Wedding DJ Rob Lovington plays Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” as the last song of the night, thwarting convention and breaking new ground in the industry.

Innovative wedding DJ boldy strays from “Stairway to Heaven” closer

“I don’t care if you’re working a Polish beer tent or a Presidential inauguration, as a deejay it’s pretty much an unwritten law that you play ‘Stairway to Heaven’ as the last song of the night,” said DJ Chris Daniels, 26, a colleague of Lovington who has for years been astonished by the bold young DJ’s revolutionary ideas. “For Rob to completely go against expectation like that and play [Queen’s] ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ to close out the night – I swear the kid’s got nads the size of mirror balls. I don’t know of any other privately contracted deejay working today willing to take such a bold artistic risk. But by doing so, he’s opened the door for deejays around the country to start playing something other than ‘Stairway’ at the end of the night – something I never thought I’d see in my lifetime.”

As with many of the formulaic procedures unquestioningly followed by popular event DJs – including the obligatory playing of such tired classics as The Village People’s “YMCA,” Billy Idol’s “Mony, Mony” and Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock ‘N’ Roll” – spinning Led Zeppelin’s 1971 classic as the evening’s last song had long remained a universal constraint from which DJs before Lovington had ne’er the vision nor courage to stray.

“Rob is constantly pushing the envelope, introducing fresh concepts and playing songs never before dared by event deejays,” said Daniels. “His decision to rebuke the conventional ‘Stairway’ closer is a perfect example of how he’s not afraid to put his own style out there without regard to whether or not it’ll be accepted by the masses. Of course, as often happens with such gifted pioneers, Rob is so far ahead of his time that his audiences don’t always appreciate his genius. Nevertheless, someday he’ll no doubt be recognized as having made as big of an impact on wedding deejaying as Curt Kobain made on popular music.”

Daniels said that while word of Lovington’s unconventional song selection has sent shockwaves throughout the industry and set him apart from the droves of color-by-numbers DJs currently flooding the scene, Lovington has also received a fair amount of criticism – mostly from unknowing clients who expect the controversial entertainer to deliver the typical sterile mash of overplayed swill that mainstream party guests have come to expect.

“I shit you not, last summer I witnessed Rob spin a twelve-minute Mudvayne medley as the dollar dance at a City Councilman’s wedding reception,” said Daniels. “Just try and tell me that was on the request list. Rob was lucky to get out of there in one piece; the groom was about ready to rip his headphones clean off. Needless to say, Rob doesn’t list that client as a reference. But hey, even [David] Bowie got booed off stage early on.”

According to Greg Albert, a local sound engineer, Lovington’s aggressive attempts to tear down the conventions associated with the DJing of catered and non-catered events extend well beyond his playing of songs that are more obscure than traditional DJ favorites.

“Rob even sets up his sound system differently, so he won’t sound like every other deejay out there,” said Albert. “You’ll notice most deejays as a rule will crank the highs on their equalizers so that the treble frequencies are painfully overbearing. Rob does a total one-eighty from this convention. He’ll completely dump the highs and then bump up the bass and midrange until the system sounds like the speakers are covered in wet blankets. By doing this he can easily get his P.A. to sound ten times worse than most deejays – and that’s saying something.”

Added Albert: “At least I hope he’s doing that on purpose.”

Countering such glowing endorsements of Lovington’s unique methods, however, are a number of veteran DJs who have publicly dismissed Lovington as an arrogant, self-absorbed amateur who’s simply incapable of providing audiences with the kind of sensible, formulaic soundtrack to which they can get drunk.

“In my opinion, if you’re not prepared to play ‘Stairway to Heaven’ as the last song, you’re not fit to occupy the deejay booth,” said Donald Seffer, who has been a disc jockey for nearly 25 years. “What’s next, not playing ‘You Can Leave Your Hat On’ during the garter toss? Only leaving your strobe light on for half of the night? Actually looking at the list of requests? Total blasphemy, I tell you.”

Seffer went on to predict that this uncompromising youth’s career, which many insist represents no less than the very future of DJing, will be nothing more than a flash in the pan.

“Let me tell you something, if this snot-nosed kid thinks he’s going to get anywhere in this business by being spontaneous and unpredictable, he’s in for a big, big surprise,” said Seffer, sipping a Diet Coke while playing “My Sharona” for guests at a local wedding reception. “Sure, maybe playing Elvis Costello instead of Elvis Presley just for shock value might be more artistically satisfying, but if he expects to still be getting gigs in two years he’d better start getting real familiar with ‘The Macarena.’ Speaking of which, it’s about that time, isn’t it?”

May 2005