7 Ways to NOT Blow Your Set
I never have an appetite the day of my shows.
I’m always running through my set in my head, making sure I have every cable, or just don’t feel like being bothered until it’s showtime. A lot of that stress can be pulled off your brain if you remember a few things before you stand in front of the club.
- Don’t Get Drunk
It’s okay to pre-game a bit, but don’t be up there hammered. It’s easy for it to happen when they give you a bottle off the rider, but still. Try to have a somewhat clear head of what you’re about to do. You don’t wanna be the DJ who slides the crossfader and the club goes quiet.
- Create Redundancy
Bring 2, 3, and 4 of everything. Have multiple cables in different pockets of your bag. Even if you’re just using CDJ’s, have 2 SD cards in 2 different places. Too many times I’ve doubled back inside, or switched jeans, or anything else stupid. Make dupes of everything, all the time.
- Set Your Cue Points
This for me is more about prep, and not being lazy, than anything else. When I run through mixes or play records for the first time, I try to make a conscious effort to set the cue points where I want them. That way at the show, I can drop right into a record wherever I want, instead of fighting with verses, or conflicting sounds, etc.
- Make A Rough Set List
I don’t like making set lists to play off of, verbatim, at least. What I try do is throughout the day, or the days leading up to the show, I’ll kinda be putting together and jotting down songs I’d like to hear if I was out. I put these in Evernote and make it a point to grab these records and put them together. That way when I play, I won’t have to second guess what I wanted to play, but at the same time I can still feel the crowd and adjust to how they’re feeling and whatnot.
- Go To Soundcheck
Soundcheck is a cool opportunity to meet the other artists and people involved, as well as hear what the system sounds like (duh). I try to keep it short and whatnot, but it really helps to know what kind of mixer you’ll be dealing with, or if you need a cable before the show.
- Get Excited
You ARE the life of the party for your set, so have fun with it. You already probably stressed yourself out enough, so now that you stayed halfway sober to remember your SD cards and RCAs, you can party. Dance, jump around, get into the music, and I bet the party goes off.
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