Reading The Crowd!

[NRG Roadshow 0]

Hi

 

Was wondering if any of you experienced DJ's could help me out with a slight problem Im having....

 

Have been Mobile DJing for about 6 monthes, during that time I have heard many other DJ's talk about reading the crowd, theirfore putting on the music that the audience wanna hear and will get up and dance too.

My ability to do this seems to be a bit hit and miss, Will Play a few tracks that get the dancfloor buzzing, will then play summut else which I feel is appropriate.......and can clear the floor in seconds!

Is thier any advice any of you guys can give me that will help really get the party going, and for it to keep going!

I have a party coming up shortly, and the organiser has asked for "Jive, music we can get up and dance too". Presuming this means 60's and 70's stuff? Playlist suggestions would be greatly appriciated.

 

I also have a kids party at a pub in december, what kinda things would you guys play at an event such as this?

I also have bookings at a local pub on both xmas eve and new years eve, any advice would be much appriciated.

 

I appreciate that many of you guys are gonna be thinking "reading the crowd comes with experience" but I really would like to improve my skills so my crowd really go away thinking they had an awesome night.

So yea, I appriciate it comes with experience but I need to get better at it, otherwise I wont get many bookings and wont be able to get the experience.......

 

Nick

[wizard 0]

Hmmmm Good question ...and no easy answer.............unless as you said I say ...It comes with experience :-)

 

If we were all honest it happens to us all on occasions. Last week at a wedding fairly early on ........A full dance floor, all middle aged to older people and I was playing oldies.Motown stuff ....they were loving it. Very mistakenly I put on All saints new song....great dancy tune....BUT the older ones didn't know it............so off they all went and sat down...... The younger lot hadn't had enough to dring at that early stage of the predeedings !

 

Generally I find the audience first have to know the song, although this very much depends on the event. secondly you often have to play to the age of the crowd ....this may sound obvious.....but I wouldn't play say Faithless at a 50th wedding anniversary ... well not often anyway :-). Not sure the above helps much...... maybe someone else can define it better.... It.s a bit like asking how do you ride a bike the answer is easy ....sit on it and peddle............ unfortunately until you jhave practiced a bit you tend to fall of......... ( what on earth am I talking about...... I am confusing myself now)

 

 

Just read my own post and I cannot spell either....... well it is early and I have only had 3 hours sleep

[Andy Westcott 0]

This 'read the crowd' phrase gets thrown about a lot on here, and isn't quite as meaningful as many might believe.

 

So you fill a dance floor with people; Well done, but not everyone wants to dance to every record all night - many people will simply get up to that particular classic, and sit down at the end of it no matter what you put on next. This is no reflection on the quality of your music, rather it has to do with the type of people present and the overall atmosphere of the place.

 

You can influence that atmosphere a bit, but there's nothing you can do about the audience.

 

Experience will tell you what music to put on, once you've dropped a few bricks; Most importantly it'll tell you what not to put on! (Shut Up by The Black Eyed Peas for one....)

 

Finally, do remember that people can enjoy music without actually dancing to it, although I agree that the numbers up dancing are how we, as DJs, grade our own performance.

 

As an initial guide, just play music you yourself would like to dance to, and be careful playing every request that comes along - you are a disco, not a radio station!

[Paul Smith 0]

If you look at this from the other side ie you are a guest at a function and you and your mates love dancing to say the Kaiser Chiefs (picked at random from 1,000s) then the only way the DJ would know is if you tell him.

 

So that's the first bit of advice - make yourself approachable, make it easy for guests to make requests.

 

So now you're the DJ. The dancefloor is full so look a bit further and see who is still sitting down. Is it a particular age group, is it just one or two tables that don't move out of their seats. The ones that are dancing ain't gonna stay there all night without a break (esp if the BPM is quite high) so rather than wait for them to drift off - and it is a sheep effect once one group leave others soon follow - pre-empt it by changing genre after say 3 songs.

 

This doesn't always work but if you've made the right choice then most of the ones that are dancing (poss all) will leave :scared: but the ones that have been sitting down will now get up to replace them. smile icon

 

If you notice a group that are not dancing at all then you can always approach them and ask if there's anything they would like you to play. They might not be dancing people but that's not to say they shouldn't be included perhaps even with a sing-a-long. These people do tend to be ignored so do one request for them and they'll remember it.

 

So that's my take on 'Reading the Crowd' (rather than reading the dancefloor) always look beyond who's dancing because you're already pleasing them.

 

Oh and your comment about unexpectedly clearing the floor when you have selected what you believe to be a suitable follow-on tune - it might be that this crowd have already had enough for that particular stint, it might be the sheep effect, in fact there could be loads of reasons.

 

If this happens to me then I look on it as a blank canvas where I can now do anything so a change of genre / BPM normally works. The challenge is to get them or others back which is all part of the fun of being a mobile DJ.

[NRG Roadshow 0]

Hi Guys

 

Thanks for that!

 

Thats helped a bit, I was begining to think that it was me that was doing summut wrong......

Does anyone else every do gigs and think to themselfs "WHAT HAVE I GOTTA DO TO GET THESE PEOPLE UP OFF THEIR BACKSIDES, YOUR AT A DISCO FOR CHRIST SAKE, YOU GOT PRETTY LIGHTS, GOOD MUSIC.........DANCE!!!! DAMN YOU" lol. I maybe dont think of it quite like that but somtimes I get the feeling that it dont matter what you do, if the crowd aint dancers then your fighting a lost cause.

 

Last night was a fair example of that, (25th Birthday Party for a freind) sure I got them up dancing on a number of occasions, but was staring at an empty floor for much of the night, they just seemed to want to sit around and have a drink. Maybe they was enjoying it, like you say I was grading my performance on the amount of people on the floor, maybe they was enjoying themselfs just not showing it with thier feet.

The Birthday girl said she had a good time, so I guess it cant have been all bad.

 

Still looking for suggestions for a Kids Christmass disco playlist, and also xmas eve and new years eve in a local pub. I really want to put on a good show because the manager has hinted at the definate possibility of their being lots more work if the gigs are a success.

 

Regards

Nick

[digitaldistortion 0]

Got to agree with Paul Smith...

 

 

I would say (and ONLY experience will tell you this) that at a general floor clearance, you might like to use your mike a little, and make the clearance something that you engineered!!! (And to gee them up a little!)

 

As regards 'Jive', you might want to go back in time (Waaay back (as they used to say)).

 

Try working backwards from the 50s. Jive was a phenomenom in the 30s-50s, but usually means 50s!!

:hurt:

Edited November 25, 2006 by digitaldistortion

[alicat 0]

I had the same thing happened to me last night. Only four people dancing later in the evening out of around 60 attending a surprise 40th. Right at the end of the night a women approached me and said it was fantastic - she wished I had done her wedding.

 

I just wish she'd danced!

[wizard 0]

have to agree with all of that.

 

One way I look at it is......................If I go to a Disco, a wedding or similar....I dont dance, I just sit in a corner and enjoy the music. Boring old fart ???..... yep that's me. But if the right music is played I enjoy the night........especially if a good light show as well

 

At the end of the night ........ Is the customer happy with your performance..... That is the important bit ...regardless of whether you had 10 or 100 people dancing.

[BigBen 0]

Nick,

 

Search the forum for threads on Jive and kids parties - we've all asked questions about these topics before.

 

Reading the crowd/dancefloor basically means playing music your audience wants to hear. Trick is, knowing what they like without them telling you. This can be achieved in lots of ways but usually by playing different tunes during the early part of the night, when you are playing background music, and watching their reactions. Even then, less people seem to dance knowadays and most people seem to need to be drunk before they'll even think about approaching the dance floor.

 

Just remember that women, in general, will dance first so you need to target your choice of music towards their tastes early on. Start with gentle BPM's (Brown Eyed Girl, Man I Feel Like a Woman for example) and build the tempo. Change genre's every three or four songs, but not so wildly that the floor will empty each time - in other words somebody dancing to Sugababes will probably dance to Abba as well, and you've just moved from modern pop to 70's - floor stays full (hopefully) but a few more fans of 70s music join the crowd. You'd follow up Abba with a couple more 70's tracks but use the last one to prepare for the next genre - maybe 80's..?

 

Communicate with your audience, asking for requests primarily. Smile, enjoy yourself - everyone in the room wants to have a good time...including YOU!

[Paul Smith 0]

I just want to expand a little on my earlier post because I think this is something that can happen to many new to the profession. For those that think I'm trying to teach them to suck eggs (never mastered it myself) please bear in mind that this topic is in the 'Starting Out' section so ....

 

You have a full dance floor dancing to (insert genre here) and the temptation is to play more of the same, and more and more until eventually they vote with their feet (towards their seats / the bar).

 

In my opinion, when you are dealing with a mixed audience, it's far better to change the genre after (say) 3 songs and effectively force those people off (or at least some of them) rather than wait for them to let you know when they've had enough. In that way you maintain control (to an extent) and you can always bring those original people back with the other songs you had lined up - only later.

 

In the meantime you've now put your reputation on the line (OK bit strong) and gone down a road where who knows what will happen but hey it's worth the risk (because you can calculate it in advance) ..... let's go from HipHop into The Killers. It will need something said on the mic but some of those HipHop dancers are also fans of The Killers, most aren't and leave the floor but then there's some more guests who are and get up.

 

Years ago I wouldn't have dreamt of doing this (well The Killers were not around so I couldn't ) but what gave me the confidence to do these idiotic (I almost put suicidal) genre changes and, more importantly, know that 99% of the time they would work .............

 

Well I found out by accident and it's so simple I should've thought of it or maybe it's because it's so simple that I didn't or maybe it's because I'm simple but pre my 99% solution :usa: I (my roadie) used to place request slips on all the tables before the guests arrived. Then one night (without roadie) I gave my thumbs up to the function manager that I was ready to go and then as the guests poured in I realised that I hadn't ....

 

And so started my Pre-Ramble - going around the tables, introducing myself and handing out request slips, having a bit of banter, making people feel welcome and just generally having a chat - in effect getting to know my audience (& them me) - so simple but it worked so well that night that I've done it ever since.

 

Like I said at the start, sorry if this post is stating the :cense: obvious but it may help someone - if it doesn't let me know & I'll eat it :xmas:

[NRG Roadshow 0]

Hi

 

Paul, not at all stating the obvious for me, as you said this is in the starting out section, and this is the kinda thing that me and Im sure other newbies want to hear off the experienced jocks on the forum....

So thankyou to all of you for helping out with your advice.

 

So if anybody else has views on this kinda thing, feel free to put it down lol

 

Nick

 

[Corabar Steve 0]

At the end of the day, some people just aren't dancers (me for one). You can be the best in the world at reading the crowd, their feet can be tapping & heads bobbing, but nothing can get them off their bums.

 

Many DJs myself included, will tell you that they've had nights where they think they've bombed abysmally, only to have the client & numerous guests than them for a job well done at the end of the night

[dave98013 0]

Rock ‘n’ Roll / Jive

 

Beatles – Twist & Shout

Bill Haley & His Comets – Rock Around the Clock

Buddy Holly – Peggy Sue

Carl Perkins – Blue Suede Shoes

Chammps – Tequila

Chubby Checker – Let’s Twist Again

Chuck Berry – Johnny B Good

Chris Montez – Let’s Dance

Contours – Do You Love Me

Dion – Runaround Sue

Eddie Cochran – Summertime Blues

Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock

Everly Brothers – Wake Up Little Susie

Jackie Wilson – Reet Petite

Jerry Lee Lewis – Great Balls Of Fire

Little Richard – Tutti Frutti

Little Richard – Good Golly Miss Molly

Ritchie Valens – LA Bamba

Sam Cooke – Twisting The Night Away

 

 

 

[NRG Roadshow 0]

Hi

 

Nice Selection thier Dave, I get the idea.......gives me summut to work with now.....

being a little young for the Rock & Roll era, I was struggling a bit to know what kinda thing they want but those are good tracks to start with.

Did you put them in the order you would play them, or are they just random?

 

Nick

[DJ SPARKO 0]

I had the same thing happened to me last night. Only four people dancing later in the evening out of around 60 attending a surprise 40th. Right at the end of the night a women approached me and said it was fantastic - she wished I had done her wedding.

 

precisly what i had on saturday night although the groom half way through the night he wanted club land 9 playing i didnt have it but i had a rodie with me who said he would get it from my mate who had it so i got it and decided to play it later as i was playing 60s and 70s stuf for the older generation with only around 6 people dancing others in there seats swaying so there not dancing BUT enjoying them selves as by looking around alot does give tell tale signs off how the nights going looking at the guests reactions and body language (hence reading the crowd) whereby later i played the club land stuff and a few choices off my own (ibiza and commercial dance stuff) which went down a storm with the groom and the guests where alot more people got up. in the end i was asked to play on (not for long though) which tells you even before you finish you have done something good.

[stevemarshall 0]

Reading the crowd as many have said comes with experience

 

A couple of tips for people starting out

 

 

1/ If you are going to be doing alot of functions etc, check out a few bands that do covers of popular songs, you know the kind that are in hotels etc week in week out...watch how they work the crowd, and also watch how they involve the audience, take a notebook.

 

2/ A good tip I learnt when I was starting out was if the crowd is dancing slower to the music you are playing play something slower, also if they are dancing faster than the music you are playing play something faster.

 

3/ Weddings etc are basically a group of people who there for an event, they have probably never danced together before, so play sets of music three 60's/three 70's/three 80's/ country/Jive/Reggae etc

 

4/ Try and play songs that are/were top 10 hits, songs that anyone can dance to...

 

5/ When using the microphone speak clearly, and concenrate on one person in the audience, that way you will be speaking one to one, which makes your vocal tone better.

 

6/ Space out the party dances stuff like YMCA etc go down a storm, and maybe add some dressing up games to the party, make the audience remember your show for 4 reasons and you will get lots more bookings.

 

7/ Specialist music, stuff like Irish and Scottish music is something that needs to played right, same goes for Jewish Arabic etc, make sure you get a list well before time of the songs your hosts want you to play, or even better get them to bring the tracks on CD for you to play....either that or a good music stall on any market will point you in the right direction!

[EdBray 0]

After seeing some of the scantily clad members of the opposite sex at some of my gigs, I have thought of advertising myself as a blind DJ.

 

This would of course mean regularly having to use my other available senses to read the crowd, predominately the sense of touch tongue out icon

Edited December 12, 2006 by EdBray

[NRG Roadshow 0]

After seeing some of the scantily clad members of the opposite sex at some of my gigs, I have thought of advertising myself as a blind DJ.

 

This would of course mean regularly having to use my other available senses to read the crowd, predominately the sense of touch tongue out icon

 

Nice one eddie...........wonder if I can get away with that.....

 

Nick