So, a week later, here is the report…
IT WENT AWESOME!!!
I snuck a shot of vodka before hand because I will admit that I was a bit nervous. I got there a bit early and set up my gear, checked sound, the PA was mediocre, but I made it work. I brought a buddy with me, and it made things easier. The cut the overhead lights about 15 minutes til 10 and the place looked great. They really did a good job with the lighting and the place was made for performance. I put on some chillstep as the doors opened, thinking it would take a while to get going. I was wrong, about 60 people were waiting when they opened the doors. People meandered around for a bit, but by 10:30, people were starting to dance.
I was warned beforehand that a different crowd comes in about 12 and they are used to rap and would be expecting it. However, by 11:30 there were at least 200 people there and the place was going crazy. I started getting requests, and they were in the genre I play, or close enough to keep in the flow. By 12, the place was full, 325-350 people. And the crowd they warned about came in. I got constant requests for stuff I would not play to save my life. One person told me that if I just played the songs he told me to, then everyone would dance. I looked at him, looked at the crowd (yep, still going ape shit), looked back at him, pointed at the crowd and told him where he could go…
About 1:30 I put on an exceptionally dirty remix of Clarity and ran out to the balcony for a quick smoke. As I walked out, the breakdown hit and everyone in the room was singing. It was the greatest feeling.
In the end, I am glad I stuck to my guns, I know that the majority had fun and people danced until the lights came on at 2:30. I did learn that I need to get comfortable using the mic as it is the only thing that scared me all night.
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