Alright, first of all I'm not sure if there is anyone posting in this thread that can talk from true experience about being a "headliner" in the likes that we are speaking, with the exception of maybe Joel, and I am including myself in that.
 

Dave, I know you're the authority around here on a lot of things, but that comment in my opinion is just ridiculous. I've seen openers suck many times and the headliner kill it and I've also seen headliners clear the floor after a good opener.

True if the promoter knows what he's doing he organizes his talent wisely, however why should an opening DJ play something other than his own genre unless that was requested of him by the promoter from the get go? If a promoter told me I could open for LTJ Bukem, BUT I would have to play dnb. I probably would tell him no thanks, since I play house. Of course I would love to open for him, but I wouldn't be willing to sell out my sound.  As a promoter I wouldn't expect the opener to "tone it down" one bit. The headliner is the professional. If the opening DJ blows it up,  great. Let the headliner do what he's getting paid the big bucks to do: create a frenzy on the dancefloor. All this about, the opener's job is to make the headliner shine.. blah blah is crap in my opinion. Why do you think these guys are headliners? Not because they toned it down or played some other genre they didn't want to play. It's because they themselves carved out a niche, their own unique sound and people now want to book them for them.
 
Getting back to what is more difficult. As I said, I'm not sure if any of us can speak from experience, but the headliner definitely has the reputation to uphold. The opener has a chance to shine, which people may remember or he can suck and people will probably forget anyhow as soon as the headliner goes on. If the headliner is terrible, you better believe people will remember. A little more pressure on them.   
     

You know, it was a long time after I first came to TF that I read anything Dave posted in relation to, well just about anything, that I actually agreed with.  But, I must say I agree with that entire last post.

I don't know if I'd go quite that far

Dave, I'm not here to prove anything to you or anyone else. You do not know me or my history. Your comment about "do I have my own sound..blah blah.." maybe you didn't read the beginning of my post when I said I included myself in this. As a matter of fact, I do think you can carve out your own niche and have your own sound. Look at Joel or Tim Richards or Pete Le Freq, I know they are all on here. Yes, they produce electronic dance music, it's all EDM unless you want to play rock or jazz or something, but they certainly have their own "unique" sound. Maybe it's somewhat similar to some others but they have a sound that is theirs. I know when I pick up one of their tracks, what to expect. They work hard to produce tracks, get their music out there, and network. Who is anyone on here to say Chris can't make it as a headlining DJ? They all start somewhere. I had a few points, that I am trying to make and pudd just reiterated one in his post above. You want to be the big headliner, put out some quality tracks then do a lot of networking. You can disagree with me all you want on what is more difficult opening or headlining. I'm sure it takes hard work and slugging away, as pudd puts it, to get there. I just don't think once you're on top that it's all nice and easy in comparison

ask oneel his djing experience. i value his opinion on DJing in HIGH regard, above pretty much everyone else.
i think chris can definatly make it to headlining. im sure of it, the question is, can the scene support it? i have been told several times that if i really work on it (which i am workin on) i can make it too. but not in richmond, at least not with what i tend to play (electro/prog house). but i can probably get away with some gigs playing what i play sometimes (funky house) or, like im doing, start DJing disco. which ill probably start doing. get a tusday disco night or something, i can probably get that going.

rely on oneel, he has never steered me wrong before.

Another thing, that I am loath to bring up here... but is a reality, is the favour of God. When it comes to your profession, or your desired profession, I am very much of the group that says, "Go and get trained." Do your homework, do the due diligence and make a serious effort, because there's credibility there, and I think it's critically important for Christians to have industry credibility.

But don't forget that God can and does open doors out of the blue, and can advance your situation beyond logical process. Joseph is a prime example of this, in the Bible.

Practically speaking, I'm just saying don't count God out of the equation. Listen to Oneel, Shiloh, Joel, the people who have worked hard to establish credibility, and follow their advice. But also spend time with the Lord, seeking his face and his direction. The right God inspired meeting can trump a lot of networking. That's not to say that networking is bad/pointless (far from it!), just keep God in the equation, and do your practical homework at the same time.

Amen!