u/Express-Priority-791

Been building a chapter series around different moods / times of day.

This one is Chapter 02: Into The Night 🌙

Deeper than my first mix, more groove-led, longer transitions, slower energy build. Less “big moments,” more getting pulled into the flow.

Melodic house with some afro influence.

Would genuinely love feedback from this community on track selection, flow, transitions, or overall energy curve.

Tracklist:
01. Fake Mood – Drama
02. Samm (BE) & Ajna (BE) – Yours to Take
03. Time – Not Alone
04. Anton Khabbaz – Dog Days Are Over
05. ATANA – Baby (If You Had My Love)
06. Moojo – Mockingbird
07. PA NGU – Karma
08. Notre Dame – Yumi
09. MoBlack, Benja, Franc Fala – Yamore (Edit Version)
10. Dr. Feel, DJ Tomer & Ricardo – VooDoo Tribe
11. Black Circle – Journey
12. Collé – Something to Believe
13. Tiësto, Poppy Baskcomb – Drifting (Arodes Remix)
14. Arodes – Burning Like This

After months of bedroom practice, recording mixes, a couple open decks and reading a ton of posts here, I finally played my first real bar set in LA this weekend.

First off: thanks to everyone here. I genuinely picked up a lot just by lurking old first-gig / beginner posts.

For context: I play melodic / afro house as a hobby. This was at a bar in LA (westside), on an XDJ-RX3 in a casual bar setting, mixed crowd from early 20s to 50s, not a proper club setup.

I was the first DJ on around 10pm, so music had to be switched over from an iPad running Spotify to the RX3. My first transition was actually timed well… until I realized during the breakdown there was no sound from channel 2 lol. Panic for a second, then realized both channels needed to be switched over to the deck.

Lesson #1: never assume the setup is ready, check everything yourself.

Then came the crowd reality check.

I had prepared a more melodic-house leaning set, less afro than usual. Within 10 minutes a group asked for reggaeton. Not my lane, but I did pivot slightly toward more afro / groove-driven tracks since it matched the energy a bit better.

Lesson 2: adapt to the room without completely abandoning your sound.

Other fun moments:
- someone hit the USB and triggered emergency loop
had to reboot
- hit wrong play button once (or twice haha)
- Classic beginner stuff.

But overall:
- people were vibing
- got some fist bumps during the set
- multiple people came up after saying they liked that it was different from the usual music there
- connected with someone who hosts another event

Best feedback was from the owner, who basically said:
“Loved it. Wrong slot. Your sound should be the last 2 hours, not 10pm.” And honestly, he was right.

Lesson #3: having a sound is great, but fit / timing matters just as much.

Curious what everyone’s first real-gig mistakes were.