Karaoke Forums

This is a follow on to my previous question... Under what circumstances will you bump someone ahead in line?

If someone comes up and says, "We need to be going soon. Can you get us in a little earlier?" "The birthday girl wants to sing", "I haven't got to sing yet, and I have been waiting since Clinton was in office" "My pet toad died yesterday" "Here's a buck, can you slip me in earlier?" "Here's a five" "Here's a twenty" "The crowd loves me, you gotta let me in" "I am a bouncer here, I deserve special treatment"

What works best?
the hardnosed approach ("It would be unfair to let people skip line"),
the softnosed approach ("Ok, as long as you complain, I'll move you ahead.")
the capitalist approach ("Ten bucks gets you to the front.")
the favored singer approach ("Singers get bumped up if I think the crowd likes them.")
the paybak is heck approach ("Whiners go to the back of the line."

Any suggestions about how you run your show are welcome.

John the Revelator

First off, I only move rotation if someone is in the bathroom. Other than that, sorry, tough luck. You want to leave? Why on earth would it be in my best interest to help you leave sooner? Again, tough luck.
There is no other good reason in my books to move rotation.
What I tell people is that it's automatic and programmed (I'm computer based) and I can't move it. Saves a whole lot of grief.

Nobody gets moved up. Period. If you have to leave, there's always tomorrow night or the next time. I have heard probably every excuse in the book of why someone needs to sing next. The worst was someone came up to me & said I just got a call from my babysitter & my kid needs to be taken to the hospital - can I get up next? I replied while handing her slip back - well you better get home to your kid & take care of them. She never left & stayed until closing. I don't buy excuses, most of them aren't true the majority of the time.
Only 'exception' to moving anyone is you can be moved down the list if you want.

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Which is exactly what I meant when I said if someone is in the bathroom.
I wll skip them and come back to them next.
As far as moving some up for whatever reason, it will never happen.
Cant pay me,bribe me, etc, enough to make it happen. The best response is that I tell them it's computerised and there's nothing I can do. They never catch on with the bathroom thing either.

I will drop people down the list if they are out of the room, but will only do this twice. If people put songs up then go outside to smoke - well, sorry but the running order is on screen at all times. Miss it twice, and you need to resubmit.

Move people up? Hmmmm. I won't say "never" because I dislike that word.

But it would have to be an excuse that I've not heard before and is honestly valid to both them and me.

And the "I've got to leave in xxx minutes thing"? So? My problem how?

I think the ONLY exception to the rotation that I would make, would be the OWNER of the club, (if they decided to sing), or if I could persuade them to sing. Big introduction, so ALL patrons know who he is, ask for a big round of applause, etc.
POSSIBLY, the lead bartender also, especially if the bartender is well liked, and is a good singer. To me, it always gets the crowd cheering and enthusiastic to know that the OWNER is also part of the crowd. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'LL CERTAINLY do it without hesitation.

Rosario

I always tell the owner when I start my show that the rotation is fair, including them and their friends. That my own mother wouldn't get to sing any quicker than anyone else. That the pope wouldn't get up any sooner.

I don't know why people expect the "have to leave" excuse to work, but they expect it. I tell them no, and they never seem to leave.

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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.

This goes back to something I mentioned in a previous thread where I say a customer pay the kj $40.00 to get ahead of the rotation just because it was his wife's birthday party going on. IT'S WRONG! IT'S WRONG! IT'S WRONG! That KJ was obviously a capitalist.

Mckyj, I'm not talking about an owner who sings every time I'm there, I'm talking about an owner that is working the place, and can be PERSUADED to come up and sing. Also, I never said anything about letting the owners FRIENDS jump the rotation. If the owner is a regular singer, he gets in the rotation just like EVERYONE ELSE. I've seen owners who take privileges for them and their friends, and lost alot of their crowd because of it, I'd NEVER be part of that type of situation. Sorry, guess I didn't explain my point of view plainly enough. In the respect that I was referring to, I would still do what I formerly stated.

Rosario

aren't we ALL capitalists in one way or another. Those of us that run a pro show may not take bribes or accept "tips" to bump people up, but we are usually paid to be there. Very few kjs I know donate their time, discs, and equipment!

Note to self: John, be more hardnosed about not giving in to pressure!!

As far as the bribes go, I think it's more short-term capitalism. In the long run, if it ticks people off, it's a loosing situation.

Then again... I have toyed with an idea of killing two stones with one bird. The night I work is a "$10 for all the beer you can drink night". Naturally, the bar staff get lousy tips. So, I was thinking I could plainly advertise a tip jar for the bartenders and servers. If someone wants to sing next, they know what they need to do. $10 and you're up next. I would not accused of being a greedy guy, and the bar staff is happier.

Then again, maybe this would be seen as another way to be unfair. "I'm not gonna tip this boogerface just to be able to sing!" And maybe the only tips in the jar would be ones that the staff would normally have gotten anyway.

Any comments on this are welcome. I'm kinda leaning against it... but then, the whole thing is my biggest frustration. I'm grasping at straws here!!!

Oh... just hearing from others helps with the frustration. Thanks for the group therapy.

Basically, people would be paying to be next?

I'd leave and never return!

Is there a difference between bribing the KJ and bribing the Bartender???? Not to me. I'm going to tip the bartender anyway. Do I have to tip extra to get to sing when I'm supposed to sing anyway or do I have to tip extra to keep a bigger tipper from getting bumped ahead of me and everyone else? Any reason for changing the rotation is a bad idea in my opinion. Bumping someone ahead of me is no different than telling me that you wish I weren't there. You bump up the big tipper and you bump me out the door. HECK!!! I'm already paying 4 to 5 dollars for a beer that cost the bar less than a dollar.

Like most others in a bar if someone's in the bathroom or out for a smoke when they are called, then when they get back they go in. The only person who gets in out of rotation is "The Flower Guy" (he goes to various bars selling flowers). When he comes in and wants to sing, we let him, plus the fact that everyone loves him.

In the case of a private party, wedding, or birthday, the guest of honour will sing whenever they want. Try to tell a bride to wait her turn, .

Those are the ONLY EXCEPTIONS.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

Re: do you allow exceptions to the rotation?

Yes - in certain circumstances. I take the request to be moved up and make a judgement call if it is warranted. DON'T GET ME WRONG I don't sit there all night and juggle the rotation to cater to some whiners ......But I have and will move up or insert a singer under certain circumstances that I deem "OK"

And why not the occasional bump under special circumstances?
(assuming it's a legitiamete request)

Private Parties are always a different animal. They pay me a good amount of money, they do whatever they want, period. AS long as it's not threatening my equipment, I'm ok with that.

In a regular gig situation (Bar/Restaurant/etc) I agree with everyone else here. No change in the rotation (unless bathroom issues) whatsoever. I do make exceptions for someone who wants to sing Happy Birthday to someone else at 12 pm. And I can also see the none singing owner, who gets persuaded to sing (which is usually only one song the whole night). And I never had a problem caused by those examples. Other than that, no change.

@ Flower Guy: Kind of funny, the same guy runs around here in S Florida, too...

Why? They shouldn't be treated any different & if you do it once, then they may get the idea they can do it anytime - if they are part of the crowd, they will be 'a part opf the crowd' - no preferential treatment. As far as staff, my current club they are not allowed to sing while on the clock. But occasionally they will take a 'break', but their song will be at the end of the paying customers rotation so we coincide their break to when they will be up.

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Private parties are completely different set of rules than club work. If a bride is having their reception in a public club, then yes they will have to wait.

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Lonman, I think the problem here is we're trying to compare APPLES to ORANGES. You (from the posts I've read) work a large, busy venue. I'm in a SMALL town about 30 miles out of Milwaukee. YOU get more customers in your club in one night than we get in a venue in a week. You may not even see the owner in the club, and if you did, and asked him to sing, and tried to excite the crowd by having the OWNER sing, and make a big deal out of it, they'd probably think you were crazy. Or nobody would really care WHO the owner is. Whereas HERE, I could try to get the crowd (maybe 20 people) aroused to get the OWNER to come up and sing A song. It's good to let new people know who the owner is, and that he's "INTO" the karaoke scene. The bartender could ask if EVERYBODY has a drink, and if so, come up and sing. That kind of thing is done around here regularly.

Rosario

Yeah our club 'legal' cap is 200 persons, although we've been over that many nights before. But the owner is very known in there, she makes her presence nearly every night, but also knows that she don't expect any favors. She has asked (after I called no more slips) if her friend could sing, I told her we don't have no more time - she was fine with that knowing what time it was. Turns out a few people that were in the last round left & I ended up having an opening anyway, but I was not obligated to do so nor felt like I had to.

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