It’s Friday 13th! Here’s Our Top 10 DJ Fails

Phil Morse | Founder & Tutor
Read time: 2 mins
Last updated 26 October, 2018

Are you DJing tonight? Feeling a bit more nervous than usual? It’s Friday 13th, and we all know that means bad luck (if you’re superstitious, anyway). Indeed, some say the Devil himself invented this day…

So for a bit of dark humour, we thought we’d compile our favourite DJ fail videos, all in one place. Some are classic, some newer, and you’ll see a similar thread (keep the music playing, fool!), but all are amusing. Enjoy them, and have a great (and lucky) night’s DJing!

10. Definitely the wrong button…

You’ve got to feel sorry for Calvin Harris on this one, as we’ve all done it… at least he’s got a sense of humour about a pretty common but still funny fail.

9. “It’s your CD, not the CDJ…”

Here David Guetta really royally blows it, not once but twice! Truly cringeworthy stuff. He signals it’s the CD player, but it’s clearly pilot error from a dodgy CD, something he finally admits…

8. When you go into a loop, know how to get out again…

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ru3Ya8d2HHg

Oh, the excitement. Oh, the build-up! Oh, the anticipation of the drop. Oh, the fail. Gotta laugh at this one, simply because of how over the top the MC is before… well, watch and find out.

7. Keep on your feet when behind the decks…

Awesome unforced error. The harder the music, the harder they fail… or should that be fall? Watch and cringe…

6. Vinyl and wonky tables have never mixed…

Well, if only for one of the most bizarre lyrics in history from Notorious B.I.G., this is one of my favourites – but seriously though, here you see the perils of wonky tables and vinyl records. Jumptastic!

5. The old Apple Remote trick…

Steve Aoki leaves the decks for some theatrics, apparently just as someone whips an Apple Remote out for some fun…

4. It’s not what happens, it’s how you deal with it…

This is a kind of “post-fail” video. Apparently, “video was taken side of stage at Vector Arena Auckland NZ, Skrillex spilled his drink on his laptop which killed it, then he killed it some more, then fell over…”

3. Blaming the tools? Hmmmm….

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Pg1Wbga0j2Q

Not even sure what’s happened here to Tiesto, but the result is clear enough: No music. Again, we see some blaming of tools going on…

2. Can’t blame Friday 13th for this one…

Paris Hilton. Where do we start? The bloke who comes in and, well, DJs for her at 0:56? The inappropriate segueing from her own Afrojack-produced song into Rihanna? Or just the whole thing?

1. DJs, choose your friends very wisely…

I think this is still my favourite DJ fail of all time, I love the way it’s his mate that does it, and that it is true totalling of the gear – no getting back from this fail!

• We offer these clips not to poke fun at the DJs concerned (well, not at most of them, anyway) but rather to highlight that what can go wrong at some point will. I’m prepared to admit I’ve done most of these things. Including falling over…

Anything we’ve missed? Feel free to link to your favourite DJ fails in the comments, or share fails you’ve seen or done. And are you DJing tonight? Let us know if you’re more worried than normal…

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