Opinion: Do people dance even if they don't like the song?

[Nate Dogg]

My hypothesis (feel free to argue) is that if the floor looks full, that is still no guarantee of good DJing. It is, to be sure, a good sign. But it should not be the only gauge.

Thoughts?

So if a full floor isn't necessarily a good sign, what can one say about a cleared floor?

You asked Julius, but here is my two cents.

If the floor is full, that is a indicator that the set is going well and the DJ is doing a good job, but it is not the only indicator.

If the floor is empty, that is a indicator that the set is going poorly and the DJ is not doing a good job, but it is not the only indicator.

I could name a specific example that showed me that the second scenario sometimes occurs. But, I don't want to get that specific. Let just say, I was at an Exchange where a nationally recognized DJ had the crowd crater at at about 1:30 am. I thought he did a great job, but he was competing with a party and other factors.

[BryanC]

I wonder if club/rave DJs have these discussions...

[Lawrence]

I wonder if club/rave DJs have these discussions...

Yes. The only difference is that they do it on National television. ("Dat East Coast sheeit got mo blang, blang than Bling, Bling.")

[Swifty]

So if a full floor isn't necessarily a good sign, what can one say about a cleared floor?

It means it must be my slot to spin.

[Ron]

Yes, a full floor isn't a foolproof sign of happy dancers. You have to look for other signs, like how fast people got out there. If it takes a while to fill after the song starts, that's a sign that people are grudgingly dancing to the song. You can also watch the way people dance and the looks on their faces. And a floor may look full, but you have to look at how many people are sitting out.

But I think a point we can all agree is that a DJ shouldn't exclusively play songs that appeal to the average common dancer. Play a lot of those songs, sure, but also play some songs that appeal to the fast-music lovers, the total groovy lovers, whoever.

[mousethief]

At HOTLX, the first afterhours was dead dead dead for 70% of my set. For the first 10-15 minutes, I was DJing for myself. Then people started arriving, but they started in with the eating and backrubs a room away.

When I finally got dancers, I had a full floor but it was a nail biting experience to say the least. I thought I had a good set, but there just was not anyone in the room.

Kalman

[Lawrence]

Yes, a full floor isn't a foolproof sign of happy dancers. You have to look for other signs, like how fast people got out there. If it takes a while to fill after the song starts, that's a sign that people are grudgingly dancing to the song.

... or that the previous song kicked ass and they just needed to catch their breath before they danced to the second half of the song because it was great, too, even though they wanted to sit the entire song out. Or that the melody sucked and the song only got good once the solos kicked in (e.g. Bill Perkins' version of "I let a song go out of my heart," any version of "Christopher Columbus," some versions of "Tuxedo Junction").

I understand Ron's point, which is true some of the time, but many times attributing causal factors to ambiguous signs in such a generalized fashion can be misleading.

[julius]

I understand Ron's point, which is true some of the time, but many times attributing causal factors to ambiguous signs in such a generalized fashion can be misleading.

I don't understand this point you just made. Could you elaborate? Use small words, I'm dumb.

[swinginstyle]

Eesh! I was almost message board retarded. Back to this subject, yes, I sometimes dance to songs I don't want to. My reasoning goes something like this: I paid for this event and I will dance even though I think the music sucks. That's frugality speaking. I will sit out on songs I don't like, such as slow, boring, non-vocal, pre-1940 music. Just kidding! Honestly, if the dj consistently plays the same type of music, I'm going to take a break sooner than later. I enjoy variety and I've been to several events, locally and nationally, where the dj(s) play the same type of crap (pardon the French) until it blends into your head.