Karaoke Forums

Eric and Robin were in Mt. Vernon, IL to visit her folks and decided to swing by St. Louis and check out some karaoke places.  They are really nice folks, and we had a lot of fun!  Since Eric is a kj, he was interested to see what the karaoke shows are like here.  We went to 2 places and had fun at both.  At the first place where we went, I was delighted to run into a high school choir buddy of mine and her husband.  Our sons are in karate class together, so we run into each other frequently, but this was the first time I'd seen them do karaoke.  The second place we went to is usually not too crowded, but it was PACKED last night because one of their employees was having a birthday.  This meant free food, and it also meant I ran into more people I knew (2 of whom are recently retired kj's, so they talked shop with Eric and Robin).

It just so happens Eric and Robin live near where my husband is currently working in FL, so I'm hoping I can take my son  there during the summer and maybe swing by THEIR karaoke show.  (It depends on if I have the $$$$--it's usually cheaper for hubby to come here to St. Louis.)

I enjoyed meeting both of them and hearing Eric sing (he later asked me jokingly how I liked Robin's singing, but the truth was that she didn't sing).  I noticed Eric was signed on here when I came here to the forum--so  :wave:  to both of you and thanks for a fun evening!

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I love being a mom!

Robin and I very much enjoyed meeting Laura and spending a night in St Louis with her before heading home.  And, yes, we were interested in experiencing karaoke in another "big metropolitan area".  

It was a pleasure meeting Laura and seeing Laura in action. She's got the enthusiasm that makes a karaoke performance enjoyable and energetically recognizes the efforts of everyone else.  We'd loved to have 10 Laura's at our show.

Laura exposed us to two quite different shows. The first was in a venue quite unlike what we're used to.  For one, food is available at the "snack bar" where you'd order it and they'd announce your name on a separate PA system (even over the karaoke) when it was ready to be picked up.  The place reminded me of the old C&W bars we used to have around here - very large, long rows of tables butted one against the other, a HUGE stage and a completely enclosed DJ/KJ booth far off in the corner.

Now to the main point. In a recent posting on another thread, Laura spoke of times when she's felt her voice was not being projected.  Well, this place was quite an experience in that regard.  The KJ has been doing Karaoke for 17 years.  (as an aside, he was a little skeptical about playing my home mixed discs because of "piracy" concerns)  He had an assistant that took the requests and queued up the tracks.  Unlike most shows we're familiar with, run by just one person doing everything, any deficiencies at this show were not because of inadequate staffing.  

There were speakers all over the place, including ones hanging from the ceiling.  There were two mic stands.  It was requested whenever anyone grabbed the "blue" mic that they use the other, "red" mic.  The "red" mic had a cable that kept falling off.  At one point, Laura couldn't understand why her vocals weren't coming out.  She quickly figured out how to re-connect the mic!

We had to strain to hear Laura and most others who sang.  According to my wife a few singers, including myself, were a tad louder because of adjustments made by the "guy in the booth".  After each song was queued up, the "guy in the booth" returned to his game of pool.  We really felt bad for Laura and the others, expecially when the "snack bar's" PA system clicked on.

And, even when the mics were turned up a bit, my wife and i felt the sound was really poor. I can't begin to imagine what, other than the mix, could account for the really poor sound quality, considering all of the equipment in use?

Oh, I'm sorry *blushing*--I didn't realize you guys couldn't hear me!  But then I guess it wasn't my fault.  I guess you guys notice things like that more than we non-kjs do.  I didn't have problems hearing anyone singing, but the music _was_ turned up rather loud.  And usually, people DON'T have that problem with the mic cable falling off (I'd never noticed it happening until last night)--I guess it was a bit loose.  

Thanks for the compliments!  I like to have a lot of energy when I go to karaoke--if I'm not feeling energetic, I stay home and rest!  If I have a free night, I often ask myself, "Let's see--do I feel like going out and singing tonight?"  This evening I decided to play some video games w/my son who is sleeping over at his Grandma's.  He was going to come home with me, but when he found out the computer was in the shop and he wouldn't be able to play video games on it, he decided to stay at Grandma's, where the Gamecube and Wii are.  Guess that shows where I rate.    LOL   I've still got stuff to do at home still, so no karaoke for me tonight.  But that's ok.  

You obviously don't know me very well if you wish there were 10 of me!    :hug: Then again, if that were the case, one of me could clean house, AT LEAST one of me could go to work (perhaps more than one of me could make more $$$), one could stay in bed and  :asleep: , etc...  

BTW, Eric, I'm using the computer in a copy place (which is costing $$$--ugh).  I was there earlier and had forgotten to buy a big envelope, so I bought one and decided to check back on the message boards while I'm at it.  So you should be getting something from me soon.

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I love being a mom!

glad you and Robin got the pleasure of meeting and partying with Laura, Eric.

She's a hoot!

The main complaint with the first venue Laura selected wasn't that we couldn't hear her, or most of the other singers.  The complaint is/was that the vocals were buried in the mix, and really hard to distinguish from the rest of the sound.  That's a topic now being discussed in another thread Laura has already posted in.  

Yep, we had a great time with Laura in St Louis.  I've love that town since my first trip there back in the 60's.  Yet, I never get to spend more than a day there at a time.

The second venue Laura took us to was more like we were used to.  It was a small sports bar.  The sound was excellent for the size of the venue and every mix was good, although I don't think it took much effort on the part of the KJ to accomplish that.

I will apologize to Laura nor for Eric...the views expressed do not represent South Florida or its' KJ's...

J/K!

Glad to hear you had a good time, and now where is all that beer and steak you were supposed to bring back?

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Let's Kick the Tires and Light the Fires!