Karaoke Forums

I was at one of my regular gigs the other night and some of the ladies got fairly drunk.

This is a restaurant/ bar setup where I do a solo gig from 7.00 - 9.30 and the karaoke begins after that.

Some of the women were screaming that they wanted karaoke NOW NOW NOW, in the middle of my solo gig!

Later hat evening, one of them said "FARK YOU" directed at me for god knows what reason. Ignored it the first few times. Then went to management and told them that they need to do something about these people, or I would not continue the show.

Nothing done about it, I told management I was leaving for tonight, and they could manage them on their own. I could have given that @#@ a piece of my mind, but I would not want to destroy their customer base as it was a fairly large table and they are semi regular.

The guys at the restaurant covered the karaoke from then on as I packed up my gear and left.

What would you have done in my place? Would you address it with the customer directly (drunk or sobre) or take it up with management?

I have never ever had this happen to this level in 3 - 4 years of being in business.

Interested to hear your thoughts.

While doing a fill in gig for a buddy last week, a male customer was being confrontational for no apparent reason. He crossed a few names off the list and then told me to F off when I asked him to be cool. I could have taken care of this myself without even breaking a sweat. But I was sober and used better judgement.

Notified a bartender... within seconds manger himself asked the guy to leave.

I never drink while getting paid, just think I can use better judgement while sober. And if anything does happen, quicker reflexes might come in handy.



I would not work in any place where management did not have my back.

Thanks Manobeer

Incidentally, my deal with them is all the beer I can drink + money. + dinner. I wish my agent negotiated money instead of beer.

For the record I never drink when I am hosting or playing either.

1. It screws up voice and judgement
2. It tempts me to smoke which screws up my voice even more.

I was really asking how would you deal with customers like that if they were drunk or sobre.

I agree with you on the the fat that managment HAS to be on your side. I am playing there again tonight, they are bound to have a chat with me...

Nasty situation. Perhaps being female is a blessing in this situation because I have yet to have a real confrontation with a drunk. If I see someone may develop into a problem, I find their soberest friend and suggest that maybe they need to take their drunken friend home. Failing that, I let the bartender know. Both places I work at have female bartenders and nothing is more embarrasing for a male than to be torn apart by two bossy females....However, in the event of a real confrontation, I would definitely expect management or owner to take over the situation and keep it pleasant for the rest of the room. Instant axxhole - add alcohol.

That's a tough call.

IMO, I think you did the right thing by not confronting the OD (Offensive Drunkard). Besides, it probably would not have registered to them.

There are many different things that the people here would do. Some might do what you did, and ask Management to step in and handle the situation. Some might continue with the show, and ignore the OD (and take them out of the Rotation (if they were waiting to sing)). Some might seek out the OD's (more sober) Friends, and ask them to try and control them. Some might verbally confront the OD, or even try to embarrass the OD over the Mic.

AND... One might shove their Mic up where the Sun never shines (in the old JOLT Forum, this was known as the Chanch Treatment).

I'm sure most of us here have dealt with drunks from time to time. With all apologies to the ladies here, there is no worse type of customer to deal with than a lady who has had one too many martinis for happy hour. Oftentimes they are VERY beligerent, and their friends are sufficiently beligerent to be indifferent to the offending behavior.

You're in a tough spot here. Ideally, the offender will pipe down after awhile. Generally speaking, if the drunk isn't given an appreciative audience, they'll tone it down. I think by shutting down the show, you're in a way validating the offensive behavior, in that the inebriated patron has "won the game" of sorts, that their incessant heckling has caused you to lose your cool and close up shop. This could quite possibly generate an "encore performance" the following week. I'm guessing that wouldn't be welcome.

Definitely find out where the management stands on this one. If they don't have your back if it happens again, by all means quit the gig and seek employment elsewhere. No gig is worth being trumped by an intoxicated "semi-regular." If management appears apologetic and willing to back you up, I suggest engaging the drunk on the next occurence. Let them sing the next song, since according to them, "you suck." Let's see how well they perform on the spot. If they decline, chances are they are gonna pipe down at the very least after refusing your challlenge.

You don't have so much of a drunk customer problem, as a management problem. Regulars or not, they should have spoken to them if they were being continually abusive and rude.

Lucky for me, my managers keep a tight leash on the out of control tables. I had one guy, drunk as a skunk who kept "stage jumping" to sing with people who didn't invite him, etc. At one point he starts to PICK UP my lyric monitor (why I have no idea). I just cut the music, got on the mic and loudly said "DUDE STOP....JUST...STOP". Every head in the bar turned. It's amazing what silence will do. It wasn't 10 minutes later the manager told them to leave.

I was caught out because it was the very first time I ever experienced that kind of behaviour. I am prepared for it next time.

I will have a chat with management tomorrow. They pretended like nothing happened when I went back today.

Cheers

Vic in Sydney.

Well what I would do depends on the individual situation. I was at a show of a friend of mine and someone was heckling her pretty badly so she stopped the show and said on the mic "Sorry everyone, but this guy wants all the attention, so we're going to stop the rotation and give it to him. Everyone stand up and look at him" and then she points at the table.

Of course at that place she has the full support of the staff.

I'm not usually the confrontation type, so I will usually ignore them, if things persist I talk to the manager, and if things still aren't right, I pack up the most valuable stuff and leave, because I'm not going to risk $10,000 worth of gear over one stupid person and it says right in my contract I have the right to stop the show if I or my equipment are being threatened.


-James

I agree with the girls...not about the name calling but about not wanting to have to wait to sing. I know I wouldn't want to. You are there to host karaoke and I know if I went to a karaoke bar, I would want to sing not listen to the host for two hours.

If this is the arrangement you made with the bar, then whatever. But I would seriously think about using all that time for karaoke not your personal show. It's a turn off to alot of customers and can actually drive people away.

I make it a point never to sing at a gig I'm hosting unless people request it.

Alan

It also shows your customers that you're on an ego trip and care more about your personal show then karaoke for the patrons. Most people that go to karaoke bars go there to sing. Put yourself in their place. Would you really want to listen to one person sing for 2 hours when you and anyone else that's there could be singing now.

You're giving new meaning to what a karaoke show is supposed to be all about...The People.

Alan, I think it is a pre-arranged thing, from what I understand - Vic is contracted to sing/play maybe before karaoke? For the dinner crowd maybe? I don't think he just decided to sing by himsel for an hour and a half, am I correct?

This is by far the least fun part of the KJ job. I work a gig where the bar has $10 for all the beer and wings you can eat/drink. The bar is very busy... 200 - 300 every night. So, needless to say, I get a drunken customer who is belligerent about singing pretty much every week.

A few thoughts:

If you are good natured to a drunk, they will sometimes give you good-natured right back. If you return belligerent to them, they will pretty much always just get worse. "Hey how ya doin' tonight!" "Whoa... yeah there are a lot of people here that want to sing! Doncha just love this place?" "I'm sorry, but there are a lot of people ahead of you in line, and they would rip me to shreds if I let you cut in front of them"

When that fails, I am lucky to have a bouncer to call on.

I sometimes will get a heckler, but not too often. My sound system is bigger than theirs! If they have a mic and won't get off stage, I shut off their mic, turn off mine and call for the next singer while blasting the backup music.

I have had hecklers with loud voices right up at the stage... I completely shut off all music (which gets everyone's attention) and loudly announce that I will not put up with that. A moment of silence for the peer pressure to build... and then I restart the singer at the beginning of the song.


As for the thing with management... IMHO, it is not professional for the KJ to pack up and leave. Of course, it is not professional for them not to deal with the drunk and belligerent. What would I have done? Who knows?> I would like to think that I would have carried on through the night and then calmly spoke with management at the end of the night.

I agree with previous comments... I enjoy a beer or three (I am from Wisconsin, after all), but I never drink during a gig.

Thanks for answering the question instead of directing us to your blog...Seriously.

I agree with what the OP did. If the venue staff / manager refuses to deal with a problem that is preventing a performer, karaoke host, DJ, band, magician, or whatever else from doing their job, then that venue must value that one troublesome customer more than the entertainment they have booked for the night.

I only do karaoke at one venue, but I do live sound jobs all over town. If I have a problem with a patron that can't be quickly resolved, I summon a staffer and ask them to have the patron escorted out. If they don't, I will stop the show. I'd do this to a band, karaoke singer, or whatever. If the venue can't provide a safe working environment, it's not worth being there.

_________________
Jeff Wheeler, moonlight DJ/KJ

I have to agree with that.
I would walk.
Then again I have a day job.

If I can get the customer to pipe it down I go that route. If I can't, I ignore it until paying customers get the staff to fix it.

I don't know the circumstances and I don't know how your solo gig is normally run so I can only give the generics from my perspective. There could be circumstances that make rude idiots unacceptable in that particular venue. I just take the fact I'm in a bar as axiomatic I am going to have that type of behavior somewhere along the line and drive on.

IMO Either we're there to entertain and do a job or we aren't. If there is no physical confrontation and it's simply verbal heckling I can take it and move things right along. If it were a band, comedian or any other performer doing a gig we'd expect them to move along with the show.

Well yea, thats good.
What would you do though if the staff do not fix it...



Well that is really up to the management.
How much incoming will you take for the $$$ you get paid?

Personally I don't care if the venue will pay the hospital bills.
I don't want to go there in the first place.

EDIT Gryf, I am not asking you the question.
Just using your quotes.

IMHO, whether you had the support of the establishment or not, walking out in the middle of a gig is highly unprofessional. We all have to deal with drunk a@@holes...it's part of the job when you work in a bar. The appropriate thing to do would have been to finish out the night and then if you wanted to assess whether you want to return -- have at it. Walking out and not finishing a night can haunt you, as well. Bar owners talk to each other. Just keep smiling and singing...

Birdofsong

Birdofsong...

I have seen a DJ stretchered out of a venue looking very red.
Maybe you have not.