Lindy exchanges local or national DJ's

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Roy
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Lindy exchanges local or national DJ's

#1 Post by Roy » Sat Aug 23, 2003 4:42 am

Some people on this board have expressed a clear desire for for local DJ's at exchanges. I wanted to start a thread that specifcly discusses this.

What do you prefer? DJ's who get around or those that stay local.

For me personally I detest having local DJ's dominating the DJ time at an event. I think there are some cities that have many good local DJ's and then it's fine. For exmaple Chicago has many DJ's exposed and has music that would fit the desires of a national crowd, Riley, Harry, Me, Drew, Dave, Kevin C. plus a number of dancers who have an extensive swing collection Tracy, Evin do a find job when the DJ.

But more times then naught the local dj's do not have the music needed to appeal to a national dance crowd. This happens over and over again at events. I was at an event recently where there were 2 rooms each one had a local DJ in it. In one room the local DJ decided to play a 30 minute set of 70's soul music. and in the other room this other local decided at 3:30 AM to play 7 songs in a row over 200 BPM. I was at another event where the local DJ played the most overplayed Lindy Hop songs ever and that's all he played at late night for an hour and a half, stuff like Louis Jordan, Louis Prima, Indigo Swing, Carmen Mcrae, swing kids sound track, etc. Almost every time I hear people complaining about music at an national event it is at the hands of someone who is not experienced with a national scene. And on the flip side every event that i've seen where multiple people gush about how good the music was it always seems to be a good mix of national dj's that are the primary dj's.

I'm not saying local DJ's should not be included in events, I think DJ's not exposed to the desires of dancers around the counrty should be a minority of the DJ's at an event. In fact I will not attend an event dominated by local DJ's. Why? Because I'll get upset when a DJ plays only the most overplayed swing songs at a national event. When a DJ plays 30 minutes of soul or funk, when a DJ plays neo-swing, or a DJ only plays stuff off of Paul Overtons 25 essential swing cd's, or when a DJ plays more early rock then swing. events, or a DJ clears the floor and does not make adjustments to correct but just keeps right on playing song after song to an empty dance floor. I've seen all of these at national Lindy Hop events.

When this stuff is played at a local events I don't mind it so much. but I don't want to travel across the counrty to hear this stuff.
Last edited by Roy on Sun Aug 24, 2003 1:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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#2 Post by yedancer » Sat Aug 23, 2003 10:44 am

You make some good points, and I think I agree with you. The only situation where I might disagree would be a situation where the exchange city has a certain reputation for a type of music, and several quality DJs to represent. If I went to an exchange in a place like LA or San Fransisco or Chicago, then I probably would want to experience that city's DJs.
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#3 Post by Matthew » Sat Aug 23, 2003 11:51 pm

I agree with both of you. I think, too, that it's very important for the locals/hosts at an event to have fresh music from an outside DJ, because this helps to keep them involved in the event and to feel excited about it.

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#4 Post by Roy » Sun Aug 24, 2003 1:08 am

That should be "or "in the title not "of", can an adminstrator change it?

Thanks

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#5 Post by Yakov » Sun Aug 24, 2003 8:43 am

roy: YOU can change the title.

so of course it should be a mix, between local (inexpensive) DJs who should have a chance to "get out there" in their own city's events, and cover-of-time-magazine intergalactic world-domination godlike super-djs

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#6 Post by yedancer » Sun Aug 24, 2003 9:31 am

It definitely sucks to have el retardo DJs messing up an exchange. Ideally, the exchange organizers should verify that their DJs are "good enough" to DJ a special event. I think the problem is that they have to fill sometimes upwards of 20+ slots, and sometimes they're just forced to take what they can get. Either that, or book the good DJs multiple times.

Which raises another question. Is it better to have a variety of DJs, or have just a few DJs scheduled multiple times? I think having just a few DJs is cool. They really get to know the crowd as the weekend progresses, and vice versa.
-Jeremy

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#7 Post by Lawrence » Sun Aug 24, 2003 1:32 pm

I have gone back and forth on this issue, and the problem is that this type of analysis focuses on the wrong factor as a primary factor.

The first time I spear-headed the planning of an Exchange, part of my own agenda was to expose the local scene to the great music that was out there. We had three or four Neo-Swing DJs who still played "Zoot Suit Riot" as the dead-center of their style. As a result, I wanted mostly if not entirely DJs from elsewhere. While planning an Exchange to meet that agenda, the enlightenment happened, anyway. I just was not patient enough, and I unnecessarily offended some people in the process.

As I got over my little agenda-laden plot to feature National DJs over local ones, I noticed that a contrary trend had developed of having the same DJs at all major events, thereby diluting diversity in the music and growth in the scene. Then arose the problem of local DJs merely copycatting the "essential hits" played by "National" DJs, which resulted in better but redundant music. (Or, for instance, overplaying "Love Me or Leave Me," which the Moochers turned into a great performance piece, but which is rather average as a social dance tune).

I have gone to Exchanges that were ruined by local DJs who prefereed playing Elvis, Rockabilly, and other "novelty" tunes for 80% of their sets. However, I have also gone to Exchanges where the over-reliance on "National" DJs overshadowed the great (perhaps better) home-grown talent that played better music on non-primetime sets. I've also been through the mish-mosh of multiple National DJs, which produces "greatest hits" sets with no rhythm or flow between sets, which lost some of the vibrancy that made the best Exchange great.

Thus, three points: 1) The ultimate goal should be to have a great, diverse group of DJs in one way or another, not to focus too much on where they come from. Where they come from is only relevant toward fulfilling that goal of having great music.

2) A secondary goal is to feature local DJs, partly out of convenience and partly because, hey, the Exchange should feature SOMETHING local about the scene. If you need to supplement with National talent, however, then so be it.

3) A third factor should be to pepper the weekend with different flavors to appeal to different facets of the crowd while not boring others. To bring some freshness to the local scene, a few out-of-town DJs are desireable. To bring some freshness and local flavor to the Exchange for out-of-town guests, local DJs are best.
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#8 Post by Roy » Sun Aug 24, 2003 1:52 pm

Yakov wrote:roy: YOU can change the title.
I sure the hell can, I never knew that.

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#9 Post by djstarr » Sun Aug 24, 2003 2:08 pm

We have been having a very interesting discussion over on the Seattle Delphi Forum related to this topic.

At the Seattle Exchange we had 14 DJ's booked - they were from the Pacific NW (Vancouver BC, Seattle, Portland) and all established (i.e. they play for local dances often). Almost all the DJ's got an hour slot.

The late night DJ's who had the 1 am slot on Friday and Saturday played vintage music (most of it fast, although there was a variety of tempo) -- which they are known locally for playing. I didn't hear one set, but the other set I thoroughly enjoyed, even though the floor was about half full.

Some people at the exchange got so upset at the music during the first set on Saturday that they used the lounge space/kitchen to set up an impromptu blues room.

Since the rest of the DJ's played a wide variety of music, I didn't think that 2 hours of fast music at the start of late night was a big deal - especially since it showcased local talent. Seattle collectively has been working on it's fast dancing the past couple of years, so I was a little suprised that people complained.

This raises several questions:
should these two DJ's have played to the majority of the crowd?
is it mandatory that there be a blues room at exchanges?
isn't it ok to showcase local talent for a little bit?
was it rude to setup an area the organizers hadn't arranged? (which did disrupt the lounge setting).

If we had featured national DJs then the majority of the crowd would have been pleased, but I think the opportunity to show what is happening in Seattle would have been lost.

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#10 Post by Nate Dogg » Sun Aug 24, 2003 2:45 pm

djstarr wrote: This raises several questions:
should these two DJ's have played to the majority of the crowd?.
Depends. In the case where there are multiple rooms, they should stick to the theme of the room.

If there is only one room and nobody is dancing, I would think a good DJ would make adjustments to get the room moving.
djstarr wrote: is it mandatory that there be a blues room at exchanges?
No it is not mandatory. I think communicating in advance that the after- hours would not have blues or slower tempos would have helped with people's expectations.
djstarr wrote: isn't it ok to showcase local talent for a little bit?
Local talent should be showcased. All the talent needs some direction from the people who are organizing the Exchange. Most DJs want to do a good job. Most don't have a "screw the crowd, screw the organizers" mentality.
djstarr wrote: was it rude to setup an area the organizers hadn't arranged? (which did disrupt the lounge setting).
Yes, that was very rude. Coming from somebody who prefers blues at late nights, I still think setting up your own room without the consent of the organizers of the event.

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#11 Post by lindyholic » Sun Aug 24, 2003 5:05 pm

I think those 2 DJ's Brenda is talking about did a great job. They played what they like to play. People shouldn't have gone and made the blues room, vintage music is a huge part of Seattle, just as is a lot of other music. It was showcasing part of Seattle and I don't see that anyone should have been complaining, it should have been expected in my opinion.

I still find it really funny that I got no complaints on Sunday afternoon, instead, I got compliments, even for it being outside...though I guess it being at a reasonable hour there was no problem I guess

I would like point out one thing...it's called a lindy exchange for a reason. These DJs played what they felt was Lindy music. I don't see anywhere in the title that it was a blues exchange. I think the same can go for all exchanges.

One thing I have a lot of respect for is the St. Louis Blues and Lindy exchange. They make it well known that it's a blues and lindy exchange. People know what they're going for. I would think people going to a lindy exchange shouldn't expect it to have a blues room or for the DJs to play blues music, because they are asked to DJ a lindy event.

Harrison
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#12 Post by Roy » Sun Aug 24, 2003 6:49 pm

lindyholic wrote: One thing I have a lot of respect for is the St. Louis Blues and Lindy exchange. They make it well known that it's a blues and lindy exchange. People know what they're going for. I would think people going to a lindy exchange shouldn't expect it to have a blues room or for the DJs to play blues music, because they are asked to DJ a lindy event.

Harrison
That would be fine if they had played allot of Blues, they did not. Last year there were allot people upset because they did not play that much Blues. The people going expecting to hear good danceable blues were let down. The people who really enjoyed this exchange were those who just wanted to dance and did not come for the Blues in the advertising. If your going to advertise something like that then do it. Bring in DJ's who know what Blues music is.

Funny thing about the Seattle exchange is I heard complaints about the late night music here in Chicago. If those DJ's cleared the dance floor then if they were any good they would have changed the tempo of what they were playing if the tempo was the only reason the dance floor was clear.

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#13 Post by funkyfreak » Mon Aug 25, 2003 12:28 am

Perhaps a paraphrase of the above posts would be in order:

Showcasing the local scene by having an exchange?

Don't hire sucky local DJs.

-FF

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#14 Post by funkyfreak » Mon Aug 25, 2003 12:47 am

Aside from local DJs who lack the abilities, my personal preference is that I don't want to visit one city to hear the same type of sets I can at any other place I head to. I go there to get more familiar with that city's scene, which just so happens to have a ton of extra people dancing in it too.

However, some national DJs are popular because they're good at delivering more than just one type of set. Some DJs fit with the flavor the promoters want to advertise, and others provide a more full rounded event in the case of a lack of local DJs. All of those are cool.

But in the end, I don't want to head all the way to Florida and 'feel' like I'm in Chicago the entire time.

-FF

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#15 Post by Lawrence » Mon Aug 25, 2003 8:27 am

I don't consider it offensive of the "Blues" dancers establishing another impromptu room; if anything, it manifests how non-responsive the organizers and the DJs were. But it really is not a huge deal.

If I was DJing a slow-Blues dominated set and some upstart like Falty came in, set up his own room with fast classic swing music, and siphoned off the classic lovers who otherwise would only sit around and gripe and undermine the mood of the room complaining that the music is "putting them to sleep," then more power to him. Vive la difference!! I'd rather they do that than have them gripe and moan all night and threaten to beat me up at breakfast. :wink:

Frankly, part of the reason I did not go to Seattle this year was because of all the fast music at after hours two years ago. It was the classic example of certain DJs ruining the Exchange by fulfilling their own agenda instead of playing to the crowd. Larry Kang single-handedly saved the Exchange by playing slower music that fit the "after hours" mood. The dance floor filled up for the first time at after hours and the vibe changed remarkably. But that's just my opinion. 8)
Last edited by Lawrence on Mon Aug 25, 2003 9:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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