Just Kissed My Baby-The Meters Hey Julia-Robert Palmer Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley-Robert Palmer Waitin' for the Bus-ZZ Top Jesus Just Left Chicago-ZZ Top Straight from the Heart-Little Feat Under Pressure-Queen & David Bowie Everybody Wants To Rule the World-Tears for Fears Hot Legs-Rod Stewart Second Hand News-Fleetwood Mac The Lovin' Cup-Steve Miller Band Time of the Season-The Zombies Evil Ways-Santana Starman-David Bowie Say Say Say-Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson It's So Easy-Linda Ronstadt Don't Stop-Fleetwood Mac Apeman-The Kinks Kiss On My List-Daryl Hall & John Oates It's So Easy-Linda Ronstadt Apeman-The Kinks What a Fool Believes-The Doobie Brothers Train In Vain-The Clash Get Back-The Beatles Private Eyes-Daryl Hall & John Oates Undercover of the Night-The Rolling Stones Abracadabra-Steve Miller Band The Jean Genie-David Bowie Poor Poor Pitiful Me-Warren Zevon It Keeps You Runnin'-The Doobie Brothers Let It Rock-Jerry Garcia Kansas City-Little Richard Lido Shuffle-Boz Scaggs She's Not There-The Zombies Tush-ZZ Top