I was a DJ for a city fire dept party, aged 30-45 or so and their wives/girlfriends and I feel like I failed to provide them with the music they wanted even though I played their requests and music from the top 100-200 dance lists off the internet.

can anyone descibe what type of music they would have played for this type of group and why...?

I should add that it was a 4 hour party, first hour was drinks, followed by a buffet dinner and then the dancing part for the remaining 2 hours.

I played easy listening type jazz/new age stuff for the first hour or two while they were drinking/eating, and then went into the top 100-200 dance song list.

thanks all

age group doesn't always meen a set type of music, thats why u have to learn to read a crowd. i woulda started the night with some classic rock, zeplin, van halen, beatles, eagles, then when dinner hit i would switched over to jazz, following dinner, i woulda tried a number of types of music, using a 2 and out method, what that is, is a technique that DJ's use at weddings and larger events, now this is how it works, lets say after dinner i started off with disco, i play the first song, wait for a responce, if there was little or none to that particular song, then i would follow with a song of the same category as the one i played before it, but i'd make sure the next one is one from that category that has worked well at other events. If both these songs fail to get people on the floor, you would slow it down, throw on a well known slow song, then try a diff style. understand what i mean? if your not sure what i meen u can IM me at Jewishjosh99 or my email is on the bottom of my posts


josh

for that age group i woulda definately started with classic rock as well,... doors, styx, journey, led zepplin, beatles... maybe even a little newer light rock
and definately for dinner jazz.
after dinner, id start out with a well known disco tune and some encouraging emceeing to get people on the dancefloor,,, and even tried a little contest or the electric slide to get people going
it takes a while to learn how to play to the crowd.. youll get the hang of it .
also, what i try to do before a job is talk to the people that are hosting the party and get a feel for types of music to play.. more times than not for older aged parties i make a custom cd tailored for their tastes to make shure i have specifics i know in advance they will want to hear..

That's what being a dj is all about, learning how to read a crowd, knowing what songs work well together, and how to keep everyone entertained, it's not always about dancing. People can have a good time in a laid back atmosphere. . . .what specifically did you do that didn't work? and think about what you could've done differently before asking what everyone else would do, it's all about personality. If you don't look like you are having a good time, how are the guests supposed to have a good time?

another thing you have to take into consideration is that a method that works tags or myself here in NY might not work where you are, the important thing is that u realized that you had to change your methods cause they weren't workin

Yeah half the battle is how you project yourself at a function. Mingle with the crowd before dancing starts, get to know everyone especially the person who hired you, smile a lot, tell a joke, put your ego away, introduce(sell) yourself as the DJ, ask what music they like, be one of them but above all...BE PROFESSIONAL.

Once a crowd is familiar with the DJ, the dancefloor becomes more inviting. Remember you create the vibe and tone for the rest of the evening, familiarity is the key.

Finally always think how you'd respond if the roles were reversed to getting yourself in the right frame of mind. Music selection flows from there...

DJ ROQ