Karaoke Forums

Last night, for at least the sixth or seventh week in a row, we had over forty singers turn out at our regular Saturday night Moose Lodge show.

We've worked hard at creating a great atmosphere for both our weekly gigs, and it's really paying off in both attendance and bar receipts.

Lately, about a third of those who come out only get to sing once even though I often start a half-hour early, yet they don't seem to mind at all. That tells me we're doing something right.

So, yes - I'm bragging a little. Life is good.

_________________
Earl
(BS, PHD & Certified CurmuDJeon)

[font=Times New Roman]"Growing Old may be mandatory... but growing UP is still optional."[/font]

Well done, happy for you Earl You must be doing it right

You should be proud of what you have accomplished. I walked into a show last night that I had only been to once before. My first time I was there, there were only 4 singers, including myself and the waitress. The only reason I even went back was becuase the place I usually go to on a Saturday night was not having karaoke last night for some reason? Last night there were no singing customers at all. The KJ was playing dance music, when I walked in, for the handful of customers that were in the place. I figured I'd have a beer and sng a song. I found a song in his library and typed it in to his CAVS kiosk system and sat back down to enjoy a beer.

The guy calls me up to sing and the first thing I see on the screen is the NUTECH logo which gets me worried right away about what I 'm going to have to deal with. I cross my fingers and hope for the best. As soon as the song starts, I notice that I'm singing along with another singer. Ugh! I'm obviously singing to a track with a guide vocal so I stop singing and tell the KJ that he must have clicked on the wrong version of the song. He tells me that what I'm hearing is just a background singer. I explain to the guy that I've been singing this song for quite some time and I'm pretty sure that there are no background singers in the song.

I guess I forgot to mention that this guy will not or cannot play discs so using one of my own songs was out of the question in this bar.

The guy says that he'll see if he has a nother version of the song, and of course, he doesn't. He seems to have purchased some CAVS software, complete with songs (mostly bad versions) to run from his laptop. His song book software has no manufacturer codes so you have no idea what track you will singing along to. It seems that most tracks are either Nutech or Mega Hits or Backstage.

It's no wonder that this place is practically empty and that no karaoke die hards are there. The guy seems to break every karaoke cardinal rule in existance.

So once again, you deserve to pat yourself on your back for doing so well at your gig. I wish more people would do it the right way.

Great Job Earl! Hard to build that kind of crowd and keep it, keep up whatever you are doing and enjoy!

Good For You Earl!! I am also real happy with the vibe and future of karaoke. Much more so than I was this time last year.

-Chris

_________________
-Chris

I always say love your job & the rest will follow. I embraced the reality that being a karaoke host does not define me, but how I conduct myself is the one that matters. Money should be a secondary concern; primary is creating a fun environment that people will want to return again & again. Congrats, Earl!

_________________
To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

Very nice, Earl. I hope you have continued success!!

Though, I have to say, strictly from a singer's view, I hate only singing one song in a night. . I have always liked a less busy place, where everyone gets to sing a few songs a night, and they can have more fun. I always avoided extremely busy places for that reason. Down here, there are no shows that are that packed, at least not since the economy crashed. Up in NY some of the more well to do places were packed like that.

There was this place called The Handlebar. If it sounds familiar, that is because it was on Kitchen Nightmares. It has since closed down. Well, back in 1994, the previous owners had that place packed every night. The food was amazing, and they had this guy Russ as the KJ. He was known far and wide in Suffolk County. Always packed them in. It got to the point where you were lucky if you sang once a night. I was working for him for a while as a roadie. I had stopped going to his gigs to sing because the wait times were just too long.

One of my fondest memories of that place was meeting Ritchie Blackmore. He lived in Mount Sinai, where the Handlebar was. Interesting fellow. I met him shortly after he left Deep Purple for the final time. He told me he left them because he couldn't stand Gillan's voice anymore. He was just so regular. You wouldn't expect it from a rock legend.

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

I must admit, I've had a few - perhaps no more than a half-dozen former regulars who no longer attend our shows because they can seldom get in more than one or two songs in an evening. But the majority don't seem to mind too much, if at all.

Even more than the actual karaoke, I think it's the whole social experience that attracts, and keeps them coming back. I do my best make everyone welcome, and promote a sort of "karaoke family" atmosphere.

I'm constantly looking for ways to improve our shows... Some things work.. some don't. That's the main reason I come here... To learn from others and to share ideas, successes, and failures.

_________________
Earl
(BS, PHD & Certified CurmuDJeon)

[font=Times New Roman]"Growing Old may be mandatory... but growing UP is still optional."[/font]

Please tell me it wasn't Russel of "Request Music"???

Nope. This Russ Amundsen who owned Rave Entertainment. I have no idea if they are still in business, but it had been a pretty big name back in the 90's.

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

That is the problem most singers want the mic in their hand every 30 minutes or so. If the show becomes real successful and the singers have to wait over an hour, they start to lose interest. If the rotation is lite then I do a song, once it gets heavy I stop singing myself. Also if it is lite and I have some dancers, I will do a " Cupid Shuffle" or a line dance like "Boot Scoot Bogie". When it's heavy no dance music, the people who came for karaoke, want to sing. You have to always play to the crowd and draw on your hosting experience to get the best results. After the first of the year I"m starting a new steady Saturday show. The venue owner seems very savvy and is running some very good specials. Food wise it is build your own burger night, like Fudrucker's with fries for a 1.98., and beer buckets, with the small Bud Lites, and Corona's for 6.99, plus drink specials. We are starting down the street from another venue that is having overcrowding problems, and hope to get some of their patrons that are unhappy with having to wait 2 hours to sing one song.

$6.99 Coronas??? Damn, that's expensive!!! Here the are $4.25.

I wouldn't say that it is a problem that people want to sing every 30 minutes. I would say they are going to a karaoke bar to sing, period. The problem is with the venue. If they only have karaoke with a certain host once a week, everyone is forced to come down that night. It's the venues that give a choice of days that are better for the singers. If Saturday is too crowded they can go Wednesday.
I discovered Karaoke back in 1994. This girl I was dating heard me sing, and brought me to my first karaoke night. My first song was Wonderful Tonight. From there I was hooked. From May '94 to December '94 I went to Karaoke 6 nights a week. Those were fun days.

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

He was talking about a BUCKET of Corona nips, not one 12 ounce Corona.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Earl, great job, time to discuss adding a second night with them.

That is a great idea. When I got started and I had frequent evenings of 30+ singers I added another night and ended up with another busy night. That made the bar owner happy, but the singers where hoping for a few less singers. I never tried adding a 3rd night.

Going to a second night at one of our gigs as well. Always have over 30 singers in rotation on Monday nights so we are adding Tuesday nights as well starting next week. It's a thin line trying to make everyone happy (venue owner & singers).
I find that my weekend crowds are much more lax about how many times they sing, etc. They are there to have a good time and unwind.
Singers at my shows during the week are much more aware of rotation, etc and want their stage time. I appreciate the support either way, just an observation.

_________________
Sound Choice and Chartbuster Certified

From my experience the weekday crowd wants you to start earlier say 5:00 quitting time, and they generally don't stay as late as the weekend due to the fact they have to go to work the next day. This of course has changed somewhat over the last few years due to people out of work, for long periods of time. You are right the weekend crowd is more lax since they can sleep in the next day.

I'd love nothing better than to add a second night to one or both of my weekly gigs... especially if they're back-to-back where I wouldn't have to do an extra set-up & strike.

Unfortunately, both shows are at service clubs where there's already something going on every night of the week... whether it be dart league, pool tournaments... or cribbage/euchre nights.

I've been offered a third regular gig on a Friday night, making it three nights in a row at three different venues, but have decided that Fridays will be "me" time. A Monday or Tuesday would interest me, but setting up and taking down three nights in a row is a bit much for this old codger.

_________________
Earl
(BS, PHD & Certified CurmuDJeon)

[font=Times New Roman]"Growing Old may be mandatory... but growing UP is still optional."[/font]

Here are some ideas, you seem to be working at a non-profit service club the Moose Lodge, since you are already setup on Saturday you could leave your equipment overnight and see if the lodge would be interested in doing Sunday afternoon karaoke. If they do a Sunday breakfast or better yet brunch, you would have a food component which would bring the crowd in, the karaoke would keep them there and spend money at the bar, the lodges principal revenue generator. Lots of people are looking for something to do on Sunday afternoon. Generally I don't work on Sunday that is the Lord's day. Down here in California if there is a cheap food special like taco nights at the American Legion, VFW, Moose, Eagle and Elk, that is also a good Monday or Tuesday gig. Since the various non-profits try not to over lap one another. They basically cater to the same crowd, and there are people with multiple memberships. The winning formula is cheap food, entertainment and cheap drinks, compared to for profit bars and other veneues.