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.

 We love us some Homecoming dances. Last week we were at Westmont High School and we did homecoming dance at their gym. Their playlist was very solid. It was all older music that truly hits.  We love playing for Westmont since we played at their proms the past two years.

 The following week we were at Independence High School and they had their function outside. They had a cool low-rider van that was a  photo booth. Their list was a long list that had a lot of hard hitting hits and some current ones too. It was a very strong high school dance list. Love the fact we can use the strong old school hits of Westmont and the very current list with the hits from Independence and use that will the next homecomings that we have planned for October. We have two more homecomings happening in October that we are excited for. We love the fact that high schools call us back to do their homecomings and proms. Doing high school homecoming dances are different from doing other   events.  Most events you play background music then you go for dance music. High school homecoming events is straight energy from the start to the end.   There is no break in the action.

 Most homecoming dances are held the day after the big game. There was one school we did events for that would have the dance right after the game so it was a late night!

Black and White Affair can you do an event on a weekday? Not a problem. Can you do it at noon? We can do it. Did we mention it is for 800 people? Only 800 people will be attending in Santa Clara, we got you. That is how we do it. We were emailed recently about doing this event and we didn’t flinch. They wanted to make some announcements and play old school music. They made sure we had insurance and added them to our policy for their protection. They had 5 LLCs and we added them all. They also had invited some food trucks so it was a festive time.

 We welcome corporate events when they call us. We take pride is quick and prompt responses since we too operate like a corporation. Time is of the essence. We show up in advance and create the vibe for the event. We make sure our music is appropriate and loud enough for everyone to hear but not to loud that it disrupts people conversation if its dinner time. We judge on when to go loud or if it needs to be background music.

 The stage was small so we had the presenters be the main attraction as we spread out the speakers in front of the stage to cover more area. The dj set up behind the stage but can still see what was going on so they can read the crowd. We love events like this because the employer is showing appreciation to their employees.

 One of the most fun I have as a dj is playing at a retail store. The instruction is to play fun feel good music. This is as open format I can get. Open format is just a bit of everything. Typical djs stick with one genre. Open format djs cover a wide array of music to satisfy the diverse crowds. With Sherman Oaks I wanted to go with an old school disco 80s theme so I went that route. I feel Donna Summers was the biggest hits of that day. I was there for three hours and it was a good time.

  For Brea I went with a Latin theme and old school plus some feel good classics. It was for five hours. Typically, when I play I give out a card or two but today I gave out like 10 cards and two folks talked to me about doing their wedding in 2025. What made it different this time around? I just bounced all over the place with some Latin gems then going to some 90s dance hits then hitting the disco hits. I added some dance hits the past 10 years. I think I solved the puzzle for a cool retail store is to play songs people know and play the original song. Nothing really needs to be housed up. People want to hear songs they know the words to. Also its good to smile at the patrons when they pass by and not be too focused on what you are going to play next but enjoy the moment and it makes the dj more approachable.