If you are playing in a nightclub, be aware that it's not a music scene like here or within the chipmusic scene. Clubs want dance music. Clubs tend to want things that draw people in so people buy drinks and want to come back.
You have to be honest with yourself about your music, your club scene, and your "competition" aka the local DJ's and any touring acts or bands. Your music has to compete with professionally produced music DJ's play and other acts that the nightclub, well-rehearsed bands that might know a million songs and cover pop hits to appease the folks who don't like rock band music.
If your music isn't up to the production quality that you would be comfortable with hearing, work on it. Got audio engineer friends, friends in bands, or friends who know what well-produced music should sound like? Let them help you out. Buy them drinks, play your stuff in their studio, do a multitrack recording and tweak EQ. Figure out what sounds good when it's loud. Most of the time, the Gameboy sounds really good when it's amped up (prosound) with no EQing if your songs are well-balanced in the way your programmed the volume and envelopes.
If your music isn't up to the songwriting quality that you would be comfortable with dancing to, time to figure out what to do - you can make VIP's (Variation In Production) of your non-dance tracks, something I've seen other LSDJ users do, to make some tracks more accessible for the dance floor. Don't think your kicks are punchy enough? Search up the feaux sidechaining tutorials to make it sound like the kick cuts through the mix. Perhaps your synthesis of the kick isn't making it beefy enough, there are lots of people here with a firm grasp of synthesis who may be able to help you with that sound design if you reach out and PM them.
Be aware that you may need to suit the mainstream needs if it's a mainstream nightclub. Consider who your audience is, how you plan on promoting your act, how long your set will be (it can be difficult to make LSDJ music sound varied to non-chip listeners), and what your backup plan is in case you face things like getting drinks thrown at you, booed, or them turning the house mixer off and you are asked to leave. I've had amazing opposition from some folks I've played for in the deep South in the US, but that was because I was looking for somewhere to play, and I didn't consider what my audience was expecting. If you plan on playing somewhere, promote the living shit out of it. Otherwise you may end up with a bunch of people who were expecting the regular act. Promoting is important for drawing irregular patrons in as well as warning people who probably won't like your music to simply not go that night. I've had a lot of success opening my own DJ sets with LSDJ tracks, or opening for friends who DJ.
Be honest when talking to club owners, booking guys, and promoters the last thing you want to do is lie or leave them in the dark about what you are doing. It's often good to give them a 20 minute "sampler" CD of your work showcasing a variety of styles, tempos, and genres. Good promoters will know to hype the fact that your kind of music is "underground" or whatever, and it should get the "alternative" scene to give it a look. Find out where and how the promoters are promoting, and help them out. Reach out to scenes, groups of friends, whatever that you can to supplement their efforts. Don't EVER count on promoters to do the job right, so do the job as if it were just you (but be cool to the promoters lol) so any turnout you get is you+them, as far as effort goes. Make sure you are where people can see what you are doing, if you are mostly the "sit back and let Song mode work" figure out what subtle things you can do (perhaps work on modest and EFFECTIVE effects usage). If you are cool with it, see if you can get a table out on the dancefloor. Make sure people don't set their drinks on it, if you can help it. Even have a little piece of a paper that says "no drink" handy. If you are involved and dancing or bouncing or moving to your music, people will dig it even if you are the only one grooving. There is nothing worse than seeing an artist who is not into their music, even if it doesn't meet OTHER people's expectations/make them dance. Good attitude goes a very long way, as well as good communication. Good stage presence makes for half of what people remember for a live performance, the other half typically is what they thought of their favorite song from your set, and the last song they hear.
If you decide to play an instrument or do pop covers or something, more power to you unless it's hackishly thrown together and doesn't sound good. Otherwise it becomes immediately clear to people that you're grasping for cool points. If you typically rock a 1xLSDJ set, have two Gameboys and two carts so there's never silence. Silence = awkwardness in electronic acts, unless it is used super dramatically. People might assume something went wrong. Be sure the club guys and sound guy know what kind of inputs to the mixer you need, and since you most likely have a stereo output to your mixer, ASK if they have a Direct Input (DI) box and if they don't, go to the local music shop/DJ supply store and rent one or see if the club can rent it for you. It will be what lets your setup easily become a mono signal and sound good on the club speaker setup. This is to help you avoid phasing and other issues that can arise in club venues due to how they wire they sound systems.
For the two-Gameboys performance, especially 2xLSDJ if that's how you roll, make sure you have dance-esque intros of mostly drums or a bass line or background pattern, and matching outros. Make them 1xLSDJ only, and apply it to both parts of your 2xLSDJ tracks if that's how it works. This allows you to mix into any other song from another, barring the key, tempo, and maybe meter. You can change key in LSDJ with the transpose function, and step stuff down step-by-step over a loop. Tempo can be controlled as well, stepped down or tap-to-tempo with the A button. Keep in mind what I've written, and watch this video of Knife City tearing it up at MAGfest a while back. He does all of those things, using live mode to set loops when needed, and the occasional DJ effect from his mixer. 2xLSDJ, with some 1xLSDJ transition sections. Watch his hands, when he touches the DMG's he's setting up loops in Live mode, cuing up tracks, or muting certain channels. No magic, just pre-planned performance.
Keep in mind you don't have to sound like Knife City or anyone else, just make sure you think you sound great 
there's never shame in polishing your sound and skills some more before taking on your local club, to be honest, that's a huge goal. And if you have a great gig, congrats! if you decide it might be to much to take on, there are always open mics, house parties, and busking sort of opportunities.
YOU DO NOT PLAY FOR FREE even if it is for fun. You are providing the core source of entertainment for the evening. The club may own the speakers, the building, the name, and transitively the booze and reputation. People don't go there simply to drink, they go for the atmosphere. You contribute to it, so you should be paid. For an average night DJing (4-6 hours spinning, no original tracks) here in the US I typically charge a club upwards of $250 USD, If you were to pack a nightclub, you would charge more per hour on top of a flat fee ($100USD would be a good flat-fee) since it were original material you spent countless hours creating. Don't undersell yourself. You show a bit of self-worth when you charge for your talent.
Best of luck, and if you ever want to chat or Skype about this, PM me! I have a lot of experience with nightmare crowds and bad scenarios (dead batteries, drinks spilling, mad/angry venue owners, haters on chipmusic/electronic music in general).
EDIT: I made this answer huge and not quite enough to truly answer your questions because there is not a ton to scalp with those questions. 6db headroom is plenty. You play music people dance to. You want to make sure this isn't the only time you will ever play in a club, so you will want to do it "right."
Last edited by thebitman (Dec 13, 2013 1:10 am)
