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Well, I've got to say.....I think I'm beginning to understand where the other posters in this thread are coming from.
I guess it's been a while since I've been out, but I decided to go see Ferry Corsten. Who was great, because, well, he's Ferry Corsten....
But the crowd was weird. I mean, there wasn't anything wrong with them, they were fine, but the whole set up was just odd. You know how in this scene there isn't really supposed to be any celebrity, that's why the people who make the music are pretty much anonymous. Even when famous DJs come, people just enjoy the fact that they get to hear the set. A lot of times I would hear famous DJ sets and not even realize they were who was spinning because DJ booths are generally out of the way and rather hidden.
This set was more like a concert. They set up giant screens and Ferry Corsten was actually on stage instead of wherever the usual DJ booth is. So it was kind of a weird set up because instead of everybody facing different directions dancing, it was like people were at a concert, all facing the same direction trying to view the act. But they were also trying to dance, which wasn't really working, because there wasn't enough room and everybody was facing the same way. It was really strange and I couldn't help but to think, this is everything that this scene is supposed to not be about.
Maybe next time I go out I will try one of the dingey places. I like the service at Opera, but there's something that was just so inauthentic about it.
Well, I've got to say.....I think I'm beginning to understand where the other posters in this thread are coming from.
I guess it's been a while since I've been out, but I decided to go see Ferry Corsten. Who was great, because, well, he's Ferry Corsten....
But the crowd was weird. I mean, there wasn't anything wrong with them, they were fine, but the whole set up was just odd. You know how in this scene there isn't really supposed to be any celebrity, that's why the people who make the music are pretty much anonymous. Even when famous DJs come, people just enjoy the fact that they get to hear the set. A lot of times I would hear famous DJ sets and not even realize they were who was spinning because DJ booths are generally out of the way and rather hidden.
This set was more like a concert. They set up giant screens and Ferry Corsten was actually on stage instead of wherever the usual DJ booth is. So it was kind of a weird set up because instead of everybody facing different directions dancing, it was like people were at a concert, all facing the same direction trying to view the act. But they were also trying to dance, which wasn't really working, because there wasn't enough room and everybody was facing the same way. It was really strange and I couldn't help but to think, this is everything that this scene is supposed to not be about.
Maybe next time I go out I will try one of the dingey places. I like the service at Opera, but there's something that was just so inauthentic about it.
You haven't been out in a looooooong time. Any EDM show/event I've been to since I've been old enough to go to them have been set up where the dj is up front like a band and people are generally facing that direction. Usually the Djs will toss stuff or spray champagne or even crowd surf and hype the crows. The day of the DJ in the corner have been for a good while now in the EDM scene if it ever existed ( I was born in the mid/late 80s so I wasn't in the first rave movement).
You are right Geogiatochina....its the way it is right now for everyone to face the DJ.
In fact being someone who has been clubbing in the UK since 2003 its pretty much always been that way.....from the Ministry of Sound main room to some of the outdoor big dance festivals such as Global Gathering or Creamfields people face in the general direction of the DJ.
Maybe if the DJ isn't so well known it's a different story but someone like Ferry Corsten who obviously has a lot of 'fans'....well they wanna see their man play!
I'm a house music head so I'm interested to see what DJ's come to Atlanta.....I see that Chris Lake is here in a couple of weeks (at Opera) and if you like house you will love Chris.
I think I know what Arjay is getting at, and the point is valid.
Even for DJs who are producers, usually during live sets they may incorporate their own tunes into the set (Ferry did), but they are still just spinning their tunes, not creating them. So yeah, the DJ is playing music, not making it. You might ask, if the DJ is just playing music, that means he is just paying attention to his console with his headphones on bobbing his head, what's to see? Good point, and the answer is, I don't know. They're kind of hype men, they raise their hands, clap, dance around.....but for the most part, there is nothing to see, the music is supposed to be the star. So the idea of putting a DJ on a pedastal and fighting to see him is, well, weird.
I haven't been out of the scene THAT long. I remember seeing Tiesto at the North Atlanta Trade Center, I don't know, maybe 4 or 5 years ago. Set up was the same, and there were some people in the front trying to see him. But the rest of the room was like a normal club, with people just dancing around. The big outdoor venues have always been like that because that's the natural set up of an outdoor venue. I guess when I saw Omar Santana at the Jungle a few years back, the set up was like that too, but again, the crowd wasn't like a concert crowd. Omar was on stage, but the dancefloor was like it always would be, with people doing what they would be doing if he was in a booth somewhere.
Just an aside on Arjay's point....in the early 90s, the rave scene in the US was so small that it was easy to see major acts in the few cities that they would come to. I remeber being in a club in Tampa when all of a sudden they announced out of nowhere that 2 Unliminted had shown up and was going to do a set. All they did was come on stage for like 20 minuts and the guy rapped and the woman danced around. They might have been lip syncing. But they didn't even pretend to have music equipment, the music was just their record playing. And I was like, well, seeing them live is stupid, they don't do anything. That was the way it was back then. Only a few acts like Prodigy and Orbital actually played live music and invented stage shows to go with it.
I was always under the impression that for the rave scene the whole idea is it's a bit of a rebellious movement against big music. That's why the good music was on vinyl, in limited pressings, and most of it didn't even have cover art. You might have a producer that would otherwise be famous if he released under the same name, but he would change his artist name on every release so you wouldn't even know who it was. Even the big time artists would occasionally release limited pressing white labels. There were big DJs back then like Keoki, Sasha, DJ Dan, and people like that, and when they would come to town they would advertise, but you wouldn't even know they were on. You'd have to hear someone say, "Oh, Sasha is spinning this set right now."
I know things change and it's good for people to get the credibility that they deserve. I just wish it was more like that Tiesto show where people who want to make it like a tradtional concert experience go to the front and the rest of the people who want an old school experience have a little room to move around instead of being crowded in.
I think I know what Arjay is getting at, and the point is valid.
Even for DJs who are producers, usually during live sets they may incorporate their own tunes into the set (Ferry did), but they are still just spinning their tunes, not creating them. So yeah, the DJ is playing music, not making it. You might ask, if the DJ is just playing music, that means he is just paying attention to his console with his headphones on bobbing his head, what's to see? Good point, and the answer is, I don't know. They're kind of hype men, they raise their hands, clap, dance around.....but for the most part, there is nothing to see, the music is supposed to be the star. So the idea of putting a DJ on a pedastal and fighting to see him is, well, weird.
I haven't been out of the scene THAT long. I remember seeing Tiesto at the North Atlanta Trade Center, I don't know, maybe 4 or 5 years ago. Set up was the same, and there were some people in the front trying to see him. But the rest of the room was like a normal club, with people just dancing around. The big outdoor venues have always been like that because that's the natural set up of an outdoor venue. I guess when I saw Omar Santana at the Jungle a few years back, the set up was like that too, but again, the crowd wasn't like a concert crowd. Omar was on stage, but the dancefloor was like it always would be, with people doing what they would be doing if he was in a booth somewhere.
Just an aside on Arjay's point....in the early 90s, the rave scene in the US was so small that it was easy to see major acts in the few cities that they would come to. I remeber being in a club in Tampa when all of a sudden they announced out of nowhere that 2 Unliminted had shown up and was going to do a set. All they did was come on stage for like 20 minuts and the guy rapped and the woman danced around. They might have been lip syncing. But they didn't even pretend to have music equipment, the music was just their record playing. And I was like, well, seeing them live is stupid, they don't do anything. That was the way it was back then. Only a few acts like Prodigy and Orbital actually played live music and invented stage shows to go with it.
I was always under the impression that for the rave scene the whole idea is it's a bit of a rebellious movement against big music. That's why the good music was on vinyl, in limited pressings, and most of it didn't even have cover art. You might have a producer that would otherwise be famous if he released under the same name, but he would change his artist name on every release so you wouldn't even know who it was. Even the big time artists would occasionally release limited pressing white labels. There were big DJs back then like Keoki, Sasha, DJ Dan, and people like that, and when they would come to town they would advertise, but you wouldn't even know they were on. You'd have to hear someone say, "Oh, Sasha is spinning this set right now."
I know things change and it's good for people to get the credibility that they deserve. I just wish it was more like that Tiesto show where people who want to make it like a tradtional concert experience go to the front and the rest of the people who want an old school experience have a little room to move around instead of being crowded in.
Here are what DJs do now to add to the shows and hype the crowd.
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