Monitoring is very important. This is what can throw you the most. A few of the places I've played had no monitor in the DJ booth, so there's a very slight delay between the sound you hear in the headphones, and the sound you hear in the bar/club. So if you are single ear monitoring, matching the headphones in your left ear to the bar sound, you'll be a fraction of a second out. It's possible to cue both into your headphones on some mixers, (a fader/knob that goes between CUE and PGM (Programme)) but sometimes the sound of the room is overbearing. (Which is why you should buy DAMN good headphones.)

It doesn't help that you can't feel the beat in time either. In the bedroom, as the beat occurs, you can feel it in your feet; in a time delayed area, this can really confuse you. Mixing with both ears of the headphones on is an option, if you can do it, separating both tracks in your head, so you know if you are in sync or not, but then the problem is that you only have the indicators on the mixer to tell you if the levels are ok. Or you can learn to deal with the delay, by mixing the headphone cue a little faster than what you hear in the club, but that's damn hard. So I use a mixture of mixing in the headphones, and monitoring the next record and account at the same time. It gets easier - not much, but it does.

The next issue is looking to see how the last DJ has left the set up. I have been awful at this. At the first place I played, the guy who is always on before me didn't use a x-fader, it's was a mixer with assignable switches for the x-fader, he turned both off, and just uses the channel faders. Doesn't bother me, he does an great job without it. Problem is, I forgot to turn the x-fader back on. Imagine this:-

His last tune is playing out - at full volume, I've got the next one nicely cued up. At the right point, I bring in the cued record, move the x-fader across, increase the level of the cued record, move the x-fader all the way, and step back. At this point I notice something is wrong. It's then I realise with abject fear that the fader hasn't worked, BOTH tunes are now playing at full volume, both have now gone out of time with each other, and there is just noise happening. All I could do was crash out the original record, pick up the microphone (It was in a pub - we needed one to say what the drinks promo's were) and blame it all on Mark!! Then I'd go into a bad mood with myself for the next few mixes, and end up cacking the whole set. So check the set up.

Watch your nerves. Again from experience. I'd just mixed two tunes, can't remember what, and tune A had fallen out of time a bit, it didn't matter too much coz it was about to finish, but still, I had to fix it. So I had my finger on the label, speeding it up a little bit, but because I was so nervous (I think it was my first night) I ended up whacking the needle as I spun the record, making that attractive rrrrrrpppppp noise, again at full volume. DOH!!

It's not all bad live though. A live P.A. can be very forgiving. Something that sounds out when listening through your headphones, isn't that bad through a P.A. system. Good phones and a loud P.A. give you a chance to fix errors well before anyone notices. You have to remember that not everyone hears errors, they are either not as tuned in to the music as you are, or are too into the moment or member of the opposite sex (!!) to care. Watch for their reactions, you can end up getting quite down on yourself about your mistakes with absolutely no reason.

Along with making some errors inaudible, the P.A. can also affect the musical side of the mix. Things that don't work on tape, because of a mismatch of the key of each tune, may work live, because bass melodies are hardly ever dominant in a club situation. Still try not to mix out of key records though, it is still slightly audible, and those Trainspotters will be on your back again. It also encourages you to do it more often, and it's good practice to try and steer away from out of key tunes (Unless you have a deck that can change the key without changing tempo of course!!)

Overall, playing live is quite odd. As a perfectionist DJ you are very hard on your-self, I tell everyone I'll allow myself six mistakes, one of them major in a night, truthfully, even if I miss a cue, I get upset with myself. This is EXTREMELY destructive. Be hard on yourself by all means, but don't let one mistake affect the rest of your set. Remember that if you are just playing in a pub, even if it's a pub/club, people aren't there JUST to listen to you. Hard to accept I know, but in a club, people are there to have a good time, if they notice the music that much it's because you're incredible, or incredibly BAD. They really don't care, or listen most of the time. The ones that do notice are either trainspotters who are dissecting everything you do, or are DJ's themselves (see last statement). The Dj's'll probably be vindictive because they want work, and the Trainspotters are just all talk anyway, just challenge them to do better, and you'll see them crumple into a heap (or whip up a storming set which you learn from - both ways you win)....
One thing that I'll mention right now is people. You have to take a lot of shit from the people who are in the club when you're Dj'ing. Some of them just don't know the meaning of the word MANNERS, and some of them will pester you all night to play one specific tune. I got some git coming up to me all the time wanting me to play "Horny Horns". I don't like this tune at the best of times, and will only play it if the crowd has really gone off, but this gimp comes up every five minutes, when there's no-one on the floor yet, repeatedly asking, sorry - telling, me to play Horny Horns. It used to be really cool when the old light jock was there, Freddy would basically tell these assholes to where to go!

What you have to remember is that these people have paid money to get into the club, and are expecting to be entertained, but it doesn't mean you have to bow to their every whim, that if they ask you to play Britney, it goes on.....next!

1) Was I going to play the tune they've asked for anyway? If so, I'll play it.
2) How polite were they about it? When Eiffel 65 brought out Blue, all I got was "Gonny play Blue!!!!" (Scotland, hence the 'Gonny'. Bad example though, coz even if they were polite, I'd still tell them where to go! But politeness helps.
3) Is she cute? Sorry to all the females out there, but it's true. My girlfriend does it, uses her looks to get the Dj to play tunes, get served quicker at the bar, move through crowds etc. I think you should fell enpowered by it, not offended!! Anyway, if she's good looking, I'm far more likely to take the time to listen.

If all else fails, just say either a) I've left it at home, sorry or b) I'll take a look, but I THINK I've left it at home.

Thanks to $p@m H8er for this little piece. I urge you to go visit his site, it's incredible! (link below)

(to download a zip file containing a Word 97 formatted document of this, click HERE )

ATTENTION

Before requesting songs, making comments, or asking questions of the D.J.,
please...
CHECK BELOW FOR YOUR REQUEST

1. PLAY SOMETHING GOOD...SOMETHING WE CAN DANCE TO!
The D.J. has to play for more than one person...so, what you may hate may be another's favorite song and EVERYTHING played here can be danced to one way or another.
2.WOULD YOU PLAY SOMETHING WITH A BEAT?
BE SERIOUS! We know of NO songs played in a club that don't have some sort of a beat!
3. I DON'T KNOW WHO SINGS IT AND I DON'T KNOW THE NAME OF THE SONG, BUT IT GOES LIKE THIS...
Please don't sing for the D.J.! They have to put up with smoke-filled rooms and dangerous decibel levels all night. Do them a favor and DON'T give them a rendition of your favorite song!
4. EVERYBODY WANTS TO HEAR IT!
Oh sure, you polled EVERYONE in the club and, as their spokesperson, you are requesting the song.
5. I CAN GET LAID IF YOU PLAY IT!
If you are GOOD ENOUGH, you can get laid to anything!! (also been known as "buy the album and get laid for a month!")
6. I WANT TO HEAR IT NEXT!
The only people who can get away with that statement write the D.J.'s paycheck!
7. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WANNA HEAR...WHAT DO YOU HAVE?
It's a lot easier for you to go have another beer and figure out what you want to hear than it is for the D.J. to recite the name of EVERY record in the booth!
8. HEY MAN, NOBODY CAN DANCE TO THIS!
It is not advisable to say this when the dance floor is packed (but, some people do anyway)! However, even if there is only ONE person on the floor, it STILL contradicts the statement.
9. EVERYBODY WILL DANCE TO IT IF YOU PLAY IT!
The D.J. won't...I guess that blows a hole in that theory!

SOME ASSORTED THINGS NOT TO SAY

If you ask for a song and the D.J. says he just played it, DON'T SAY, "Well, I just got here." It makes absolutely no difference. DON'T SAY, "Is this the only kind of music you play?" If you go to a Chinese restuarant, you wouldn't ask for Italian food. Rock clubs play rock, alternative clubs play alternative, discos play disco, etc., etc., etc... If you ask for a song, BE SPECIFIC. DON'T SAY, "I wanna hear something, anything but this!" Try going to the bar and saying, "I wanna drink something, anything but this..." You can't complain if you're not SPECIFIC. HOWEVER, if you ARE specific and the D.J. says he doesn't have the song, DON'T SAY, "What?!! What do you mean you don't have it? What kind of d.j. are you? Why don't you get into the wonderful world of fast food! You obviously don't know what you're doing as a D.J.!"...
HE MAY SHOOT YOU!!!

Special Note

A nightclub D.J. gets very little respect. They are expected to play everything for everybody. It is impossible to satisfy all to the people all of the time, yet club jocks are expected to do just that. If a radio jock tells his listeners a song is a hit, the majority of the people think it must be "because they said so on the radio." However, 80% of the time, that same song was being played in a club long before the radio DISCOVERED the NEW song. So, give the D.J. a break! The next time you request a song, stop and
THINK before you speak.
And above all, if the Dj has one hand on the mixer, one hand on a TURNTABLE - wearing headphones,

DON'T BUG HIM

HE'S MIXING!!!!!!!

There's a lot of preparation that you should go through when playing live (Especially if it is in a new place.)

Here's how to go about sorting yourself out, from the point when you get the gig, to playing the gig.

Chances are, you know the club you're about to work in quite well. You've probably managed to get the job through a contact who works there. Make sure to get introduced to the people that matter - mainly the owner, the manager, the assistant manager, and the bar manager. If you have the time, try to shmooze the bar staff too, they're actually a really good source to talk to about whether you're doing Ok or not.

Find out EXACTLY what's expected of you. There's no point going into playing banging tunes as the doors open if the owner wants some nice, relaxed vocal house music to settle down the punters.

The best thing to do is to try to go to the club when the doors open on the night you're about to do (yeah, I know, what I mean is that if you get the chance to go to the club the week before you start, go...) If you can't get there on the relevant night, try to pick a night that plays similar music. This way, you'll not only get to hear the music that's expected of you, but also get to see how quickly the public arrive, what kind of mood they're in when they arrive, and the kind of level you're expected to play at.

There's a good chance, at this point, that you're left wondering why the owner is replacing the guy you're about to replace. Listen carefully to what he/she's playing, then have a word with the owner about why he's gotten rid of the other guy. Chances are, the guy you're replacing was just a wanker, the music he was playing was fine, but he was messing around the club. It's a good idea to do some research though, you don't want to end up making the same kind of mistakes as the guy you've just replaced.

On show night, get to the club as early as you can. Even if it's just to talk to the staff, ask them what they think the night's going to be like. Then try and jump on the decks about 20 minutes before you start your proper set. Doing this will get you accustomed to the decks and mixer, let you work out any potential problems ("er, where's the monitor - WHAT?!?! YOU'VE NOT GOT ONE?!?!? AAAHHHHH!!!!!!") It'll also let you get your concentration hat on, settle you in.

When I first started playing live, I'd spend a few hours before I went in, sorting out the tunes I was going to play. For a warm up set, it's not really gonna matter when it comes to "working the crowd" - you can have a set 20 tunes that you know you can mix easily and nicely, and be content with that. I put them in order into my bag, so I just pulled them out one after another. It's still an idea to put thought into what these tunes are going to be though. You do want to try and get some kind of progression, from relaxed vocal house, to the slightly heavier stuff, so the crowd is itching when then the main Dj comes in.

After a couple of weeks, once you've got your confidence up a bit, you can start to play more of an improv set if you feel it's warranted. It'll help you in the long run.

The warm up set can be hard though: The owner/promoter has told you to just play tunes that everyone will know, not too hard, not new stuff - the older anthemic kind of house music. Half way through your set, a couple of people ask you to play some of the big tunes of the moment, or as I once got asked "Gonna play some heavy 'stuff'.......". Here in lies a couple of problems. The place isn't near full, the promoter/owner has strongly said "NO!!" to what they've just asked, but do you play what the customers want? The main Dj is going to be in an hour, you're not supposed to play the big tunes, do you try to placate the punter by saying "in an hour...."?

This is why I stressed talking to the owner/promoter when you get offered the job, try and iron out all these possible problems - maybe the reason he's asked you to play is to change the music policy - and he's trying to weed out these people that want to rave out at 22:30.

That's all fine if you're just warming up, but what if you're going into a main set of a night; there's a couple other things to think about.

When you go in, talk to the warm up guy that you're taking over from. Talk to him about the mood of the crowd, what he's been asked to play, if any big groups of people have left.......

Also, ask what he's played. There's nothing more embarrassing than turning up to do your set, then starting off with a tune that he's only just mixed out of (well, there's more embarrassing stuff in the world, but for the point of this....)

You'll have an idea of the tunes you're going to play - just maybe not the order you're going to play them in. Now's the time to start reading the crowd. Sometimes, you can feel a kind of pent up energy to the punters. The warm up guy has them at just that point - warm. You've now got to come in any make them sweaty. I like to look at the people that are at the bar or sitting down, and try and work them onto the floor. Chances are, the people who are already on the floor are either A) So drunk they'd dance to anything or B) Just don't give a damn - they're out for a good time.

It's the ones at the bar you're aiming for. Sometimes I think they're like surfers, patiently sitting, awaiting their right wave (or in this case, tune). Obviously you don't want to messily slap in the toppest tune of the moment, just to get them all crashing onto the floor - try to build it up a bit, if only for a couple of tunes, their ears will prick up a bit, and they should walk like lemmings onto the floor. Of course, all this only matters if you give a crap about working with your tunes and working a crowd - if you just see Dj'ing as a job, not something you love, and want to get home, play whatever you want - new and heavy from start to finish - sod 'em. But you're not like that.... are you?

It's relatively easy to work them up into a frenzy, keeping them there is the hard part.

Once the doors close, and there's not an influx of new people travelling onto the floor, to give the illusion that it's always busy, you have to be sure not to bore the punters. Quite a lot of the times when I go out - especially when it's unknown Dj's, the night will go like this:-

1) Get there - go through all the normal formalities, stand at the bar, talk to girlfriend etc.
2) Venture onto the dance floor as the music starts to build up.
3) Go absolutely nuts as the music hits its fever pitch.
4) Get bored with the same sound and weight to the music - go to the bar.
5) Maybe bounce back to the floor, but the boredom part kinda spoilt the vibe.

It's preventing this that sorts the great Dj's like Oakenfold and Sasha, from the guy who plays at your local.

It's a hard thing, trying to keep the energy going, without relying on just playing big, heavy, anthemic tunes. Something I'm nowhere near perfecting. I think it takes guts, to drop in a tune that isn't quite as powerful, changes the atmosphere, but doesn't kill the energy on the floor. It's been a killer for a lot of sets, I was talking to a guy that said he was at a club in Ibiza, Pete Tong was dj'ing, and he kept on doing this. He'd work the crowd into an uproar, then play a pish tune, to try and keep the energy - failed apparently!!

I think sometimes, that this is why Trance music was/is so big. All the breakdowns in the tunes are kind of the same idea - the energy is subdued, but because the breakdown is spectacular (Cafe Del Mar for instance) the crowd stays on the floor.

The most important thing though, is that if you're not playing a set that you know like the back of your hand, and are playing more of an "ad hoc" set, know your records inside out. I stick everything onto tape when I buy it, and leave it running in the car until I know I know the tune inside out. Otherwise, the tune could throw you a curve!! (For all you baseball fans).
Two last points....

1) don't take any crap from the punters.
2) don't drink. You might think it's gonna calm you're nerves - but in the end, you're pish(ed).

Here's some more tips for ya. Thanks should be handed out to Cassanova who sent me out all this lot. I've not edited it, so if there's anything horrific in here, mail me please!!

CASSANOVA'S HOT TIPS FROM OZ!

2. THE FIRST CLUB/PUB GIG. Don't think that the first booking you get will be at GATECRASHER or CREAM because unless you've slipped the owner/promoter a couple of thousand quid, it wont be.

When you first get booked you should always ask if you can come down and check out the gear during the day when the place is closed or at least quiet. This will be invaluable and will not only set you at ease with your surroundings but will give you a chance to see if you can actually mix on their gear or not. OK. Ask the owner if you can get the dance-floor PA on as well as the booth because you'll really benefit from this as the sound is alot different to your stereo at home. If the owner wants to stick around to hear a few mixes its best not to try and impress him with your newest (and hardest) technique. I would reccomend playing it safe and choosing a couple of tunes you know well and have mixed at home a few times. This will be good as you wont stress out about the mix so much and you can really listen to the sound and reverb of the place.

Now if I'm right and the Dj booth is not sound proofed, then you should be hit with a shit load of sounds most of which will be coming from the main dance floor. As soon as you don the phones you should be able to notice the difference between whats in your headphones and whats playing on the floor. It should sound slightly out of time. This is known as AUDIO DELAY or TIME DELAY.

3. AUDIO DELAY. This occurs in clubs when the sound being produced from the speakers takes time to reach you at the booth. You don't get time delay with headphones as the sound takes no time to reach you, and the same goes for the PA in your bedroom, since the sound is not obstructed and does not have to travel far, as in most bedroom set ups , you get the sound pretty much instantly. So I'd say time delay is the newly turned club Dj's worst problem to overcome.

DELAY is quite hard to explain on paper but I'll use the easiest language I can. Basically you can't effectively mix using the club PA without having a monitor speaker in the booth. If you beat match the new tune in your phones with the sound coming from the PA you will always, when the mix goes through, be: 1 out of time. or 2 out of key. None of these two are easily fixed by the Dj, although they can be fixed, it's just something that makes the Dj's job unnecessarily difficult.

So try to ignore the sound from the floor and concentrate your efforts on the speaker in the booth, this usually needs to be turned up quite loud to compensate for all the sound from the floor.

OK, so all going well the owner didn't have you bounced from his club before you'd even started. Next comes the hard bit, you're first gig.

4. ON THE NIGHT. By nightfall you've probably got yourself knackered from mixing all day. I advise that on the day you don't practice too much or you'll be not only tired but your ears will have taken a beating and become accustomed to the sound of you're bedroom and will have to adjust to the club. I reccomend mixing at full volume for maybe an hour during the day and another hour before you head off to the club.

When you arrive introduce yourself to the warm up Dj and maybe the residents and a couple of the punters as well just to get people to know that you're on later in the night. Make sure to check out the club and the atmosphere and also what the punters are responding to in terms of music and tunes. Basically get a feel for the place.

Although it's hard, try not to take too much advantage of the Dj free drinks policy that is more than likely the case in most places, as you'll be sloshed before you start and will either collapse during you're first mix or will think you're Judge Jules or Q-BERT and try to scratch you're way to stardom or pull off that impossible mix only to skip a needle or something like that. My most embarrasing moment when starting to play clubs was just this, I has a little too much of the old Dutch courage and was ripping through the tunes like there was no tomorow and got so cockey that I ended up not paying attention and picked the needle off the wrong record after a mix, luckily (or not) the tune I mixed out of was still going and I just pushed the fader over to the other song.Whew!! What a Save!!.

ALRIGHT so youre at the club and you've had a chat with the owner, residents, and some punters, now it's time to do youre thing.

I recommend listening to the last 5 or 10 minutes of the last Djs' set to see the crowd and so you don't play his last five tunes first. I'll usually go into the booth about 2 or 3 tunes before I'm due to start to get into the groove of the crowd and line up a tune or ten. From his last mix you should now be ready with your 1st tune, cue it up and wait. I've made a point never to mix into the last Djs ending tune, as this lets you showcase your set and the guy before yours'. You can of course mix into his last song but try to do it in youre own unique style otherwise it'll take a while for the punters to realise there is a new Dj unless they are all ogling you like a bunch of school girls (as a good crowd should).

So, with that out of the way it's your first mix now and if you are any thing like me you'll be having to change your jockeys about now. Take a deep breath knowing that you've cued things up to the best of you're ability and follow through with the mix. Even after a few years at it I still get a little nervous with the first few mixes but as a Dj friend of mine put it "It's just like having to do a speech in high school, for the first few minutes you're as scared as f&c@ but by the end you're singing like a canary"

So just hang in there and have some fun with it because if youre a Dj and not loving what your doing it's time to throw in the towel. Strive to be the best and bring the best music to the best people. Dji'ng for me is pure fun and man when you have a good night on the decks or pull off a crackin' mix the feeling is like a drug, or at least the best drug I've had. Ever!. It's the Dogs Bollox the Best! Job in the World.

Obviously, there's a lot more that could be said on how to steady your nerves before going on, like trying to keep all distractions at bay for about half an hour before you go on. But for now I just want to get this uploaded. I'll add to it when I'm done with other stuff

It goes without saying that you have to Practice, Practice, Practice (with your home system turned up to the max)

One thing I've always said though is that learning to be a dj is like learning to drive a car. You spend ages out with a driving instructor, who teaches you how to pass your test, then once you're on your own in the real world, you learn how to drive.

It's the same as Dj'ing. You spend a year or more in your bedroom learning how to mix, then you get out into the real world, try to find, then find work, and it's only at that point that you truly learn how to be a dj.

Why? Well, personally, it's all down to crowd control. Knowing what people want to hear.

It's kind of different if you've been lucky enough to get into a big, established club where people know what they're about to hear genre wise, so you can just stick to whatever the game plan is, but chances are you'll get a job in somewhere that's not quite as straight as that, there'll be a thought as to how soft, and how hard you can get, but it's up to you to decide what to do with the night.

Take the warm up again. This throws up one of the first problems of the night. At what point to you take it from the house music you're playing to get them moist to the more banging stuff? Yes, I know there's a transition through to the harder stuff, but what I'm saying is, the point where you change up from just house music can really effect the whole night.

If you leave the softer stuff on too long, people might think that's all you'll play through the night, and if it's a cheap enough entry, with other clubs around - they might walk.

If you take it up too fast, there's too problems. 1) There might not be the atmosphere yet - be it through lack of people, lack of alcohol, or just lack of manners from the crowd!! The other thing is that you might burn them, and your own set out too fast. As I say in the Styles page on my site, it's important that you let the people have a breather. Not in the sense that they're getting tired, more that the energy of a full-on set can only really last so long - so being able to take it up and down can really stretch the lasting effects of your set.

So, if you start too soon, then you're going to run out of places to go with the crowd. And, as I said, you're also running the risk of having to crash in all their favourite tunes at the same time to try to regain a grip of them - at which point you've still got 2 hours ahead of you - and all your golden tunes have all been played.

Another thing you might run into goes back to the thing I was waffling about a broader genre in a club.

Friday nights in Paisley were very bizarre things. I kept expecting to see Mulder and Scully kicking about to try to explain what's going on.

One week, the whole town would be jumping with energy, everyone out, and the night would go like a storm. The next week, there's only half the people, and they're all pretty ambivalent to hard club music, and just want the less full on stuff like ATB etc. Or at least, that's how it could be at Pravda.

How do you play to such an undulating crowd. The best thing to do is just test the waters. Take things a little harder bit by bit (making sure to lessen it from time to time) see what kind of stuff they're responding to, then work round that for a while. After a few songs, take it up a bit, and if they all go for a drink or snog, take it back a bit and wait a while.

Really, all I'm saying is that to be able to read a crowd is a must if you're ever going to get anywhere in this game.

I was thinking about this at 5 in the morning one Friday night coming back from Pravda. I think it's was a God-send to my future career (If I have one) that I played at Pravda for a couple of years. If the experience taught me nothing else, it's taught me how to read a crowds response to what's getting played - something which you can't get from playing to your cat in your bedroom.

Finally on this, is something that is pretty much repeated in the Styles page, and is a consolidation of a lot of stuff I've already written on this page,

but since I get asked it a lot, I thought I'd stick in something here too. I was asked by email if there was a set progression of BPM pattern/values that I followed through the night in order to run a smooth 'show'. Here's a the response.

There's no real pattern to go through - and for a start, following
something that has nothing to do with the place or people you're playing to
is pretty much a bad idea. The same goes with doing a set list before you
get to the place - you have to be able to bend in what you're doing - if
you're rigid and unadaptable, you'll fail.

That said though, 90% of entire nights I've done start around 125Bpm and end
around 140Bpm.

Lift it up in pace slightly as the first few people (normally a couple of
groups of drunk girls) enter the floor.

I'll tend to go out of the housey/warm up genre by now, move into more
clubby tunes, but still not raise the BPMs too high - this'll tend to get a
lot of guys back to the floor - if you can keep the birds there too - you've
done it well.

Then you just swell up the bpms, volume, intensity of the tunes you're
playing, and let all hell break loose.

Somewhere in the night - when it's all been going off for a while, I'll drop
in a slightly lighter tune, either one with a few longer breakdowns, or
maybe a more breakbeat feel (though it's sometimes hard to find something
that fits - Brainchild Symettry C was great for it) then really drop the
hammer on tempo and the big tunes. It's at that point, coming out of the
easier tunes that you hear the cheers. Gives me shivers every time.

IF you've come in mid-set though, try to play something slightly off kilter
than what the last guy was playing - if he's been playing trancey stuff for
the past hour - change it up with something a little harder, progressive
house/hard house ish. I find something with a good chunky, simple bass line
is great when you've come out of all the complicated trance stuff.

Conversely, if he/she's been playing hard-house stuff for the past hour -
break it down with something a bit more trancey - but VERY powerful. I know
it's an oxymoron - but if you can take the edge off the hardness of the
hard-house stuff, but still play something uplifting, you've done the same
as in the last case - basically woken up the crowd. Where you go from these
two starting points is down to the other tunes in your box!

Playing a classic straight off is a way to go I guess, but make sure they're
ready for it. I played a gig when I started out where people were only just
venturing onto the floor, I was still in a housey kinda vibe
(Morales/Moriilo kinda stuff) and the floor was gradually getting nice and
full. The Dj they had for the main set came on and immediately went into
Born Slippy by underworld. Cue emptying floor. It was too much too soon for
them and it took a while before people could be arsed.

People are fickle buggers sometimes, remember that, and adapt, and you'll do
just fine.