Karaoke Forums

Wow, what a great couple of months I've had! With all the negativity I've seen on the board lately, I wanted to take time to share my experiences here.

I recently subed at a local bar for a KJ friend of mine who went on vacation. This local bar does karaoke 6 nights out of the week... 2 with my friend steve, and 4 with an "in house" KJ named Doug.

Sadly, over the last year I've been hearing rumblings of discontent at my other venues about the karaoke there. Keep in mind, this bar was at one time a top karaoke venue, but sadly the current KJ (Doug) has failed to keep pace with technology, and his system is suffering. He's been there for 15 years!! The owners even lent him money to upgrade his equipment, but the KJ's discs frequently skip, and he is frequently stopping the show to fix technical issues. As the bar owner put it, "We bring friends to our bar to party and sing karaoke and this keeps happening. Its embaressing!"

I'd been hearing about all this for a while now, and many of my regulars were saying they wanted to get me in there for one night.

As luck would have it, Steve, a KJ friend of mine went on vacation for two weeks, and the bar owner called me to see if I would step in for Tuesday and Wednesday night while he was gone. I couldn't do both nights as I have a regular wednesday already, but I could step in for the Tuesdays (but, I did email some KJ friends and got them another KJ to sub for Wednesday which is ladies night there ).

The bar owner came by my Monday night gig to check me out the night before I subbed, and in her words was, "blown away."

The next night was a success. While I wouldn't call it big, it was the best Tuesday night the bar had had in some time. Well, over the next week, as I worked at other places I was beginning to hear rumbling of how "impressed" everyone was.

Well, last night was PACKED! I walked in to pats on the back, and "man are we ever glad your here." I was blown away. One of the singers, Steve (another one), came back with his group, as did my regs from a bunch of other places.

Well, Steve, it turned out is a reporter for the local paper and is doing an article on local karaoke, and asked me for an interview... I'm going to be the featured KJ in his article!! He said he does karaoke all the time, and I was one of the best KJs he'd ever seen... not only for the sound system, but the way I ran the show. Wow, was I ever touched.

The night was a big success in every way 26+ singers (on a Tuesday!), and the bar owner gave me a $50 bonus, and assurances that they want me for a regular Thursday night... which I kinda knew as I was getting winks and "we're gonna get you here on Thursdays" from the patrons all night.

The only down side is that I know Doug will lose one of his nights, and I feel bad about that. However, I also know that the owners have given him every opportunity on the planet to get his act together, and improve his show... so the loss is his own doing, not mine. I didn't actively pursue his night, the bar owners and PATRONS pursued me... and this is just part of the business.

For me, I take note and remind myself to keep my head on straight and remember why I'm there!!

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

Wow sounds great Koyote! Keep us informed on how things turn out.



Maybe we do air our gripes in here more than the positive things. I know that in my case this has been the best spring we've had in my home room, and they're giving me a raise to make sure I stick around. So things aren't so bad.

Oooh I hope Doug wasn't a close friend. I'd be ready for some serious tension when he finds out. You'll have to let us know how that goes. I have mixed feelings about taking over someone's gig after being asked to fill in for them as a favor.
I'll leave it at that because I don't like to pass judgement on someone elses business decisions.

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

I filled in for STEVE, not Doug. There are two different KJs at the bar. Steve works there for two nights (Tuesday and Wednesday) so Doug has some time off.

So, I didn't take a night for the KJ I subbed... (and its not really official yet anyway) I would never do that... especially to a friend. I made sure that it wouldn't be an issue in the beginning because I made sure that they knew I had a regular Wednesday night gig, and "other commitments" on Tuesday that prevented me from making Tuesdays a regular thing.

On the other hand, Doug has been to my shows a few times in the last year, and bad mouthed me both times (I heard back from others "His system sucks", he don't know how to run karaoke", etc. ). When others complained about him to me, all I've ever said was, "That's too bad, I'm sorry to hear that."

Thus, I didn't actively go after his turf... the bar owners contacted me at the prompting of their patrons whom I did not encourage in any way to do so (I didn't discourage them either when they told me they were going to talk to the owners on my behalf. "Wow, that would be nice of you, thank you very much." Was the extent of it).

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

I'm sorry I misspoke ! I'm really glad to hear that it wasn't your friends show.

I think I need to take a reading class. I wish you the best !

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

Funny, reading class. It's amazing the number of times a response is fired back without the poster having read the entire post. Not just you Babs...

I've had great success this spring, too - new gig that is overflowing, people are thrilled, it's in my town, I came highly recommended, etc., etc. I've gotten a raise already after 8 weeks. We're looking forward to moving to the outside stage as weather permits. It's just really nice to feel appreciated - we all work hard for that and it's a great feeling.

On the other hand, because of our success in this very small town, other places are firing up believing that it is karaoke only that brings people - not the chemistry and rapport created between owners/patrons/hosts. It's that rapport that does it, not just some karaoke music and speakers and someone who can cue music. Some owners will never learn this. RIP krappyoke.

Sounds like the writings on the wall for the older guy. Owners have given him every opportunity and he hasnt responded. They wanted to see about you and make sure you were what people said u were. Dont be too suprised now if they give the old guy the heave ho and make u an offer to take his 4 nights. Not anything of your doing, all done by these owners.

The mag article should be a big plus--give the new place a plug in the interview---about now having a new night there and how nice a place it is. That's just good PR! Use the article as a free advertising opportunity. They dont come around too often.

Also post up the article here for us to read for ourselves if you can get a link for it!

You might also want to put a plug in for KARAOKESCENE!!

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"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

Congratulations koyote! And don't feel bad about taking on the Thursday night. It's like you said:
a) You had no intention "stealing" a night, you didn't ask the Bar Owner. He came to you
b) Doug could have improved the show by now, especially with the fact he was given financial support from the owner

Don't feel bad about. Enjoy your new night and do your best, as usual. Keep it up!

I can honestly say I would turn them down on that. I like my independence too much. Five nights, five different bars. If anything goes south, the most thats going to happen is I lose a night... which I'm fully capable of replacing quickly.

Losing a night at a 4 night a week gig would kill ya.

Also, I like spreading out, so that I'm not "overexposed" to any one group of folks... and have exposure to a larger group as well.

I'd be to afraid of losing game if I got a steady gig like that... as nice as it might be.

My goal right now is to get a gig at a local hotel, or corporate location. Better opportunity to meet more people who might help me, a different group of folks... even though the regulars might be less... and the money is exceptionally good for those locations as well.

This new gig is a good move because of the folks I can meet there might just help me with the next opportunity.

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

integrity is pretty important. if you didn't walk in throw down a card and tell the owner you can do better then you did nothing wrong. the patrons are paying the bills, if they asked for you then they should have you. that's the way the world works. I never try to steal a show, but ill be happy to take one that somebody else is messing up on if it's offered to me.

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the voices arent real, but they have some good ideas

GREAT POST and wish you the best ---It's a wake up call about how complacency
can get you fired. Unfortunately for DOUG its another case were the KJ and the OWNERS don't talk. SHAME ON THE OWNERS for not talking to Doug about his technical problems and other complaints. SHAME ON DOUG for not talking to the owners and asking how he was doing.. GREAT NEWS FOR KOYOTE and keep up the good work

Actually, the owners have talked this guy far more than I would have.... even lending him money to upgrade his equipment. I don't know how much more they could've done to help him.

Thanks for the good wishes!

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

Congratulations on your success. It's nice to hear. I hope to have the same success in the near future.

Glad to hear your area is still thriving and you are doing well.

koyte, don't feel bad that you're doing a great job. Don't break your elbow patting your back, either, not that you're doing that. But humility is a great thing. And I think you're on the right path that way.

Congrats on your success, and running great shows.

If your friend DOES get upset, take comfort that you know he's been approached many times to correct the flaws in his shows.