I have heard many stories of DJs cleaning and repairing equipment, sorting through their cables, polishing cars/vans, sorting out lockups and I have even had the opportunity to talk to many of you. While we’ve all been trying to keep busy, the big question on all of our minds is: “when will we finally be able to get back to work and what will events look like after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted?”

At the moment, where small-scale gatherings are permitted, music must be kept at a low level, with dancing and singing not permitted. If these rules are extended to larger gatherings, perhaps our role as DJs may change, at least for a while. Music will be about setting the mood instead of packing the dancefloor, and the same will no doubt be true of lighting. Subtle effects and mood lighting will be required over hi-energy colour changes and moving beams on a dancefloor. How many of us will be re-programming or building new light scenes in our DMX software?

But even when we do get back to normal events, where dancing is encouraged, I’d argue that some DJs need to re-think their approach to lighting. Before lockdown, I was a guest at a wedding. (Unusual, I know! But the DJ on the night was the resident.) Walking into the room in the early evening I was greeted by a firework display of lighting from the DJ. A mix of scanners, moving heads, LED dot effects, and lasers. There appeared to be no DMX in place, the fixtures weren’t even hooked up in master/slave modes, instead each was left to do its own thing.

Granted, we all have our own opinions, we all have