Karaoke Forums

i had my first run in with anger durring a show. We were having a new years party and some people asked if i was going to set up for karaoke, i got everything set up and planed to do some open singing and a game.

Needless to say they came in and moved the chairs i had set up for the game, they just called out songs, never turned in slips, and were very rude to the people singing(ie. talking loud while people are singing, my biggest pet pive!, as a singer it down right makes me mad). I even had one guy grab the mike from my had as i tried to do an Intro for the next group.

It was a bad night for me and i almost just shut everything down, and said that's the end.

Has anyone else had a bad night were they just felt like leaving, anyone actualy leave?

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1/2 of the Camp Bucca marathon Karaoke team(10 hours straight)

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My night last night started out as a bad night... the agent started p****** us about with times (we're singers, not kj's, and he tried to get us to sing for 5 hours, which we were NOT going to do!!), then when we arrived at the gig, we couldn't park cos some **** had blocked the loading area with his car, when we asked if it could be moved, we were told to park in the carpark around the corner, and carry our gear in from there! He eventually moved it, but by then, I was so mad, I was ready to tell him to stick his gig and go to the pub instead... things did calm down tho, and we actually ended up having a pretty good night

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Tater,

I WOULD have shut it down.

You have to maintain control

When they shout out a song, tell them to turn in a slip, or they don't sing.
When they are rude to other singers, tell them they better stop, or they won't be singing. Any more rudeness, and they'll be kicked out of the venue. OR you'll shut it off and go enjoy the night somewhere there ISN'T rude people.

YOU are the entertainment, or you're in charge of it. SOME idiots need rules.

I had a gal coming up to me tonight, rubbing herself all over me. I kept twisting away. SHe laughed and said that I was shy. I smiled and said, "No, I have good taste."

SOme might consider that rude, but geez, just cause I'm up there running the show, does that give someone the right to maul you? Her husband got pretty pissed off, and got in my face. I just smiled and told him to take his flirty woman home. Then I turned away from him, diffusing the situation. He called me a name, and I ignored him.

Its called BOUNDARIES. Get some quick. And lose the games.he he

you know..dont even worry about it...yes...some people r just that way.....i was singing " mama hes crazy" one night and these girls kept screaming "Mama shes crazy"..and when i went to sit down i said"
ok..its your turn..get up there...well..noone said anything then...so...dont even worry about it....when people do that ..its just that they wish they could do it and HAVE to make fun of you to try and make u look bad keep on doing what you do.....

Well.... last night we just DJ'ed. The Club owners were concerned that the dance crowd would get too rowdy after midnight and since this place has a floor stage... not a risen stage... we basically agreed that there was the potential for equipment damage.

Lots of the folks were disappointed that we weren't having Karaoke.... and told the manager. It got us an extra gig for next week . ALL Karaoke 2 nights next week at this place.

As for the problems TATER shared.... Knightshow & metalgod have said it all. You are in charge! Set your boundries. Have a policy driven show...and stick to those policies. If it feels like its getting outta control....SHUT IT DOWN.

Knightshow snip ~~


Yea, got a bit of that stuff myself last night (from men, not woman, ). Very uncomfortable to say the least! Sounds like you handled it well, tho. I just kept moving away, and saying "Happy New Year... Go Dance! " Seemed to work okay. But man... I really hate it when that happens. You want to be friendly and cordial to all ... but geeeeesh... NO ONE should have to be mauled.

Well... Happy New Year All...... Hope 2005 is a great year for all of you!!

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[shadow=tomato]If you want your significant other to pay attention to EVERY word you say::
  TALK IN YOUR SLEEP   [/shadow]  

I would say about 1/3 of the songs sung last night at the party I did were a result of people just coming up to me and telling me a number or the song name - no problem, just wrote them down and kept moving on. It was very manageable as the group was pretty small (about 30 people, with about half of them actively singing). Had it been a bigger group or made up of rude people, it would have been another story. Everyone was very nice and there to have a good time.


We interrupted the singing only once for a latin dance break that went over real well. I actually extended it as couples continued to join in. The only other time I played music was at midnight (Guy Lombardo naturally, followed by the Jivebunnymixmaster dance remix and two other songs), then back to karaoke.

Party turned out great and I got a nice tip on top of a decent fee. Several people asked for business cards - hopefully will get some future work as a result of this gig.

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Sounds Great! Entertainment
Bartlett, Illinois

iwas so excited about last night . well im so pissed now every thing was going great we have 2 time zones so we do 2 new years 1 one went great we had about 200 then at 12.35 25.00mins before next new year a STUPED FIGHT STARTED it was kind of in the back of the room then out side the owner called the cops we kept singing till the cops got there and then the owner said lets shut it down .never had a fight in any bars we did gigs it till then .owner was so happy with the night. till then .but im still pissed at the people who started it we all know the and i want them all to aplogize to every one who was there for being (@$%&#!) hole most are regs that were there i could go on for hours im so pissed at them the owner was still happy with the night. but runiend mine i will not let them karaoke at my shows till they aplogize to everone next time they are there
i will tear my equipment down and go home if the come in and do not tell everyone they are sorry DAM IM PISSED AT THEM

I am very firm when it comes to slips. I even have in my song books a tounge in cheek Karaoke 101 that explains how the books work, how to pick a song, fill out a slip, etc. etc. etc. Penalty for not submitting a slip is a hit in the head with a tack hammer (not really of course). Look, if I've got a rotation going of 20 plus singers my memory, well it just isn't that good for starters. Further with over 3,400 songs in my portable collection I just don't have what disc it's on down in my head. I would have shut things down and complained to the management on what was going on. On very rare occassions I have had people grab mikes or take up the second mike when someone else is singing - that's what the mute button on the mixer is for.

It seems as though last night was WEIRD for many. I had high hopes for the evening being New Years and a heavily promoted party at the club I was hosting at. 90% of the patrons were on the band side, the room was dead, with holes in the rotation from time to time, and I did a whopping $3.75 in tips.

Oh well - on with the show!

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Despite the internet rumor, Karaoke is not Japanese for "drunk buffoon with microphone."  However, "rotation," is Japanese for wait your damn turn!

They had a major fight on the band side where I was hosting at last night. The BASS PLAYER of the band dove off the stage and attacked a guy who was hitting on his girlfriend. Management tossed the guy who was attacked and their entire table out - kind of hard to tell the band, "your done," on New Years Eve...from a business stand point I get it, but in joint club situations again I'll be sure to make sure they AREN'T playing.

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Despite the internet rumor, Karaoke is not Japanese for "drunk buffoon with microphone."  However, "rotation," is Japanese for wait your damn turn!

I guess New Years was intresting for all of us. Thank you for the help, in the future i'm just going to have to shut it down. My partner is coming back soon though, so he will be able to tkae some of the stress out of it.

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1/2 of the Camp Bucca marathon Karaoke team(10 hours straight)

Wow--sounds like I was not the only one with a bad New Year experience. The difference being my problems were with the club owner and not the customers.

We had this show booked for months. Here in WI, bars don't close on New Years, we can go as long as we want. So this show was contracted that I would play from 10:30-2:30 guaranteed, and then there would be an hourly rate after that for as long as they wanted to keep me there.

I've been hyping this party for well over six weeks, because I DO make a ton of money on the deal, and I want a good turnout so that they'll ask me back again. I'd been promoting it by saying that we'll keep playing as long as there are folks there singing, and that it was the perfect show for those people who think there's never enough time to sing all the songs they want to! New years 2004 we had singers there singing and the show ran nearly until 6 AM. This year I was sure of more of the same.

Anyway, my regulars start filing into the place and by midnight I've got about a 20 singer rotation built. Midnight comes and goes, so fast forward to 3AM. Everyone is having a good time, except the owner (passed out drunk on the bar) and his pet bartender, one of the two bartenders on for the night. Tired of dealing with people I guess. She starts waking him up and bitching that she's tired and wants to go home, so at 3:20 he decides that he wants to stop the karaoke at 3:30.

So, with 20+ people in line expecting to sing, I have to get on the mic and tell this group that karaoke would be shutting down in 10 minutes. Talk about an angry mob! In many cases these people had booked hotel rooms and all night sitters becase their plans were to sing until the sun came up. The bar was nearly full at the time, and these folks had been pacing themselves to go all night long--that may also explain the lack of fights or anything at the bar.

I had several people offer me $50-100 to keep playing, but I refused to take it on principle. I explained to them that I was not going to take their money so that the prick owner could keep making money over the bar. I explained that I understood that they wanted to keep singing, but the owner had made a business decision and now he had to live with it. I played a dance song or two for them, then wished them all Happy New Year and suggested that we all go down the street for a drink. 10 minutes later the bar was empty and they were sweeping up.


I was mad, not only about the lost income I had been counting on, but moreso because MY customers (and they are my customers--they'd never be in this bar if I weren't there) were disappointed and their evening was ruined. Many tried to convey this to the owner, but unfortunately he didn't hear them. He was passed out on the bar again.

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Spreading the karaoke gospel