At a time when raising your hands and prioritising the spectacle has become fashionable, the figure of the DJ doing the Warm Up is more essential than ever.
In our field, doing a Warm Up means warming up the dancefloor and preparing the ground so that the guest artist or the festival headliner can deliver their performance at the peak moment of the night. A poorly planned Warm Up can completely undo the timing and the overall experience of the event.
At EUMES we don’t believe there is a secret formula or fixed rules that always work, but there are key tips that help a lot when you have to take on this role.
Research
Before you play, get good information about:
- The main artist you are warming up for
- The venue or festival
- The typical audience that attends these kinds of events
Adjusting the set to this context is essential for the Warm Up to work.
Psychoanalyse the dancefloor
The dancefloor is your target. If the promoter has done their job well, there will be movement, but energy doesn’t appear by itself. You must constantly read what is happening, how people respond and what activation point the crowd is at.
Don’t despair
Starts are never easy, and this also applies to a Warm Up. People need time to get into the mood. Your job is to build progressively, and that requires patience. Don’t rush processes that are not due yet.
Be organised
Like in music production, order is key for a DJ. Keep your music well classified in playlists, so you always know where to find the tracks you need depending on the moment of the set.
Avoid the hits
An essential point: don’t play the current hits, and even less the main artist’s tracks. There are many ways to make people dance without burning cards. The Warm Up is also a space where your taste and art as a DJ should be evident.
Play with rises and falls
Make people dance, but don’t take them to 100% delivery, nor let them fall. The Warm Up is a constant balance between activating and containing, leaving room for the climax to arrive when it should.
Mind the ending
Don’t close with the track of the moment. The audience should be expectant about the artist change, not feel that the night has already reached its peak.
These are EUMES’ tips to help you perform a good Warm Up. And remember: if you are doing a Warm Up, do it as best as you can. As Laurent Garnier says, being a DJ is not just about arriving and making everyone go crazy, but about understanding the context, the moment and the dancefloor.
If you want to learn how to do Warm Ups with judgement, read the floor, build coherent sets and understand the DJ’s real role inside a club or festival, the EUMES DJ Course works on these skills practically, with technical, musical training focused on professional reality.
