Last weekend, I had one of those DJ gigs that I’ll remember for a long time. I was booked to DJ for two nights at the Tower Hotel in Waterford as part of a convention for Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. Now, I’ll be honest — I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
I’d been given a list of recommended music beforehand, and it was very much my kind of music: Trance, Hard House, Techno and the big dancefloor tracks from the late 90s and 2000s. So I knew the music. What I didn’t expect was the dance floor.
From the moment people started coming into the room, they were dancing. Not standing around having a few drinks and eventually making their way onto the dance floor. They came in ready to dance. And they didn't stop. For two nights, the energy in that room was absolutely incredible.
There was something about the whole experience that took me straight back to the early 2000s. Before everyone had a smartphone in their hand. Before people spent half the night recording the DJ instead of actually listening to the music. Before you had people checking Instagram between every track. This was just people in a room, together, listening to music and absolutely losing themselves on the dance floor.
And here's the thing that really struck me:
Everyone there was sober.
These were people in recovery from addiction, coming together for a convention — and when the music started, they absolutely knew how to party. Just music, dancing, laughter and an incredible atmosphere. The friendliness of everyone there was something else too. I’ve played a lot of events over the years, from weddings and private parties to clubs and corporate events, and you get all sorts of crowds.
This crowd were genuinely some of the nicest people I’ve ever DJed for.
The other thing that made the weekend particularly special for me was the music. The organisers had given me some recommendations, and when I started going through the tracks I thought, I know all of this. This was my era.
The peak of my DJ career was playing exactly this kind of music in the 2000s — Trance, Hard House, Techno and those huge dance records that were made for a packed floor. So when the requests started coming in, I was very much in my comfort zone.
And this crowd knew their music.
There were tracks where I could see people recognising the first few seconds before the beat had even properly kicked in. Then the reaction would come.
Hands in the air. People shouting. People dancing. And sometimes that feeling you get when you drop a track that you know is going to absolutely nail the room. It was brilliant!
I’ve DJed for a long time, and you can sometimes forget what it's actually about. It’s not the equipment. It’s not the latest controller or the newest software. It’s the moment when you play a record and an entire room reacts together.
That happened over and over again that weekend.
And there was something particularly special about seeing people who have been through some incredibly difficult experiences simply enjoying themselves, completely present in the moment and surrounded by people who understood exactly what they were going through. Just a brilliant crowd and some absolutely banging dance music.
It genuinely felt like stepping back into a nightclub in the early 2000s — when people went out to dance, knew the music, and stayed on the dance floor all night.
I went into the weekend thinking it would be an interesting couple of nights. I came away thinking it was one of the most enjoyable DJ experiences I’ve had in years. The two nights were a great reminder that you don’t need alcohol to have an incredible night out. Give people great music, a good atmosphere and a room full of people who are there to enjoy themselves — and the rest takes care of itself.
To everyone at the convention who danced, requested tracks, sang along, gave me a thumbs-up from the dance floor or simply came over to say thanks afterwards — thank you.
You were an absolute pleasure to DJ for.
