Karaoke Forums

Hi Everyone,
I'm thinking about trying something different at our Venues and bringing in Theme Nights,i.e. Blues Nights, Rock 'n' Roll, Country, Disco etc. What themes do you think are the best and where would you draw the line? I've heard Drag nights are pretty cool and Back to School as well. Let me know your thoughts and experiences.
Ta muchly,
***Alex***

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He who holds the Gerbil in the palm of his hand shall stomp the corn.

How about a 50's night, or Halloween theme, Christmas in July, or like a Horror Movie, Jason theme, even Scary Movie or any movie that is popular. It even ads to the theme when you have a "Song from..." whatever theme you are using, like an Elvis night etc. They are always fun, but no to over excess them....hope this helps....MV

Excellent Ideas MV they really helped.
I especially like the Horror themed nights.
Are there any discs specifically aimed at the Horror genre that you know of?

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He who holds the Gerbil in the palm of his hand shall stomp the corn.

I would say a "COUNTRY WESTERN" themed night is a good choice along with maybe a 70's night and you can't go wrong with a 50's night( always a favorite!)

I like what locally (Albuquerque) Kammo's Karaoke does or will be doing this halloween.. thier version of kamakazi karaoke.. "KammOKazi" karaoke it's like kamakazi karaoke with a twist.. singers put songs at random and the singers who wanna participate sign up to sing .. then whay a participating singer is called a slip is drawn and that singer will sing for a prize.. of course it is not judged.. but the song must atleast be attempted. and that is done in segments throughout the evening along with the regular singing. also "Scaryoke" which is attempting songs that have never been attempted by a singer that has been sung at this show before.. as long as this show has tracked this singer's songs. it seems to be entertaining to the least.. it's similar to kammOkazi karaoke.. alot of the times the singer ends up "Gender-Bending" songs.. Males doing female songs, and females doing male songs.. it's alot of fun doing these themes..

I like it, I like it a lot...
Kammo-kazi Karaoke and Scarey-oke sounds like I'm gonna have some cool times ahead. Woo-Hoo!
Thanks Brian.
***Alex***

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He who holds the Gerbil in the palm of his hand shall stomp the corn.

Captain ...
this company's theme is the KJ's wear Camoflage t'shirts and Camoflage pants. each KJ has thier own camo color pattern.. it's really cool..

thier web is www.kammoskaraoke.biz look at Kammo's friends section.. you may see a familiar mug there.. they have a real nice web..

Theme nights are good if you have a regular crowd or a way to advertise it. At my Fri Karaoke (which happens to be Halloween) we're having a costume party/Karaoke, the club is providing prizes. It can be really fun as long as your regulars (or anyone else for that matter) who show up don't feel left out cause they didn't get the word. Have A Ball!

How's this for last second, a bar that I was pitching my show to has been putting me off for a while. They called me on Tuesday of this week to see about a Halloween party!!!! Since I don;t have a regular Friday night show, I accepted and have been scrambling all week now to put this together. Any last second suggestions?

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Let's Kick the Tires and Light the Fires!

Yea, I got a last second tip for ya. Make sure to follow up on it to make it a regular gig. After all, you're the one that's saving their butt on a last minute notice. Other than that - Have a ball and make the best of it. Halloween's gotta be fun!

You bet I will. Originally I had offerred to do a 1/2 price show to let them see if it would work, and they tried to use that for Halloween!! That I turned down, and they agreed to do full price. I couldn't believe their cajones.

Check out the attached photo for an idea of what 2nite holds. (if it works)

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Let's Kick the Tires and Light the Fires!

dbk,
sounds like some bars i know... let them drink water! & Pass out the tip jar! it's time to play hardball! this the time & the place!!

It reminds me of a few dive bars in Albuquerque..

have fun!

take it for all it's worth..

I won't book no special event on less than a weeks notice.
I don't care if it's my new girlfriend's bar still i want some notice..
or no show!

If I do actually take it .. I charge double!
If they want me that bad they will pay what a high quality local band gets paid for my trouble.

Go Get 'em Kid!

Thanks for the Pep talk Brian.

Hey for a newbie (less then 4 months) in the business, I'll take what I can get!!

And as far as the tip jar, got a great new one with wide mouth, skinny neck, and wide base- make sure no one takes out more then they put in!!

I'll let u guys kow how it went Monday!

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Let's Kick the Tires and Light the Fires!

Try this for size. At the start of each rotation, a singer gets to pick the artist for that rotation. Eg i choose The Beatles, all songs must me beatles or beatles related. The next rotation, the next singer on the list gets to choose the artist. Now if you're not sure you have enough artist songs then you can go through your books, pick out the artists you have the most of and put them in a hat and have a non-singer pick a name from the hat. It can get real hilarious guys singing girls, girls, guys etc.

Timberlea,
the 3 songs I drew last night were all "Gender Bends" on a questional voice.. lets say i did extremely good for coming off an oral surgery and for a person who shouldn't have been singing yet.. with my voice not at 100% yet but the best part was nobody but the pros in the room could tell.. today i still have a voice and can sing ok but am not pushing the issue by singing tonight.

I've done gender bender. Actually I'll do anything in anyone's book. I'm not saying it's going to be good. It's just that I'm a masochist and have no shame.

Well it is Monday morning, and I still have not come down from Friday night. With 2 1/2 days of promotion, the place got PACKED!! Since they had not promoted anything for Halloween, the owners expected a slow night, so all they had was a bartender, a cook, and the 2 owners as waitresses. When I set up and started at 9:00, there were about 10 people in the bar. By the time I blinked, it was 9:45 and we were Standing room only! I usually allow 2 songs per turn, but after 1/2 a rotation, I had to cut it to 1, and the rotation still took almost 2hours.

The place was hopping to the point we had a conga line going around, and tables being moved to create a dance floor for swing dancing. The owner came up to me and said "I personally hate karaoke, but I guess my customers like it."

Here's the problem- even with the massive turnout, she still hasn't committed to me. She even went so far as to say if it doesn't work out, she knows alot of other bar owners, and would be happy to give me a refferral. I am supposed to meet with her later this week.

I put it out to all of you, any ideas on how to capitilize on this success, and turn it into a regular show- even with a karaoke hating owner? All input is appreciated.

Dave

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Let's Kick the Tires and Light the Fires!

First off, you have the success to show it works. If she's still of the mind that it won't last, try to discuss with her that she needs to try it for 6-8 wks minimum, just to get a true feeling for it. That will give her the opportunity to do it on a regular basis, but "temporary" till she's comfortable with it. Some people are just hard to convince. I'd probably use the success as the major point, followed by the temporary bit. If she doesn't understand that, maybe some of the referrals would work, but you will just be miserable if you have to go through that bickering every week as to whether you'll be back next week. Hope it all works out.

DBK,
Something inside me told me that you had it to pull this event off..
WTG kid!

Now ya have to build it into a following & yank that following around with ya!

I'm Proud of ya!

Thanks guys.

I think the main thing is that she 'Hates' karaoke in general- it has nothing to do with dollars and cents.

BTW Brian- to go into the Murphy's law file- in middle of the gig, the music cut off. I couldn't figure it out. Magically, 3-5 mins later- it came back. About 20 mins later, it happenned again. Guess what I found out- my amp when cranked needs xtra cooling!! Thank god, they had an xtra floor fan to give me, or I would have been S.O.L.

As I always say "NEVER a dull moment!"

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Let's Kick the Tires and Light the Fires!