How To Read And Handle A Crowd At A DJ Event

Importance of Reading the Crowd

As a DJ you need to be able to read the crowd to be able to better understand what music to play. This is one of the most important aspects of being a great DJ. First start with music that I think the crowd may like. Usually when booking an event, I ask on my contracts what music they would like played. This Helps to get your first idea of what music to begin with.

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Play something Hot in that genre

See how the crowd reacts. Normally no one will just get up and start dancing unless they really like the music but there are signs to look for.

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Watch Their Body movements

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Watching their body movements is one of the best ways to read a crowd. Are they starting to dance in their seats? If so this is a good sign you are heading in the right direction. Normally you will find the women or girls start moving to the music first. They are just feeling the music out at this point.If no one changes the body movements, keep trying new genres or types of songs within the requested genre.

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If they start moving in their seats… Keep doing what you are doing. Play another hot song in that same genre next. Does this keep their interest? If so very shortly you will have every one up dancing and having a great time. Watching to See if People are Signing or Lip Signing the Lyrics This will identify again the people that like this type of music as they know the words. They may also think the type of song you are playing is a fun song, AKA dancing song. This is another great sign to begin with.

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After You have the Crowd Dancing

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Pay attention to the majority of the crowd. Remember you can’t always please every single person at the same time. When people start sitting down they are either tired of dancing or more likely not liking the direction of were the music is going. That is a sign to switch up the music.

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Get a New Crowd Out There

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If you were playing hip hop before for a younger crowd, or a section of the crowd that primarily liked hip hop, they may be tired. So open the floor up to the older crowd that might want oldies, or people that may enjoy another genre or angle. You want to be constantly rotating your crowds at events, people get tired, so give them a break after a while. It is simple: play the angles. This will get you the overall satisfaction of the entire crowd.

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Play the Angels

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If when switching your music genres, you can’t find a way to flow into the next genre easily, such as going from a fast music to a slow set of music. You can always bring down the volume and make a nice subtle announcement. Such as, I would like to slow the music down and bring out our couples for a few slow songs.  Then you have the pause that does not make the switch so harsh. Follow These Steps and you will be on your way to better identifying the best music for the entire crowd and how to satisfy everyone.

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How to Close a DJ Event in 3 Simple Steps?

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1. Make it short and Simple

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Most People usually do not want to hear the DJ talk all night or add extra announcements they do not really care to hear. So eliminate what you can. Usually I will first announce just before the last song, that this will be the last song of the evening. If it is a slow song I will say “I would like to bring our couples out for one last dance, as this will be the last song of the evening (of course, if that suits the occasion, you get the idea).”

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2. Prepare the Crowd for the Closing Song

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You do not want to just stop playing music all of a sudden, or after your last song, make the closing announcements. People are in the mood to dance and they will get upset if you all of a sudden end the gig. So give them that little preparation, they definitely will appreciate it.

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Now they have that opportunity to choose, whether or not to come out for the last song. Remember they are not getting paid by the hour, so usually they don’t pay attention to the time, unlike you as a DJ you may have somewhere else you need to go to, or you just feel that when your contract ends you should leave. So this is a nice way to update them that the party is over but you will play them one last song.

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3. Closing Announcement

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As the last song begins to fade out is when you should start your final announcement. I usually say something along these lines “Thank you for being such a great crowd, my name is X and I am here with company Y, I hope everyone enjoyed their evening and has a safe trip home.”

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Understand as a DJ each event is a little different so you will need to change a little according to the type of event, but this is a nice basic closing. You don’t want to oversell yourself, but a nice little reminder of who you are and your company name may pick up a few more gigs. Make them feel that you really enjoyed being their DJ and you care about them, hence the comment about driving safe. This is the best way I have found to close out an event. Please feel free to add comments on how you close your events out.

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About the author: Chris Franks from CGuide.com is a writer and a musician who enjoys providing tips and valuable information for online shoppers of drum related products and topics.