Real Life Events: Customer Appreciation Halloween Party at a Apartment Complex (Bay Area Dj serving San Jose, Campbell, Morgan Hill, and Gilroy)

  I really enjoy working with this Apartment complex located in Campbell. This is the second event we have done this year with them. They tell me what they need and give me a good list to work from. A lot of the songs were r&b songs with some being new and some older. A few country songs were sprinkled in the mix too. They did a fantastic job decorating the area. Above where I was stationed there was 6-foot black spider. The swimming pool area was decorated with spider webs and in the pool were balloons from the movie It. In the casino room the windows were blacked out and there was blood all over the place. This had to be one of the best decorated spots I ever played it.

 The taco people were there handing out tacos to the folks and they had bartenders making spooky drinks. I can tell that this Apartment complex take care of their folks. I never hear of places doing nice things like this. They had a summer party and now a Halloween party.

So they had me put a speaker in the spooky room where they had tables and another speaker toward the swimming pool. So everyone could hear the music and hear the announcements. We did have a costume contest in which we voted for the scariest, most creative and most realistic. At the end we had some dancing with 80s music. It was a fun event and loved the fact that the apartment threw it for its people.

  We did back to back homecoming dances in San Jose. We do like doing high school dances. We do like them since we have an advantage compared to most other Djs. We compile the hottest songs that we get from all the high school dances that we do and mix it with the songs that the school requested. There are a lot of good songs out there to keep students dancing but the secret sauce is to play songs to build up energy and then mix into the next one quickly. It is crazy what the power of the quick mix can do with the energy of the crowd.

   We got to do Overfelt’s Home coming a few weeks ago and we had it indoors.  They gave us a good playlist and it was a good time. The following week we did James Licks homecoming dance.  The music was outside and the party was inside and outside. Loved the energy of the students. They were loving the edam music and loved the Latin music. There was a lot of Latin music played and danced to. As a dj, you have to be able to play and mix different genres.

  Both Overfelt and James Lick are awesome. They were very easy to work with.  Both sent over a dynamite Spotify list. Then the schools sent over maps of their school so we knew where to set up. It was just a really nice process and efficient.  Love it when schools are on top of it!

We had a party on the 17th floor in downtown San Jose. The Capitol Club is a scenic venue that can created bigger spaces if needed to hold functions. Love it that they validated my parking so I was able to save 12 dollars!

  We had it up and ready with 45 minutes to spare. We were starting at 6 but it was like 630 when people started showing up. We had some few Spanish songs and 60s and 70s songs for the cocktail hour. They had open bar for the party.

 At 730 they had a trio playing Mexican music. They sounded really good and their system was top notch. At the end of their set, they sang the Mananitas then sang Happy Birthday then went into La Bamba. Then it was my time to take over at 9:20. My goal was to keep everyone on the floor till 11. We were going with the Spanish songs from the list then I threw in some other cumbias. But what was the crowd favorite being the funk and disco. That is what got them. We finished the night with two sing alongs. Loved the fact that we were about to bounce around and jump into hip hop at the end then ended it when I love it that way by backstreet boys and Vicente Fernandez finished it off with volver volver.

  Staff were awesome at Capitol club. They were very accommodating. They set me up with power and gave me a cart which is a life saver since we have to use elevators.

 Party was at 6 and I was set up with plenty time to spare. Decided to do the spooky songs when it got darker. I was mostly playing pop songs since it was an elementary school.  As the night progressed there were more announcements. They were going to have a dance mob to the song Thriller so I made sure I did not play that at all. 

  The folks leading the dance brought their own speaker but it is always better to connect with the main system since there are two raised speakers as opposed to one speaker on the floor. I made sure I had the connection for the laptop   already set up on the mixer. There were about 30 folks doing the Thriller dance. Then later they were giving lessons on how to do the dance for anyone who wanted to learn and gave them the chance to perform it.

  I did a function for the school a month ago so I didn’t want to do the same line dances plus the same games. It is good to switch it up.  We did the musical chairs which is always a hit and we made sure we had the younger folks with the younger folks then moved up with the older folks.  We ended up doing three rounds.

  We did have a big crowd right before we were supposing to close so we went 30 minutes longer. I was going strictly by their playlist then at the end I took some fun pop requests.

Sometimes a school wants to celebrate Halloween so they throw at Trunk or Treat event. What is a Trunk or Treat event you may ask? Parents get to the event early who are participating and give out candy outside their trunk to trick and treaters. It is a safe way to go trick or treating in a secure parking lot and kids don’t have to worry about moving cars.

  So there has to be other events going on than parents giving out candy. They have to be games and maybe some dancing for kids and their parents. So to prep I look for classic Halloween songs that everyone knows. Then I look for sound effects that can add some spookiness to the   event. Sound effects like a witch cackling or a werewolf howling at the moon. We are planning to add some line dancing so students and parents can get into it.  Some games we are thinking of running are musical chairs, and follow the leader. We all know musical chairs but follow the leader is when one student leads the group with a dance and the group follows. We will have different students lead the dances and folks will get a kick out of it.

  Also it is good to have songs that are appropriate for family function events and add some Halloween classics in the mix then you cannot go wrong.  Also good to have a good mic presence to get the attention for each event.  Also it would good to cone off the dJ area and the game area since crowd tend to crowd the dj area.

 There are many ways to do a Latin Party. You can have one at your house which is a lot of work.  You will have to prep your house with decorations and order chairs and have the food ready.  Or you can have one at a venue which can provide a space for you and have a food at the location already.  Why not have a Latin party at a Mexican restaurant. We had our party at the Green Onion in San Pedro.  They had a regular restaurant with a banquet room.

  I got there and the mariachi was playing. When they had a break then I started to set up the gear. It’s a beautiful thing when vendors work together to make it happen. Some folks can be difficult but this Mariachi was very accommodating. They had their instruments in the area I wanted to set up and told me it was ok.

  People were dancing with the mariachi so I wanted to keep the party going. I had the choice of old school music or Spanish music and of course I went Spanish. We went Spanish for a little bit then they wanted 70s party music. Bee Gees here we come! It is fabulous to go from Spanish to English party music. There is so much too choose from. You can do like 3 to 5 songs of one genre then jump around to get more engagement. Overall it was a fun night in San Pedro. People were about to talk on the mic and gave kind words to the birthday girl.

 Recently got a call from a daughter who wanted to help throw a 60 year anniversary party for her parents.  I spoke with her then eventually I talked with dad to get his approval. They   just did not want a party with just music.  It was something more elaborate and needed more details and planning.

  I got there about an hour and 15 minutes early and I set up in about 20 minutes. Started playing instrumentals until five. Cocktail music was played till 540 and then the honored couple had a grand entrance and they danced to their walk in song. Groom said a thank you   then daughter did a toast. Then around 6 we had tables go to the buffet as we played dinner music. Then the bride and groom had a first dance then followed with the daughters dancing with their dad. They had a Richie Valens song for the cake cutting song. Then from 8 to 10 we had 7 dedication songs where people were dedicated songs and they were shouted out. The last song was a pretty Louis Armstrong classic. We ended up going an extra hour since people wanted to keep on dancing.

 It was a fun night since there was a good balance. We did play a lot of songs that the bride and groom liked to dance to then we would go with music that the 20 and 30 year olds would really get into. It wasn’t jut one type of genre.  It felt like we had two parties at one location. Its important to know who will be at the party so you can plan your music sets.

  About 5 years ago I did the 45th year reunion for Leland that we celebrated at the Los Gatos Lodge. I do remember it was a good time when I looked up their playlist from their first event I did for them. This list was a little different from the previous party since it was all old school. Last time, they had some current hits sprinkled in. This year we had the party in Villa Regusa in Campbell. Downtown Campbell is not the easiest place to park but there is first floor parking in the garage. You have the option of taking your do gear up the elevator or take it up the stairs. There was another function but it did not interfere with the function we were having. I was all set up and I was playing 30 minutes before schedule.

  So getting music for this class was a good time. I looked at 1968 19691970 1971 1972 1973 and 1974. I found the best rock hits and dance hits. I always ask for a list to make each event custom. Then I combine all the songs on my computer. I strive to play all their songs on their list while incorporating songs I feel that would enhance the event.

  The night started with some words with the host then the comedian started. Comedian was a pro who also graduated with the Leland class. He was a very funny guy who connected with the crowd who had the crowd laughing the whole time.