Words by Melinda Sheckells
He never just presses play, which means you won’t hear the same set list twice when DJ Shift is on the decks. The 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix is no exception. From November 21–23, Shift will be at the Heineken Silver Stage, located in the East Harmon Zone by Virgin Hotels, with Snakehips, Big Boi, and Vandelux headlining.
“I don’t know what I will play until I get there. I never pre-make my setlist,” says Shift, who has been a significant player on the city’s music scene for over two decades and day-in-day-out traverses the Strip’s infamous day clubs and nightclubs or jets off to gigs worldwide. Instead, he builds the evening as a choose-your-own-adventure for himself and the crowd.
“I’ll go out there and read the crowd—start in one direction, and if people like it, go down that street, but if they don’t click with it or sing along, then I go down another avenue. I blend the night through people’s reactions,” he says. “I could play the very best set of my life on Friday night and play the same set on Saturday and flop because it’s a different crowd every night.”
With this gig, Shift will provide the music between the three headlining acts and the 20 live Q&A sessions with the F1 drivers.
The research behind the custom soundtrack he creates on-site starts months before the actual event. To prepare, he’s been studying Netflix’s Drive to Survive, the younger American demo who now call themselves F1 fans and the growing number of women who are attracted to the sport.
