DJ AM Wonderwall Routine – Breakbeat Identified

Posted by admin on March 3rd, 2010

DJ AM Wonderwall Routine – Breakbeat Identified by DJ Dennis J

As many who know me personally undoubtedly know, I am a huge DJ AM fan. The man was a genius, and will be forever revered by many.

Along with many other DJ AM fans, I’ve been dying to find out where to get the breakbeat that he used on his infamous Wonderwall routine.

Well, I think I have figured it out! Many claimed it was a remixed version of Run DMC’s “Walk This Way” or a track on a DJ Rectangle record. Well, both are wrong. I believe the actual breakbeat used was hard to identify because it is created from two parts of a scratch sample record, which AM made his own breakbeat from.

Note: the actual breakbeat is 2 bars, yet I’ve only looped 1 bar for my demo. This is enough to tell you whether or not the breakbeat is the same.

At this time I’m not disclosing the origin because

1) I want to make sure this really is the track used. Please comment and tell me if you agree that this is the same breakbeat!

2) I want to see if anyone really cares enough to post something on their pages linking to this page.

Comment and let me know where you’ve linked and talked about this blog post, and if I see enough interest, I’ll disclose the origin!

DJ AM’s Wonderwall routine:

DJ Dennis J’s sample:

DJ Dennis J – DJ AM Wonderwall Breakbeat Sample

Is it the same? You tell me!

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Hard Rock Hotel Wedding – Roxana and Jeff Brown

Posted by admin on February 21st, 2010

Hard Rock Hotel Wedding – Roxana and Jeff Brown

Client: Roxana and Jeff Brown
Venue: Hard Rock Hotel- Ceremony tent and “Celebrate” room
Venue Address: 207 Fifth Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101
Number of guests: 75-100
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, Wedding Ceremony, enhanced dance floor lighting, uplighting

Roxana and Jeff live in Carmel Valley, and chose to have their wedding at the San Diego Hard Rock Hotel, most likely because it is a beautiful venue. They both enjoy many genres of music, and prefer current hits for their own listening pleasure.

I met Jeff while setting up for a military ball last year in Del Mar. As I was setting up, he came over and inquired about my services. After talking with him a bit and giving him a bit of an idea of the knowledge we have of wedding services, he continued interest by asking for our card and telling me he would be in touch. A day or so later, he called us and we discussed a bit more, then scheduled a meeting with him and his fiance, Roxana.

During our meeting I found that they were looking for a very customized wedding, which just happens to be our specialty! I suggested our ceremony music package using string instrumentals of classic and modern day rock songs. Since their ceremony was at the Hard Rock Hotel, how could it not work perfectly, right? In our opinion, it is definitely an option that ensures that all in attendance will remember not only the reception, but also the unique ceremony that they were a part of.

Every detail of this seven-hour(!) wedding received that ‘customized touch’. For cocktail hour, they upgraded to use our wireless additional sound system service, for which we use an additional pair of speakers outside of the reception room and transmit the same music stream wirelessly to the other speakers. For music selection we played an eclectic mix of downtempo ambient trip-hop.

The ceremony and cocktail hour were held in a large decorated tent.

Hard Rock Hotel Ceremony

Hard Rock Hotel Ceremony Altar Set Up

The dinner/reception was held an appropriately titled room called, “Celebrate”.

Hard Rock Hotel Wedding Lounge

Hard Rock Hotel Wedding Uplighting

One of the coolest features of Celebrate is the mural of Madonna on one of its walls.

Hard Rock Hotel Madonna Mural Celebrate Room

Due to some delays, we had to adjust some of the planned times of events, but the photographers, day-of-coordinator, and caterers were very helpful and worked with us to get everything working correctly. After announcing the location of the Celebrate room and showing guests the way to get to it, we performed a wonderful introduction of bridal party and couple, completely with our enhanced lightshow package which included a disco ball for the first dance.

As an added original touch, they opted to have a ‘donut tower’ instead of the traditional cake. During the ‘cutting of the donuts’, we played a special donut-themed song mix which we had prepared beforehand.

San Diego Wedding DJ Donut Tower

After cutting the donuts, we went back to open dancing, and the guests packed the dance floor for over three straight hours! Afterwards, guests were still in high-spirits and the mood to continue dancing even though the room rental was over, so Roxana and Jeff and the remaining guests headed downstairs to Hard Rock’s club for more. Now that’s the kind of mood we like to see the guests in as we end our performance!

The bride and groom were very happy with the outcome of the night, and took time after the reception to pose for a picture. Thanks to Jeff and Roxana for giving us the opportunity to share their special night with them, and our best wishes for them and their new life!

San Diego Wedding DJ Dennis J with Bride and Groom at Hard Rock Hotel

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Winter Formal Dance – Julian Charter High School (JCS)

Posted by admin on January 17th, 2010

Winter Formal Dance – Julian Charter High School (JCS)

Client: Jenn Sheehey
Venue Type: Banquet Facility
Venue Address: 35245 Briggs Rd, Murrieta, CA 92563
Number of guests: 100+
Services Provided: Dance (mostly top-40) music, energetic emceeing, premium dance floor lighting, fog machine, laser lighting, wired microphone

Julian Charter High School held their Winter Formal dance at Monteleone Meadows. Creative Music DJs was contracted to provide the entertainment.
For those that do not know the location of Monteleone Meadows, let me tell you, it’s not easy to find even in daylight! The road, Briggs Road, is under construction, and if you get on the wrong part of it, you can get really lost! After driving around a bit, I found a way around the hill and made it to the school.

The staff of Monteleone Meadows are very pleasant and helpful. The manager, Gaby Wempe, was especially helpful at the end of the night and helped carry some equipment to the trailer for me.

The kids were very excited to dance! JCS had requested fog and premium lighting, so we went with an assorted display of Vue IIIs, a Tri-Pearl, Scorpion 56RG, and a Galaxian laser.

The floor was packed all night, despite the fact that there were casino tables in the same room! HS kids are excellent at letting DJs know when they enjoy a song, and this group was no exception. There were plenty of ‘wooooo’s, ‘yeeeeeeah’s, and ‘yaaaay’s to go around.

I had received a song request list before the event, so I didn’t expect that many requests, but there were still several. The song of the night was, “Circus” by Britney Spears. I think I had at least 8 requests alone for it. Then again, it could have been one or two people sending their friends one at a time to re-request the song until it was played. Yes, we’re actually on to those tricks, don’t think you’re being slick! Here’s a couple of pictures from the night:

After the dance, I talked with Mrs. Sheehey while tearing down equipment about feedback from the night. She stated, (I’m quoting) “You just blew away any DJ these kids have ever seen. I’m pretty sure everyone is going to want you for Prom in April.” She also mentioned that the ASB staff had made me a thank-you card but she had left it behind. I thanked her for the opportunity and then we posed together for a picture.

There’s no doubt that this school dance was a success, and I’m so glad for the opportunity to have made JCS’s Winter Formal a memorable and enjoyable experience!

Congratulations to the winners of the night:

Drawing for free night stay with free dinner and spa treatment at Pala Casino: Emily Warren

Freshman class Prince and Princess: Matt Smith and Alexis Umathem

Sophomore class Prince and Princess: Alex Morgan and Shellen Glahn

Junior class Prince and Princess: Austin Lewis and Amanda Difilipo

Senior King and Queen: Josiah Herrera and Hanna Johnson

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The Westin Gaslamp Quarter – California Ballroom – NetworkFleet Holiday Party

Posted by admin on December 15th, 2009

The Westin Gaslamp Quarter – California Ballroom – NetworkFleet Holiday Party

Client: NetworkFleet Holiday Party
Venue: The Westin Gaslamp Quarter
Venue Address: 910 Broadway Circle, San Diego, California 92101
Number of guests: 150
Services Provided: Corporate Party DJ and Master of Ceremonies, enhanced dance floor lighting, , gobo lighting, second wireless sound system.

NetworkFleet, a leading provider of wireless fleet management services that improve fleet operating efficiency by reducing fuel consumption, maintenance expenses and vehicle emissions, had their holiday party at the The Westin Hotel in the Gaslamp District in downtown San Diego.

San Diego DJ Holiday Inn USS John Paul Jones

Due to the rainy weather, we made preparations to arrive at The Westin ahead of schedule. We set up around 2.5 hours ahead of time, which gave us time to set up a second wireless sound system. NetworkFleet’s party consisted of the California Ballroom, split into two using a large white curtain. On one side of the curtain, there was a dining area where we set up our DJ system. On the other side of the curtain, two bars were set up along with cocktail-hour appetizers. We set up a separate sound system consisting of two Peavey speakers and a 300 watt amp, and sent the same sound being played in the dining area to the amp using wireless transmission, giving guests the ability to hear music while on the other side of the curtain. Two gobo lights loaded with star gobos were placed on the cocktail side of the curtain, shining brightly into the curtain for that holiday atmosphere.

Westin Hotel Holiday Gobos and Uplighting

We played ‘holiday jazz’ for cocktail hour. At the end of the hour, we made the announcement that the dining area was being made available as hotel staff opened the sides of the curtain. Guests shuffled into the dining area, and we switched to adult contemporary classics sprinkled with holiday music. As soon as the guests were all in the dining area, the curtains were once again closed, and staff went to work installing casino tables and readying the room for the casino entertainment that would start after dinner.

During the end of dinner, we started raffling off prizes. I was asked to conduct the raffle, and had no problems obliging. We had some fun with it, drumming up anticipation and giving light commentary on some of the prizes. Food was excellent, and after dinner they brought out two dessert tables full of delicious desserts such as chocolate eclairs, cakes, and many types of cookies and such.

Once dinner was over, we announced that the casino area was now open and invited guests to start gambling, in attempt to win more tickets for the raffle. I had consulted with NetworkFleet beforehand, and cautioned them that nobody would dance if there was a casino going on, and I wasn’t wrong. However, due to the second wireless soundsystem in the casino area, guest were able to listen to the creative mixes we were doing, and I was told that several people mentioned that they enjoyed the music even without the dancing aspect being involved. Of course, after a bit some people did find their way to the dance floor, but honestly it was around 10 people total.

The DJ equipment set up in the dining area with holiday uplighting

After casino time was over, we invited guests back into the dining area and commenced raffling off prizes. After raffles were completed, there was still around 20 mins left until the scheduled end of the party, so I suggested we start up the dance music again, and invited everyone to the dance floor.

I think the guests really had enjoyed the music while gambling, because when there was nothing to distract them, they were all too willing to enjoy our services and hit the dance floor. Due to the positive response, we continued mixing classics and new club hits, and ended up going well over the time scheduled, ending about 30 mins after the event was supposed to end. And that was only because hotel staff came up to me and mentioned that they wanted to get home! haha

All in all it was an enjoyable night. Although it is not our preference to play music when guests are not on the dance floor, the energetic response once casino time was over made it all worthwhile. The staff of NetworkFleet are very nice people, and it was our pleasure to be a part of their celebration.

Oh, and due to an email I received two days after the event, I am pretty certain we are going to enjoy another fun celebratory night with them next year!

Happy Holidays, NetworkFleet!

Holiday Uplighting at Westin Hotel

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Holiday Inn On The Bay – Pacific Ballroom – USS John Paul Jones Holiday Party

Posted by admin on December 14th, 2009

Holiday Inn On The Bay – Pacific Ballroom – USS John Paul Jones Holiday Party

Client: USS John Paul Jones
Venue: Holiday Inn San Diego on the Bay
Venue Address: 1355 North Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101
Number of guests: 250
Services Provided: Military Event DJ and Master of Ceremonies, enhanced dance floor lighting.

The USS John Paul Jones, a Naval Destroyer, had their holiday party at the Holiday Inn On The Bay in the Gaslamp District in downtown San Diego.

San Diego DJ Holiday Inn USS John Paul Jones

We set up around 2 hours ahead of time, giving us ample time to do sound checks. When cocktail hour began, we chose to go with some ‘holiday jazz’. This consists of a special collection of songs we have that are jazz renditions of holiday favorites such as ‘Joy to the World’ and ‘Silent Night’. Being that they are jazz renditions, they rarely have words which allows free flowing dialog, something desired at cocktail hour usually.

After cocktails ended, the CO (Commanding Officer) took a moment to say a few words, including thanking everyone for coming. A few others were invited to come up and speak to the attendees, and then dinner began. At this time, we switched to adult contemporary favorites, which seemed well received by the fact that we could see guests in the buffet line tapping their feet and shaking their bodies to the familiar songs they were hearing.

After dinner, there was a bit more speech, then an initial raffle. When it comes to raffle giveaways, we can honestly say that the USS John Paul Jones team did not skimp at all! They gave away several $20 gift cards, a $50 card, a few $100 cards, and then even a $500 card!

There was a presentation montage shown, then more raffle prizes. This time, they gave away two 12 megapixel Fujitsu digicams, two 4GB iPod Shuffles, and some software.

Open dancing began, and the crowd was really enjoying the music. We did have one issue– it seems the power outlets couldn’t handle the amperage our system required. After two quick outages, we quickly ran a second power cord to a different outlet and moved half our system to the second outlet. No more issues occurred after that.

More raffles occurred, and even bigger prizes were given away, including two Toshiba laptops, two XBOX360s, three PS3s, three PSPs, two 52″ LCD TVs, and then two grand prizes of vacations in Oahu and Vegas.

Dancing commenced again, and the floor stayed packed until the last minute of the party. The guests really enjoyed the music selection and our ability to take requests and still beatmatch and mix them into the system.

Oh one last tidbit- The highlight of the dance time was when we dropped in “I’m On a Boat”. Being that they were Navy, they sure enjoyed that song, and many sang along with it happily.

Happy Holidays to the crew members of the USS John Paul Jones, and thanks for inviting us to be a part of your celebration!

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Hidden Meadows Community Center – Sweet 16 Birthday Party – Breanna Schlatter

Posted by admin on December 7th, 2009

Hidden Meadows Community Center

- Breanna Schlatter Sweet 16 Birthday Party

Client: Rick and Angela Schlatter
Venue: Hidden Meadow Community Center – Pavilion Room
Venue Address: 10141 Meadow Glen Way East, CA 92026
Number of guests: 70
Services Provided: Birthday DJ, enhanced dance floor lighting, emcee (raffle announcements and dance-contest)

It is always nice to have a change of pace, so this week we took a break from the weddings and corporate parties and instead DJ’d a sweet-16 birthday party for Breanna Schlatter and her friends. Breanna’s father, Rick Schlatter, contacted me after Breanna’s mother, Angela, was referred to me by a local wedding planner who recommended us after working with us at a wedding. Angela said the wedding planner’s name was Liz, but was unable to recall Liz’s last name. We’re still hoping to find it out because we would like to thank her for the referral!

Their musical choices included mostly top-40, but they enjoyed the occasional Journey and Disturbed (yes, Disturbed!) song as well.

My camera was unavailable for the event so until the guests and/or host provide me with a picture or two I have nothing to show our viewers, but I can safely say that they enjoyed themselves and the entertainment we provided.

To segment the flow of the night, Breanna’s mom, Angela Schlatter, had us give away random prizes (ie. candy) by pausing every half-hour or so to select a raffle ticket from a cup and award one lucky winner with their choice of prizes.

As anyone who DJs teen parties knows, they love their top-40. But, the surprise genre of the night actually ended up being… techno! We’re not talking about the standard club electro house, or even relatively tame stuff by Cascada, we’re talking adrenaline-filled high-energy techno, such as Basshunter, Darude, and Alice DeeJay. This just goes to show you that the youth of today are not all top-40 drones, some actually go outside of the box and find classic music to enjoy as well!

Toward the end of the night, I was elected to judge a ‘dance-off’ contest. The contest consisted of one song (Good Girls Go Bad, by Cobra Starship) and each teen giving it their all to impress us with their dancing. The lucky winner ended up being Melissa (I never got her last name). Congratulations to Melissa for being the best dancer of the bunch!

All in all, it was great night. Kids enjoyed top-4o, sprinkled with mashups of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song, uptempo remixes of their current favs (Whatcha say by Jason Derulo), and even some classic rock such as Journey and the Beatles.

Happy birthday, Breanna, and thanks for having us as part of your wonderful birthday celebration!

For those that are interested in requests, here’s some of the requests I received before the night of the event:

Tootie Frooty – Prod by Polow Da Don
Down – Jay Sean
Kiss me through the phone – SoljaBoy
Dead and Gone – TI featuring Justin Timberlake
Africa – Karl Wolf
Just Dance – Lady Gaga
Poker Face – Lady Gaga
Right Around – Flo Rida
Day N Nite – Kid Cuddi
Obsessed – Mariah Carrey
Run this town – Jay – Z
Paparazzi – Lady Gaga
Single Ladies – Beyonce
Love Game – Lady Gaga
Love Lockdown – Kenye West
Heartless – Kenye West
Boom Boom Pow – Black Eyed Peas
I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas
Paper Planes – M.I.A
Its goin’ down – yung joc
This is why I am hot – MIMS
Bringing Sexy Back – Justin Timberlake
Get low – Lil Jon
Drop it low – Ester Dean
Lip Gloss – Lil Mama
Sweet Dreams – Beyonce
Hips Don’t Lie – Shakira
She Wolf – Shakira
“I know you want me” – Pitbull
Good girls go bad – Cobra Starship
Love Drunk – Boy like Girls
“Say Hey” – Michael Franti & Spearhead
“You Belong with me” – Taylor Swift
Watcha Say – Jason DeRub
“Party in the U.S.A – Miley Cyrus
You’re a Jerk – New boyz
Birthday Song – Happy Birthday – Beatles

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Coronado Candelas Wedding – Ruby and Antonio

Posted by admin on November 22nd, 2009

Coronado Candelas Wedding – Ruby and Antonio

Client: Antonio and Ruby Jaramillo
Venue: Candelas On The Bay Restaurant
Venue Address: 1201 First street #115, Coronado CA 92118
Number of guests: 80+
Services Provided: Wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies, uplighting (table underlighting), enhanced dance floor lighting

Ruby and Antonio currently reside in Los Angeles, but chose to have their wedding at Candelas On The Bay in San Diego, to accommodate family members (and because San Diego is a great place for a wedding, of course!). Antonio is a successful hollywood actor, whose work includes television dramas, sitcoms, major motion pictures, theatre and voiceover work. The talent is not one-sided in this relationship, however, as Ruby is an accomplished graphic designer who excels at marketing promotion.

Antonio contacted us after being referred from a friend who had seen us perform at a wedding in San Diego. We met with him and Ruby and discussed a few details, and both of us left the meeting confident in the fact that together we were going to make their night magical. It helped that they were using Candelas, and we’ve been on Candelas preferred vendor list for a while now. One of their managers, Karen Houpt, worked with us at a previous wedding, and ever since then she is first to recommend us when any of her clients are in need of a DJ.

San Diego Wedding Venue Candelas On The Bay

When we met, Ruby was particularly interested in uplighting. She has been previously discouraged about extra lighting because Candelas has so much atmosphere lighting already, but had never been introduced to the concept of ‘underlighting’. I showed her some example pictures, and she was convinced. After some consideration, she decided to use aqua underlighting on the head table, gift table, and cake table. The end result was beautiful, and they received compliments not only from their guests, but even patrons of the restaurant came over to tell them how wonderful the underlighting effect was.

Cake Table Uplighting (Underlighting)

Head Table and Gift Table Uplighting (Underlighting)

Setup was smoother this time since we are now well-acquainted with the layout of Candelas. My assistant Jay Villaruel set up the dance floor lightshow, while I took care of the DJ system, and uplighting. It was an interesting arrangement, because the wedding was not private, and the restaurant was still open for business so the ‘dance floor area’ was full of tables and restaurant patrons eating meals. We set up quickly and then went to mingle. While dining was going on, several restaurant patrons inquired about our DJ system. We took opportunity to proudly show them the capabilities of Serato Scratchlive and demonstrate how Wedding DJing can still be done with vinyl to provide club DJ entertainment techniques to a wedding reception’s open dance segments.

Serato Demonstration by DJ Dennis J

The event did not start until the patrons in that area were finished and the tables were removed to create a dance floor for the wedding reception.

Creative Music DJs set up at Candelas in Coronado

The reception went well. We started with toasts, and proceeded to first dance and a father daughter dance. For their first dance, they contracted us to develop a mix using several of their favorite songs, starting slow, moving to energetic, then back to slow. Interested in listening to it? Here it is!

Draft-DJ Dennis J-Ruby and Antonio First Dance by DJDennisJ

Open dancing started with some salsa and cumbia, per the couple’s requests. Throughout the evening, we mixed back and forth from latin hits to current club hits. The interspersing was received well, and even restaurant patrons were chanting to some of the songs and having fun with the wedding guests.

open dancing with the bride and groom having fun

Guests of the wedding enjoying the dance floor

The dance floor stayed packed all night long, which is always what we strive for. Several guests came up and requested songs of both American and Latin, and we were happy to play many of the ones requested. After the event was over, the Ruby and Antonio thanked us several times, and were happy to pose for some memorable pictures.

Dennis J and Jay Villaruel with Antonio

Congratulations to Ruby and Antonio, and thanks to both of them for inviting us to be a part of their special night!

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Marriott Hotel Del Mar – Military Ball

Posted by admin on November 17th, 2009

Military Ball Video and Pics

Client: Paul Quigg
Venue Type: Marriott Hotel in Del Mar
Venue Address: 11966 El Camino Real, San Diego, CA 92130-2592
Number of guests: 350+
Services Provided: Club music, premium dance floor lighting, wireless microphone

Creative Music DJs Equipment Setup for a Military Ball

Paul Quigg, a Marine stationed in San Diego in the Wounded Warrior Battallion-West, contracted us to perform at their annual Military Ball. We provided music for their cocktail hour, dinner, and open dancing.

Marine Corp Ball Cocktail Hour

For those that do not know, the Marine Corp Ball is also the Marine Corp birthday celebration. To symbolize this, they have a ceremony and then a ‘cutting of the birthday cake’ ritual. The cool thing is that they bring the cake out with a lot of fanfare and then cut it with a SWORD! Yes, a sword. There’s not many cooler ways to cut cake, right? I mean, maybe a laser cutter, or a circular saw, but other than those, a SWORD pretty much tops the cake (pun intended).

Marine Corp Birthday Cake

The gig was a lot of fun. It was a six-hour event, with cocktail hour and dinner, like all military balls we’ve had the pleasure of being a part of. For a few video snippets and highlights see the video below. To hire us for your military ball, please visit our check availability page.

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San Diego DJ is a victim of identity theft (stolen DJ Insurance papers)!

Posted by admin on November 5th, 2009

I’m a victim of IDENTITY THEFT! A lady in New York is using my DJ insurance papers as her own. No kidding. Check her page out at identity thief. Watch her slideshow, and when you see the insurance papers, click on them. Those are my insurance papers, for Creative Music DJs of San Diego, which you can see here in my blog: San Diego DJ Insurance.

Do any of my blog readers have any experience in this area? What do I do? I found this out by a guy that had been stiffed by this lady so him and his wife started doing research on her to take to the cops. They came across her slideshow and called me after they found my insurance papers.

I’m worried that she might be handing out my insurance contract as part of her ‘proof of insurance’ when she DJs at different venues in NY. Is that possible? If she were to do something wrong and the venue tried to use my insurance, couldn’t I be in for a potentially long legal fight? I’ve worked long and hard to keep a good reputation throughout the years, and I can’t risk it being destroyed by something out of my control!

Please comment if you have advice!

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Pacific Ridge School – Halloween School Dance

Posted by admin on November 3rd, 2009

Pacific Ridge School – Halloween School Dance

Client: Amy Wasserman
Venue Type: School
Venue Address: 6260 El Fuerte Street, Carlsbad, CA 92009
Number of guests: 120+
Services Provided: Dance (mostly top-40) music, premium dance floor lighting, wired microphone

Pacific Ridge School celebrated Halloween with a Friday night school dance, and Creative Music DJs was sub-contracted to provide the entertainment.
For those that do not know the location of Pacific Ridge School, let me tell you, it’s not easy to find in the dark! Our GPS took us to the side of a hill, which we apparently would need to go off-roading on in order to reach the school. Well, even though we have a Ford F-250 diesel truck, we were towing a trailer full of equipment that didn’t seem like it would do well in an off-road scenario, so we opted to find another route. After driving around a bit, we found a way around the hill and made it to the school.

The staff of Pacific Ridge School are very pleasant and helpful. The night security officer in specific was very helpful and friendly, and even helped bring some equipment in. While setting up, we attached an iPod to one of our powered speakers and started a playlist of spooky halloween sounds just to get the kids in the mood for the evening.

The kids were very excited to dance, several of which commenting on just that as we was setting up. Amy had not requested fog, just premium lighting, so we went with an assorted display of Vue IIIs, Mystiques, and a Galaxian laser.

The floor was packed all night, despite the fact that there were booths going on outside the dance room. Kids are notorious for letting DJs know when they like something, and this group was no exception. You could hear the exclamations of excitement when the songs they loved were played, as well as their thrills when a smooth transition was made into a song they had requested.

We set up a request form on the side of the DJ booth table, and kids were directed to write their requests into it. Next to each song, we would put a symbol, one meaning “we will not play this because of language”, another “we will not play this because of content”, and another meaning, “yes, expect this soon!”. In this way, we gave instant feedback and avoided repeat requests.

After the dance, we chatted with the students while tearing down equipment and received good feedback from them. We also talked with Amy and asked her to fill out a comment card, which she did, checking “excellent” in the area which asks for performance review. She also thanked us for maintaining clean versions all night long. There’s no doubt that this school dance was a success, and that the students will be talking favorably about it for weeks to come.

Thanks to Amy Wasserman, Primo DJs (for the referral), and the students and staff of Pacific Ridge School for inviting us to be a part of their halloween dance!

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