Karaoke Forums

[font=verdana] I finally have a gig booked. The guy called me the other night because he had heard good things about our show at Walker’s. So I assumed he was looking to cater to more of the young crowd, but when I asked him what kind of music he was looking for, he said, “No hip hop/rap, No heavy metal, and no vulgarity!” I said, “I’m your girl” that’s the kind of show I run. I start Thursday night, and if I do well it may turn into a steady gig. I am so excited, and sooooo nervous. It's about 30 miles from my home and with the cost of gas, that will cut the profit a bit, but it's a start. I have found that if you are doing at least 1 gig, then bar owners take you more seriously when you try to book a different night in their club.
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Dusty Rose
Blue Rose Classic Karaoke
More Sound! More Selections! More Fun!
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Sounds like you have a good foundation for a good working relationship and in agreement. Just be yourself and inflect that into your shows. It goes without saying if you play filler do not use hip/hop. Kudos and GOOD LUCK!!!!!

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Dusty the warmest wishes are heading your way sweety...I hope you knock their socks off with your lovely personality and your proffessionalism xx

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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."

Congrats and Good Luck !!! - Do your due diligenece and make sure your books and equipment are all in god shape. If you haven't already I would suggest you make a pre-setup visit and inspection to understand what you may need in the way of extenions cords , tables - imagine speaker set ups etc.

A pre visit will can only ease the tension of teh 1st night jitters WE ALL HAVE

GOOD LUCK

Try to talk a singing friend or two, maybe from your regular gig, to go with you. That will help you get over your nervousness and give you a starting rotation that you are familiar with.

Good luck!

I will wish you luck, but honestly doubt you will need "luck" judging by what you are like on the forums.

Good luck ! I'm sure you'll be fabulous !

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I want to thank all of you for all your encouragement and well wishes, they were greatly appreciated, but I am very sorry to report that the new gig did not go well. When the bar owner called me, he was looking for KARAOKE, with no heavy metal, rap/hip hop etc. What I found when I got there last night was a 20’s to mid 30’s crowd that didn’t want to sing, but wanted me to DJ rock music all night. I am just beginning to build my DJ library so my selection of rock DJ music is very limited. The place to set up was, to put it mildly, not the best. I was way at the back of the bar, behind two pool tables, and the crowd was all at the front of the bar except those that were playing pool, I was constantly dodging pool cues. About halfway through the night, at their suggestion and by mutual agreement, I shut it down and loaded back up. They gave me half my fee and we parted on good terms. I am going to check and see if Johnny would like to give them a try, the crowd is much more in line with his show, then mine.

I chalk it up to lessons learned.

1. Go meet the bar owner in person and thoroughly discuss his type of crowd, and music expected. Or even better, put the start date out far enough that you can go check out the crowd on the night they want to book you for.

2. Check out the place before accepting a booking, to see where you are going to be setting up. I don’t think if I had, I would have accepted the gig. It’s very hard to interact with the crowd when they are 40ft away and on the other side of two ongoing pool games. Your really just background music.
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Dusty Rose
Blue Rose Classic Karaoke
More Sound! More Selections! More Fun!
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I like how you chalked it up for a lesson learned. You were prepared to do what you are asked, but the crowd didn't warrent that to happen. This happens when a owner isn't in touch with what's going on and wants something radically different that what is going on. You were put in a bad position and it sounds like you handled it to the best of your ability. Keep plugging away, you did your job..walk away with your head high and preparing for the next gig! MrD

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[highlight=midnightblue]MrD - KJ/DJ Specialist
Visit MrD on facebook - mrdsentertainment
& on myspace - larrynance[/highlight]

what cracked me up a bit about this was they wanted karaoke, but not certain ones... and then they didn't want to sing...

sorry to hear your first time out was bad.

If I could make a suggestion...

try apprenticing yourself to someone else that has current gigs. There is no better way to learn this than being someone's Probie!

You took this very well, and learned a HUGE lesson - how to act with class in a dificult situation! Possibly everyone's biggest lesson!

Now, advice moving forward:

* Do not take half a fee. Work your booking. If asked to cut it short, then agree, but the booking fee stands!

* Scout your venue first. Listen to their jukebox.

* A lot of owners/landlords are hugely out of touch with their punters. What people say they want, and what they really want are often miles apart.

* Go buy some of the generic "101 hits country", "101 hits rock" etc albums. They are lame, but they work!

Do NOT be disheartened - this was not YOUR fault.

I've been DJing for many years before I got into karaoke, so I've got TONS of music beyond my karaoke selections, but even I have stepped into situations identical to the one you just went through. Don't let it get you down. Often owners want one thing, while the patrons want another. It's a fact of life. Good to see you chalked it up to experience and can move on.

Like was mentioned: if you have time to scout the audience before your starting date next time, do it. It'll help you determine how best to run your show. Maybe even suggest you usually like to do that to whomever is hiring you. It's not a necessity, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

And if you're looking for current music to bolster your collection, the easiest way to do that is with the NOW collections. There are usually a lot of filler tracks on those compilations, but you do end up getting a lot of hits, too. You could also join Promo Only, but those tend to get expensive, especially for someone just getting going.

Best of luck!

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hi-voxentertainment

You have the NOW collections in the US? Wow, never knew that.

I have EVERY NOW since they started (though some are vinyl and I have since bought their re-issues). VERY handy collections!

Yep, they're a little different than the ones you have across the pond, but they're great for those just getting started. I used to get them all the time.

http://www.nowthatsmusic.com/

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hi-voxentertainment

Good for you, Blue...Not a very nice surprise for you, I'm sure, when you prepared for a certain scenario and it was so glaringly different than the manager had prepared you for.

I have found that going into a new place, there is almost a resentment by the homies or regulars who sense an interloper and unless you can dazzle them incredibly, it will be difficult from the get-go.

One of the things I have done is make it my business to arm myself with a selection of filler music (DJ music) for almost any situation. I took every CD I own (which number the thousands) and ripped it via Windows Media to a Dell laptop I bought on Ebay for under $300. That was the first step.

Then, I go to the top 3-4 radio stations in my area and check out their play lists. If I don't have that music, I either opt for the "now playing" cd or I go to Napster or Rhapsody or one of the other sites and buy/burn the top 15 or 20 songs on their play lists (not duplicating, of course). This includes pop, hip-hop, rock, and contemporary country stations. I do this kind of upgrade about once a month. You can also go to the billboard history (not sure if Rhapsody has this feature but Napster does) and do a quick fill-in by checking the top 15 or 20 songs from any year, and I believe they compile four times a year.

You can then create 'play lists' of certain kinds of music - find yourself in a room of 21-26 year olds, choose your "pop/hip-hop/R&B" set list and let it go. Find yourself in a room full of boomers who may have been playing classic rock on the jukebox when you arrive, slip on the 'classic rock' play list.

I really believe every KJ has to be prepared at some point to provide this type of service - that is, if there isn't anyone singing, you should be able to play the type of music that is appropriate for the room.

I am only suggesting this because you and I are not spring chickens. There is no reason that we cannot be competitive in the field, even though it may not be EXACTLY what we want to do, by being prepared for as many scenarios as possible.

Good luck in procuring another gig. I make it my biz to go out and see how others are doing everything. Again, why not be prepared?

k

Sorry it wasn't a good experience for you. I love your attitude though ! You're going to be great at this. It's just a bump in the road.

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

Didn’t want to start a new thread with these pics, so thought I would post them in this one. I did the benefit today for the OC Animal Friends, everything went really well. Johnny even came down and did a few songs for me. Had one gal that came and sang a few songs that was not only a cutie, but could really do Shania Twain. (first pic)

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Dusty Rose
Blue Rose Classic Karaoke
More Sound! More Selections! More Fun!
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congrats blue! i did my first one myself recently at a bowling alley while I was working at a nuclear plant. they had 2 guys there before me that must of sucked because they were begging me to come back. anyway, good job sister!!

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