Karaoke Forums

Well, last night was my first night doing a large crowd (about 150 people). Things started out slow enough, about 5-6 people in rotation but then the crowd started showing up. Next thing I know I have 20-30 people in rotation - most of them drinking heavily.

Things went pretty well for most of the night but I have earned a new found respect for people who run large rotations by hand. I'm shopping for a hosting program that handles rotation RIGHT NOW. I have another show at the same venue in about 2 weeks and if all goes well it will be just as crazy as this one. I don't mind the people, mind you, I get paid a fixed amount against the door (they charge a small cover) and I did pretty well.

I'll be changing the layout to keep the people dancing from getting too close to the singer and hopefully keeping the 'joiners' from getting up with them. I did have one *hole who threw my mic onto the table by the tv and 'hovered' around the mic all night long that I'll have a talk with early in the night. Other than this one person and the typical 'When do I sing?' from the people in the rotation it went pretty smooth. It was a little hard on me though - I did 6 hours without a bathroom break and the bar was so busy I couldn't get water let alone any of the drinks on the 3 drink tab they gave me!

I recently purchased a bunch of 'current' stuff and the Foundations (1&2) to jump start my collection for shows. What I found strange is that even though the Foundations where about a 1/3 of my collection they were played more than 2/3's of the time. I figure that by the time I add the Bricks it will be even higher. Talk about bang for the buck!

I've never been a KJ but I'm excited for you Meister, just from listening to you! Good for you for going for it with that huge crowd.

Yeah the foundations rule big time. When I get doubled book I use the foundations for one of the gigs. NOBODY complains. It is truly killer. Now add those bricks in and you've got it made. Brickette #5 is the best baby ,glam metals finest...peace love karaoke

You'll get used to it - the large rotations. It can be somewhat overwhelming if you aren't used to it. Just make sure what you do is consistant & don't bump people for the sob stories. Yeah they'll get pissed & probably leave, but it's better than pissing off everyone else that has been waiting the same amount of time or longer.
My nights usually average around 15-20 on the week nights & upwards to 40 on the week ends & the one thing i've learned is you are never going to please everyone. My rotation works for me & most of our singers know it by now & if you are new, you are more than likely going to get a chance to sing at least once via the 1 old 1-2 new ratio. As long as you stay consitant on how you run the rotation & this is the key!

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

A few weeks ago I did my annual boat club gig at the lake which consists of playing reg music form about 3 in the aft till eve then karaoke. I yse winamp to play mp3's (totally comperized ) and during karaoke can play fill music with second winamp. We use a big flat bed trailer for the stage and I tie the jbl stands to it too...
About dark I had the par38's powered and ready to go and a couple of gals was lookin thru my book (wasnt dark yet) They sang a couple of sings and next thing I knew I had 40 acres of folks gathered around ( I had rep from the year before) After dark the only lighting was the the par38's flashing towards the flat bed and a small desk lamp I had on my small table by the computer monitor. I had kids milling around the table the only light to look in the books was mine. I use a snake to run everything up to the stage its better to adjust the sound plus I am in the middle of the crowd. There was only about 1 solo all night usually 3 or 4 singers at a time and surprisingly although they were partying heavy they were very polite and taking turns on a regular basis I would call out a name or two and just as soon as I had it qued they were hollering in the mics. If I had been trying to do it with cd's like a couple of years b4 in the dark it would have been impossible. Rob came up about 9 and said do you want to stay longer and I said well i'll need more and he said well we are looking at $500 so i SAID OK At about 12 I said ok we got time for 2 more songs and sue would sing the last song As soon as she sang I hit the switch and they scatted back to their rv's in about 2 mins. I turned the lights on solid to pack up There was 40 million beer cans sitting on the end of the flat bed and a cyote sittin up on the hill wondering why it was so quiet...A couple of kids walked by and said hey thanks man for letting us party No problem..I reached over to pick up the end of a mic cord .......I was one tired tired puppy... I thought about lookin again for the grille off of my mic and thought its prob squashed any way I'm already lookin forward to next year Whew.....