2000s Party Playlist: Songs And Running Order

Indie landfill, R&B and the last decade everyone heard the same songs.

This is the decade for a 30th, 35th or 40th. Below is the playlist in four parts - what to open with, what fills the floor, what everyone sings and what to save for the people who know the decade properly.

One rule before you start: never play your three biggest songs in the first hour. Everything else is detail.

Years covered in the 2000s

• 2000 - The Millennium Dome, the fuel protests and Big Brother arriving from nowhere. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2000
• 2001 - Foot-and-mouth, 11 September and the first iPod. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2001
• 2002 - The Golden Jubilee, the death of the Queen Mother and Pop Idol fever. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2002
• 2003 - Iraq, a record-breaking heatwave and England winning the Rugby World Cup. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2003
• 2004 - Strictly and The X Factor both started, and the year ended with the tsunami. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2004
• 2005 - The Olympic bid, the 7 July bombings and the Ashes coming home. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2005
• 2006 - Arctic Monkeys, the Wii and another World Cup penalty shoot-out. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2006
• 2007 - The iPhone, the smoking ban, the floods and the run on Northern Rock. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2007
• 2008 - The banking crash, a brilliant Olympics and Lewis Hamilton on the last corner. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2008
• 2009 - Recession, MPs' expenses and a Christmas number one campaign that worked. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2009
• That is every 2000s year we have written up so far: 2000 to 2009.

The running order

• First hour, arrivals and talking: openers only, loud enough to fill the room and quiet enough to hear each other.
• Second hour, the room fills: start dropping floor-fillers, alternating one known song with one lesser-played track.
• Third hour, the peak: the biggest songs, back to back, no ballads.
• Last twenty minutes: the singalongs, finishing on one everybody knows every word to.
• Three hours of music is about 45 songs. Build 60 so you have room to skip.

2000s openers

• Arctic Monkeys - Fluorescent Adolescent
• Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody
• Amy Winehouse - Valerie
• Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
• The Strokes - Last Nite
• Outkast - Ms. Jackson

2000s floor-fillers

• Outkast - Hey Ya!
• Beyonce - Crazy In Love
• Usher - Yeah!
• Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
• Girls Aloud - Love Machine
• Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music

2000s singalongs to finish on

• The Killers - Mr Brightside
• Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone
• Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
• Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict A Riot
• Journey aside, Mr Brightside is the closer in this country. Put it second to last.

2000s deep cuts

• Basement Jaxx - Where's Your Head At
• Missy Elliott - Get Ur Freak On
• Bloc Party - Banquet
• The Postal Service - Such Great Heights
• Sugababes - Round Round

What to be careful with

• Mr Brightside is the single most reliable song of the last twenty-five years. Waste it at half nine and the rest of the night is uphill.
• Landfill indie all night gets samey. Break it up with R&B and pop.
• Ringtone-era novelty tracks have not aged well. Skip them.

Practical bits people forget

• Download it. Venue wifi failing mid-party is the most common way a playlist goes wrong.
• Turn off shuffle and turn off the auto-playlist that kicks in at the end.
• Check clean versions if children or grandparents are in the room.
• Put one person in charge of the music and let them ignore requests after eleven.
• Print the track list and pin it up - people read it all night and it doubles as a quiz round.

Shop prints and posters

Music prints and lyric posters

A5, A4 and A3, ready to frame.

Decorations for a decade party

Banners, balloons, cake toppers and confetti, plain enough to take any era theme.

Milestone birthday cards

Blank inside, kraft envelope, printed in the UK.

How to write it so it lands

• Build the playlist around the years they were 15 to 25, not the year they were born.
• Hold your three biggest songs until the room is full.
• Download it rather than streaming it, and turn shuffle off.

Where to shop next

• Look back to 2000
• Look back to 2001
• Look back to 2002
• Look back to 2003
• Look back to 2004
• Look back to 2005
• Look back to 2006
• Look back to 2007
• Look back to 2008
• Look back to 2009
• 1950s party playlist
• 1960s party playlist
• 1970s party playlist
• 1980s party playlist
• 1990s party playlist
• 2010s party playlist
• 2020s party playlist
• 00s quiz questions
• Dial-up, MSN and MySpace
• Look back to the 2000s
• 2000s retro gift guide
• Decade recipes: dishes and food trends by era
• Music by decade: albums, artists and songs
• Retro party playlist by decade
• Nostalgia birthday party by decade
• Nostalgia gift shop
• Retro party supplies
• Milestone birthday cards
• Party supplies
• Posters and prints
• Shop birthday cards
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Birthday cards for kids
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What music suits a 2000s party?

Indie from 2004 to 2008, chart R&B and big pop. Hey Ya!, Crazy In Love, Take Me Out and Mr Brightside will carry most of the night on their own.

How many songs do you need for a 2000s party?

About 15 songs an hour, so roughly 45 for a three hour party. Build 60 so you can skip anything that isn't landing without a gap.

Should the playlist be all one decade?

No. Keep the middle of the night in the decade and let the last hour drift either side of it. A single decade for four hours starts to feel like a theme night rather than a party.

Do you sell music?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints, pin badges and stickers, and we stock party decorations - all printed in the UK. The playlist is free to copy.