Have the rules for opening DJs changed?

Hey guys,

So lately, I've opened for quite a few headliners in my city recently. Names such as: 3LAU, Bingo Players and the Bloody Beetroots. I've noticed a few things that I've found to be particularly interesting as far as musical selections for openers and what is expected of us.

A little about me: I came up playing all genres of House music, I was taught mostly by older House-heads in my city who had been around since the inception of the rave scene, and had really seen it all. I was taught to, "know your place," and to never step outside of the boundaries of being an opening DJ, and basically obeying "The Esoteric Art of Being the Opening DJ," to a T. I could play an entire set of Kerry Chandler and Dirtybird records, or I could do an entire set of mainstream, Beatport Top 10 Electro. I love it all.

First and foremost, I've noticed that the majority of the artists I've opened for, as well as the promotional companies who bring them in don't expect their openers to abide by any particular set of rules. At first I didn't believe it and I figured that each experience was an exception to the rule. My first experience with this was opening for 3LAU. Having been taught that an opening DJ is never to play anything too high energy prior to the headliner, I prepared multiple folders of Tech/Progressive House. Little did I know, I was going to have a Dubstep DJ on before me who played literally every Dubstep/Trap banger I could imagine. He did a great job, don't get me wrong, but it totally went against the rules of opening. I proceeded to get up there and start to play my more House-y material, and I watched the entire dancefloor die. Shortly thereafter, I started busting out my mainstream Electro, watched the dancefloor get packed again, and was even complimented by 3LAU on my track selection before he got on!

I figured that this was some sort of mistake and 3LAU was just really cool (which, he definitely is). Although, my heavy hitter Electro and the prior DJs bass-heavy selections did nothing in the way of "burning," his set. In fact, I believe it hyped people up even more.

My next experience that got me believeing was opening for the Bloody Beetroots + Valentino Khan. Again, I abided by infamous rules for opening DJs, and played mostly House/Tech House w/o vocals and more percussive tracks. I really did a lot with my set as well, minimized time spent in breakdowns, did many custom edits, etc. My experience was exactly the same as my last. I started in the way that an opener is traditionally allowed to start, watched the crowd yawn, and ended up pulling out my more mainstream/more peak hour House. I wasn't sure how the next DJ was going to feel about it, but, once again, Valentino Khan complimented me on my selection, hyped me up on the microphone, and proceeded to play a set of banger Trap without anyone growing "tired."

My most recent experience was opening for the Bingo Players. I was told by the promo company to, "do whatever you want, we trust you," so, instead of planning on playing by the rules that I was always told to obey, I bought a ton of new Melbourne Bounce/Trap/Hip-Hop mashups (TJR is the man), and generally stuff I would play if I was the "headliner." I went ahead and played what the crowd wanted, and...once again, was told by the promoters, audience and the next DJ that everything I played was great.

Here's my hypothesis: the popularity of EDM and the fact that it has now reached epic proportions as far as being mainstream has changed the rules for opening DJs. I believe (depending on the circumstance) it's relatively safe for opening DJs to "rock it out," provided that they've researched the headliners they're opening for and aren't playing any of the tracks they are playing regularly, and don't play anything in the current Beatport Top 50.

What do you guys believe? How do you usually open for headliners? Have your experiences been similar?