David Marshall canB次元官网网址檛 help but chuckle when he thinks about the first time he djayed for the Victoria HarbourCats.

It was three years ago when Marshall was hired to play music at a baseball game. While he had experience playing music for the Victoria Grizzlies hockey team on the West Shore, this was a whole new ballgame.

B次元官网网址淚t was terrifying,B次元官网网址� said the Malahat resident with a laugh. B次元官网网址淚t was a learning curve for me for the first little while. I didnB次元官网网址檛 know a lot of the rules of when you play stuff and the timing. I had to learn that stuff because itB次元官网网址檚 a different way to see the game.B次元官网网址�

Marshall admits it took him about half the season before he was hitting all the right spots, musically, adding he built his sound bank by researching what music MLB teams were playing.

But one song at a time, Marshall has fine-tuned his skills djaying at each of the 33 home games at Royal Athletic Park in front of thousands of baseball fans.

As the game-day DJ for the HarbourCats, Marshall is responsible for playing all the tunes during the warm up, to playersB次元官网网址� walk-up songs, to all the music and sound effects in between.

For Marshall, who is a community support worker by day, playing music for others is a passion that began when he was a child.

MarshallB次元官网网址檚 step father worked for Molson Canadian and helped get him into dozens of concerts from Motley Crue to The Cure. As a teenager, he also played drums in a band before eventually making the transition from making music to playing it. Over the years, heB次元官网网址檚 djayed at more than 300 weddings in Vancouver, Williams Lake and Victoria.

B次元官网网址淢usic has always been a part of who I am ever since I was little,B次元官网网址� said the self-proclaimed music fanatic.

Now, after three years of playing music for baseball fans in Victoria, Marshall believes he has hit the musical sweet spot B次元官网网址� knowing exactly what songs to play in certain situations.

If itB次元官网网址檚 a tense game, heB次元官网网址檒l play songs that are more aggressive, or if thereB次元官网网址檚 a foul ball and thereB次元官网网址檚 a few seconds in between the next play, heB次元官网网址檒l put on If YouB次元官网网址檙e Happy and You Know It.

If the HarbourCats are down a few runs, Marshall plays music that gets the crowd pumped like Beautiful People by Marilyn Manson, Boom by POD, and the home-run song Let Me Clear My Throat by DJ Kool.

With a list of roughly 250 to 300 songs to choose from every game, Marshall said the type of music he plays also depends on the energy from the crowd. Generally audiences respond well to music from the B次元官网网址�60s and B次元官网网址�70s, such as Louie Louie by the Kingsmen, anything by the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, and songs that are B次元官网网址渂ouncy and fun.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淵ou have to have everything because thereB次元官网网址檚 so many different personalities. You canB次元官网网址檛 just stick to one style of music because people will get bored and you donB次元官网网址檛 want that,B次元官网网址� Marshall said, adding a crowd pleaser is AronChupaB次元官网网址檚 song Little Swing that one of the HarbourCatsB次元官网网址� players walks up to the plate to.

B次元官网网址淧eople are here for the ballgame, IB次元官网网址檓 just the colouring . . . to make it so theyB次元官网网址檙e not bored and theyB次元官网网址檙e having fun.B次元官网网址�

editor@goldstreamgazette.com