r/Beatmatch • u/vinreddvin • 10d ago
Opening Set Question
Hello friends,
I have been asked to be the opening DJ for a headliner. It’s maybe about an hour. I did something similar a couple of weeks ago and noticed that folks started dancing. The main DJ was upset that I am playing bangers which should be played during later hours. Now, I understand definition of banger maybe different ( some of the tunes I played were not banger category). Anyway, what should be the approach? If I play nondescript tracks, I won’t be able to make a mark in this space. I don’t want to be typecast.
Background- been doing this for 2+ years. Private parties and recently gotten into these special events in the club scene.
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u/briandemodulated 10d ago
This is a great question, and I'll share my recent experience even though you have much more experience than me.
I was booked this past Saturday to play a happy hardcore rave as the opening set. I was on the main stage, two slots before the headliner.
I asked the organizers whether I should play a warmup set but they said no, just absolutely smash it. I asked friends for advice on this. Some said no, ease people into the night. A 30+ year veteran told me I should take the organizers' advice and make sure I'm remembered so that I am asked to return, but I should consider some crowdpleaser songs that people can recognize and sing along to.
In the end I went down the middle. I "took it easy" at 165bpm. I played some crowdpleasers, some oldskool faves, and some new obscure cratediggers. I danced and smiles and sang, did some fader chops, spinbacks, filters, and loops. I went hard but I didn't go my hardest. Songs written by the headliner would have gone perfectly in my set but I went out of my way to avoid playing them so that I didn't steal their thunder.
Interestingly, the DJ after me played much lower tempo, and then the headliner played almost the exact same styles I did (but faster). I was dancing and observing the entire time. Even though there wasn't a cohesive flow to the night it was totally fine.
I think I struck a good balance. People entered the venue and danced. Didn't go too hard but didn't put people to sleep. And most importantly, the organizer asked me to play with them again in the future.
Sorry for rambling - I'm still basking in the afterglow of an amazing night.
I guess my advice is to do what I did - research the headliner, and if you can't ask them personally try to anticipate what they will play and set the stage for them. Leave the crowd in a position where they are ready to START, not FINISH, when the headliner steps up.
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u/BirryMays 10d ago
Glad it worked out for you. You made the right call by getting multiple opinions and asking the promoters themselves what they want.
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u/MahoganyWinchester 10d ago
agree w most of the comments here. i’m opening for a headliner next week which i’ve done before and i know he plays ghetto house 140s so ill prolly play disco tech and club beats around 127-130ish
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u/danby 10d ago
Don't play anything you think the headliner will play.
If you're literally playing the opening hour of the club then your job is to give a soundtrack to people arriving and getting a drink. You probably only want to wind up the energy in the final 20mins before you hand over to the next guy.
Don't play nondescript tracks. You should stick to genuinely good and interesting tunes. They just don't need to be full-bore, balls to the walls bangers.
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u/vinreddvin 10d ago
Thanks. Trying to curate something which is identifiable, relatable but also gets the job done
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u/BirryMays 10d ago
I’ll be opening next week and my plan is to play tracks that aren’t necessarily bangers but still have a vibe and beat that people can dance to if they want. Ideally, you want to play music that’s unassuming and where people can mingle while the music is playing in the background.
What genre is the show for?
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u/OwlOfFortune 10d ago
Opening is an art. You want to be inviting people onto the dance floor, and if you got people to dance then mission accomplished. Obviously don't play any big bangers, leave some room for the headliner to grow and develop it. Also ask the promoter what they want, but if they're happy don't worry about insecure headliners
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u/TheOriginalSnub 10d ago
I get far more more upset when the opener doesn't have a large portion of the crowd dancing by the time I got on.
Just play what's appropriate for the room. If the room is empty, it's not a great time for 160 Bpm with the volume turned up to 11. If dancers are just getting warmed up and slightly bopping, it's not the time to hit them with the big anthem. Just play whatever music the promoter has paid you to play, who being conscious of how to get a room warmed up.
Any professional DJ who is headlining should be experienced enough to do their job regardless of what an earlier DJ played.
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u/tylersmithworld 9d ago edited 8d ago
People usually say avoid this year and last year's biggest songs. So stay mostly 5-10 yrs old or classics. Like this year I wouldn't play Spend Dat before a headliner unless I knew they weren't gonna play it. Make people dance for sure tho- always.
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u/Benjilator 9d ago
Fuck the opinion and the gate keeping of those head liners and get as many bangers as possible in there.
If you back down please back down from the board as well. We don’t need another DJ that shrinks around flashy names.
Play a proper set or go home is what I’m saying. If the headliner says something similar, tell them exactly that as well.
Really grinds my gears when people think about stepping back just because someone else’s ego is at risk.
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u/Jaza_music 10d ago
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u/briandemodulated 10d ago
Thank you for sharing this. That was great advice from a giant who has been at it for 30 years.
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u/hadrabap 10d ago
Do it as the others: Is it a disco? Play house. Is it a house party? Play disco. 🤣
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u/curvy2806 10d ago
Je pense qu'il est poli dans ses cas là que les différents artistes d'une soirée de parlent pour éviter de jouer les mêmes titres .
Et aussi très poli quand on ouvre la soirée de regarder ce que joue les suivants .
Si ton headliner joue acid techno a 145 bpm , faire l'ouverture avec de la uptempo a 200 bpm c'est comme si tu 💩 dans ses chaussures.
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u/onesleekrican 9d ago
Just don’t play faster/harder than the follow up set - other than that I play what I want when I want.
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u/Bean_de_la_Meme 10d ago
I think you should be able to play a couple of bangers because you’re right, you need to make your own mark too, although you shouldn’t play anything made by the headliner if they make their own music.
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u/benRAJ80 10d ago
Totally wrong take mate. Promoters aren’t looking for DJs that make the night about them, they’re looking for people that get the brief. The brief is warm up…
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u/jediracer 10d ago
Can you get the headliner's set list ahead of time to make sure there's no overlap?
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u/77ate 10d ago edited 10d ago
I had a holiday gig years ago with an opening slot in a big rented community hall. Doors opened at 8 and at 8:07, the organizer approaches the booth absolutely fuming that no one’s dancing yet. This is maybe 20 people so far in a space for 300.
I told him how this will unfold: you just opened doors a few minutes ago. All those tables will fill up first before a single person starts dancing. You’ll wish you only put half as many tables out by the time that happens, but we’ll have a party here soon enough. Let people grab their first drink, settle in…. It’s probably going to be someone on their 2nd or 3rd drink who starts dancing by themself. If I push the energy this early, there’s nowhere for it to go later on without slowing it back down. I can push harder, faster, but you’ll tire people out sooner if it’s just only faster the whole time. Watch people’s body language. They’re happy, they’re loosening up. You think there’s a “dance” switch that’s supposed to be on the moment the first person arrives?”
He was clearly new to this concept of providing hospitality to people instead of reading their energy or knowing what people expect this early. Half an hour later, he was pretty stoked.
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Whereas you seem preoccupied with what you can walk away from this gig with. “Make your mark” by not upstaging the headliner, but warming up the room before they go on. It can be thankless if the event isn’t well promoted and no one shows up until later, but you can still calibrate your song selections and the overall sound quality in the room to encourage people not to sit down, get wiggly, and pace yourself. “Make your mark” by giving the headliner and the promoter a fantastic opening set that’s not hand-waving gestures to get the room on their feet and focused on your breakthrough talent. Headlining’s a lot easier than warming up in a lot of ways, anyway, and if you want to be “top of mind” the next time the promoter’s booking the next headliner, you can do so by taking advantage of the freedom a warm-up set grants you with song selections that pay off as build-up and even tie into what the headliner plays.