The Life of a Hockey DJ - Playing what the Crowd Wants
The game starts. The play goes back and forth. The game reaches 1st intermission. No goals. No goal song.
2nd period begins. Both teams take to the ice, still awaiting the first goal. The ref then calls a penalty. Break in play = time to play a track. Play resumes. 2nd period comes to a close. Still no score.
Both teams hit the ice for the final period of play, anticipating their first goal. Music plays. Gets the crowd cheering, clapping, waving and singing along. But how does the DJ know what song to play? One method I have always gone by: Just go by your ears and ask: what does this moment need; how can I express this moment through music; how can I establish the atmosphere with sound...etc. One knows when to play a good crowd-cheering song.
With minutes to go, the opposing team scores. No song. No cheer. Only boos. The home team looks down in distress and misery. But it is time to revive and feel the adrenaline again. It's time to get back into the momentum. It's time to reach up at this very moment to tap gently on something and create a rhythm. The noise gets louder and louder to eventually everyone in your row can here you. Soon enough, everyone in the whole arena can hear you. The noise then carries out onto the street and passers-by hear what started off only to be a little sound. A sound of momentum. A sound of pressure. A sound that rose and rose until it reaches its target. And that target is the team. Once the team hears it, they know they need to score a goal. And they did.
The North Bay Trappers went on to defeat the Soo Thunderbirds in their 2012/2013 home opener by a score of 6-3. But I'm not here to give you a game recap. I'm here to talk about the drive of the game. What gets the player's moving. What takes place behind the scenes to get the motivation to pull ahead in a game like the one that was played on that Sunday night. I'm talking about what the DJ goes through on game day. What challenges he or she may face during game time. This is my story.
My adventure started, as mentioned above, when the North Bay Trappers took on the Soo Thunderbirds in the home opener of the 2012 season. (Now they're challenging each other in the NOJHL finals - both teams have come a long way). I showed up to the game with only a 20 minute meeting a couple a days before to get familiar with the equipment and the system - it was a very brief meeting. It was then when I realized that everyone is like a zombie until game day.
I was pumped, and I don't know how the players were feeling, but I wanted to get the game started off on the right note. To do that, I opened with "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas. It's a good song to introduce the setting and the environment of whatever the occasion may be, and it's a good song all around. Now going into this game, I was informed that I would receive a playlist for when the team warms up before the game. That didn't happen until I was handed a CD an hour before the game started, 10 minutes before the home team was going to take to the ice for a pre-game skate.
On the warm-up disc I received, there were six songs. Tracks from Benny Benassi, Lauren Wolf, Tiesto and Freestylers. Now those are good warm-up artists. And if those artists don't get you pumped for a game, I don't know what will.I played it and I liked what I heard. Those songs are still in the warm-up today.
An hour passes by, and the crowd is just getting settled into their seats. With people still walking in, and the zamboni coming onto the ice for the final time before the game starts, I thought we need a good song that would "begin the show." And I thought, what's a great opener? It had to be Rush's "Tom Sawyer". To me, that song sets the stage for the game. It introduces the crowd to the hockey-like atmosphere and from there, the momentum builds. To follow that, I played the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up". Both songs had great intros which pressured me into playing them before the game.
Before every game, I would go through my list of songs and drag and drop them into a separate folder. In-game music goes in one, and the music I play at the beginning (crowd enters), in the middle (intermission), and at the end (crowd exits), goes in another. Once the playlist of music is built, I am ready for the start of the game.
Minutes go by and the crowd is in their seats. The opposing team takes to the ice. No cheer, possibly a few boos, but nothing is played. Then, from the corner of my eye, I spot the home team. The announcer does his introduction and as soon as I hear, "Here are YOUR North Bay Trappers!", I press play on a song that introduces the team as they take to the ice before the puck drops. For this, I had to do a little research and I found one that fit and used it for a good chuck of the season. It's called, "A Warrior's Call", by a band called Volbeat. The reason I like it so much is that the lyrics go, "Let's get ready to rumble! Feel the fire, he's entering the ring, His Mindset only knows how to win, This danish fighter will break you in two, You will feel all his power! Now obviously it's not about a hockey team, but it's a song that introduces what the North Bay Trappers are all about; winning.
Since the playoffs began, I wanted to find a song that went with the same drive as the last. Luckily, from previous season, the team was able to find one introduction for the playoffs. It sounded fairly recent, so I went with it. It was "Vox Populi" by 30 Seconds To Mars. This was exactly the song I was looking for. It had a good intro; slow and building sounds until a thunderous clap of a drum started banging in a rhythmic pattern, almost like it was going to signify the start of a death march. Then the vocals hit and the music starts. This is when the team takes the ice. With the announcer screaming and the crowd cheering, it was all around a good introduction.
With seconds to go until the puck drops, time to get the crowd pumped for the first puck drop. It's time for a little "Are You Ready For This?" by Jock Jams. I only play like 15 seconds of it before the teams meet at centre ice. And now, it's officially game time.
The first period has just started and I already have my playlist set up. As I stated before, I like to categorize my music beforehand to know when to play what. I put the country music with country, techno music with techno and organ music with organ. At the top of the playlist and where my cursor stays for the majority of the game is the goal song. Now the goal song can be basically anything that keeps the momentum going and soon, the crowd will later recognize it if they don't hear the horn or see the red light.
Before my first game, I did some research and looked up what current NHL teams were using for their goal songs. I saw "Crowd Chant" by Joe Satriani, "Fire Your Guns" by AC/DC and Loverboy's "Lovin' Every Minute of It." My favourite out of those three was "Lovin' Every Minute of It", and if I wasn't using the one I'm using today, I would surely, without a doubt, choose that one to play every time the home team scores a goal. But the one I chose to go with was, because I'm from the big city, I have to give credit to the Maple Leafs and their goal song of "The Whip" by Locksley. It's a good song nonetheless, and if it's not playing at Maple Leafs games, which it should, it's definitely playing at a Trappers game.
Once the home team scores, you want something that the crowd can clap a long to, or even sing to. My most favourite goal songs are chants. My favourite one in the NHL is this one, being used right now by the Montreal Canadiens. Now they have a legacy of using this goal song and it's been recorded many different times. The one thing that stays the same is the chant. What I like about it is you can use this song, not only for scoring goals, but to introduce the team at the start of the game or if the home team takes the victory.
Now back to the game.
The first period comes to a close and the players skate off the ice and into the dressing rooms. It's time for a snack break. This is usually the time I bust out the Top 40's or rock & roll classics. And you can't go wrong with either. During the intermission, I have time for three tracks, maybe four. These are pretty generic songs, too. Nothing fancy or over the top.
15 minutes go by and the teams are ready to take the ice. Now time to introduce them for a second time. I like to go with either "Immigrant Song", or "Back In Black". And for the 3rd period introduction after the second intermission, I play "The Final Countdown", only because it makes sense.
The game starts up again. The ref blows his whistle for a stop in play. Time to scan the playlist and find a track to play.
Now, the break-in-play playlist is a simple list that could work with any music playlist. Just remember it has to be upbeat, powerful and moving - certain instances can result in the crowd falling asleep during the game (Clarke). The music ranges in a mix of all sorts. I got told mainly to play organ and country, but I've learned to sneak in a few hip hop and pop songs, too. And when it's time, I press play and let the crowd take it from there.
The 3rd period I think is the best. Because if the home team isn't winning, you can always throw in a track to get the crowd to cheer them on. That's usually I play a few clapping tracks or a track that gets the crowd participating on not just watching a game. Track.
Overall, if you're playing a good track, you're going to see a lot of positive reaction from the team and the crowd. Things can go ugly if you don't play a specific track at the right time. For example, if the home team gets a penatly, you don't want to be playing "If You're Happy and You Know It." Believe me, I tried it once and it looked pretty awkward to be clapping for a home team player being sent to the box.
So, if the song is not listed above, here are a few more to add to the list.
Walk-in mix
Anything top 40 (Drake, Justin Bieber...etc.
Warm-up
Benny Benassi - "Electro Sixteen"
Daft Punk - "Alive"
Laurent Wolf - "Walk The Line (Club Remix)"
Cookie Monsta - "Bubble Trouble"
Bassnectar - "Empathy"
Pre-game
Journey - "Don't Stop Believin'"
New Kids on the Block - "Hangin' Tough"
David Bowie - "Heroes"
Avicii - "Levels"
Intro
Volbeat - "A Warrior's Call"
David May - "Superstar"
Before puck drop
Jock Jams - "Are You Ready For This"
Goal song
Locksley - "The Whip"
Break-in-play
(Too many to list, so I'll list my favourites)
Bob Sinclar - "Rock This Party"
Apollo 440 - "Stop The Rock"
2 Unlimited - "No Limit"
Danzel - "Put Your Hands Up in the Air"
Darude - "Sandstom"
DJ Jean - "The Launch"
Mike Nero - "Keep The Fire Burning"
The White Stripes - "Seven Nation Army"
Stromae - "Alors On Danse"
2nd period intro
Led Zeppelin - "Immigrant Song"
AC/DC - "Back In Black"
3rd period intro
Europe - "The Final Countdown"
Victory song
Trappers Victory song
But hey, there's no way you'll want to download or listen to all of these songs on your own time. So come out to a Trappers game at Memorial Gardens, and hear for yourself the sounds of the ol' hockey game. And don't forget to bring your ears, because I plat a lot of the old organ music!
And face it, you won't be able to press the play button without hearing a few boos.
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