Gordo responds after fellow DJs Waze and Essel say that he refused to come off during Ministry Of Sound set, leaving them unable to play

‘Always leave them wanting more,’ goes the old showbiz maxim, but it seems that Guatemalan DJ Gordo (AKA DJ Carnage) didn’t exactly take this to heart when he performed a headline set at Ministry Of Sound on 17 September.

In fact, it was more like ‘the show must go on… and on’, as he’s alleged to have continued playing well beyond the scheduled end of his set, leaving fellow DJs Waze and Essel unable to take their turns on the decks, despite being ready and waiting at the venue.

The accusation of booth-hogging first came to light on 18 September, when Waze took to Twitter. “Headline DJ refused to come off last night and the 2 acts after him (me and another DJ) lost our sets,” he said. “In over a decade of playing I’ve honestly never seen this level of entitlement or arrogance and I’ve DJed with way bigger (and better) artists.”

Oof.

His claim was supported by Essel, who said (via Instagram): “First of all I’d like to apologise to the people that came all the way to MOS to support me last night.

“Yesterday I drove 10 hours to do my first set in the main room of Ministry Of Sound. I spent six hours curating playlists as this was a massive deal for me. My set time was 5-6am in the box and I had friends there and people who had come down just to support. I got to the club at 4am and was told Gordo/Carnage had refused to come off set leaving the artist before me waiting around.”

Gordo has now responded to the events of the weekend, explaining himself on Twitter. “I’ve been doing extended Gordo sets ranging from three to 10 hours to give my fans the best show experiences possible and I was incredibly excited about my headlining Ministry Of Sound debut,” he said”

He added that he’d been told that his time slot was flexible, but wasn’t made aware that, by playing for longer, Wave or Essel wouldn’t get the opportunity to DJ themselves.

“I’ve been DJing for a long time in all different scenarios and I have never had this issue ever with another act,” Gordo added. “It was obvious miscommunication and I am so sorry what happened to them. I’ve been [in] Wave and Essel’s shoes before tho and understand what a shitty spot they were put in.”

Addressing Waze and Essel directly, Gordo concluded by saying: “Let me make it up to you both - let’s get you added to some of my future shows as a make good”.

Wave and Essel are yet to respond publicly to Gordo’s olive branch.