Marco V....

[Briggsy]

Does anyone actually like this guy as a DJ? I've never ever seena good review of him, and from past experience, he comes across as the most bland, boring, unimaginitive DJ i've ever heard - and he never plays anything with a hint of synthesizer in it, so why he's classed as a Trance DJ is beyond me.

Whats everyone elses thoughts? To me, he's no better than any bedroom DJ that dying to get his first gig - he's just made his name as a producer.

I like some of his productions, but as a DJ, he's just highly boring.

[Aza]

Agree with you to an extent regarding him as a DJ, however his production (more earlier ones than of recent) are very good

Solarize, False Light and C:\mp3*del are my faves

[Gregg]

glad i'm not the only one who thinks like this.

Everytime I've seen him, he's been the worst or near the worst of the night. Passion on Saturday, he had the peak set and was rubbish. Crasher @ Lotherton Hall, he played after Jules, and was the beginning of the end. The music took a downward turn that night. Crasher on 17th March, he played at the end, and was rubbish then.

Along with Sander van Doorn, Picotto, Sheridan, there are so many better DJ's that don't seem to be getting the gigs these guys do. Particularly at Crasher (John 00 Fleming is so underused in this country).

[Bjorn]

i've seen him a lot - at Global last year he played the set of the night - it was amazing...

I then saw him at crasher in november 06 and he was on early - rediculously good - blew the floor apart - ive never danced so hard so early before!!

Since then i have to agree - he's gone very bland and never grabs my attention much anymore

Don't know why, but sort it Marco! Amazing producer tho, simply outstanding!

[Briggsy]

Along with Sander van Doorn, Picotto, Sheridan, there are so many better DJ's that don't seem to be getting the gigs these guys do.

I can't stand any of those either. Picotto shouldn't be on Trance line-ups at all - never! Those days are long gone. Sander van Doorn bores me to tears as a DJ - although I like the majority of his productions. Adam Sheridan is also boring now = he looks like he can't be arsed when he's behind those decks (sorry, laptop...)

There are so many better DJ's that rarely get called upon for high profile gigs in this country. Menno de Jong, Simon Patterson, Matt Darey, Jon O' Bir, Les Hemstock - they're all s*** hot but they're all pretty much C list DJ's - and while the big boys are still around, they won't get a look in.

There are so many C list DJ's consistently chruning out awesome set after awesome set, but never get anywhere, yet you get the dull DJ's such as Marco V, Picotto and Sander van Doorn that just get high profile gig after high profile gig just because they've done a few productions.

A good producer doesn't necessarily make a good DJ in my book - they're two different things.

[Moonman]

i saw that kid Micky Slim a while back and chatted to him about this. He even said, the only reason he is where he is now is because of production. He was saying that it really is the only way to make it as a dj these days, sadly, i have to agree with him. Who was the last DJ who made A List purely on the back of being a DJ? I can only think of Eddie Halliwell.

TBH most of the "Big Hitters" bore me. That's why the likes of Jules and Tong are still about, they arent afraid to play a more commercial sound if needed. They're not bother about being cool or underground. They get the balance just right - and they're not cocks either, they have time for the crowd. Sheridan, i have no idea how this guy constantly gets gigs. I dont rate him at all. Bring back Alex P and Brandon Block - thats what its all about.

Also this whole laptop thing pisses me off. Anyone really can be a DJ these days. Im still perfecting my beatmixing after 9 years! I want them years back please.

[Briggsy]

He was saying that it really is the only way to make it as a dj these days

I agree there. Years ago, it wasn't such an important factor - the likes of Carl Cox, Dave Clarke, Sasha, John Digweed, Seb Fontaine and Judge Jules got where they are through sheer hard work, and because they did stand out from the rest during their peak years - they weren't producers then. These days, all you need to do is come up with a catchy chart hit, and thats it - your heading for success. There are far betters DJ's on internet forums like these than there are on the pro DJ circuit.

This year, we've got the likes of Calvin Harris, Meck, Mason, and the Shapeshifters playing at festivals. Why? Well, because they've all had success as producers over the last couple of years. Had anyone actually heard of Calvin Harris before the start of this year? No? I thought not....

Also, once DJ's hit the big time, they seem to be able to do what they like, yet still keep their status. Mauro Picotto built up a strong following based on his Tech-Trance sound of the late 90's. Since then, he's branched away from that completely, lost a lot of fans - yet he still gets booked as a headliner. Tiesto and PvD have also gone downhill since they reached Number 1 status. To some extent, Jules has also lost his way over the years. We al still love him, but lets face it, if you heard a Jules set from 1999, and one from last week, its like listening to two different DJ's.

I also agree on the laptop thing too. All of the laptop DJ's i've seen look miserable and uninterested when they're "DJ'ing". Adam Sheridan is the most miserable git i've ever seen. Sasha is another.

I've always said that the best DJ's are the ones that lurk around lower in the rankings. DJ's such as Les Hemstock, Matt Darey, Menno de Jong, etc - why? Because they want to be successful. They give 110% each time they play to help build up a fanbase - because that fanbase are going to be the ones that support them until they hit the big time. They also don't get as many upfront tracks as some of the higher profile dj's - so they have to work hard and trawl through smaller labels and find their own little gems, meaning they have fresher sets. The likes of PvD, Armin, Tiesto, etc - they're all caning the same tunes, and after a while, it becomes tedious.

Menno de Jong, Simon Patterson and Dave Pearce were the three best DJ's at the Gatecrasher Summer Sound System - and all three are out of the top 100 DJ's list. They put all the A-listers to shame, and that re-emphasises my point about the lower ranking DJ's being better than the guys higher up the rankings.

Out of the current top 15, only two deserve to be there on merit in my opinion - and thats Armin and Eddie, because they're consistently good at what they do, and they offer something unique that other DJ's don't have. Armin's set building skills and mixing are unbeatable, and Eddie's talent can't be matched. The others are just normal, bog standard DJ's that could easily be replaced by a bedroom DJ out there somewhere.

[Moonman]

This year, we've got the likes of Calvin Harris,

isnt this guy the most overrated performer of the whole year?

[Briggsy]

isnt this guy the most overrated performer of the whole year?

Who the f**k is he, thats what I want to know? He's the first name down on all the festivals - ahead of Paul Van Dyk, Oakie and Armin - yet nobody seems to have heard of him.

[Bjorn]

Who the f**k is he, thats what I want to know? He's the first name down on all the festivals - ahead of Paul Van Dyk, Oakie and Armin - yet nobody seems to have heard of him.

I've seen him 3 times now, on stage live he's proper quality - a new stlye of live-electro!

Surely you've heard of 'Acceptable In The 80's'?

Give the bloke a chance eh Briggsy - oh and stop whinging u pensioner!

[JasonB]

I don't see anything in Calvin Hariss apart from riding the current popular electro scene, fair play to him aswell, but I find his stuff annoying.

Meck is Craig Dimech whos been djing for bloodey yonks I think.

Shapeshifters , Max Reich has been a dj namely not a huge one but hass been for a whie aswell id assume.

Theres better Techno dj's out there than Marco who play other stuff alongside techno or s mixture of difefernt styles of techno rather than monotany after monotany

[Moonman]

calvin harris is just a bi-product of the mixmag hype machine.

[Max Kane]

In 2004 Marco V was one of my favourites, I saw him every chance I got & he was exceptional, playing banging peak time trance mixed in with some techno & tech-trance.

The writing was on the wall once he started playing more house style sets & his productions have gone from must haves to bladn boring minimal-esque sh*t if i'm honest.

I wouldn't pay to see him now

[Briggsy]

Give the bloke a chance eh Briggsy - oh and stop whinging u pensioner!

Its not that so much mate. If he's good, and worked his way up by hard work, then fair enough - but he's just another one of these people that promotors think that we want to see just because they've been in the charts.

But yeah, I do seem to be moaning a lot lately, you're right there

[Bjorn]

Its not that so much mate. If he's good, and worked his way up by hard work, then fair enough - but he's just another one of these people that promotors think that we want to see just because they've been in the charts.

But yeah, I do seem to be moaning a lot lately, you're right there

hmmm... i disagree because i saw Calvin Harris at Fabric in London almost a year ago & he was f***ing brilliant - none of his songs had been released either so he hadn't been booked on 'hype' as has been mentioned. He has worked his way up & his live shows are class. Saw him at Plug in Sheffield the other week - he was performing while swigging a bottle of JD on stage - legend!

Go see him & then give me your opinion The reason he is above PVD etc on line-ups is because he is performing on main stages - the main stage line up usually gets priority in listings

[Max Kane]

Calvin Harris has been DJing for years, I always bunched him with that group of DJs who play leftfield electro-type stuff to massive audiences without much commercial appeal.

Now i think he's a w*nker though due to his posteuring in those god awful videos :mrgreen:

[Bjorn]

dunno if ya know or not matey, but he does live shows only now :thumbsup:

[Tremor]

I was with Bjorn when Marco played Global 2006 and I have to agree it was an awesome set. It was up there with my 3 top sets of the night I'd say. I've not actually seen him on any other occasion so can't comment too much on him as a DJ. Ib terms of productions the more recent stuff hasn't impressed me much, his old stuff was quality though.

Interesting discussion about Calvin Harris. I have to say I knew nothing of him before hearing acceptable in the 80s and was a bit confused as to why he'd been booked for every single festival this year for what seemed to be all on the strength of that track. It's interesting to hear a bit more about him before that though and to be fair I quite like his new track, might check him out at Escape into the Park this weekend and see what his live show is like.