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Friday night best night I have seen in a long time. Last KJ for the bar had a rotation of maybe 10 to 15 on a good night. So Friday I up just bustin A**. People are handing me slips like mad. Everything going great - RIGHT. One of my regular singers hands me a few requests, and I tell I don't think we will get to these before the end of the night because you have a few up already. She says no problem but the current singer has sang three song since she did her last. Oh and what happended the the on for so and so that I put up.

Hum..... I go up and look at this. Current singer has sang 5 songs and complainer has sang 4 and up in 2 songs. So that complint in valid. Now I Find that slip that she had put up for so and so at the back of her slips, she handed it in with some others. Put that one in rotation so she can sing. Everyting right NO.....

We are now doing our last rotations. People are comming up with new requests and I'm telling them sorry to late. Same complainer comes up with her bag of requests (we keep slips for regulars) and hands them in, I see her at the front door right next to the stage. She's leaving so I pull her
songs from the rotation and run and find the other singer who wanted to sing and I get her back in rotation.

Now we have 5 minutes left so I grab some cd's and ask bar what song they want me to sing. Finish the night out with one song. No two minutes left so through one more in ( don't have tickes for anyone else at this time ) and i do a total of two song to close the night out. Not the best Idea but had no other tickets.....

Everyone happy right.... Not .... Seems my favorite singer for the night is didn't leave and never said anytiing to me....

Next day go in to bar to get some things. Seems the Owner is not happy like she was Friday night. Doesn't say anything to me though But I know that my favorite singer has complained.


LONG STORY SHORT.

If you have a complaint, why go to the bar owner.

Normally wouldn't think about it twice with anyone else but she is a sub bartender and a regular. We are new by one month with the bar.


Thoughts, opinions or simple shut up and forget it......

kjgreg, you have my deepest sympathy! We used to KJ for a long, long time until we moved from CA to MO. A break!! Fortunately, I have a good day job and KJ’ing was a hobby for us. My point is that I gave up KJ’ing for exactly what you are talking about. People are unnecessarily demanding towards KJ’s and a bunch of whiny babies if things don’t go their way! I think the way you ended the night was perfectly fine. You cannot read minds (I think ) so how were you to know who was going where?

Thanks for the words of encouragement . I don't or won't be the last KJ there. I would go there when he was running the show and wouuld sing 14 + songs in 3 to 4 hours...... I had a great time got to sing a lot. But doing the math not may other singers there. So not much money going into the till. NOT GOOD

Friday Night total singers 30 and singing a total of 77 songs in 5 hours. Not bad at all. Most one person sang was 6 songs. Bar stayed packed until 1a.m.

My suggestion.........

If you are telling people that the night is over....don't be singing TWO songs at the end of the night as the KJ, especially when the night is busy!

I mean, if it was that busy, you should have saved those two for karaoke singers I know I would have been upset if you had told me...night was over...and then sang two songs yourself at the end (I would have not complained, just never come back)

I totally feel for you though!

You will always have complainers no matter what you do Regulars, I am sure, are the worst! If it usually not busy, they just get used to singing all the time.....and get mad at the KJ when there are a lot of singers.....

And as for complaining to the bar....well, the bar is your boss...just like in any job...they will always take the complaints to the boss to try and get cha out of there.

I sometimes do a show for my friend when she has a prior engagement. She tells me to make sure to say that "Peggy, the usual host, had a prior engagement....and will be back next Wednesday....and I am her part time worker taking over for the night"

It may seem silly, but she did get replaced at this one bar...and all the regulars started a petition to get her back !

Don't take it too hard I am sure it will all work out

When it's that busy, the host shouldn't be singing at all, even the closing song - unless a special request or someone requested a duet. You said everyone got maybe 6 songs, if you run a strict rotation & are like some other kj's that sing at the end of every round, then that's 6 more singers you could have gotten up that night.

But that's just my opinion!

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I started the night 15 minutes early and did sing the first song. The second rotation I did sing as a suprise birthday for my wife. After that I stepped out of rotation except for a duet put up by someone else sung during is turn in rotation. I then sang again at the very end of the night when there was no more request up. If I had seen the one who I thought had left I would have let her sing instead of me.

Just info on how our night usually goes.

Our start time is 9:00 on Fridays. We usually get our most singer between 10 and 11. Then around 12 - 1 the bar empties down to where ther are only a few singers. So for this bar I will usually step back into rotation around 1a.m. depending on how it its going.

We do try to make the singer #1

Another suggestion.....don't ever assume someone is leaving just cause they are standing next to the door, walk out the door, or whatever. Maybe she had to get something from her car?

There is no harm in calling out her name...keeping her in the rotation until you know that she is gone!

Most people who go to karaoke a lot will have the common courtesy to tell the KJ they are leaving...or this will be their last song, or whatever. But, even if they don't, you should at least call out the person's name....so you know for sure they are gone

I mean, even at the end of the night she did come and complain to you....after you had sang your two songs....what would you have done? Let her sing....after you also told everyone else the night was over? She would have complained regardless, as well as all the other people who you said could not sing...as the night was over.

I think you may have been SOL no matter what you did.

I don't pull anyone out of rotation until I call them and do the wonderous "Going, Going Gone!"

I've been surprised more often than not about a singer that's slipped into the bathroom, on the other side of the bar, or is merely outside talking on their cell phone!

NEVER make assumptions. Run the rotation like a robot, and have the next singer "loaded and ready" IF you have a multiplayer... if not, have the next disc "on deck".

Just apologize to the "wounded singer", and tell them you'll do better next time! You can't POSSIBLY see everything to is to see around there when it's that busy. You have a rotation of 8, FINE, you're not so busy. But once it gets like that, and you have people coming up and you're having to turn away new requests... it's a madhouse.

ALSO, announce on the mic when you're no longer taking NEW requests... usually at the start of the last rotation if you only have 15 or so singers. I've had to do that at 12:00 one night when we were going to 2:00! Talk about a serious rotation! When you DO announce such a thing, you'll have singers come up left and right either with song changes, to hand in their other requests (you mentioned you keep them), etc. You might have to make the request more than once... "Remember folks, we're not accepting any new singers."

I have a great utility disc I use JUST for such announcements, not to mention others that could be equally as important!

matt

A couple of suggestions, I ask my singers NOT to bring stack of songs at a time...Sing one bring one... It's solves some problems.....Not all but some. On busy nights I also keep a dry erase board with the singers names in rotation...Helps me NOT to skip any one and shows the singers who they follow and such. I think every KJ runs into those similiar situations late in the evening, I have no problem singing the last song as the KJ. Usually, NO ALL THE TIME ...I'm already on MY time .. 9:00pm to 1:00AM is the scheduled time but I'm still cueing up the last singer at 1:20PM...So I feel at 1:30 I can sing the last song ...Officially closes out the show. I'll play filler music after that until I'm packed up.

Hang in there ...Talk to your wounded singer and explain. Sometimes all it takes is a little communication to solve this type of problem.

I agree! If you are on you own time finishing the show...especially cause it gives the rotation a chance to finish, then as far as I am concerned, you can sing 5 songs if you like at the end !

By then, I am quite sure you have told everyone this is the last rotation, blah, blah, and by that time, the bar has probably emptied anyway...cause all the singers who have sang their last song are usually gone by then anyway

My friend runs her show like that.....she ends at 1:00, but I have seen her go even till 1:45 to finish a rotation off

It is nice when KJ's do that

At this point I will generally walk around the bar to the singers that have been there all night (the first ones of course) & ask if they want one more song. I would never take 2 songs for myself as a close of a show.

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The bottom line is that when you have a busy night there is always going to be someone who feels like they did not get enough chances to sing.

Chances are also good that there is going to be someone who goes home pissed off about something, and there is nothing you can do about it. One of the hardest things for me is to get past that feeling of wanting to make EVERYBODY happy. In the end you just have to make as many people happy as possible. As long as you are fair, theyy should understand.

If a singer wants to complain to the bar owner, let them. When the bar owner approaches you about it, ask them if it was a good night for the register, and explain that you can't please all of the people all of the time.

I recently had a singer try some crap with me like that. She came up with the ol, "Can you bump me up because we're leaving" spiel and I told her no. Then she said she was going to complain to one of the owners and that the owner would make me move her up. I calmly explained to her that while the owners owned the BAR, I owned the EQUIPMENT and had the final say as to what happened with it. Anyway, she stuck around long enough to sing her song, and even manged to get in another!

Just be fair, and that is the best that you can do.

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Spreading the karaoke gospel

Bro, you can have one of the best nights of your life and someone still (@$%&#!), here is my simple law for running my shows, if 9 out 10 people AT; not only singing, but AT the gig had a GoodTime, then I have done my job. Any less and maybe something needs tweaking, or you need to Get someone else to do that gig, sometimes you need different personalities to do certain bars.

that kind of stuff always cracks me up Mike.

You're damned if you don't, and double damned if you DO!

I just tell everyone that I treat EVERYONE equally. No favors, no bumping, no games, no b.s.!! I've developed a hard-won reputation... because people know that when they come to my show, there's a certain rule that applies. NOBODY is more special than anyone else, yet everyone IS special and I treat them as if they were my best friends.

Let's put it this way: Jeannie, just a sweetheart of a good friend, loves the fact that I treat her just as well as someone that walks off the street. No favortism! In a town that loves to show favortism, it's a rare thing to see a well run show that does it.

Anytime I do a show I hold onto the slips. If there are any questions about being fair or what songs were sung I can pull them out and show how many people sang what songs.

I do try to be fair to the singers and do my best to keep them happy. After every show (sometimes that night, sometimes later) I try to talk with the bar manager or owner to insure they didn't hear of any problems that I missed. I talk with them if there are and try to resolve them. I'd consider opening a dialog with the owner and see if they're unhappy, had any complaints, etc.

BTW, a better option than singing two songs at the end of the night would have been either stopping 2 minutes early or doing a group sing-a-long. Pick a rowdy song from the genre of choice for the bar and tell them that they've seen people sing throughout the night but now everyone gets to sing. A song like 'Sweet Home Alabama' or a dozen other 'standards' that everyone knows is perfect for this. Get them all singing and walk around with a wireless mic or two and have different people sing into them.

I don't have a problem with the KJ singing the last song of the night as long as it's what they always do. Some won't give that up and others will if it's busy and tell the crowd, 'I normally close with XXXX song but tonight I'm going to let 'singer' sing the last song because we've been so busy'.

Something I do if the bar is busy is about an hour before the close of the show I tell them I'll try to get in as many singers as I can before the close of the night. I remind them of who's the next singer or two and ask them to be ready. I then run the rotation until I'm out of time letting them know we only have time for a couple more songs before closing time and we'll try to get up as many as possible. This lets them know that they're running out of time and that you might end in the middle of a rotation when you stop for the night.

I'd follow the rule we used to use for the critiques from technical education classes. A single complaint or two complainers that sat together is reviewed but given little weight. Multiple complaints from people not sitting together is a sign something went wrong. Especially if they're complaining about the same thing.

Remember this rule:
You can't please all the people all the time but given half a chance you can piss nearly all of them off.

I made a point of the singer in question and apologized if I upset her the other night. She said that she was not upset and not to worry. But I think if I had called her up she would have sang again.

I do want to thank everyone who have posted comments of support and critisim. I would like to think that because of this forum and the members that my business is where it is today. Whitch is good.