Choosing a DJ can be the most terrifying of wedding planning decisions. I chose poorly once before, I was determined to get it right this time. Enter DJ Crimson. He was responsive right out of the gate, he impressed me with his Soundcloud mixes (that I may have listened to obsessively for weeks on end) and he also impressed us both with how sweet he was when we met IRL. The day of the wedding, the dude has his work cut out for him. Not only did he have to drive 2+ hours North of his home base, but he had to set up two dj stations (one for the ceremony and one for the reception) IN A HEAT WAVE. The first time I set eyes on him on the day of the wedding he was drenched in sweat, I felt terrible, but he was there -- smiling and joking with me. :) He then proceeded to DJ the HELL out of our wedding. He helped me pull off a special surprise processional song for my husband (it worked!) and he helped us by playing all of our themed songs that released every table for dinner. And then I don't think the dance floor was ever empty once the reception really kicked off. And our guests are still going "who was that guy!? He was awesome!!!" If you're anxious about your wedding dj hire, ease your mind immediately and book DJ Crimson. (You'll thank me and him later.) read more

If you're looking for a wedding DJ, DJ Crimson/Brian is your guy! He just did the music/sound for our wedding ceremony and DJing for our wedding reception. He was so easy to work with leading up to our wedding day. He worked great with our officiant to get the mics setup for the ceremony. The whole night our guests were complimenting the music and how he kept everyone on the dance floor all night. He was also super receptive to requests from our guests (especially the person in the wedding party who was in charge of working with Brian on the music). Not to mention he has the best price of any DJ we reached out to for a quote. We couldn't have asked for a better DJ on our wedding night. read more

We just got married this weekend and DJ Crimson (Brian) made it the kind of party we wanted. The music for the ceremony was perfect and while we just met with him once to give him an overview of the type of music we wanted (with a few email exchanges to add some specific songs we wanted), he totally nailed it. All of our guests loved the music. In addition to making our reception a fun dance party, Brian is also a friendly, calm guy, and a pleasure to work with. I totally recommend him! read more

First, let me start off by saying that I was a full time DJ for over 10 years and toured all over the Country. Needless to say, I know a decent DJ when I hear one. So when it came to finding a DJ for my wedding, I wasn't about to hire any old joe with a powerbook and some speakers. I first heard the sweet sounds of DJ Crimson when I attended a friends wedding in Napa. "Damn... this dude is SOLID!" I thought while in the middle of a 30-person electric slide. His skills were so on point that I flew him down to LA to DJ my wedding. He's professional, he shows up, he get's all your your special first dance songs in order, and he of course rocks the house for ALL age groups. And if you want all your wedding guests to spontaneously sing Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" during dinner (like they did at my wedding) he'll even do that too. Trust me.... hire him. Best wedding DJ in the World. read more

When we started to plan our wedding it became clear what the priority was for both of us, we wanted to dance. Not only that, we wanted all of our friends, varied family, young and old, party machines and more conservative folks, mostly strangers to each other, to feel totally comfortable getting out on the dance floor and just having a great time. So, despite our small budget, we knew a great DJ was imperative. We'd never hired a DJ before and really didn't know what to expect. Brian responded quickly to our initial contact and we met him for a beer down the street from where we live. We were immediately put at ease. Brian is a professional. He is calm and friendly and relaxed and he was really interested and engaged in what we wanted, even though we didn't really know what that was. We just wanted people to have a good time. We first met Brian 7 months before our wedding and didn't really contact him again until 3 weeks before. We sent him the schedule, the processional and recessional (including asking him to loop a part of a song for the processional) and then just a very rough outline of what we wanted to hear at different times in the evening. That's it. The rest was left to his discretion. Brian over-delivered every step of the way. He was early and setting up when we got there. The ceremony went flawlessly. He made announcements at the appropriate times, even when we were a bit off schedule. And he absolutely crushed it with the music when it was time to dance. Absolutely everyone danced; hip-hop, Motown, 60's soul and even some swing and jump blues flowed seamlessly and with style. Brian read the room perfectly and made the dance floor irresistible. Honestly, it was one of the best parties I have ever been to. Three weeks later our guests are still mentioning how awesome our DJ was and I could not agree more. Hiring DJ Crimson was one of the best decisions we made in planning our wedding. Our 'big day', our kickass dance party, was what it was because of Brian. Awesome. read more

We have experienced the amazing tunes of DJ Crimson at the Layover in Downtown Oakland many times. He plays a great eclectic mix of old school hip hop with more recent favorites that always brings the house down. So it was a no-brainer when we were planning our wedding that we wanted him to be our DJ. We had a destination wedding in the Southern US, which made planning more complicated. However, DJ Crimson was seamless at planning out the music and setting up in Tupelo, MS, for the reception. He is cordial, responsive, prompt, professional, and most importantly read the tastes of our wedding guests to keep them dancing enthusiastically for many hours. He was able to juggle the musical preferences of guests ranging in age from 5 to 80 and of many cultural backgrounds from around the globe. I whole-heartedly recommend DJ Crimson for weddings! We are hoping to book him for a roof top party as our wedding reception dance-athon earlier this year was such a success. read more

If you are looking for your friends and family to have a great time at your party, look no further. DJ Crimson is the REAL deal! And enormously wonderful to work with. We had not experienced his work before hiring him but heard great things from friends. The Yelp reviews were also really encouraging. I celebrated a milestone birthday in mid-February and our guests have not stopped talking about how much fun they had and how much they enjoyed the music. I told him the crowd's age range is 9-90 and made some suggestions about genre and song selections. That was all he needed because he is such a pro! DJ Crimson (Brian) was amazing in his choices and timing and consistency. People danced for four hours and had such a great evening. Do it, call him today. Count on having a great time... read more

75 people at our party this weekend can't be wrong...DJ Crimson kept them all hopping for 6 hours, some of whom hadn't danced in a long time!! We are repeat customers of this DJ-he's made our parties a great success so we book him well in advance so we don't have to settle for 2nd best. Brian has the rare gift of really understanding how music should be presented, blended and matched to the need and mood...he's a natural. Along with his extreme professionalism of always being on time, delivering what is promised and communicating efficiently, he also knows how to be one with the party without making it about him and that makes everyone comfortable. A few years ago, our annual party had begun to sag, people started dressing down, just sitting around despite our efforts to provide great playlists on our iPods. Once we found DJ Crimson, the party was not only back up to standards but he's actually improved it tremedously and people now talk about how to get on the invite list! Thankfully we are invited to a wedding next year where he's in charge so I know it will be the best! We most highly recommend this DJ!! read more

Yelp, does work, so I have to tell everyone, about DJ Crimson, I found him on yelp, I contacted him, for my daughter's quinceanera, I could tell he was a bit apprehensive at first, regarding the Latin music. But, He Kill It !!!! Great time had by all from 10 years old to, 88 years old. He had the group going, non stop, playing, Salsa,Banda, Hip Hop, Mariachi, & more. My daughter and her friends, had the best time ever, so that translates to happy parents, I can't remember the last time I danced so much. He is cool, quite, and professional. read more

Wedding planning is known to be stressful. Wedding planning on a tight budget while you're in grad school and where you're doing a lot of DIY'ing is known to be even more stressful. And that's when you want to find a DJ like DJ Crimson. He takes all the worry out of your music and -- poof! -- all of a sudden, it becomes something you can totally cross off the to-do list and not worry about at all. We emailed with DJ Crimson a little bit before we met him. He was quick to respond and very courteous in our interactions with him. We appreciated his professionalism and his fair pricing and decided to move forward by meeting in person. He suggested that we put together a list of songs that we wanted played so he could get a sense of what we were looking for and he pretty much took it all from there. He secured the music he didn't have (at no cost to us) and he found more songs that complemented our choices well. I cannot tell you how awesome it was to work with a vendor that was as "on it" as DJ Crimson. Our entire wedding was outside, which added a few logistical challenges -- DJ Crimson handled them all in stride. He was also kind enough to provide the music for our ceremony procession and recession as well as our reception. This meant that he had to move and set up his equipment two separate times. He didn't charge us extra and he didn't complain. He's a total pro. And a really good guy. We've been to a lot of weddings since our own and I'll be honest: I used to think that any monkey could push play on an iPod, but now that I've seen a lot more DJs in action, I have learned that doing it well is an art that requires one to pick up on the vibe of a crowd, balance fast songs and slow songs, and mix songs well. DJ Crimson has all of that down. We did not want some smarmy DJ talking up the crowd and inserting himself into the action (a la every Bar Mitzvah I've ever been to). DJ Crimson is comfortable on the mic and made announcements on our behalf, but he's also very self-effacing and keeps the focus off of himself and on the music. He seems to take a lot of pride in making sure the whole crowd has a blast. He inspired everyone at our party to dance -- not by coaxing them with cheesy lines, but by playing music that encouraged them to get up and shake some booty. Note that although we liked DJ Crimson right from the start, we did check a few references and he got rave reviews. Since then, he's played three of our friends' weddings. In short: DJ Crimson is a class act, an incredible DJ, and the kind of calm and present person that you want around during any type of event. read more

DJ Crimson was the DJ for my wedding, and he was fantastic. He provided the audio for our ceremony, dinner, and reception. Throughout the process of planning the wedding and during the day of the event, DJ Crimson was professional, helpful, and easy to work with. We started with a phone conversation where he asked for a list of songs that we like so he could get a sense for the music we would like played. He also reminded us of the songs we should have ready for different portions of the event, which was helpful. It was clear DJ Crimson has experience running a wedding, which is great because I did not! DJ Crimson took our list of songs and added to it to create a great atmosphere for each portion of the event. There were a couple minor changes during the day of the ceremony, and he was flexible and able to make the changes. I assume that DJ Crimson's calm demeanor can be attributed to the fact that he is very experienced, so a small change does not stress him. Once the dancing started, DJ Crimson kept the dance floor full for the entire evening. I received numerous comments after the event from our guests about how they had a lot of fun dancing that the DJ was great. read more

DJ Crimson (Brian) DJ'd our wedding on the Central Coast, and turned our casual barn wedding into the best dance party we (and our guests) have ever had. He is very good at what he does, he has a talent for mixing old and new music to get everyone out on the dance floor. Not to mention he is a genuine person who seems very excited to be a part of your day. He took our song recommendations and expanded them to something we will not forget, and this applies not just the dancing music but he had wonderful additions for our ceremony as well. We love Brian, and will find other reasons to have him play at future events in our lives. read more

My good friend recommended working with DJ Crimson for my wedding as soon as I told her I was engaged. Since I had been to her wedding and had such a great time dancing, I knew we didn't have to look much further. As other reviewers explained, DJ Crimson asks for a list of your favorite songs and builds music for your party from that. My husband and I have quite a broad range of musical tastes and somehow DJ Crimson made all our crazy requests fit together seamlessly (from folk to hip hop). There is nothing better than getting through your wedding ceremony, sitting down to dinner and hearing the songs you love (as well as the ones you forgot you love) play while you are trying to keep it together on such a big day. We had a tricky group of wedding guests to please on the dance floor: Half were in their 20s-30s and the other half were in their 60s+. DJ Crimson skillfully played songs that would appeal to all generations in the first part of the night and progressed into some of our hipper hip hop requests later. To my delight and surprise, the dance floor was full most of the night--DJ Crimson kept everyone dancing, no matter their age! I can tell DJ Crimson really loves his work. That means so much when you're planning such a personal and stressful thing like a wedding! read more

To me, DJ Crimson is the DJ's DJ... when my wife and I got married last year it was really important to me that 2 things in particular did NOT happen... ONE was having some corny dude up there at my wedding. I've been DJing myself since the early-mid 80's... and there's just zero chance I have some wack guy out of the yellow pages playing YMCA at my party. ZERO chance. But, TWO was making sure that it wasn't some janky underground weirdo with a broken speaker who insisted on playing Organized Konfusion for the hora. (nothing against Organized Konfusion, of course) DJ Crimson simply killed it. His mixes are on point, his selections are thoughtful and tasty and he's not up there trying to prove to everybody how artsy he is. Just a legit ass DJ with a Bay Area sensibility and soul who we couldn't have been happier with. -djdave read more

Based on the previous reviews we read on Yelp, we hired DJCrimson to dj my husband's 60th birthday party at the Sequoia Lodge in Oakland. From teenagers to sixty somethings, DJ Crimson kept everyone on the dance floor all night long. Reliable, responsible, and just plain likable, he read the crowd, stayed in the background, and just made sure everyone was having a great time. Highly recommend! read more

DJ Crimson was my Wedding DJ! Hands down the best DJ ever! He was recommended by a family friend and Not only did he travel all the way to Malibu just to do my wedding for us, he went above and beyond to make my day perfect! I am still getting calls, emails and texts from my wedding guests telling me how amazing my wedding reception was and how on point my DJ was! I recommend DJ Crimson for ANY event that you may have a birthday, wedding, bar mitzvah or any party! My wedding reception would not have been the same without him!! read more

Read on if you want details, but if you just want the straight 411: If you are considering hiring DJ Crimson for your wedding or event, don't agonize, debate, or hesitate, don't bother to shop around, just cross "find a DJ" off your list of things to do and know that you are ABSOLUTELY making the right decision. Then just move on. You will not regret it. Best DJ ever!!! Here's the long version: My hubby and I had a simple civil ceremony a year before our "big" wedding, and that night we happened to go out to this little club called the Layover in Oakland. As soon as we sat down at the bar, it was done: signed, sealed, delivered...we knew we had found our wedding DJ and we hadn't even begun planning our wedding yet. Seriously, we hadn't even been there 5 minutes before agreeing on it, it felt like it was just meant to be. That's how good this guy is. I asked him that very night to save the date for us, exactly one year to the day. DJ Crimson was so easygoing, quick to respond to emails, and patient throughout the long months of our correspondence. I can be very indecisive, and he helped me out with things like what to play for the cake cutting, the procession, etc., by making excellent suggestions and taking the time to talk it out with me. I know some people have that all figured out but I had no clue. He also gladly accepted a CD my in-laws had made of music from their home country they wanted played at the wedding, and spent some time with us discussing how much of the music to play and how it would be interspersed with our other must-hears. I was grateful that he understood something of their culture and, perhaps more important, that he actively attempted to ease my anxieties about planning certain aspects of an inter-cultural wedding. To be honest, from the start I felt like I didn't even have to tell him what to play at our wedding - I actually told him just to do exactly what he did that fateful night at the Layover. Still, he requested at least a short list of must-plays. I'm so glad he did - my husband and I had a great time picking out songs (at the last minute, in preparation for our long-awaited meeting with him the next day). And the meeting went so smoothly! Because of our family circumstances (a newborn at home) he did us the huge favor of coming all the way to our house instead of meeting us somewhere in the middle. This meant so much to us, and it made the meeting that much more intimate and comfortable. He didn't rush the meeting at all, completely took his time with us to make sure he understood exactly what we wanted. We had such a wonderful time with him, it seemed like we had known him for years! He was very personable, relaxed, and engaged. It was so nice to feel like one of our wedding vendors really understood us. And on our wedding day, I felt like we had a true ally and friend in charge of the music. Everything went off without a hitch, I heard everything I wanted to hear, the dinner music was exactly what I asked for, and he handled any issues that arose around the aforementioned "interspersing" of musics with grace and diplomacy. I never had to say a word. One last thing: I know one other review mentioned that he is "not active on the mic" but I really like this about him. I didn't want my wedding reception to sound like a nightclub...I'm not a fan of DJs who try way too hard to get everyone on the dance floor (it seems cheesy to me), I prefer for things to happen organically. And they did! A good DJ doesn't have to say much...the magic is in the music. I couldn't have been happier; of all of my wedding vendors, he is the only one of whom I have absolutely no complaints whatsoever. We were so very happy that he was a part of our big day. In retrospect, I think it can be difficult to be satisfied with your decisions about your wedding day, especially when little "snags" occur, but this is one decision you will always be glad you made. No snags here :) read more

I hired DJ Crimson to spin at a private event at my restaurant, Brown Sugar Kitchen. It was a going away party for a server who had been with us for 5 years. Now, I'm passionate about music, and have DJ'd parties myself. However, I wanted to relax and be part of the party, rather than be the DJ. I wanted to hire a DJ who could surprise and move a room full of experienced service industry folk. I came across DJ Crimson via word of mouth. He was courteous on the phone, and profesional and personable when I met him in person. I gave him a few ideas (musically) about what this crowd might like. You'll see that I rarely write yelp reviews, but I have to in this case. He simply rocked it out from beginning to end. We're talking about a work party. How many work parties do you know where everyone is dancing with each other from the get go, and then continues to dance for hours on end? There were only about 30 people at this event, but we were all blown away with how awesome this party was. That awesomeness was DJ Crimson. He has an incredible sensitivity to the crowd. That combined with his life long passion for music...I mean, he is doing what he loves to do...that is a recipe for a successful event. Hire this man. You will be blown away. Did I mention he brings his own light show? Icing on the cake, baby. read more