Karaoke Forums

we were asked to do a cross between entertaining and karaoke two years in a row at one of the big high country stations (ranches) here in the south island. Both years there was this one guy who was quiet and polite at the beginning of the night then progressively got drunk and became a henious horrible slob who would insist upon marching up and grabbing the mic off other people and yelling into it and refusing to give back or even share the space withthe person that had been singing.

no amount of trying to shame him with comments like "didnt your mother ever teach you how to share" etc made any difference.
The crunch came when the prat tripped over the leg of one of my speaker stands and nearly cause it to fall.
I steadied the speaker, marched up to the fool grabbed him by the bollocks, dug my nails in and twisted...and said with a smile... you come up here again and touch ANY of my gear, and I promise you will sing soprano the rest of your life now F**k off out of my sight and dont come back.

He went whinging to my husband expecting him to intervene on his behalf...why do men still believe that other men have "control" of their spouses? If it were up to my husband we would still be limping along with a 486 computer and midi files.

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

LOVE this post... the mic class 101 really is true... sometimes you just HAVE to do a two minute class on how far to hold the mic away from your mouth, how NOT to point it a the speakers, how life is not like the movies or old TV shows when you see Sinatra holding that $5000 mic way at his stomache...

Like Flipper said, for the really dense individuals, invite them over to your board so you can ask them precisely what they need. Many times they don't know exactly...

Course I'm big enough where I can bounce their happy arse out the door if I want to... only had to do that once.

Hmmmmm...In retrospect...me thinks I should explain my "R.I.P." comment.  About  7 months ago, had a guy who I "knew" come to the show. From previous interactions with this individual, ( saw how he acted at other shows ) I knew he could be "problematic", depending on his  "mood". I repeated my earlier "instructions" for do's and don'ts, and sure enough, seconds into his song, he started swingin' the mic around. I shut down the mic, turned off the music, and informed him he was done. He was belligerent, crude, got right up in my face, and decided ( bad idea) to take a swing. ( he missed...I didn't ) So, the bar manager, and a few of the patrons, "helped" him off the floor..and out the door. The following week, he tried to come back in....and was barred on the spot. He's never tried to come back since then so...therefore...the R.I.P. comment. As far as my venue, the patrons, and the manager of the club...he is, for all intent and purposes, D.E.A.D.
I've NEVER had that type of reaction, before or since, but that's the chance we all take when we entertain the "masses". I'm sure some of you may have tried to handle it differently, BUT, I'm confident others would have done the same. (no choice actually when they swing first) I felt  an explanation was due...so there it is.


                                   Donny "B"  

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I knew a fellow singer who liked to instigate fights.  Finally he was barred from the bar.   He did try to sneak back in a few weeks later, but now he was wearing a baseball cap and going by the name Junior.  LOL

I love this - I'll be using it in the future.  :hug:


I have a regular that is in his twenties. He has an unbelievable voice. He is always asking me to turn up the music. I think because he is young he likes it really loud.
I don't want to bury his voice in the music because it is so good. I want people to actually hear him. He has no idea, but I turn up his monitor as loud as I can and keep the mains where people can enjoy hearing him. What he doesn't know won't hurt me.

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Sometimes it is hard to hear your own voice on the mic.  I sometimes ask the kj if they can hear me, but I don't ask them to turn me up.  I know the sound is different out there than it is onstage.  

Anyway, this thread reminds me once again of why I'm not a kj!  I appreciate the work you kj's do, but I don't have the street smarts or people skills to know how to deal with drunken idiots (or sober ones, for that matter).  I'll leave that to the people who know what they are doing.  

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Well, it's interesting how the quality of the "mix" became the main focus of discussion regarding this thread - "losing your cool"

How about this (just happened this last month):  
 Singer requests "Last Dance".
 Song begins to play and is a good representation of the original.
 Singer turns to you and tells you that your version is ALL WRONG and, in particular, it started off slow and should be fast.
 Singer shares their displeasure with the audience
 Singer tells you they succinctly remember how it goes from the days when the song was popular.
The song was released in the late 70's (probably 1978) and the complaining singer can't be more than thirty years old.

Please note:
 Singer initially stopped singing
 Singer is complaining over the mic that the song is all wrong
 While the singer is not leaving the stage, she is only minimally trying to "cope" with introduction that she clearly doesn't know
 When the song gets beyond the intro and reaches the fast part, the singer is finally singing along and has, momentarilly, stopped complaining
 Singer returns to complaining as song ends and she leaves the stage

Any suggestions?  There can actually be a lot at stake here!

Find & bring in the original to play for her!

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Eric

I think many of us interpreted this as Bab's asking us if we had ever lost our cool in this situation. Which did result in the customer complaining about the music mix.

Anyway to address your question - First off the moment the complaining over the mic started, the mic volume would be turned off. I would ask the disgruntled singer to stay with me at the booth for a moment while I get the next singer up and we will get things straightened out.

Then I would  announce that there was a problem with the song version and we will get them back up right after this next singer. I would que up the next singer get them mixed and then attempt to straighten the problem out with the whiner.

Basically there is only one solution available to them and that is if I have another version, otherwise they will have to pick out a new tune. If they whine about that I just explain that I buy the best versions available and that I have no control over the way it is recorded or what their interpretation of the song may be. "I JUST PLAY THEM I DON'T PRODUCE THEM"

If I don't have another version then I tell them to find me a back up song quickly and I will put them back in the rotation immediately and they will be up next. I do tell them that there is no guarantee that the next song is going to be any better, so if it's not then they either sing it or wait until the next rotation to do another song.

When I slip them back in I announce to the audience that I'm slipping them back in the rotation due to a miscue.

If this problem persists with this person, as in they do it again. I don't give them the same treatment again. They either do the song, or they don't but I'm not holding up my rotation to play favorites with them. They are ultimately responsible for selecting the song they sing. I will however suggest that they purchase their favorite version of the song and bring the disc to the showto sing from, this eliminates surprises for them and the KJ.

Many folks don't understand that karaoke songs are not made from the original music and sometimes get derailed at the slightest variation of music score or wording. I'm continually amazed at how some make such a big deal over it. I just tell them it's all about having fun, so lets not let a couple of words or a little tempo situation spoil it.  After all this is not American Idol or Star Search

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Scott

Flipper

Excellent advice.  I had never seen this happen before at any show i'd ever been to.  And being a newbie KJ, it had never happened  to me before.  I'll now be prepared if I ever run into that or a similar circumstance again.  main lesson learned TURN OFF THE MIC.

thanx

edit---
In most of the venues here in S Fl there is no "booth", and limited space for a "consultation".  Maybe, I should have had Robin take over the show while I spoke with the singer outside, but I'm not sure how much that would have accomplished.

But,  wait!   I now have my kiosk working.  Anyone can checkout a one-minute sample of any karaoke track before they select it.  So, I can now put the onus on the audience to select the "right" version.  I also will eventually offer samples of the original tracks.

If I am looking thru' the book and a song has more than one listing, I'll just write 'em all down:  "X4839, Y204569 _or_ Z27364" (or whatever), and let the kj's know, "These are all the same song."  In most books they don't tell you whether it's DK or Sound Choice or whatever.  And I'm not an expert anyway.  

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I'd probably get on the mic and say "It's Karaoke! The music is NOT the original artist or backing. It is a reproduction. If you can't understand that without all the complaining, then find yourself another hobby."

I also wouldn't let them back up to sing until I'd spoken with them. Part of running a successful show is the attitude. You get a whiner, it turns into several whiners...

I frequently find music wrong for songs that I like... but I grumble to my friends and coworkers and here on the boards... NOT over the F*n microphone to an audience that could care less WHAT you think.

I would do almost exactly what Flipper does. If they say it to me, I'll ask if they want me to stop the music or help them sing the song. Half the time the person just doesn't want to admit they are having trouble remembering how the song goes. If I stop the song, I'll put in a different song for them after the next singer.

If they say it over the mic (Aaarg!) I'll stop the song and say over the mic that the singer isn't familiar with this version of the song or make a joke about it being my fault. Then do what Flipper does taking them aside etc..

I think a lot of people make excuses like it is faster or slower than it should be, the wrong key, the wrong rendition etc... because they can't sing the song. I love being able to tell them I can slow it down, speed it up or change the key if they want. They look at me puzzled as to what to say because I took away their excuse. You know it's an excuse for them not being able to sing the song when they still don't want to do it.

I've never had anyone continually complain my versions are bad or not what they are used to. It's a rare thing, but I would say 9 out of 10 times they are making excuses. If it makes them feel better to blaim me I don't let it bother me to much they said it over the mic because my crowd knows I have top quality songs.

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, ahhh it gives me such pleasure to read this thread.

All of the previous posts are why I quit working the bars after 15 years, too
much agravation, karaoke singers are mostly egomaniacs and NOTHING will please them.  Teach them how to handle a mic and they can't comprehend it, many of the people I dealt with couldn't even read the karaoke book, or they were too lazy.

You reep what you sow, if any of us were making an "honest" living in music we'd be playing an instrument and writing and singing our own songs, somebody has to, otherwise there'd be no songs to sing.

Oh I almost forgot, 99% of them can't sing a note.

Flipper: great advice there - professional!

I've been both sides of this one:

1) I have had a song in my list that was a disgrace to the original.  Someone requested it, it came to them, and in fairness - they looked at me, I looked at them and simply announced "Well, something very wrong with that track" and the whole audience had a laugh.  The next singer is brought up and I tell the singer with the bad song that they can choose another and I will insert them at the quickest opportunity.

2) I've sang in places with a bad version.  It comes on and I do my best but at the instrumental just suggested visually to fade it out and said "I think I messed that up, ah well" and left with a cheeky grin.

A little cynical are we, Partydjz?

I understand where you're coming from, but:
   far more than 1% of the singers are capable
   far more than 1% are enjoyable
   most of us who are doing what we do are doing what we do because we enjoy doing what we do (I don't need to be a KJ at this point in my life)

And I must respond to this from Partydjz  

   1.  I don't know what you mean by an "honest" living.  DO YOU?
   2.  I've heard this KAHKAHMAEMEE theory before.  What evidence do you have that Frank Sinatra wrote a stitch of music or played an instrument?
   3.  The songs I've written have been heard by few and were written for my pleasure; not much help to the "world of music", huh?

LASTLY:  Why are you humbling yourself by dealing with us "lowlifes"?

An "Honest" living means creating your own music, if you want to make a living with music anyway.   And I was referring to the people that are paid in the karaoke business.

Where did you get Sinatra in this thread, , oh well, I would suggest that he paid his dues and worked his way up in the business, not by winning some contest.

Cynical, yeah after 15 years of KJ'ing in nite clubs, wouldn't anyone ??

And actually your post just shows to prove my point, .

Geez, SW is gone now we have this "new guy"

So mr high and mighty partydjz
  A voice only qualifies as an instrument when one has used it for years and has made a living from said use?
  hOWEVER, If one starts out on AI and becomes: Kelly, or Carrie, Or Bo, or Daughtry, with loads of fans, that doesn't count?  But if one turns into Frank Sinatra, then that DOES count as making an "honest living"?

SO WHY DID YOU SPEND 15 YEARS MAKING A DIS-HONEST LIVING MR KNOW-IT-ALL doing Karaoke?

Twenty years from now you won't even hear the names of the "Idols".

The difference is from gaining "experience", by working your way up.
Experience shows in performance.

Yeah it's selling out, and I didn't "DO" karaoke, I DJ'd and DJ'ing is selling out.

I'm not personally attacking anyone, I'm leaving this section of the forum, the personal attacks seem to be coming from others, name calling especially,

Partydjz,

I don't know WHY you even posted here, BUT, if my memory serves me right, there used to be a "contest" called "Ted Mack's Amateur Hour", and that was a contest that Frank Sinatra was a part of. I just can't remember if he won or not. My point being, just like the "AI's" of today, there were "venues" available that allowed those who, in your opinion did not make an "honest living" by writing or contributing their own "stuff" to the industry, WERE able to, despite YOUR opinion, make a difference and realize marked success.
To me...15 years of DJ'ing, by MY standards (over 20 + years) should have taught you a lot more than your post would have us believe. Me thinks you probably might want to find a more "respectable venue" where your outlook on such as US is shared and appreciated. Surely you can't believe that members here are going to agree with the "attitude" that you've demonstrated thus far. I'm sure you "watched" before you joined. It is evident that the higher majority of members here actually enjoy what they do. If you had a bad experience doing DJ'ing for 15 years, and it took you that long to realize that, why come here and "look down your nose" at us??!! All that tells me is that you're either a slow learner, or a glutton for "punishment", or both. To use your own word, this is NOT an attack on you. It's just an observation by me.

                           Donny "B"    8)

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