The disc jockey landscape is filled with potholes of potential trouble. But if you give it a little forethought you can anticipate and prepare for the problems you will surely face. Here’s a difficult one for a lot of DJs: CLOSING TIME.
You’ve rocked the place for the past 4 hours. Everyone is having a good time. You can’t wait to start packing up and maybe enjoy the rest of the night yourself. You announce the last song. It ends. And then the fun begins. An angry crowd starts chanting for “one more song.” Guys come up and actually threaten you. If you think this is an exaggeration, then you haven’t been doing this very long.
I use a signed contract, that often states that the ending time is 12 midnight. This often goes hand in hand with the closing time of the venue. One hotel, where I often do weddings, has a strict policy to end exactly at midnight. They aren’t too happy if you go long. In fact, they may block you from coming back, or at least, take you off of their recommended DJ list. Whatever the contract says, that is the time I end, unless it’s ok with the nightclub, and it’s paid for by the client.
So, back to the problem… you’ve just played the last song and now you have an angry mob on your hands.
This can often be avoided with a little help from the nightclub employees:
Have the employees turn on the house lights halfway through the last song of the night.
This does two things:
First, it announces to the crowd that, yes, things really are over. And second, it takes the heat off of you. When the lights go on it’s clear that the DJ is not calling the shots to end the evening, it’s the venue.
This has worked for me ALMOST every time. Just in case it doesn’t, have one more song ready to go.
Occasionally, you might need to play one more last song, (with the lights on) for the message to truly sink in. As the song is playing, gradually turn the volume down to about three-quarters of your normal setting to give another subtle message that it’s really over.
Just remember… it’s a huge compliment that the crowd wants you to keep it going! Enjoy the fact that you just completed another fantastic performance!
