SwingDJs

I played my first set at an outdoor venue at SLE (and btw, my first set at an Exchange, which was fun). I picked music that was "peppy", since I was starting at 2 p.m. and that was fairly early considering most people stayed out until 5 a.m. or so, so I didn't want anyone falling asleep on me.

Other than that, I didn't consider whether being outdoors should influence what music I played until another DJ said that he doesn't DJ outdoors because he would need to pick different music than what he plays indoors (hopefully I'm paraphrasing this ok!).

This got me to thinking about what music would be better suited for indoor vs. outdoors. Since SLE is the only event in Seattle where we dance outdoors, it's not a huge issue, but I thought it would make for good discussion among those of you who have regular outdoor venues.

Does your selection of music change because of outdoors vs. indoors? Is it a flooring issue (i.e. typically you are dancing on concrete outdoors?) Or are there other factors to consider?

To be honest, when I DJ'd on Sunday...I didn't care about that. I continued to play as if I would be dancing inside. Personally, it makes no difference to me.

Harrison

In my experience, I've found most afternoon outdoor events to be much more casual and social that the evening indoor ones. People go in and out of their dance groove, hanging out a bunch, not just dancing non-stop. It's a great opportunity to break out plenty of your fun upbeat material. You can probably get away with more novelty selections as well. Of course the time of day might have as much to do with this as the setting. Outdoor events are usually in the afternoon, a time when people are definitely full of energy and freshly rested (in general).

I definitely have fond memories of outdoor DJing at various exchanges: Ithaca, Austin and Albany especially.

I've consistantly had a lot of fun at Lindy in the Park here in San Francisco. The two DJs go back and forth, musically playing all across the map. You'll definitely hear some silly stuff there as well. If a song comes on that I don't care to dance to, I just kick back on a bench, enjoying the fine weather and the great company of my friends.

Jesse

and one thing that would never happen indoors - during my set, the guy with the horse and carriage (that gives rides around downtown Seattle), decided to walk the horse through the area people were dancing in.

Too bad I didn't have a version of "Surrey with the Fringe on Top" on me

JesseMiner wrote:In my experience, I've found most afternoon outdoor events to be much more casual and social that the evening indoor ones. People go in and out of their dance groove, hanging out a bunch, not just dancing non-stop. It's a great opportunity to break out plenty of your fun upbeat material. You can probably get away with more novelty selections as well. Of course the time of day might have as much to do with this as the setting.

I agree about the up-beat: not necessarily up-tempo, but up-beat. I usually play more jump blues and straight-forward blues during afternoon, outdoor, "park-setting" events. Somehow, they have a more "daytime outdoor party" feeling to me.

Lawrence wrote:
I agree about the up-beat: not necessarily up-tempo, but up-beat.

dont you think up-beat would be best for late night when people are getting tired? Put some energy in the room as oppose to sucking it out?

People don't like the faster stuff at my outdoor gig because:

1) It's hot

2) The dance surface sucks

falty411 wrote:dont you think up-beat would be best for late night when people are getting tired? Put some energy in the room as oppose to sucking it out?

Many people I know prefer slower, laid-back stuff at late night because they're tired from dancing all day but still want to be able to dance most of the time.

At the late nights here when I've played upbeat stuff people leave, and when I've played a more laid-back set, people danced into the wee hours.

Although they probably really don't like Lindy Hop, anyway.

lindyholic wrote:To be honest, when I DJ'd on Sunday...I didn't care about that. I continued to play as if I would be dancing inside. Personally, it makes no difference to me.

Harrison

Ah, but it makes a huge difference to the dancers. Concrete is hard enough on the knees and ankles without having 200+ bpm music played. Something a bit slower and easier to dance to goes over better and keeps people dancing, rather than sitting around watching the insane few that want to risk injury by dancing to faster songs on the very unforgiving ground.

(Oh, yeah... my first post. Guess I can't lurk anymore.)

GG

I understand that...I made sure I played slower stuff too, but I know for this case I really enjoyed the fact of giving people what they wouldn't expect next and most people liked it. I know not all, I never expect all to like my music, but if people like it fast even if it's outside then hey, that makes me happy.

Harrison

GirlieGirl wrote: (Oh, yeah... my first post. Guess I can't lurk anymore.)

GG

Welcome! I dug your set at Westlake and I heard a lot of nice compliments on it also.

Swifty wrote:Many people I know prefer slower, laid-back stuff at late night because they're tired from dancing all day but still want to be able to dance most of the time.
.

im talking about keeping the tempos slower, but keeping the energy high. this is what i did in herrang and ended up playing until 8 or 9 in the morning (7 hour sets are HARD!)

i guess to each their own. if there is a bunch of sad bastard music being played, ill be the one leaving. Go home, and put on some Sex Pistols or something.

djstarr wrote:Welcome! I dug your set at Westlake and I heard a lot of nice compliments on it also.

Thanks, Brenda. I had a lot of fun that afternoon. Even if I did torment Tamura.

falty411 wrote:im talking about keeping the tempos slower, but keeping the energy high.

I sometimes have a difficulty putting this into action, which is maybe a result of my collection more than anything. But, any particular tracks or artists you find effective for doing that?

***
p.s. Hi GG! Welcome to the board!

falty411 wrote:i guess to each their own. if there is a bunch of sad bastard music being played, ill be the one leaving. Go home, and put on some Sex Pistols or something.

You are one funny guy, man. You should get a tattoo that says "superbadassmotherfucker" to complete your image.

Swifty wrote:People don't like the faster stuff at my outdoor gig because:
1) It's hot
2) The dance surface sucks

falty411 wrote:dont you think up-beat would be best for late night when people are getting tired? Put some energy in the room as oppose to sucking it out?

Many people I know prefer slower, laid-back stuff at late night because they're tired from dancing all day but still want to be able to dance most of the time.
At the late nights here when I've played upbeat stuff people leave, and when I've played a more laid-back set, people danced into the wee hours.
Although they probably really don't like Lindy Hop, anyway.

Exactly. The only thing I would add is that outdoor events also are not pure dance events, but more social events, which makes fun, mid-tempo music that much more appropriate.