The fourth and final set from the awesome Croatia event.
I love being entrusted with warm up sets. I like being able to do exactly what I want and watch as the vibe builds in a club. I like the fact that I am confident enough to be able to stand there and not feel the need to get people dancing too early, but let them do their talking and drinking. Some warm ups have a different dynamic than others. Sometimes I think that I think too much about a warm up set, and should just come out and hit the crowd hard and make an impact from the off. I never do. I never feel the need to.
Unfortunately/fortunately, I am from an era where people would be in a club early doors, so the warm up DJ was vital in setting the scene for the DJs to follow him. There was no need to play too hard or too fast as it was counter productive. Nowadays, most clubs don’t get busy until late, so the DJs feel the need to get the crowd hyper as soon as they get a full dancefloor, what a load of nonsense ! Of course, this is only my opinion, I’m sure there are many that would say a steady warm up set is a waste of space.
My warm up sets for Southport have always been very important to me. I could have tried to make it all about me, but I was always respectful of the other DJs ahead of me. The first time I played there Louie congratulated me on the set after I warmed up for him and Kenny, the last time I played I had Osunlade rocking on a dance platform the whole way through. That’s good enough for me !
Anyway, I never intended to come out with all of that.. it just fell out of my fingers, back to the matter at hand.
Recorded on Saturday night, the opening set on the main stage as I warmed up for L’il Louis and the World. It was only meant to be a two hour set, but an early start and extended finish meant it became three hours. The last 40 minutes were the transition between sunset and the night time kicking in.
What are your opinions on a good warm up ? What’s been the best warm up set/DJ you’ve heard ?
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1 Comment
Ok so I’m warming up for Graeme Park at the end of the month so I hit Google with ‘warm up dj’ to see what advice there is out there and what do I come across but another of Wards Websites! 🙂
Great post Andy although it’s made me even more nervous :S especially as I’m playing 8-10pm (maybe 8-11pm depending on how quick Graeme gets back through customs on his return from Dubai).
Ooooer mister!
Downloading your set now for a good listen 🙂