THURSDAY 3-27-08

Brian @ Rockit

(from Brian:) "Good sized crowd. My big win was that I've been researching new rock songs on Q101; I ended up playing a lot of those songs. It worked out great. I got a good response from the crowd. Songs that hit: "Stop" (Against Me), "Take it Off" (The Donnas), and "Swing Swing" (The All-American Rejects)."

FRIDAY 3-28-08

Hafeez @ Rockit

(from Hafeez:) "Rockit went very well! Megan DJ'ed a private party from 5-9. She had the place was rockin' when I got there at 9! People everywhere! Megan mentioned that there is a problem with the bass in the speakers. She had it cranked up all the way but was barely getting anything out of them. Megan set the tone really well and I was able to pick up where she left off and keep the people there. Patrick and Pete both said the night was great. Carey, another one of the managers who "never talks to anyone" (that's a direct quote from him) came up and talked to me about how great the whole night was. I was all over the place with genres: I started with 80's, then went modern, then to classic rock, then modern, then 90's, modern, 80's, then back to classic rock for the end. The loudest reactions were for "Sweet Caroline" and "Don't stop Believin'." ("Sweet Caroline" had the louder of the two) Some other nice reactions were for "Sweet Child of Mine," "Holiday," "Living on a Prayer," "American Pie," "All Star" (Smash Mouth) and "Girlfriend" (Avril Lavigne) and "Doorbell" by The White Stripes. I played "The Seed 2.0" by The Roots and Cody ChesnuTT for the first time and [it] went over well. I also beatmatched "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" (Jet) into "Walking on Sunshine" (Katrina and the Waves). I didn't notice any reactions, but it sounded awesome. Great night. Lots of compliments and high fives from people in the crowd as well! Awesome gig!"

SATURDAY 3-29-08

Brian @ Rockit

(from Brian:) "I replaced Jon. Compared to Thursday night, the music [I played] were more popular [titles]. I played a lot of 80s, some 90s, and some modern rock. A big win was spreading out the sing-along songs, for this kept the crowd more aware of the music. The room was packed all night. The crowd thinned out at 1:30am. New songs that worked: "Possum Kingdom" by Toadies, "Stupid Girl" by Garbage, and "I Want Money" by Flying Lizards."

SUNDAY 3-30-08

Ernst & Young @ Jay Pritzker Pavilion

Lead: Brent Rolland; Assistant: Jon Hood

Producers: Brent Rolland and Erik Friedly

This was the very first gig that I both deejayed and produced—a double bonus for me! Erik (who co-sold the gig) was originally my assistant, but he was replaced last-minute by Jon. Our mission: We played during the Shamrock Shuffle, an 8K walk/run that takes place in Grant Park and the surrounding area. We were both on the chorus level (the upper seating area where choruses usually perform) of the stage area of the Pritzker Pavilion, which not only had excellent acoustics, but had more than enough space for our books and decks and also had plentiful outlets for us to use. From 11am to 2pm, Jon and I played background music while the runners and their friends and guests mingled and enjoyed a marvelous breakfast prepared by Food For Thought. Jon and I both had feelings around Erik not being on the gig, and we took the wait time that we had (we setup around 9am and started at 11am) and walked outside and talked. It gave us time to clear our minds, as well as to watch the runners and walkers stride by. From there, Jon and I ate a lot of delicious food and played great music. Some of the cool first-time tunes that I hit: "Wild Wild West" (Escape Club), "Pocket Full of Kryptonite" (Spin Doctors), "River of Dreams" (Billy Joel), and "Cloud Nine" (The Temptations). We had one table that was responding well to a few of the songs Jon and I played (i.e. "Mickey" and "Centerfold"), which was a joy to see, especially because the majority of the crowd was eating and talking with one another. We received a compliment from one of the FFT servers: "Great music—this was the best part of the whole day." Honestly, that was the gig—no frills or other fancy details. I was honored to be on the Pritzker stage, as well as perform at a gig that I produced.