LEON'S EPIC WEEKEND

Usually I don't do this (why is this blog starting off like R.Kelly’s ad-libs at the start of the “Ignition” remix?) but here’s a “what I did last weekend” recap. The reason I don’t do them all that often is because I’m more of a resident DJ who enjoys being at the same spots regularly, and saying “last week was awesome!” week in, week out, would get very boring, very quickly.

Last weekend was different though because I played at a couple of different spots that allowed me to drop a load (shoutout to Nick Manning) of different music, plus my regular spots were exceptionally good. I even commented on Facebook that it was an excellent weekend for DJing, so here’s a quick recap, breaking it down set by set, starting with...

THURSDAY 10pm
SWAG @ TRADEMARK
Hey, young DJs. Early sets are dope. I know a few kids trying to get into club DJing who have turned down early sets because they “are focusing on main sets”. If anyone said that to me I’d make a LeBron-style mental note to never give or recommend them for a job. As always, doing the first set at Trademark on Thursdays is always super-fun, you can play bits and pieces you wouldn’t be able to play in a main set (eg. “Heart of the City” – Jay-Z) and people were at the bar drinking and nodding their heads. Perfect.

THURSDAY 1am
BADA BING
It’s hard to say much about this set – mainly because a couple of dickheads (who shall remain nameless, let’s just call them “Monchacha” and “Fizz”) thought it would be funny to bust out the Chartreuse and my memory is wiped. Lucky this was the first set of mine at the Bing that I recorded! Will throw a snippet online soon.

FRIDAY 12am
ADDICTION @ THE BANK
Addiction is cool, it’s very commercial but those gigs can be crazy. Most of my set was between 120-130bpm, stayed away from some of the mega-hits so DJ Mo could be a star in the set after me, but everyone kept dancing (thanks for that). As much as I like playing new hip-hop and R&B, sets like this are just FUN.

FRIDAY 1am
SNAPBACK @ LE PANIC
Snapback is a new monthly event in the Cross and I’ve always wanted to play there. Why? Well, their flyers feature the DJs wearing basketball jerseys, and the music policy is “play any hip-hop you want”. Don’t mind if I do! My set jumped around from the Clipse, to some old school Biggie (by request), some Lil Boosie and Webbie, a few T.I. album cuts and even a stack of local stuff (Alien Gang, Monchichi, Mez).

SATURDAY 11pm
ENCORE @ BROOKLYN HOTEL
The 11pm set/second set of the night can be the trickiest set to get right. You need to really start building the dance floor, but without totally burning the DJ who’s coming on after you to do the main set. It’s a delicate balance of finding older hits, newer stuff that sounds good but hasn’t hit the radio yet and a couple of bangers here are there. Well, last Saturday was made easy for me by the crowd going nuts for ANYTHING from the west coast (of the US, not Perth dumbass). When “Fuck Wit Dre Day” goes off, it’s a good night.

SUNDAY 1am
BADA BING
It wasn’t the busiest night at the Bing on Sunday, but having said that it was the busiest spot in the Cross, plus I added to my tally of “Surprise Me” drinks consumed (for those keeping score at home, I think the leaderboard looks like this: DJ Leon Smith 8, DJ Carl Alley 3, DJ Tikelz 2, Styalz Fuego 1, 360 1 – if I’m wrong someone correct me. And if you don’t know what a “Surprise Me” is, come to the Bing one night and ask). One good thing about Sunday night was that the requests I got were all for some real nice hiphop tracks, there’s nothing worse than being asked for dance when you’re playing hiphop (and vice-versa). It really was a chilled way to end my working weekend.

Ayo upcoming weekend, you've got a lot to live up to! Don't let me down!