When a DJ kills the scene

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Matthew · #1 Post by **Matthew** » Fri Jul 18, 2003 11:20 pm

First, I will say that the DJ mentioned herein is not Abdel, who's very skillful and just keeps getting better.

There's a DJ here who is, in my opinion, killing the scene. Here are some of the things that he's doing that I think are contributing to the scene's demise.

Every one of his nights is almost exactly the same as the one before. He claims to have tons of music, but most of the time, he plays from a list of about 200-300 songs. I think that this is the biggest problem.

Steal dances are fairly common here, and he plays RCR's "Walkin' Blues" for about 50-75% of them. Also, "Wade in the Water" is almost mandatory each night.

This is coastal Florida, and the average age of the dancers here is pretty high. ECS is, by far, the most common dance, and many people aren't very skilled in it. Even so, most of what he plays is very slow.

He DJs in one of the major venues here, and attendance is declining slowly. Yet, it looks as though he's not doing anything to change that.

I'm worried that this guy alone is killing the scene, and I find this very, very frustrating. He appears to think that everything is okay, and in general he's not proactive, so things aren't likely to improve without outside help.

What can we do to save the scene? Should somebody tell him that each night sounds the same (even if somebody did, I think he wouldn't change very much)? Should we start a competing dance that has a real DJ? Should we do something else? I'd really like to improve things, but I'm not sure how to go about that. Please help!

lindyholic · #2 Post by **lindyholic** » Sat Jul 19, 2003 1:49 am

Help bring up a few more DJs so that you can start to slowly ween him out? Or just don't go dancing when he DJs...or just tell him he sucks....

Harrison

Roy · #3 Post by **Roy** » Sat Jul 19, 2003 7:56 am

My experience is you can't do much if he runs the night and wants to DJ. The best thing to do is offer a better product on a different night.

Platypus · #4 Post by **Platypus** » Sat Jul 19, 2003 8:15 am

How did the person get into the booth? Is he in charge? Is there a manager or club board that can intervene? At all of our local venues, there is always SOMEONE in charge of giving feedback to the DJs. If the DJ doesn't listen to that person, it is a problem.

Then, there are the dancers who people trust and tell things too. Any DJ here in Houston who wants to do well, should get to know them and ask for HONEST feedback. Is there someone this guy trusts, who can talk to him? Someone who is diplomatic?

Roy · #5 Post by **Roy** » Sat Jul 19, 2003 10:41 am

Would this happen to me Wendesday night at Gulfport Casino? If so when talk about dwindling attendance how low is it? I haven't been there for 3 years, but back then this night would have cycles of ups and downs.

KevinSchaper · #6 Post by **KevinSchaper** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 11:22 am

I agree with Roy - run something better..

Do it on another night of the week - but remember, it's the health of your scene you gotta worry about, not the health of one venue that's run by a guy without taste.. (I'm assuming he runs it, otherwise, get everyone to bitch and moan to whoever does).

yedancer · #7 Post by **yedancer** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 11:41 am

KevinSchaper wrote:... get everyone to bitch and moan to whoever does

Haha. That's what I was going to say. The only down side is that there's the potential to divide your scene. I've seen that happen in San Diego (I think) and it does more harm than good.

Ron · #8 Post by **Ron** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 6:11 pm

Not to mention that in San Diego, the opinions of the people doing the most bitching and moaning weren't shared by the majority.

yedancer · #9 Post by **yedancer** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 6:23 pm

Although, on the up side, the dancers are way more diverse now, i.e. they don't bitch and moan when you put actual swing music into the mix. In fact, I got applause and cheers for Chick Webb and Sidney Bechet the other night at the Firehouse.

Lawrence · #10 Post by **Lawrence** » Thu Jul 24, 2003 12:45 pm

I once thought a DJ (or two) could make or break a scene. But there are too many other contributing factors. And, when it comes down to it, there are only a handful of people in each scene who truly appreciates the quality of music. Nobody pays attention to the music as much as we do when we are out.

For instance, the most popular weekly Austin event has the worst DJs out of all the Lindy-oriented events in Austin. Matt Jones (who DJs nationally) DJs in the exact same venue on a different night every week, and they don't ever get half the crowd. Chicago's most popular venue "back in the day" (Liquid in 1997-98 ) had the absolutely WORST post-rockabilly, Neo-crap DJ who played the same thing every week. But it was the place to be.

The most significant factor in determining the success of a "scene" (and also an event) is the people in it and how they interact: how welcomming and friendly they are to each other. Speaking from experience, keep in mind that you are one of those people, and how you respond to this allegedly bad DJ will affect the fate of "the scene" just as much as, if not more than, his bad DJing.

Nate Dogg · #11 Post by **Nate Dogg** » Thu Jul 24, 2003 1:20 pm

Lawrence wrote:I once thought a DJ (or two) could make or break a scene. But there are too many other contributing factors. And, when it comes down to it, there are only a handful of people in each scene who truly appreciates the quality of music. Nobody pays attention to the music as much as we do when we are out.

For instance, the most popular weekly Austin event has the worst DJs out of all the Lindy-oriented events in Austin. Matt Jones (who DJs nationally) DJs in the exact same venue on a different night every week, and they don't ever get half the crowd. Chicago's most popular venue "back in the day" (Liquid in 1997-98 ) had the absolutely WORST post-rockabilly, Neo-crap DJ who played the same thing every week. But it was the place to be.

The most significant factor in determining the success of a "scene" (and also an event) is the people in it and how they interact: how welcomming and friendly they are to each other. Speaking from experience, keep in mind that you are one of those people, and how you respond to this allegedly bad DJ will affect the fate of "the scene" just as much as, if not more than, his bad DJing.

Night of the week is a huge issue, Thursdays work well for swing dances. People are usually in town and they don't have plans. It is close enough to the weekend that people want to get out and have fun.

As for your complaints about the music at the Fed, you are DJing that venue tonight. Matt Jones DJs that venue, I do, Jeramie does. You are complaining about something you are a part of, whether it annoys you at times or not.

For the most part, at the Fed, the room notices bad sets and treats really good and mediocre sets as business as usual. When a DJ sucks, the crowd starts to thin, or you hear people complain about the DJ. When the DJ is stellar, it helps things tremendously, but nobody has ever said, "DJ X really made the dance work at the Syndicate last night."

main_stem · #12 Post by **main_stem** » Fri Jul 25, 2003 8:04 am

Lawrence wrote: For instance, the most popular weekly Austin event has the worst DJs out of all the Lindy-oriented events in Austin. Matt Jones (who DJs nationally) DJs in the exact same venue on a different night every week, and they don't ever get half the crowd. Chicago's most popular venue "back in the day" (Liquid in 1997-98 ) had the absolutely WORST post-rockabilly, Neo-crap DJ who played the same thing every week. But it was the place to be.

How true. The worst DJ in Seattle gets a better turnout than most other DJs. Which I find particularly funny since he is also the DJ that most people who have been dancing for longer than a year avoid like the plague.

Nate Dogg · #13 Post by **Nate Dogg** » Fri Jul 25, 2003 12:11 pm

Nate Dogg wrote:Nobody has ever said, "DJ X really made the dance work at the Syndicate last night."

I take that sentence back. I don't know what I was thinking. People do say that, just not as much as they should.

Nathan

Lawrence · #14 Post by **Lawrence** » Fri Jul 25, 2003 12:17 pm

Nate Dogg wrote:[As for your complaints about the music at the Fed, you are DJing that venue tonight. Matt Jones DJs that venue, I do, Jeramie does. You are complaining about something you are a part of, whether it annoys you at times or not.

For the most part, at the Fed, the room notices bad sets and treats really good and mediocre sets as business as usual. When a DJ sucks, the crowd starts to thin, or you hear people complain about the DJ.

I don't want to debate local politics on this board, but it does exemplify the point. There are just as many bad (REALLY bad) DJs as good DJs on Thursday nights. Jeramie dropped out of Thursdays for personal reasons and still DJs on Wednesdays. The best, most experienced DJs on Thursdays are the ONLY DJs on Tuesday and Wednesdays, but Tuesdays and Wednesdays do not draw the crowd due to the night of the week, inertia, etc.

Some crowds notice the difference. But last night was a case in point of a crowd not noticing. I started DJing at 11:00. I received an above-average number of complaints about the prior DJ, a relatively new DJ who had spun for three hours before I got there because the first DJ didn't show. I also reeceived more "thank yous" than usual from the better dancers, even from some who don't quite "like" me, personally. Even you complained, Nathan.

But the room was FULL when I started: he did not chase them away at all. At least 150 dancers. Even I'm not so pompous to think that they stuck around because they knew I was coming to save them.

Again, bad DJs don't ruin a scene. Bad PEOPLE do.

Nate Dogg · #15 Post by **Nate Dogg** » Fri Jul 25, 2003 12:27 pm

Lawrence wrote:Even you complained, Nathan.

But the room was FULL when I started: he did not chase them away at all. At least 150 dancers. Even I'm not so pompous to think that they stuck around because they knew I was coming to save them.

Again, bad DJs don't ruin a scene. Bad PEOPLE do.

Just to clarify, in case the DJ ever gets on this Board and reads this thread. I think his musical quality was high. My issue was that he lacked variety. If you were not into his specific genre/era, you were out of luck. I always try to mix it up and still flow. That was not the mindset of the first DJ. He flowed though, but not much of a mix.

He also has his fans and I have heard raves about both of the DJs. I also have heard similar comments regarding the first DJ. Some not as diplomatic as mine.

There was a major contrast between the DJs last night, people noticed that.