How to get into a Boiler Room DJ set

Whispering requests into the DJ’s ear, looking cool on camera and chewing just in shot makes you better than everyone else

Boiler Room’s whole allure is its exclusivity. If you get in then it’s basically something to put on your CV and brag about for months.

It’s not exactly Berghain-level difficult to get in, unless the event happens to be hosted there, but no random is going to get let straight into Richie Hawtin’s villa or a private party in Ibiza either.

Believe it or not, there’s a few ways in without sleeping with the DJ.

RSVP and pray

Sometimes you’ll find a signup link on the What’s On section of their site. Sometimes they even create a Facebook event  to show you the events you can get tickets for.

It’s just a goldrush from here, so be quick. Just remember there are no plus ones either.

From here it’s generally considered to be pot luck, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

There’s also a bit of a conspiracy theory going round. They say they pick you out at random, but what if it’s not that simple.

It’s unlikely the powers that be at Boiler Room are individually checking out and vetoing everybody’s social media profiles, picking out only good looking people for their best talent and filling the room with only true music fans.

Paranoia aside, it’s probably a good idea to sort your Facebook likes out anyway.

Once you do get in, just don’t act too excited. The comment section is a minefield of track requests and bitter hate for those who got in.

The problem with the ticketed events is that they don’t always offer the full Boiler Room experience. The London Ray Ban party looked more like a gig than an intimate DJ set, but it was far easier to get tickets.

Know the DJ

To get access to the most exclusive sets unfortunately you need something more than just an RSVP note and a bit of BPM knowledge.

For each Boiler room the DJ gets a list of how many people they can bring along. This varies on the location, size of the venue and even how big they actually are – but it’s usually pretty extensive.

If you want to dance close to the DJ and get up in his mixer, they want to know you’re safe or at least a friend of a friend of a friend as they’re likely to be more generous with the plus ones than the official ticket line.

To conga with Carl Cox or occupy the sweet spot near the front you’ll have to have some sort of “in” – even if it’s by befriending the lighting guy.

Become part of the crew

This is purely for the desperate, but the one way to always get entry short of marrying a DJ or befriending founder Thristian is to join them.

Though seldom posted, Boiler Room occasionally have job opportunities,  which is probably the only guaranteed way in.

Just like getting a blue tick on Instagram, you have to be somebody to get into the best shows.