School & Teen Events 6 hours of music .. what to play?

[IceBurghDJ]

OK, talking to a school about their prom, a small one, but i want to give the kids a great time.

They're telling me it's 8pm to 2am...it then hit me that, hey, it's SIX HOURS!

Ok, I assume some of that will be dinner...so what to play for dinner music?

That will still leave 4 or 5 hours of dancing. other than my head imploding at some point...what will keep them interested for that long?

3 hours is easy, probably 4 even I can fill with stuff they'll like. I'm gonna have to go off track a bit to fill the rest of the time - country, old stuff, funky stuff (chicken dance or cotton eyed joe - which may, or may not, go over well).

And they've being very upfront about wanting clean music..which I have (in theory..what IS clean these days? No F and no N words of course...shit or bitch ok? and the kids won't sing the clean words...which I've warned them of)

 

[ittigger]

Til 2am? Dang! The kids around here have to be off the road by midnight.

 

[Albatross]

5 hours of dancing is a club length set, and it's quite long. You're going to have to manage your set list, energy, etc.

I actually tried this for the first time recently. I broke my preparation for a gig down by each hour with 18-25 songs prepared for each hour. It left me with enough room to be spontaneous, but I also built in structure that I wanted to experiment with. This was my first hour:



I hit a lot of throwbacks, but I play new-ish remixes of them. And I play a version that hits the mood I want. In the first hour, you want to avoid some of the crazy fist pumping songs because you can't maintain that pace all night. By hour 3... you can hit it pretty hard. This was hour 3:


You may take a totally different framework to it. But for each hour, I'd probably have a couple throwback songs, a couple of sing-a-long style songs, a couple newer tracks, etc. If you build out the hours that way, it won't seem nearly as daunting to fill the whole night. You can also make strategic choices about where you want to go tempo wise.

Hope that helps!

 

[Handinon]

I broke my preparation for a gig down by each hour with 18-25 songs prepared for each hour. It left me with enough room to be spontaneous, but I also built in structure that I wanted to experiment with

I really like this idea for any long gig, not just a school prom. Like most, I almost always do a "Prepare" list to help manage my song database, but on a long gig, the "Prepare" list itself gets so big, IT becomes unmanageable.

 

[redhotdj]

That's hard, most proms I do our 4 hours and that last 1/2 hour you can see they are starting to slow down. Good luck

 

[IceBurghDJ]

Very helpful. I usually make a folder of what I want to play and then work from it - still learning how to work the energy over time, saving some songs till the end seems to work well - but this prom may only have 50-75 kids...that alone I fear will be a challenge to keep the energy up.

Working it out by hour I like - planning ahead in more detail.

Thanks!

5 hours of dancing is a club length set, and it's quite long. You're going to have to manage your set list, energy, etc.

You may take a totally different framework to it. But for each hour, I'd probably have a couple throwback songs, a couple of sing-a-long style songs, a couple newer tracks, etc. If you build out the hours that way, it won't seem nearly as daunting to fill the whole night. You can also make strategic choices about where you want to go tempo wise.

Hope that helps!

 

[Valerie Hicks]

That's a hard one, especially if it isn't a very large crowd. The biggest problem we see with smaller schools is the kids are pretty worn out in 4 hours...3 actually ends on a better note, 4 pretty exhausted. More than 4 and they'll start sitting down. A larger school can pull off 4 hours more easily, but still much longer than that starts getting tired or tired/bored. Most of the time if we've been contracted for that duration, the 12-2 is considered 'after prom', the kids go change into casual clothes, and the songlist is reset....repeats are now just fine, more interactive songs, etc. Even if they considered the prom dance to be the full timeframe, at some point I'd expect to have to change gears and go to popular repeats, more unusual requests, even a song challenge of sorts. That's a big window.

 

[IceBurghDJ]

I really like this idea for any long gig, not just a school prom. Like most, I almost always do a "Prepare" list to help manage my song database, but on a long gig, the "Prepare" list itself gets so big, IT becomes unmanageable.

I make a folder and toss in what I know I'll play, what they've responded to in the past, etc.
Then I go look for what's new and hot from various sources. I try to keep on this so I know what's been on there for a while, rising, falling, new, etc.

In 3 hours at the last dance I had a lot of stuff I could still have played, songs normally requested (chill bill) or that geta good response (thriller). So 4 hours won't be too hard...

But it's a very small prom so that will be a challenge in itself, and the length...I remember having energy forever as a kid, but 12-2am I know I'LL slow down! LOL

And I have to be a church at 8am saturday morning to shoot first communion pictures.

 

[IceBurghDJ]

Can you elaborate on 'song challenge' for me?
thanks

That's a hard one, especially if it isn't a very large crowd. The biggest problem we see with smaller schools is the kids are pretty worn out in 4 hours...3 actually ends on a better note, 4 pretty exhausted. More than 4 and they'll start sitting down. A larger school can pull off 4 hours more easily, but still much longer than that starts getting tired or tired/bored. Most of the time if we've been contracted for that duration, the 12-2 is considered 'after prom', the kids go change into casual clothes, and the songlist is reset....repeats are now just fine, more interactive songs, etc. Even if they considered the prom dance to be the full timeframe, at some point I'd expect to have to change gears and go to popular repeats, more unusual requests, even a song challenge of sorts. That's a big window.

 

[rickryan.com]

I'll agree with the rest that 4 hours is the natural limit. I really want to hear how this one turns out. On most of my proms, it's usually 2 hours for dinner and Senior walk-out. You then might have 2 hours of dancing before 90% of the kids have bailed out. It's usually a handful of the nerd clan who is left.

 

[Valerie Hicks]

Can you elaborate on 'song challenge' for me?
thanks

I really had nothing particular in mind, but in our past experience it's a good opportunity to play those more obscure songs...the ones for the small group of guys or gals with more eclectic tastes. You can turn it into almost a game asking for requests (like play on the spot sort of deal), sort of a name that tune, etc. Depends on how interactive YOU are and want to be.

I'll agree with the rest that 4 hours is the natural limit. I really want to hear how this one turns out. On most of my proms, it's usually 2 hours for dinner and Senior walk-out. You then might have 2 hours of dancing before 90% of the kids have bailed out. It's usually a handful of the nerd clan who is left.

Your description sounds like the first time we go to a school. It's actually rare for us to not have 75% or more at the end of the night (our schools ranging form 75-2000+). Our dance portion is most often 4 hours but I really prefer the 3-3.5 as that last hour they are tired and can't keep up the energy. Not ragging on ya, just saying you don't have to let that be your norm. We've had schools comment they aren't used to staying all night or chaperones complain because they 'only agreed to this because they were told the kids always leave early'. Repeat bookings and WOM to other schools and the price you command all go up.

 

[aguilas583]

In my set list (just use excel) I add letters (like B for play during the beginning) and that helps me denote when I should play certain songs. Definitely the first hour it's not as "danceable" of songs since kids get there late and you don't want to use the good songs with an empty dance floor. In Colorado, 90% of school dances (including prom) are 3 hours. Extremely manageable I think. I like Albatross's idea of having a set list of songs per hour. Especially given your long dance time.

For dinner music, if they want chill calm music, Boyce Avenue has multiple acoustic cover albums that may work for you. They cover most popular pop songs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ausumm]

They're telling me it's 8pm to 2am...it then hit me that, hey, it's SIX HOURS!
Ok, I assume some of that will be dinner...so what to play for dinner music?
That will still leave 4 or 5 hours of dancing. other than my head imploding at some point...what will keep them interested for that long?

Yes! I can see dinner sucking up MORE than an hour. There also may be some time before dinner. (in place of a cocktail hour)
But even if it is a long night, I can bet the kids won't leave early if the music is good.
The only reason would be if they have "other" plans....but that is probably why they are having you play music till 2am.
They are offering an alternative to keep kids from leaving to do "other" things.
As far as music to play during non-dancing hours...there are plenty of current songs that aren't very danceable,
aren't really a fast song OR a slow song, or just weren't all that popular.
If it's a high school prom for SENIORS, you can play music from the past FOUR YEARS...
as they will relate to any song that came out while they were in school.
And don't be afraid to play some older music. You may be surprised.

 

[awalker19]

The only reason would be if they have "other" plans....but that is probably why they are having you play music till 2am.

I always had "other" plans.

 

[Chuck The DJ]

I am betting a 6 hour deal will not be that hard if they are having dinner.... first off, at 8pm they can't serve dinner, not everyone will be there, and dinner will take time,,, but with a smaller crowd, I would push requests and have a sign up sheet so you can dedicate the song to that person...

However, if it is not with dinner, I feel for you.

 

[IceBurghDJ]

Well, got an email they want me. I responded asking about a time frame for the night..dinner? events? announcements? Some proms still do king/queen, with some making the announcement at the grand march (which is common here at teh HS then they bus the kids to the prom). Wasn't that way back in my day...but then we could smoke on the bus, at the school too.

 

[DJ Ricky B]

WOW...2 Am. I have done a Prom After Party at the High School Gym a couple times in my younger days where the Prom was from like 11 pm to 5 am...Those were ridiculous to do...I mostly was there to provide music while the students did all sorts of games in the gym...they had all sorts of moon bounces, jousting, derby car tracks set up with these little electric derby box cars that went like 10 mph....Bean bag toss set up. They served pizza, snacks kool aid, lemonade and sodas. It was REAL ROUGH after 3:30 am to keep going. The agency booked those out from another company that handled those school dances...they were $600 gigs which netted me $480 at the time. ...Man I could not do one of them if I tried at this point.

As far as an actual prom...I have never done one more than 4 hours long including dinner. ...Good Luck.

As TTiger said...here in Maryland these teenagers have curfews...Most School dances are done at 10 or 11 pm. I think drivers under 18 in Maryland can't be out driving after 11 p.m. actually.

 

[IceBurghDJ]

OK..
Arrive at 8 or just before via school buses.
Dinner 830
Buses leave at 2am - nobody is permitted to leave.
Expecting 60-80 kids total.

 

[Scott Hanna]

We don't do a ton of school events. When we do, it's 90 % new music with some popular throwbacks.

Never did a 6 hour school event, but I'd guess we'd start the dancing of with the most popular dance songs, then probably play some of those again later.

But the kids will tell you what they want. Listen to them.... Most of them. Not the kid that wants you to play maggot brain

 

[rickryan.com]

We don't do a ton of school events. When we do, it's 90 % new music with some popular throwbacks.

Never did a 6 hour school event, but I'd guess we'd start the dancing of with the most popular dance songs, then probably play some of those again later.

But the kids will tell you what they want. Listen to them.... Most of them. Not the kid that wants you to play maggot brain

Scott's making a really good point here. I have an online song request system that I use. Pass it to the Prom sponsors about 3 weeks in advance. I usually have 4-5 pages of songs from the kids. I usually take an evening to weed thru them and cross off the "maggot brain" requests. You can easily cover a 6-hour event.