If you're searching for the one of  the  best prom venues in San Jose, look no further than Coyote Ranch Event Center. We recently had the pleasure of DJing Westmont High School’s prom for the third year in a row—and it’s easy to see why schools keep coming back to this incredible location.

What makes Coyote Ranch such a standout prom venue? For starters, the spacious 33-acre layout provides endless flexibility. From open lawns to rustic barns and covered pavilions, there’s room to dance, dine, and create unforgettable memories under the stars. During this year’s prom, we set up on the main stage and used a unique speaker arrangement—six speakers positioned around the area—to deliver crystal-clear sound across the venue. No matter where guests were seated or playing games, the music was on point.

We also tried something new this year: two DJ stations and three DJs rotating throughout the night. This quick-mix format kept the energy high and the dancefloor packed all night. It was a huge hit with students and staff alike.

Coyote Ranch’s accessibility and ample parking make it an easy choice for schools looking to ensure a smooth, stress-free event. Plus, its natural beauty and private setting create a safe and visually stunning environment—ideal for any prom theme, from boho-chic to classic Hollywood glam.

With its versatility, charm, and proven success as a prom venue, Coyote Ranch truly shines as one of San Jose’s top event spaces. Whether you're planning a large-scale celebration or a more intimate prom night, this venue delivers.

Book early to lock in your date at Coyote Ranch Event Center—where unforgettable prom nights come to life.

It is crazy that 1982 didn’t seem like that long ago. I do remember the 80s. It has some of the best music of all time. There is so much to choose from. When doing a reunion, you have to see what year the group graduated and you can search the years. So for 1982 we were looking at 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983. Its good to capture a year before they entered high school and a year after high school. I will look for the hits of the year. One of the theories I always come across is the late 70s folks were labeled two types: One type was the rockers and the other type was the disco folks. Rarely they were both it was one or the other.

Our contact gave us a list which I will post right now and it was pretty much all rock based. These songs that were included was Boston, Queen, Reo Speed Wagon, Elton John, Journey, Jackson Brown, Eagles, Simon and Garfunkel, Lynard Skynard, Def Leppard, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Tom Petty, Billy Joel, The Cars, Foreigner, Styx, Van Halen, and Supertramp.

Its always good to prepare. We had all the rock music and in our back pocket we had the disco just in case. And it was good that we were prepared with disco since most of the folks wanted it at the event.

I would usually do the sound for graduation for Mt. Madonna in Gilroy. I did it 2018 and 2019 then the world was closed for a bit. 2020 and 2021 there were no graduations for the public. This year we were now open and we had a nice graduation celebration in Gilroy. Students invited their guests to come to the celebration.

It was not too hot for this graduation. I brought two 15 inch speakers and it was enough sound for the amphitheater. I used my older 15-inch speakers since they can take a licking and keep on ticking. Even though I had the tanks working for me I had a few more speakers in reserve in my car. Back in 2018 the Gilroy heat took out one of my speakers. Luckily I had another that took its place for the event.

Thirty minutes before the graduation I play the preceremony music while the graduates are getting situated. This time around I went will old school that everyone knows and did something different. I threw in acoustics of songs that everyone knows. I was playing Ed Shereen songs and Rihanna covers.

I like the graduations at Mt Madonna since they have a rose dedication ceremony. The graduates give a rose to someone who was there for them. I play a 3 minutes song, which is plenty of time to find that special someone to give the rose to.

At the end the graduates officially graduate and its party time. I played a festive song and threw in a Spanish banger just to finish things off.

99 percent of the schools I do events for the student body provides of their songs they like to hear. I also recommend that it’s a combined effort from different students to make sure you get different types of music.  I try to find them and I make sure they are school appropriate then I put it in the playlist. If the song does have profanity, then I can edit it so the bad words cannot be heard but for the most part the songs I find are clean. The list that they give me is a good starting point. They may give me 50 to 60 songs. If you think about it, you can play around 25 songs per hour and you have 2 hours of music to choose from that list. Most school events are 3 to 4 hours and proms are like 5 hours. From the list you can get similar songs that fit the vibe that school is trying to have.

The small percentage of schools who provide a list of must plays and cannot play other songs can also work. The only difference is the school has to do most of the prep work to send the list and it has to be enough for 4 to 5 hours if it’s like for a 3-hour event. Some songs are really good to dance to while others may not be much of a hit. So the dj too has to prep to locate pretty much all the songs on the list so to keep the party going. The dj cannot rely on his/her crutch of other school’s playlists to help in a jam. The event I did this past fall it went pretty well. I just went by their list and made it work. Students were very respectful and it was a good time. 

What do I prefer? I can do both. When I have a playlist where I can stray from I can use prior school dance lists where students really enjoyed the music. It would take less time to prep. With only songs to be played on this list dances, it helps me focus on new songs I never considered and I can incorporate in my rotation. 

Please consider Black and White Affair DJ services for your High School Dance event. From August to November 2021 we did 5 high school dances and loved every minute of it. We have the experience and the sound to keep the dance floor packed and school officials content!

After being shut down from any dances for a year and a half, high schoolers have been itching to dance. One of the main questions I had would songs from 2020 and 2021 be popular or would students be leaning toward the old school. Platforms like Tic Tok have brought back old school for the youngsters. Songs that you wouldn’t think students would know are songs students know the lyrics to. Have I seen any a change from pre covid events to current at the High School dance floors?

What hasn’t changed is the students take a while to warm up. Knowing this I have saved the beginning of the dance for the new and old pop songs that everyone knows. It’s not to get anybody dancing yet since I believe in saving the dessert for the packed dancefloor. At this time people are coming to the dance and seeing what is happening. At the events I did most students were either going to the food trucks or taking photos at the photo booth.

Some folks think the line dance is way cliché but it always works. The ones that the students really liked were the Cupid Shuffle and going old school with the YMCA. Those songs worked for all the 4 dances. Everyone was loving Miley Cyrus with Party in the USA and Justin Bieber’s Baby. Speaking of songs that students like to sing along to Taylor Swift was like magic with the students. Pitbull had a few hits on the student dancefloor with Tonight with Ne-yo and Fireball. I did notice Calvin Harris hits such as We Found Love and Feels so Close got everyone bouncing up and down. 

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Homecoming at Kings Academy

This is the first time I am doing a dance right after a football game. The dance starts at 9 and will finish close to midnight. I had a list of over 300 songs. A lot of the songs were very good dance music. These were the songs I can use for the event and could not stray from the list. It does have a feel good vibe with the music. 

 I was underneath a huge tent and my power was close by. I was able to set up my big boy speakers and lights in an hour time. It did take some more time since I had to take my gear through a few gates from my car. 

 I loved the positive energy. Once I was set up a girl from the leadership team asked if I needed a drink or snacks. Then she came up again and asked if I was ok. That was awesome!!!

At the end of the night I got assistance in putting my gear away which was a big help.

At the beginning of the dance I knew it would be different. At the start, students were at the front and cheering in all the students that came in. Imagine hearing the applause when you walked in! Some students would run in. Some of the artists that were on the list were Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber. The list itself was preapproved so the content was student appropriate. I did notice they would like to bounce with the cool house/edm songs.

Overall a fabulous night with Kings Academy. These students were ready to dance and they had the positive vibe!