Karaoke Forums

Last night I went to Taco Tuesday at the Elks Lodge. They have been going through a number of hosts lately, last night another one was tried out. He couldn't get his Kara Fun to work, he was using Roxbox also, both weren't doing it. He had Alan's EV 50 column speaker that sounded good when he was DJing. They had an old system in the back that belonged to the Lodge, and the host had to use an unfamiliar system. At least he went from not playing discs, to playing discs, so even though he lost his library, because so many seniors use their discs, the show went on. I don't know what they were paying this guy but he was totally unprepared, with no back up plan. Needless to say I sang one song and left, it was a busy night with more than 20 singers, I just wonder how long it took to get to the next round? When I go out for a karaoke night I don't want a host learning his equipment, that should be done before he sets up at the venue.

I think they should hire you instead of the clown they have now. After all, you'll bring a lot more to the table for them as a professional host who has years of experience and knows what he's doing.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

Ironically Alan this is an old gig of mine, I was the last paid KJ host, when I retired they stopped paying, and relied on a series of unpaid volunteers that were members of the Lodge. The old equipment they bought is what last night's host used. The Lodge decided to start paying again, and this is what they come up with? They didn't ask me at all about whom to hire, being a member of the Lodge I have the most experience, and know what to look for in a host. What really disappointed me was when the KJ switched systems he didn't use the EV 50 column speaker, instead he used these dreadful old API 10" speakers, no sub woofer's, the old Lodge equipment. I really at least wanted to hear Alan's speaker, and missed my only chance, since this was the first host I've seen with one. All the rest of us have Bose.

P.S. I think MrScott's right I'm getting old and cranky!

Without knowing exactly what problem he was having, I almost didn't post. I was an avid fan of Roxbox. Used it for years before Vista came out and winamp wasn't compatible with the latest Windows at the time. I had gotten tired of carrying a full desktop computer and monitor with me and got a laptop that was running Vista. That was when I invested in Compuhost. Roxbox had always been rock solid for me.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Maybe in the hands of an expert Danny Roxbox is ok. Most of the hosts I see with crashes have been Roxbox, just saying. You have to remember Danny this host was evidently unprepared to host that evening, he didn't know his equipment! I found out later this guy was a friend of a Lodge member, and actually played in a band, and did a little DJ on the side. What I saw was when his laptop went down, his girlfriend was checking it not him, when the old equipment was rolled out of the back, patrons assembled it for him. I just hope he knows his instrument better than hosting, if he is playing in a band?

Roxbox hasn't gotten away from winamp yet and it's possible that it's not compatible with Windows 10 completely. As I said I used to use it back when XP was the rage. Haven't used it since. With what you just posted it might have been more of a user error than the fault of the software.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

A little update this host has been playing at the Lodge for 4 weeks now, I haven't been to every show but decided to give him another chance. He has made some improvements, and has added a Vocal Pro player, so he can play discs. He still hasn't figured out how to set up the large screen T.V. for use in his show. Even though I showed him how to do it. After four weeks he still does not start on time, and was 35 minutes late, from the established starting time of 4:00 P.M. Also he had various other delays, which ate up nearly an hour of his 3 and a half hour show. He should not be paid for his down time, especially since he had no filler music going during large periods of silence. A little tip this is where filler music is so important, it keeps the crowd from getting too restless. For those new hosting KJ's having filler music is a big deal. Many venue owners when they see you don't have music going all the time, is a box they check if deciding to hire one host over another.

My only conclusion is the Lodge is trying to kill Taco Tuesday karaoke. They should have sacked this host after his first show. It is painful to me since I reestablished their program, which I left in good running order, and has continued up until now. I have noticed that a crowd which was very large before his arrival has now shrunk. I don't know how much the resurgence of the pandemic and the delta variant are responsible for this? All I know is my mother could have run the show better than this guy, and she has been dead for 11 years.

The question is: Why are they still keeping him? He is a terrible host who is only driving customers away. Even if he's doing it for free, it's not worth losing customers over.

If you give me the number of the lodge, I would be happy to call over there and let them know how this guy is hurting their business.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

You know how Lodges run he is a friend, of a friend, who is friends with the person in charge of entertainment. The only problem is the person in charge doesn't come to the shows, and does not sing, or know anything about putting on a show, or hiring the right person for the job. I have already put the train back on the track once, I don't know if I could do it again, I'm very rusty.

P.S. Another possible reason is politics, there have been some complaints about the karaoke program since it's reboot. They don't like the idea that I revitalized it, and made them a ton of money. The reason is they didn't do it? Go figure? Of course if they do kill it, it will have run without me for 7 years, not bad, without me being there.

Oh the kicker is they are paying him 25.00 an hour, they cut the old 5 hr. show down to 3.5 hours, have raised prices on food and drink and have cut back service at the same time. They think it is smart, it is bad optics as far as the patrons are concerned.

Also consider the 3.5 hour karaoke time slot was even reduced more, with down time, with delays going well over 1 hr combined, no filler music. If he were honest and was paid the full amount, he should kick back at least an hour, for the time he wasn't doing his job.

Well this is week number five and the new KJ has yet to start on time. Again he started late about 20 minutes, as far as I can tell he is spending money to improve his show, but is not taking the time to learn his equipment fully. Example he just bought Compuhost V-3, and was trying to learn it on the job. Finally he gave up and went back to Karafun and Roxbox. He has no filler music still during down times which are still frequent. He is still not ready for prime time, just my opinion. I did my usual 2 songs and went home.

Again, please post the phone number of this lodge. I would love to call them and tell them what an idiot he is and how he has no clue how to run a karaoke show. I'm serious. It's people like this that give karaoke a bad name.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

I find it amusing that this particular host felt he could learn Compuhost V-3 on the fly. He said the reason it wouldn't work is because of the WiFi internet, I thought most hosts work off line, to avoid contracting a virus that could shut down the show? I have had my Compuhost V-3 now for a couple of weeks and am still practicing with it. Sort of like a gunfighter you have to practice everyday to be good. Once again proving that being a host isn't that easy, well at least a good one.

P.S. I guess he has to be online because he has no library, he depends on Karafun for his karaoke content. He is just lucky most of the patrons bring their own disc.

He is a total idiot. If he's paying for the subscription songs he only needs internet at home to download the songs onto his hard drive.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Danny is totally correct. This guy is a total idiot. In addition, a very stupid individual. But even more astonishing is the fact that the lodge continues to have him host karaoke, which makes the officers in charge of entertainment just as stupid as he is.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

I don't know if this is the case at all of these types of venues (Lodges,,,,,Elks, Buffalo, VFW, etc.) but I found that the elected committee at these clubs each have their own agendas, and it usually does not coincide with actual "common sense" sometimes. This was my experience at the one lodge (Eagles) that I was asked to host on a trial run. When I showed up, the committee president actually didn't know I was coming, but he allowed it that night. The entertainment chairman was actually a karaoke host himself, but rather than showing favoritism, he went to an outside source and asked me and one other host instead on a trial basis, sharing the karaoke night duties every other week. Which meant I only had to show up once per month. The first night I showed up, we had a rotation of 31 people, and an extra 70-80 people in the dining room and stage area. (total of over 100 additional patrons compared to a normal night) They did schedule extra wait staff, but did not tell the kitchen ahead of time, so the cook was not prepared. After the night was all said and done, the 3 waitresses all told me that they had never had so much fun, yet were so busy and made more money in tips than they ever had working there. All in all a very successful night...... Now move forward to the next month, (the week before Christmas). This night was even busier than the first night, but this time the kitchen was prepared. And to top it off, the committee president was there, and he participated in singing songs himself. He truly seemed to enjoy the night and had a lot of fun, just like everyone seemed to be having.

Now, the following Monday came and I got a call from the entertainment chairman himself, and he informed me that they are choosing not to do karaoke at all at their lodge..... the reason??????...... get this!!!,,,,, It was "too" busy and it scared them. They didn't want to actually make a profit and actually "have to" show real donations ,which is what they do to not show a profit, in order to be called a "non profit" organization. I had to inform all my regulars that followed me to this place that the Eagles Lodge didn't want to have to add new members... DOH!!!!

Like I said, some of these "non profits" committee people have their own ideas and agendas, and sometimes it makes zero sense at all. Maybe LoneRanger's lodge has some of these same types of issues... but this is just me trying to think outside the box a bit.

Wow, I've heard of places cancelling karaoke because of lack of attendance, but never because it packed the house and made them money. Totally amazing stuff.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

Only in a America!

True story. I was totally shocked.

The job of a karaoke host is to bring in people and make the bar money. You've done that. If this had been a typical bar, they would be loving you. So here, you're doing what you are hired to do, and they fire you because of it. I am totally flabbergasted. Feels like The Twilight Zone.

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Electro-Voice Evolve 50... Taking Sound To The Next Level.

I wrote three letters to the Elk lodge detailing my concerns about the current KJ. I asked them why didn't they go in house since a number of retired KJ's are members? Their lame answer was they wanted to give him a chance? Well he is going on week six and hasn't started on time yet. He continues to have frequent system failures and down time. He doesn't have any filler music to play during these periods and some of the crowd just leave. One ray of hope was that a member of the executive board did phone me, and we talked, I don't know if that means anything will change, but maybe I will be getting that Sunday afternoon gig from the lodge, for my revamped business.