This is more of a gripe/inquiry post.

I had an event on January 10th, where part of the event was a rave-type dance party. The facilities are not a dedicated club facility. I only provided the sound: 5000-watt mains, a monitor for the DJ, console(true FOH location), and even recorded the event. The DJ team was told how much time they had as well as the "hard off" time. Now, I was nearby to ensure no problems with the gear, but due to volume levels desired by both the DJ and the crowd, I left the room itself, wearing both my ear-plugs and my Ultrasone Pro 650 headphones with the cable removed to provided additional protection.

What annoys me is that the DJ team was told they have 2.5 hours and HAD to shut down at a certain time. I even got my rig up and running early and the promoter opened doors early as a result. I have no issues with that. My opinion: the room wasn't being used and I got my stuff handled, so why not, right? What's another 15 minutes going to mean? Just makes the partiers enjoy it more.

So, the DJ team is told many times to shut it down, and they keep saying "yes, sure" and keep it stretching out. While the crowd could care less, the promoter has that hard "OFF" time he must not cross.

How often do you DJ's get shut down for running late? Or how many times has time become an issue for you? I'm trying to gauge how much of an issue this is for you working DJ's. The team wasn't blatantly disrespectful, and I think due to lack of a visible clock, we all know how easy it is to lose track of time.

I had an issue in August of 2008, where the event operators didn't get a permit, and since it was an outdoor block party-type event featuring live music, due to complaints by neighbors, it got shut down. The cops are yelling at me to shut it down like it's my fault, and I do shut down because after all, it is my gear that is where the large volumes are coming out from, so I'm respectful. The strange part is that the cops show up right away on a noise complaint, and later on during strike, some idiot comes blazing down into the court (in a SUV), and assaults someone in the small crowd before zipping away, and the cops took forever to show up for that one!

It's crazy out there.

I haven't had it happen to me but, since I usually work mostly where the rooms are usually rented back to back events it is important to shut down when it is time or even earlier. Just so that the next dj can get in an set up. Also I had witnessed other Dj's just so into the groove that they forget the time and have not only the made the staff upset but the organizer.

So I make sure I get out of there on time and it is very much appreciated.

Just my two cents

From the fisrt gig to today (over 30 yrs)there's no better rush then djing. When you can play what you want and the floor becomes packed, you're working your equipment etc you just get caught up in it hard. To the point you're not really watching the clock etc. I've had 2 high school gigs where they gave hard downtime for the end. I really wanted to get this school gig so when the time rolled around I wanted to show the kids that I was there for them no one else. I also found out the hard time downtime was set because the pricipal had a 45 minute drive home. I thought poor guy...well it won't hurt him for a couple more songs. Needless to say that was the last time they had me there. Oh well I had a bad feeling as soon as I started that night anyways. The 2nd gig one of the first questions I asked was what time do you want me to finish and how hard is the timings. I wasn't goign to bite the hand that fed me anymore.

Still, it's so easy to get lost/ caught up in djing tunes that you don't always notice time. Man, my wife was freaking at one gig because some honey on the dance floor was standing right in front of my stage dancing very suggestive and inviting and according to her I didn't do anything. Seriously I was so into managing my lights, staring right out onto the dance floor that I didn't even notice. Did I review the pics my wife took that night? You bet I did.LOL Goodtimes

I was working an event last Friday featuring a DJ(I'm SOUND production, not the DJ!). Show also involves hip hop performers(OK, rappers).

DJ is a really nice guy. I enjoyed working with him. He actually shut himself down a tiny bit early, he pooped out. He explained that the event was gonna run late and I said "I don't care, my rig is set, what am I gonna do? I live 5 minutes away." Fortunately, no hard cut-off time and the load out crew was tops. Load in crew was good as well. I'm going to be working with/form him on a recurring basis. He's actually a "performing" DJ. Since these events are in a skating rink, I might bring my roller blades next time and get a good workout in(and fall on my butt a bunch of times too). It went good. We had the MC all over the floor on Healys. Had one performer who never left the skating rink area and was on a wireless microphone doing his perfomance. No drop outs. Flawless. The only issue was when one guy stepped in front of the speaker stack with an open mic and it fed back. Duh. But at that point, it was time to "bring it down" since we didn't need to throw full on to the back anymore.

I don't like doing music playback myself. Bores the crap outta me. I need a band to work on! Give me some channels and I'm a happy dude.