Dave: Very interesting post. I was at a wedding last night that had a very professional DJ. He didn't have the lights, dancers, and video just him a room filling pair of JBLs on stand and a Numark system that let him mix between 4 different CDs at once. I too listened to what was happening musically. What he did VERY well was when people were dancing him kept them going with a seamless transition from one song to the other. He was obviously able to change tempos of some pieces to get a smooth transition. He also had some of the "hooked on" kind of arrangements that I hate. You know the kind, constant pounding drum beat while moving through “In the mood”, “String of Pearls”, “Take the A-train” etc. Oh well, people like it. Or accept it. I think you got your money’s worth and probably paid aprox $5K for it. Wouldn’t be surprised if the number was higher. For those who want to now bash DJs for the downfall of western civilization, you also need to bash people who play arrangers who take away jobs from bands. People like music, people like live music, people like music that sounds like the CD. As Donny says, learn from them all, use them all, and make your audience happy.