I've been the DJ at the same bar every Wednesday night for almost six years. Today, I got fired. Next week is going to be my last gig and I wanted to share my last playlist with someone. Obner seemed like the logical choice:

Junior Boys – So This Is Goodbye
Kosheen – Gone
Altered Images – Love To Stay
Kamikaze Hearts – You Can’t Just Get Up And Leave
Sleepy Jackson – I Understand What You Want But I Just Don’t Agree
Beatles – You Won’t See Me
Bright Eyes – First Day Of My Life
Feelies – Let’s Go
Beck – Lost Cause
Central Services – Fun (While It Lasted)
Eels – Last Stop This Town
Strokes – Last Night
The The – Love Is Stronger Than Death
Dandy Warhols – We Used To Be Friends
Tones On Tail – Go!
Supergrass - Moving
Stone Roses – Bye Bye Badman
Jayhawks – Blue
Specials – Ghost Town
Cat Power – Free
Brendan Benson – I Feel Like Myself Again
Ballboy - All The Records On The Radio Are Shite
New Pornographers – My Slow Descent Into Alcoholism
Johnny Cash – I’m Free From The Chain Gang Now
Mountain Goats – This Year
Flunk – I Love Music
A House – Call Me Blue
Tegan And Sarah – Walking With A Ghost
Asobi Seksu – Goodbye
Replacements – Here Comes A Regular
Ass Ponys – Nothing Starts Today
Elbow – Not A Job
Streets – Dry Your Eyes
Pogues – Dirty Old Town
Maximo Park – Going Missing
Godfathers – Birth, School, Work, Death
Velocity Girl – Forgotten Favorite
Bloc Party – So Here We Are
Gorillaz – Tomorrow Comes Today
Hoodoo Gurus – Good Times
Dirty On Purpose – All New Friends
Band Of Horses – The Funeral
Guided By Voices – Things I Will Keep
Hidden Cameras – Day Is Dawning
Sugar – If I Can’t Change Your Mind
Big Star – Thank You Friends
Ben Kweller – I Gotta Move
M. Ward – To Go Home
Geckos - Goodnight
Beck – Missing
U2 – Running To Stand Still
Joseph Arthur – Enough To Get Away
Legends – Nothing To Be Done
Billy Bragg – Waiting For The Great Leap Forward
Dead Milkmen – Instant Club Hit (You’ll Dance To Anything)
Mighty Lemon Drops – Beautiful Shame
Midnight Oil – Forgotten Years
Jam – Going Underground
Neko Case - Tightly
Wrens – This Boy Is Exhausted
Beulah – Silver Lining
Morrissey – We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful
World Party – Best Place I’ve Ever Been
Pixies – Dead
Jane’s Addiction – My Time
Knitters – Cryin’ But My Tears Are Far Away
Creeper Lagoon – The Way It Goes
Cure – Boys Don’t Cry
R.E.M. – Shaking Through
22-20’s – Friends
French Kicks – One More Time
Elastica – Nothing Stays The Same
Stills – Changes Are No Good
Delays – Long Time Coming
Tom Vek – I Ain’t Saying My Goodbyes
Rhett Miller – Things That Disappear
Moby – Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad
Mylo – Emotion 98.6
Reindeer Section – You Are My Joy
Folk Implosion – Free To Go
Sinead O’Connor – The Last Day Of Our Acquaintance
We Are Scientists – This Scene Is Dead
Jesus And Mary Chain – Far Gone And Out
Travis – Why Does It Always Rain On Me?
Martin Sexton – Glory Bound
Everything But The Girl – The Only Living Boy In New York
Smiths – Panic (Hang The DJ)
Tom Petty – The Last DJ
Shins – New Slang
Cure - Closedown
‘Til Tuesday – Coming Up Close
Elliott Smith – Fond Farewell
Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye

I detect a theme here.
Nice playlist.
Sorry about the job, Dan. Hope you find another gig soon.

why were you cut?

why'd you get fired?

nice playlist, though. i've never pre-planned a dj set, but this one looks like the way to go out.

great playlist... I'm sorry to hear you lost your gig!

I suppose "fired" is the wrong term. We did very well for a long time especially when considering how tough it is to draw a crowd on Wednesday nights. But the last six months have been progressively slower and unfortunately that progression coincided with a new guy taking over the place. It doesn't help matters that he's a bit of a douche. I'm no kid anymore and in many ways, a break is going to be refreshing. I've been trying to play quality music in a bar where the rule of the day every other night of the week is Journey and Nelly for a long time. I'm not going to miss sorority girls telling me I suck, but I am going to miss getting paid for playing music I like.

Fuckin A man. Now THAT'S a playlist right there.

Damn.

Sorry about you gig man, that sucks.

guess it's a good/bad thing then. i know i had fun dj'ing and kinda missed it when it was gone. but you can probably find some other outlet right?

i feel you. i have done a handful of gigs at one of chicago's big clubs and they usually coincide with a show by a band that'd fit into a typical playlist, but sometimes the crowds simply aren't appreciative because, y'know, it's apparently unheard of to dance to music you've never heard before. it's pretty discouraging. it'll be interesting to see if anyone even notices your theme. i hate putting a lot of work into a set and no one says anything.

That's a helluva playlist.

Totally, I felt the same way on radio...apparently its hard enough to listen to something you haven't heard before, let alone dance to it.

certain cab drivers wouldn't pick me up because I wouldn't play godsmack during my set (small college town)

well, i think radio is much easier because there isn't a live audience to show their disdain for what and how you dj. on the other hand, when things are going right, radio isn't even close to as gratifying as a live set is. people calling in to say "hey, great show" is nice, but seeing people go bonkers on a dance floor because of what and how you dj is unreal.

I mean damn.
Sorry about the gig, and best o' luck.

I agree. Both the good and bad thing about a live set is the immediate feedback. When I did a radio show, it definitely felt like I was working in a vacuum. You truly have no clue who's listening or if they're enjoying what you do. This is especially true because the call-ins tended to be of the "can you play some Doors?" variety. But you're also not subjected to the behavior of the intoxicated, the outcry for bar anthems and the obligation to keep the music "up tempo" at all times. At the end of the day, I found the lack of personal criticism to be the most enticing thing about doing radio.

This is EXACTLY what happened to me and Cap'N. Every word. I feel ya man. It's been a little over a year since we lost that gig. Although I don't miss that particular gig, I very much miss playing out. I've been talking about getting something going for a while now. God damn it I wish I'd get off my ass and do it.

I would come to that bar if it had that playlist every night.

i love me some rock music, but i didn't enjoy DJ'ing it.
i always got bored after an hour or so and had to switch to hip hop even if people didn't want to listen to it.

maybe i would have liked it more if people bugged out when i played "debris slide" or whatever.

Word.