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Sparkles
6th-April-2005, 03:57 PM
Last night I attended a dancing venue that decided to open it's playlist to the dancers that attended and do a 'request night' - the idea being that you could e-mail your requests (max 3 per person) to the organisers, or turn up with a CD on the night, or request on the night and they would play them during the 2hr freestyle.
I was just wondering from others that attended the same event what they thought of the idea?
Did they enjoy the music?
What did the DJ think of having his set hi-jacked by members of the public?
Do you think it would work as a regular event or is it better as a one-off?
Have other venue managers tried a similar thing and how was it received?

S. x

PS. Thank you for playing my track! :cheers:

El Salsero Gringo
6th-April-2005, 04:55 PM
Presumably you mean Hipsters? What was your track?

Sheepman
6th-April-2005, 05:22 PM
I thought it was a good night, though I was working so maybe not paying full attention throughout. There were a couple of tracks I wasn't keen on, but I would have been happy to dance the whole night through. It did feel to me as though it was pretty much "business as usual" which I suppose has to go down as either the punters having good taste, and liking what JB usually plays, or down to JB's filtering (or both, of course).
I was surprised not to hear any unfamiliar tracks though...
Jon played 2 requests for me, Joe Jackson's "Tuxedo Junction", which I know is one of his favourites anyway, and Ritchie Milton - Dressed To Kill, which teetered on scaring some away, but those I asked said they enjoyed it.

Greg

Sparkles
7th-April-2005, 09:48 AM
Presumably you mean Hipsters? What was your track?

'Easy Tiger' (one of my current favourites) - but you'll have to ask a DJ who it's by :whistle:

Zebra Woman
7th-April-2005, 10:23 AM
I enjoyed the music on the request night, there was a nice mix of slower tempo stuff. Loved Easy Tiger and Tuxedo Junction too :clap: . Could have been a nightmare if the requesters hadn't had such good taste, so well done everyone :clap: .

Don't forget though JB is ALWAYS open to requests.

As I'm a request-a-holic I myself had a night off on the 'request' night. 2 Weeks earlier I did request Whatever Lola Wants, Unduntag and Staring Down The Bird which he played. Thanks JB :kiss: :hug:

ZW :flower:

Jon Brett
7th-April-2005, 10:30 AM
No, I didn't filter. I did decide the order though.

I had 21 requests at the start of Tuesday and very few were above 120 bpm. So to build up the list to a full night & to add a bit of speed variety, I added requests for the BFFF. This upped the number from 21 at the start of the night to around 30 requests for the two hours.

I don't mind playing requests. It's good on a Tuesday as it's so hard to get it right for both the modern jivers who can dance to anything as long as it's not too slow and the West Coasters who want slow records only.

Rhythm King
7th-April-2005, 10:46 AM
'Easy Tiger' (one of my current favourites) - but you'll have to ask a DJ who it's by :whistle:

Or me :whistle: It's by Lemon, on the Club Multepulciano label, and I have it in Car...

R-K :flower:

ChrisA
7th-April-2005, 10:55 AM
I did decide the order though.
Quite right too. :cheers:


I had 21 requests at the start of Tuesday and very few were above 120 bpm. So to build up the list to a full night & to add a bit of speed variety, I added requests for the BFFF. This upped the number from 21 at the start of the night to around 30 requests for the two hours.

Do you get the impression that there are many of the current Tuesday crowd that want much in the way of fast music?

My guess is not, since with the change from Lindy to WCS, the average preference for the freestyle has changed correspondingly.



I don't mind playing requests. It's good on a Tuesday as it's so hard to get it right for both the modern jivers who can dance to anything as long as it's not too slow and the West Coasters who want slow records only.
Although there was very little slow enough for a beginner West Coaster like me to freestyle to without significant stress :D

Question: How slow is 'too slow for modern jivers' at Hipsters on a Tuesday these days?

Jon Brett
7th-April-2005, 11:00 AM
Question: How slow is 'too slow for modern jivers' at Hipsters on a Tuesday these days?

I guess 110 bpm is a realistic limit. But that's not the only issue - MJ dancers get bored very quickly if the tempo is slow all night.

ChrisA
7th-April-2005, 11:25 AM
I guess 110 bpm is a realistic limit. But that's not the only issue - MJ dancers get bored very quickly if the tempo is slow all night.
As I said on your WCS thread, though, I like the occasional fast, even thumpy, track if it provides a contrast with the rest. A bit like a quick dip in a cold pool after spending a while in a sauna.

But in general, I prefer the feeling of variety to come from the vibe and complexity of the music more than from its speed.

Take the 2004 JiveMasters tracks for instance. The slow ones are all quite slow, but they're very varied.

DavidY
10th-April-2005, 03:11 PM
Last night I attended a dancing venue that decided to open it's playlist to the dancers Were there any brand new tracks requested that aren't usually played at MJ nights? (Difficult to define "brand new" I guess - for instance were there any that Jon Brett had never played before at an MJ nights?) Will any of them get played again?

Jon Brett
11th-April-2005, 10:53 AM
Were there any brand new tracks requested that aren't usually played at MJ nights? (Difficult to define "brand new" I guess - for instance were there any that Jon Brett had never played before at an MJ nights?) Will any of them get played again?

WRT your first question, it's impossible to say. I am always discovering new tracks, but whether they've been played by someone else I can't tell. I get away with more unusual tunes at Hipsters than normal MJ nights so I'd have to answer "probably".

Yes there were tracks that I have never played before and I will play some of them again.