You Want What Song!?

Just a very quick blog today, of a story from Xmas party season that still makes me chuckle.

As you may know, I was working with the fabulous Waterfront for the second year in a row for Christmas parties. The way it works is, I’ll do the background music during the meal, do the table shout outs / introductions towards the end of the meal, then get party kicked off. Around half an hour after I’ve kicked it off, Waterfront come on and do a 45 minute set.

So, the story… I’m around 15 minutes into my first set and a gentleman, who must have been in his late 60’s, come over and asks for The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Havin’ a Good Time.

He proceeded to sing having a good time.

Now, I’m a fan of the Chilies, but this was a new one on me.

My plan was to play a wee bit of rock after the break, so I told the gentleman that I’d have a flick through the Red Hot Chili Pepper tracks I had whilst the band was doing their first set.

15 minutes later, Waterfront had were on stage and ready to go. So, I gave them the grand introduction and warm welcome they rightly deserve and passed over to them.

The hit the first few bars of I Gotta a Feeling. As Mairi Clare gracefully sung the first line…

“I gotta feeling, ooooooooooo,  that tonight's gonna be a good night”

The Gentleman rose of his seat with a beaming grin on his face. He pointed at the stage and shouted over to me

“That’s the one!”

For one night only, he strutted his stuff to The Black Eyed Chilli Peppers!

Play This, Everyone Will Love It!!!

I’ve decided I’m going to post a few blogs about the life of a DJ, shedding some light on the little intricacies of the job that keeps it interesting.

The first topic is… quest requests that threaten to destroy your full dance floor.

Part of the skill of a DJ is being able to read a crowd and play the correct genre of music. It’s always my goal to get as many people on the dance floor as possible. I also like to play as many requests as possible.

And herein lies my dilemma!

Let’s take an example; I might be playing some good old rock music. Everyone’s got their air guitar out and loving the tunes. Someone comes up and asks, ‘can you put on some scooter?’ Not only do they want Scooter, but also want it next!

Now, as much as I appreciate the evocative lyrics and melodic beats of Jumping All Over the World, it’s not exactly my natural choice when considering what might mix well with a Slash solo or a John Bonham beat.

It’s difficult to explain this, especially when the guest insists that the other guests will love it and will all dance to it. Sometimes, in these circumstances, you need to take their word for it. After all, they know the people at the party better than me.

So, you can literally see my face drop when you played the said request and… everyone sits down, including the person who asked for the song!

Sometimes you have to trust your DJ in what will and will not work. Sometimes it’s a matter of building to a different genre, using bridge songs that make the transition smoother.