Karaoke Forums

Very true Matt. The other problem is that if the mic get placed on the table it may roll over and drop on the floor. Some drunk use the half-fill beer jug as the mic holder!!. This often happen.

A friend who runs a full time karaoke bar have this as the biggest problem. He now have 3 sets of wireless mic. The karaoke starts (5.00pm) with an SM58 and by 9.30 he will instruct the Kj to change the mic to a cheaper one. this is when the place get packed. And by 11.30 when most are drunk the mic is change again.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

As far as singing at a table I think that GREATLY DETRACTS from everyone getting to see the person singing if theyre hiddien at some back table. Plus I dont havet time between singers to go out and take the mic to a table then go back and fetch it from them then run back to the machine call up the next person etc etc. The only time I will bring the mic out is if someone is dsabled and cant do for themselves Ill even hold the mic for them if thier diabled and unable to hold it themselves. Ive had numerous wheel chair/crutch persons who Ive gladly done that for. But as to the Don Juan who just wants to go back to the back table and serenade his honey where no one else can see or the drunk girl who wants to give her BF a lapdance and table dance while she sings---sorry pal, its up on stage with you--FRONT AND CENTER!!

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"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

Most karaoke place here do not have a stage and when they have  people still prefer to sing from the table or floor. Even the rotation is based on tables.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

In 14 years I'll bet there hasn't been 15 bars that had a stage.   I'm talking about doing karaoke 5-6-7 nights a week at different bars for 14 years.    I can't even begin to count how many differnt bars that is.    98% do not have a stage.

I feel that I can get more participation without the stage.    It's an intimate setting.   The majority of my singers are not spotlight hounds.     Not saying they are bad singers, just don't want all of the brightlight attention.   Everyone in the crowd is just as entertained.   Talent is talent no matter where is done.

My patrons have a choice. They can use the stage or not. I have
experienced it both ways. Most people in my venue (90%) use the stage.
I was just at a show that didn't use a stage at all. The only thing I saw bad about it
is the excitement lost from not seeing people who really know how to perform
and work a crowd. It still was a great show. I did enjoy myself. I don't think not having a stage would keep me from going back.

When I went I had a bunch of people come with me that come to my show. I really feel the people there missed out on watching our singers perform. We sang from our seats, so no one saw what they usually do on a stage. It was a shame. We've all sang together so long we almost have a sort of choreography that goes along with our songs which is hillarious.

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

I was at a place once where they had a stage, but one guy sang from his seat.  When he first started singing, it took me a while to find where he was!  That could be a biiiiiiig problem!

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I love being a mom!

Yeah! I told someone great job on the song they just did to find out
it was someone else. It was pretty crowded and there was no way to know who was singing half the time.

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[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

OK, then. I'm not a pro KJ. I see myself as some form of DJ/KJ mix, and I do it so well that I draw close to 200 people a night. I'm paid to put people in the seats, and I do that better than any karaoke show in my city of 2.5 million people. F**k the die hard karaoke singers. I don't need em. Like I stated before, they are the exact ones that will ditch your show the second you get popular, simply because they can't sing 8 times a night. Me and everyone else at my particular bar would much rather hear 35 different singers sing two songs in any given night then have to suffer through Miss DieHardKaraoke singing the same 8 songs she sings, poorly, every night.

Call me whatever you want, but MY singers know exactly what they are going to get, and whether they get to sing 10 times or just once, they always stay the whole night, leave happy, and come back for more. I MAKE MY BAR A TON OF MONEY, and by my definition, that makes me a very good KJ, because THAT is the measure by which you are ultimately judged, whether you like it or not!!

Like someone said before, what works some places doesn't work at other places, but PLEASE stop with the generalizations that running a show the way I do is somehow inferior to the way it is traditionally run!!! That is, unless you want me to start calling your show ARCHAIC and mine PROGRESSIVE (which is how I really feel, truth be told, since we are apparently going to judge)!!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

And just to stay on topic, my bar doesn't have a stage, but I do create a defined singing area in the way I set up, which sounds like about what Lonman does when he doesn't have a stage to work with.

My bar is a single large square room. 8500 square feet. 4 pool tables and dart boards down one wall, the bar down the other wall. I set up front and center with my mains and subs about 20 feet apart in front of the singer. My LCD monitor for the singers is at a 45 degree angle between the singer and the crowd so the singer knows to stand behind the mains. I WANT to permanently mount my LCD from the ceiling directly in front of the crowd, but my bar owner won't let me, so I have to work with what I got!!

I am behind a table behind the singer with a 65 inch LCD behind me (which belongs to the bar) where the audience can see the lyrics. There is a monitor speaker directly under the LCD facing the singer, which also faces me somewhat. I always run the main mix through my monitor so that I can easily hear the main mix, though it has a separate volume control just in case I get a roudy or soft singer to avoid feedback. I have an additional monitor that I point towards the only dead spot in the bar over by the pool tables so fill that void.

There ends up being about a 15 foot by 10 foot defined "stage" area where the singers sing and about a 10 foot by 10 foot dance area in front of the singer, which usually spills over onto the stage area during the really good dance songs.

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C Mc
KJ, FL

Even at the bars that had an actual stage, I have never set up so the singer had to stand on the stage.   I don't put my equipment on the stage.   To me the stage, isn't there.

I have professional singers that sing in bands.    Some of them are lead singers.   They do not "perform" when they sing at karaoke.  They may "walk" the crowd a little.   They are not running around looking for the brightest spot in the bar.    They don't like contests.   They do not have giant egos.    They just want to sing and have fun.    They clap for the people with lesser talent.   Everybody respects the fact that we all can not be superstars.    They laugh, dance and joke.     They sing backup with each other, in 2-3-4 part harmony.    It's a fun time.    Many nonsingers just like to listen and watch all of the interactions between all of the singers.     All are very friendly.   No fighting.  Just a great group of people having fun singing together.     The universal language of music.

To me if the bar has a stage is of no matter to me.     If the owner wants me to set up on the stage, (it's not necessary for me) I will not do it and explain my reasons.

Everyone sounds great on my system, so they don't care where they have to be to sing.    It all sounds good.

Singing from the table doesn't mean they can not stand up to use their diaphragm.   But if they do stand up to sing, I penalize them for doing it by telling them they just missed the next rotation.  LMAO

, congratulations Big Dog, you've discovered a completely new species of band singer!! I guess that means you get to name them after you if you want....

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C Mc
KJ, FL

GREAT, no stage works for you.  I get the opposite response.  I get people that come in from places that do not have a stage & they are laughing at the them.  These people want a stage & will go to a place that has one.  Your people don't want a stage & will seek your type of show out.  Right or wrong - NO!  Is either way less professional - NO!

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Stage works for me also.  In fact if I DIDN't set up on stage they would have to remove  a place for me to set up which would mean less customers.

I've never been to a karaoke place that didn't at least have a place set aside for the singers.  But as Lonamn said, if you don't want one, then don't use one.  Just don't start all this crap that one is anymore or any less proffessional.

Kelly

First of all to dispel the ego thing.. I sang Dayo to the prime minister of Greece in Athens and had him barefoot and dancing in the sand. That gave me an ego boost for awhile but the main reason I sing is the magic and energy between me and the crowd and the pure pleasure of entertaining. I have sang to crowds up to 4000 at fairs and it was the challenge and excitement that builds memorys that never die.  I have sang on stages that all the greats have sang on and it was awesome There are places where the acoustics are so good all you need is a mic and amp....I did not sing but stood on the original  Grand ol Opry stage. The feelings and energy even without music was so great it brought tears to my eyes. The feelings of singing on an old stage and each stage and club has their own feelings and ghosts. I prefer a stage!!!!!!!!And a great big dance floor with 40 gals out there rocking and I will be out in the middle of them....

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The die hard singers are the ones that keep you in business by singing 4-6 times in the rotation when the nights are slow. If the bar isn't getting people to sing and the rotation is small the bar may need to look at cutting their loses. "F* the diehard karaoke singers" sounds a little odd coming from a KJ.  Maybe you don't realize who butters your bread. Those people who show up once in a blue moon and sing one or two are not generally repeat customers. You have to revolve your show around the regulars, not the walk ins. That is always the best business practice. (By far) When you alienate the regulars, the place goes dead. Maybe you have a good bar with a good crowd on a regular basis. Sounds like a good deal for you.

I've been in a karaoke bar in Austin where they tried to play 3 dance songs in a row and maybe two people danced to two of the songs. Whoopie!  I would be wary of playing dance music and seeing 20 people get out and dance. That might cue the bar that there is a dance crowd here and that karaoke might be an expensive waste of time and money.  It works either way. It's not that big a deal but I go where I enjoy spending my time the most. To each his own. Congrats on having a great location.

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Who loves ya baby?

This is a good example of a KJ that has to go. Not later but now. Anyone who is that big of a jerk and acts like that doesn't deserve to have a show and probably won't unless he owns the bar or walks on water with the owner of the bar.

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Who loves ya baby?

I still have Jimmy Lee's card somewhere. I need to see if any of the numbers are still valid and see if he got his band back together. I saw him at open mic and we talked for quite a while. He is very talented (had his own Vegas show for almost two years). I miss his karaoke shows but I know it was for his best interest that he moved on. He was one of the good ones (The best).

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Who loves ya baby?

I didn't say I didn't rely on regulars. I do, and I have plenty of them. BUT they are not what you described as "die hard karaoke singers" who are not happy unless they are singing over and over again. They are people who come for the kind of show I put on. When I do have slow nights, they are the people that do sing 4-6 times, but when I have busy nights, they don't b**ch about the long rotation. They would rather be at my show singing 3-4 times the entire night and be thoroughly entertained all night long whether they are singing or not then over at the Days Inn Lounge singing 10 times in a night with the other six "die-hard karaoke singers" that are there on any given night!!

I know exactly the kind of singers you are talking about, and I don't have them and don't need them because they are the ones who HATE IT when "THEIR" karaoke bar gets too busy to feature anyone other than themselves and their immediate friends, and if it isn't all about them, then they'll leave!! My regulars love to sing AND love the dance music, and as long as one or the other is going on, which it is for the entire 5 1/2 hours, then they are happy campers!!

I would go as far as saying that due to the way I run my show, I may even have the most NON-SINGING regulars of almost anyone on this entire site. People who would never in a million years go to a karaoke show anywhere else and don't have a single singer in their group, but decide that they want to go back to Chris Mc's karaoke show because they are entertained without having to even think about ever singing!!

Again, what works in one place doesn't work in all places, but quit putting down my approach to my shows, because the bottom line is it has packed the bar night after night for the last 2 years!!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

I didn't put it down, I haven't seen your show so I wouldn't make a judgement until I have seen it. (and even then I would need a couple of nights to see what the standard is)  If it works for you then that's great.

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Who loves ya baby?

Three to four times in a night would be great for me, especially if the show had more to offer and I could hear the conversation at my table too. That would be a show that I could go to everytime.