NHL Draft 2018: 15 first-hand takeaways from a weekend in Dallas
By Josh Clark
11. The music selections were straight fire
I have to take a moment to give some serious props to one of my best friends and co-workers, Michael Gruber.
A little backstory on Grubes: he’s been working with the Dallas Stars for the past few years as their DJ in the arena. And for each of those years, he’s killed it. Grubes isn’t the typical “play the top 100 songs” kind of DJ. He finds a solid balance between all forms of music across multiple generations and makes it work. Because of that, he’s become quite the celebrity around the AAC during Stars games.
It’s gotten to the point where fans want to take pictures with him during the game in order to post them on social media. He’s an unofficial legend of the DFW sports world (he even has his own line of bobbleheads, but that story is for another time).
But considering the solid job he does for the Stars, he was picked up to do a big-time gig and provide the in-arena music for the NHL Draft.
And, whether you guessed it or not, he knocked it out of the park. Grubes gave the fans in attendance a nice mixture as he always does, catering to all types and generations of hockey fans. It consisted of everything from Red Hot Chili Peppers and Weezer, to an extensive playlist of ’80s hits, and even included some of today’s most popular tunes.
It was an exquisite playlist and rolled through the entirety of the NHL Draft. The draft definitely got a little stale at times, but Grubes was there to liven up the mood and keep the fans into it with some stellar tunes.
A tip of the hat to you, Mr. Gruber.