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DJs at Festivals? WTF?


Bilbo
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[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1439210014' post='2840826']
More often than not, it is the debates that are important and not the conclusions!
[/quote]

Are you still 'aghast' at these artists being programmed at festivals, then, or has there been any understanding in the above..? Not that one has to [i]like [/i]the genre, of course, but at least recognise its legitimacy..?

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At Donington monsters of rock festivals ( only one dayers) , we had the Bailey Brothers . "Rock not pop". Juvenile and atrocious .
A different type of dj I know ;) TBH , not all of these modern dj's are bad. Some are excellent . I think there is a skill involved , keeping hundreds/ thousands of people happy. As for nightclubs ; used to be mainly for soul boys , ( and girls) and smoothies. Oh, and don't forget the fights . Don't miss them at all. Now , the youngsters have their weekends in town centres . You know the rest.

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[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1439209654' post='2840822']
Modern drum kits were frowned upon; indeed, some still profess, to this day, that a 'medium' tom is a heresy.
[/quote]

It has certainly been the case that the medium tom has in latter years met with the disapproval of church conservatives. That said, His Holiness Pope Francis expressed a more radical opinion in his Papal Encyclical in June this year, professing himself open to persuasion not only about the medium tom but also in respect of the paper and comb.

By contrast, the clique surrounding the Emeritus Pope Benedict continue to view such matters with the gravest suspicion. I await the Vatican Council with interest; the debate on 'Stylophones in The Liturgy' will be a litmus test for the church's position over the next decade.

[i]Rev Rupert 'Beefy' Bingham[/i]
[i]The Rectory[/i]
[i]Much Matchingham[/i]

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In my student days my University, friends and I use to frequent the nights where the BIG names used to DJ... Sasha, John Digweed et al. It was fun at the time. The DJ's reportedly got paid substantial amounts...Jeremy Healy was billed as playing one club we used to go to, by the time we got there at about 10pm he'd already buggered off to 'play' another club up country (that did get us in free the next week because we kicked up such a stink :D)

It was ok back then but it soon lost its appeal and for me the music just became stale and lacked any innovation so I went back to going to live gigs. I suppose the DJ's became like most covers bands, playing the safe well known material to guarantee a certain crowd response.

I went to see a mate of mine from way back a few weeks ago. He's into writing EDM and wanted some 'live' bass on some tracks. I've got to be honest it didn't inspire me to go back and team up with him.

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I would blame the death of 'nightclubs' on over priced drinks and pubs that can now stay open as late as they want.

One poster was saying, the other week, that their band is now being asked to start at 10 and play until 1am.

A group of my friends went to a festival on Saturday, not a band in sight. 10,000 people went to see the DJs paying £45 a ticket. That's a nice little earner.

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[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1439210273' post='2840830']
Are you still 'aghast' at these artists being programmed at festivals, then, or has there been any understanding in the above..? Not that one has to [i]like [/i]the genre, of course, but at least recognise its legitimacy..?
[/quote]

Still aghast, I am afraid. I can see that there is a skill to this but, rather like hanging wallpaper or fitting a carpet around a toilet, just because someone has a skill that I lack, doesn't mean they I accept the argument that they should be on the stage!! :lol:

PS I suspect anyone who likes this stuff quite rightly doesn't give a rat's arse what I think :lol:

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Despite being an old fart myself, it's not just playing a few wax cylinders. Some DJs actually make up their own music using computer generated jiggery pokery, occasionally borrowing the odd riff. Whether they should be allowed out of their bedrooms is another matter ;)

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Who are we to cavil if the DJs are fulfilling a need? It's not as if actors say 'Musicians lack the skills I possess; I do not accept the argument they should be on stage.'

The point being, it's not us who gets to decide what's popular and what isn't. It's the punters, God love them.

And even though I'm an old Bob, well, frankly I'm getting so bored with lumpen rock combos churning out recycled riffs I'd quite welcome a change. So I might go to one of these DJ gigs. Doubtless the chickies are more pleasing to the eye than the customary 'band' audiences of chin-stroking, blokey dotards in belly-bulging Marshall T-shirts.

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[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1439213791' post='2840894']
Audiences of any kind would be nice....
[/quote]

That's why I'm getting onto the 'acoustic / singer-songwriter /folk' circuit. Audiences full of bespectacled, elfin-like women with 'issues' and who cry themselves to sleep at night.

As I always say to them, 'I may not be Mr Right but I'll f*** you until he turns up'.

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[size=4][quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1439213455' post='2840891']
...frankly I'm getting so bored with lumpen rock combos churning out recycled riffs I'd quite welcome a change. So I might go to one of these DJ gigs.[/quote][/size]
[font=Helvetica][size=3]
[size=4]I went to a ‘proper’ club night last year - first time in [i]ages[/i] - The Warehouse Project in Manchester. 4000 or so punters. Certainly having it large.[/size][/size][/font]
[font=Helvetica][size=3]
[size=4]Quite strict searches and sniffer dogs on the door… until it got to me and my mates. We were waved through without even a cursory fondle, I can only assume because we looked too old to be capable of indulging in ‘substances’.[/size][/size][/font]
[font=Helvetica][size=3]
[size=4]All this despite me being loaded on that morning’s Haliborange and some Boots own brand hayfever tablets. Suckers! [/size] :crazy: [/size][/font]
[font=Helvetica][size=3]
[size=4]Was a fun night. Not really any different to how I remember rave culture to be, but the crowd were lovely and evidently enjoying themselves.[/size][/size][/font]
[font=Helvetica][size=3]
[size=4]I’m going again in December to see Leftfield…[/size][/size][/font]

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Years ago I went on a lads holiday to Ibiza and although not into dance music went to the legendary Manumission. It was an amazing night and the way the DJs got the crowd going was amazing. The mixing of the tracks was certainly an art form. I thing the only thing is, like with keyboard playing is how do you know the mixing is live and the not prerecorded? That's the problem I have.

I remember a comedian saying why would you go to a club just to see a specific DJ. It's not like you go to the movies and ask which projectionist is on tonight! :)

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One of my most memorable festival experiences was a DJ set by System 7 (I think it was Steve Hillage and Alex Patterson actually onstage). It was nothing at all like their recording output but it was fantastic - a mix of vinyl and laptop and largely their own material as far as I could tell - very minimal, big squelchy bass sounds and drums and not much else but amazing sense of building excitement, tension and release and such. There would have been no point in doing it 'live' because it was all made on computers anyway, and in effect it was semi 'live' as different elements from vinyl and laptop were blended to make a new, seamless piece a couple of hours long.

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[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1439243904' post='2841317']
DJs have done far more innovating in the last 30 years than any jazz artists have. And I say that as someone who likes jazz.

These threads make me sad. If I posted a similar thread about how blues rock was a load of old crap that wasn't proper music it would be locked inside of about three minutes.
[/quote]
There are some blues rock acts that have questionable musical abilities. :yarr:

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The father of one of my eldest son's friends is a 'breaks' producer (whatever one of those is) and played Glastonbury this year. I have to admit that I haven't got the foggiest idea what it actually entails, other than the fact that he gets very tetchy on Facebook whenever anyone suggests that he is a laptop operative rather than a 'proper' musician.

From what little I've heard, it seems to entail stitching tuneless and irritating electronic beeping noises together into longer sequences to produce a mind-numbingly repetitive and synthetically sterile noise and then playing it to men in their late 30's who still use words like 'Yo' and 'Big ups' in their everyday conversation, clearly under the impression that it is still 1995.

All very confusing.

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