Karaoke Forums

I think it's just the capital of old people Babs. On fixed income.

I'm really glad I'm not trying to do this in Florida. It sounds horrible.

edit: Oh yeah. And all those old people have a lot of time on their hands and so they have all decided to fill the void by hosting karaoke. So there's a huge glut of KJs cutting each other's throats for whatever meager jobs there are.

I am so glad I don't live in South Florida.

My guess was based on what our bar take would have been, give or take $500 had it been us with that many in the rotation.
Where we are, not that many non drinkers go to the bar. I have 2 regular singers who don't drink, but they do purchase pop. They are VERY helpful to get the show started when there aren't that many people yet.
I guess we're fortunate in our area that we get very few freeloaders.

Yikes ! Now I feel like a cad. What do you do in a situation like this? I'd feel horrible for kicking a bunch of fixed income older people out of the bar for not spending money.

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

I wouldn't feel like a cad Babs. It's just their situation.

Our time's comin' just like theirs if we live to see it.

CS

I'll make this as impersonal as I can. Once again I am amazed by people who have a problem with reading comprehension. So, re-read my second post. I specifically said I wasn't at the venue that night. And nothing I said should have made any literate person come to the conclusion that I was the KJ. There were two KJ's working the show that night, and neither was me. However, however I know of the exact circumstances because my partner was one of the two KJ's.

BTW, who are you to judge KJ's who care to have a drink while they work? I only judge a KJ by his or her performance.

Amen.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Well, having been to about 20 different karaoke shows in south Florida, at all times of the year, I can tell you it doesn't have to be that way. I have seen some pretty bad karaoke there, to be sure, but I have also seen some great crowds. The 25-35 yuppie Latino crowd is what you are shooting for in Miami. If you can appeal to them, you have a lot to go on. If you turn them off, well, you probably have a long row to hoe.

In Lauderdale, where my experience is less, it seems that there are a couple of decent clubs that appeal to older people. I have been to the Trotter Inn twice, and both times it was jammed to the rafters with people mostly older than my 54 years. And they were having a great time.

These all happen despite the less than perfect sonic experience which is common in SoFL. Lots of underpowered portable systems, no monitor speakers, crappy microphones, huge amounts of large-hall reverb, speakers sitting on the floor, etc. Our Alex's show (Sevarini) notwithstanding -- you have seen his system, which is among the best I have seen.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Thanks Mike. =)

I just wanted to add this: Before I start a regular Bar gig, there's always a talk with the Manager/Owner about, what I do and provide, what they need to do and provide and how the whole thing is supposed to work in the long run.

One of the points I state very clear upfront is, that I don't tell them how to run their business/mix drinks/etc. and they are not supposed to tell me, how to run my Karaoke show (For instance, telling me to bump people up, etc.).

Considering this, as a KJ I would never dare to talk to customers about their money spending behavior or even worse, ask them to leave. This is the Bar's responsibility, NOT mine. That doesn't mean, I don't care about that fact, since the show is supported by how much people spend. But it is not my business/responsibility to talk to those people directly.

In case, I notice a freeloader, I will make the bartender/Manager/Owner aware of it (and even ask for permission to not let them sing at all), but from that point on it is up to them to either say something or not.

Trotters, I know it well. Several of my favorite freeloaders used to go and might still. Barbara, the kJ, is very sweet and has equipment that is representative of most shows in the Ft Lauderdale area. And, yes, her show does attract an over 50 crowd. However, Barbara's crowd does drink. There is also a limited menu, but the food is well-prepared. So, it's a fairly profitable show that's been around for years.

Ironically, the show I described in the OP was frequented by a 35 and under crowd. And so while many shows suffer from non-spending or low-spending senior citizens, that was NOT the case last Thursday!

Well said Sevarin.
Freeloaders are the bar's responsibility, not mine.

With the exception of pointing out freeloaders and asking not to let them sing, I am in full agreement.
I would NEVER not allow someone to sing because they haven't purchased anything YET.
Who knows, maybe they are waiting for some reason and will purchase something later in the night.
Maybe they don't buy this week but will come back next week and spend.
I know if it happened to me, that someone wouldn't let me sing because I hadn't bought anything yet, I would leave and NEVER come back.
As my mother used to say, "Be nice to eveyone, even the geeks and people you don't like. They may be your boss someday."

While that maybe true for Greeley, it may not work in every or most instance here in Ft Lauderdale.

Actually, I'm flabbergasted by your above post Karyoker, because I read your post in the "Do You Sing At Dance Club" thread?



Maybe I read too much into what you posted. I read it to mean that you recognize no only that no two venues are the same, but that the view of the world in Greeley maybe different than the view of the world in Phoenix where I hear there's karoake on almost every corner. Or Athens, GA where Fred has a whole different model to contend with?

Wow,

What a different tone on this thread from all previous ones. So, some of us might, in fact, point out to management that there's a freeloader in the house? That's a far cry from all previous threads in which everyone wanted to ignore the reality, or excuse the existence of freeloaders

I never stated anything else...

Good for you, Alex.

I'm sorry that the din left by those of a different mindset drowned out your reasonable thoughts on the subject. I wasn't aware that we agree!

One of these days I'd like to make it up to hear your new rig.

As long as you don't freeload, you're more than welcome!

Maybe I can make it down to your show, too. Do you have a show on Friday or Saturday?

People are pretty damn cheap here in the Tampa Bay, FL area, but my bar knows how to bring em in anyway.

I work in a sports bar that has TONS of drink specials, including $5.50 domestic pitchers and $3.00 wells and well shots all day ($5.00 and $2.00 during happy hour).

The bar seems to be everything to everyone. We have a big happy hour crowd that comes in for the cheap drinks after work. These consist of mostly 30-50 year old professionals.

About 8:30, when my karaoke is about to start, most of those people clear out, and are almost immediately replaced by my hardcore karaoke crowd and their friends. These consist of mostly 21-35 year old professionals.

By about 11:00, the hardcore karoake crowd knows that the hospitality crowd is on its way, and most of them take off for the smaller rotations, and they are immediately replaced by the hospitality crowd and their friends (AKA, the drunk singers). These, of course, are the 21-35 year old hospitality folk.

Then, of course, there are a handful of people who fit into all of the crowds and stay all night.

Anyway, the happy hour group is the only one of these groups that really tips, and all of these groups come to our bar because it has the cheapest drinks in town (and, of course, for my karaoke show).

In the end, even though most everyone that comes in is a cheapskate, we shuffle enough people in and out that the bar averages 100K in sales a month for a 6,000 SF bar that doesn't serve food AND the bartenders pull down about $800 a week in tips for a 4 day work week.

Oh, plus they pay me $175.00 a night and let me install most of my equipment. Not a bad model for all involved.

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C Mc
KJ, FL

It certainly sounds like Florida is not anything like I characterized it earlier. I just had this mental picture in my head. I appreciate everyone who works and sings the state setting me straight.

I've never been to Florida but maybe I'll visit now.

One obvious flaw in your logic is that rent, utilities, licenses, etc are fixed costs. If a bar owner is paying $2,000 a month in rent his cost is $67 per day. If the bar makes $100 for the night his rent cost is $67. If the bar makes $10,000 for the night his rent cost is $67.

Perhaps it's time to stop pulling meaningless numbers out of your @ss to support your argument for working for free.

TopherM

Thanks for portraying such a vivid and clear picture of your area, which doesn't differ much from S. Fl. I smiled when I read about the hospitality crowd. Unless you're just referring to restaurant employees, I hadn't considered that Tampa had one?

Of course this area is loaded with such workers. We even have an In The Biz magazine that provides an "In The Biz" membership card that entitles to hospitality industry workers to discounts at participating venues!

I guess you have different alcohol licenses as we have here, because the In The Biz crowd typically isn't get anywhere much before 12am? And those that work in bars won't get anywhere else much before 2am.

I also raised my eyebrows at his calculation of the rent.
The only exception would be is if the rent is based on total sales of the month. That sometimes happens here, but not often. The more you make, the more you pay. On the upside, the less you make, the less you pay.
However, most rents are fixed and I seriously doubt that if it was based on a sliding scale that it would slide quite so high as his example.