I do my gigs in the northern part of Wa State. I'm one of a few 'independents' in the area. A couple others are employees of production companies, but I own my own, and do my own.
There's one guy in the area (next county up), that's a real xss. He's got about 15 shows (and they're multi-rigged), and he promotes himself as the shows to end all shows. One of the bars in town was getting desperate for an entertainment option and somehow got hooked up with this guy, and he's been doing two shows a week at a place a couple blocks away from my two venues.
He started out doing Mondays and Saturdays and bombed. Mondays probably cause the show just sxcked, and Saturdays because I'm down the street and really pack 'em in. He's the type that will try to buy independents like me, but I made it very clear to him that that'd never happen. He's go a shady past (drugs, violence, etc.), and I'd rather he stayed away from me, my shows, and my friends. He's unpredictable and in some respects dangerous.
They changed the Saturday to Friday to compete with my Friday show. Attendance never really took at hit at my shows, and his have been blah (I send scouts
). PFten times receiving reports back that there are maybe ten people in the bar and only 1 or two are singing and he's doing most of it. After having dropped the Mondays, they started doing Wednesdays too. Competing directly with me again to try and steal my established crowd.
He's not doing so well, and he tries so hard. He writes articles in the karaoke newspaper posing as a patron and pumping up his shows like they're the best thing in the world, he has a van that he's got all painted up and has some lights on it to attract attention, and recently he's brought out a search light and a dancing wind gumby looking thing.
He doesn't fit it our small town. He doesn't enjoy the same anonymity he gets in a bigger city. He's a joke, and he just keeps thinking he's the coolest thing ever.
He used to have an employee hosting the show, and the show tanked. The bar actually stopped it, untill he forced his contract on them. They honored it on the condition that he himself host the shows. I don't think he's digging that idea and his rep is starting to get around town that he's an xss.
There are several reasons not to like this guy personally, but his multi-rigging scares me. Not that I'm doing anything wrong, per se, but it's rigs like his that have been prosecuted in the past, and with as much attention as he draws to himself, I can only imagine it's a matter of time before someone comes to check out the validity of 75,000 song library (x 15) = 1.5 million dollars in music minimum, and while they're in the area who's to say they don't start asking questions of the rest of us. I can probably produce most of my receipts, and show a good faith effort to be legit, but does anyone really want to be 'audited'? I don't.
Anyway, his shows aren't doing well, and it's probably just a matter of time before he packs up. I think he's switched Wednesdays to Rockband or something which won't go over in town (another band tried it and 'splat', another bar tried the Wii thing and 'splat', and the town regulars are pretty loyal to me, pool tournaments, a couple of the DJs and some bands. The place I do my Saturdays at was looking to do something on Fridays and they were leaning towards another karaoke show. Damn, are there no original thoughts anymore? I turned them on to dart tournaments (no one else up here has them), and they've been doing relatively well.
Anyway, anyone else have to put up idiots like this blowhard host down the street from me, on your circuit?
I had all my ducks in a row though. No problems.
