Gigs & business
Curfew
A curfew is the time by which amplified sound must stop, set by the venue’s licence or a local authority. It is not negotiable on the night, and overrunning it can cost the venue its ability to open at all.
In practice
Plan the last twenty minutes backwards from the curfew, and finish a minute early rather than a minute late.
Ask for the curfew time in the advance, and ask whether it is the time the music stops or the time the room is clear — they are frequently different and the second one is earlier. Then choose an ending that can land on time: a record you can exit cleanly, not one whose outro is four minutes long. If you are running short, a shorter final track is a better answer than a fade, and stopping thirty seconds early costs nothing while stopping thirty seconds late can cost the venue a licence review.
Licence
What sets it
Backwards
How to plan the close
−1 min
Better than +1
Where these come from: How venue licensing curfews operate in practice — not legal advice and not a catalog figure. For what we can measure, see planning a close.
Why it matters
It is the reason a closing set is a genuinely different job. You are not playing until the room empties; you are playing until a fixed time that everyone in the building except the crowd is watching, and the last twenty minutes have to be planned backwards from it.
It also explains behaviour that can look rude from the booth. A promoter making a cutting gesture at five to two is not judging your set, they are watching the licence, and the venue’s next twelve months can genuinely turn on it.
Frequently asked
Can a curfew be extended on the night?+
Almost never. It usually comes from a licence granted in advance, so nobody in the building has the authority to move it, however good the room is.
What happens if a DJ overruns?+
It lands on the venue rather than the DJ — complaints, licence conditions, in bad cases a review. It is also the fastest way not to be booked again.
Is the curfew when the music stops or the room empties?+
Ask, because both exist and the second is earlier. A two o’clock clearance often means a half past one finish.
Related terms
Sound limiter
A sound limiter is a device wired into a venue’s power or signal that measures level in the room and cuts the sound when it exceeds a set threshold. It is a licence condition, not an audio tool.
Set time
Set time is the length of the slot a DJ is booked for — the number that decides everything else about the set, from how many records fit to how fast the energy can move.
Closing set
A closing set is the last stretch of a night, played after the peak has passed. Its job is to land the room rather than lift it, which is why closers are rarely the hardest records of the night.
Advance
Advancing a show is the exchange of practical information between artist and promoter in the days before it — times, equipment, travel, contacts. The document that results is usually called an advance sheet or day sheet.
Explore: How to close a set · Closing set · Set time · All DJ terms