Karaoke Forums

My Wednesday night show ended with a bang (literally).  It was 15 minutes to the end of my show.  A singer was finishing up his song and lost the grip on the microphone, it tumbled and flipped and the ever concerned patron chased it down right into the speaker stand closest to my operating table.  In doing so, one of the supports on the speaker stand gave sending the speaker over end into my computer monitor, and thrusting my mixer across the table and to the floor.  A horror I hoped I'd never see.  I gasped, stared in awe, and did what I needed to salvage the moment.  The mixer (Behinger) looked like it's board had frozen.  I'm like great, there's $350 out the door.  I'd only have to work my Wednesdays just shy of a month for free to cover that.  I turned it off and on again and it came back to life.  Shweww ...

I think I got off lucky here ... the kids was mortified, and probably won't show his face again because my regulars were none too pleased.  I told him not to sweat it ... it was the coolest end to a show I've ever had.  Actually, since I didn't sustain any noticable damages (other then needing to replace a nut and bolt on the speaker support; all ended well.  

Have any of you had similar experiences?  Do you hold the bar accountable for their drunks, or chalk it up as part of the business model that we KJs cover our own losses.

I had something similar happen whe I was just starting out- a drunk stumbled over the speaker stand and toppled it. It was like watching in slow motion as it came down...."Nooooooooo........"

When it hit the hole to put the speaker stand into had cracked off, but the speaker seemed to be fine. Here's the 'punchline'- the guy looked at me and said "What if your problem?" He then ran out the door- only problem was that his friends were still there and had the keys. The bartender made them wait there till I verified the speaker worked and helped me with a drill get the cap back in.

The bartender helped me make it clear to the friends that if it didn't work the cost was going on their tab, and they could deal with the drunk on their own. Once I was re-set up again, the guy had the cajones to come back in and challenge me to a fight because he said he wouldn't have paid for the speaker if it didn't work, and how dare I think he should.... Luckily I had some friends there that immediately came up to the stage and his friends wisely walked him out of the bar.

Never an easy problem to deal with unless you are Lon and out of the way......

_________________
Let's Kick the Tires and Light the Fires!

Wow… nothing has happened to me like that so far.  

But I think I’m gonna look take a couple visual measurements from now on.

Part of the business.  Unless it was an intentional act, there isn't much you can do.  You could try.  Take them to court, spend countless hours & $$ trying to recover your loss & HOPE that they can pay.  WIth the courts, they don't have to pay all at once, but in time installments - provided they pay at all.  Double check set up & see if there is a way that it may not happen again.

Not going to hold the bar accountable.

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

Huh  :shock:

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

Yup, had a speaker and stick knocked over by a very drunken lady ( apparently a bachelorette party). The speaker itself was fine, but the connector recess was ripped out of the back.   I did a quick strip of the cable end and hardwired it ( I keep a small tool kit with a butane soldering iron handy).  Show was back on track in under ten minutes.  The ladies kept trying to give be bunches of money  ( I already keep all parts for repairs in my shop, in this case about 15.00 worth was all it took).  I told them to sing a sexy song for me and we'd call it even.  They sang the song, and due to their condition, group flashed me, took a polaroid of it, and gave me the picture- with the back signed by all.  I think I came out ahead.......

_________________
"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

This is a good lesson for us to consider things we may not have stopped to consider before.  For me,

from now on I’m going to more-carefully consider placement of things, so even if one thing goes down, it doesn’t damage other things.  

Even placement so if a speaker gets knocked down, it doesn’t fall on a person, which could possibly be a lawsuit, legitimate or not.  

I think I’m even going to widen the stance on the bottom of my speaker stand so it won’t topple so easily.  

I worry about (when I use one) my monitor wedge getting beer spilled into it.  Some Kjs keep a table and insist that the patrons put their beer on instead of holding it in their han.  I just know I resist making all kinds of rules and regs, making the patrons feel less at-home.  

I was going to try just covering it with a piece of plastic and see how the sound projected through, but I never got around to it.  

I did move mine to the side and farther away, but that doesn’t mean that it still couldn’t happen.  I was also considering using a small speaker and putting it on a stand so the singer could hear but it wouldn’t be susceptible to a spill.  

That’s also why I use cheaper mics now, those Behringer XM8500s at $20 a pop, and work great.  After seeing someone spinning it around by the cord like a helicopter, I retired my good mics to my own music room.  

I guess it’s just something one has to consider when pricing the gigs; figure in some replacement/repairs into the price, if ya can.

What of insurance?  Or are the premiums too expensive to warrant having a policy for your business?

Don't you have a KJ booth to work out of Lon? At least it must protect the majority of your big ticket items...

_________________
Let's Kick the Tires and Light the Fires!

My story isn't as bad but I still was not happy about it. I have a UHF mic that I use for private party. It's not too expensive but still about $200+. I did a gig for a retaurant for their holiday party. This one guy was drunk and you knew he was going to be trouble. I had a stage area set up for people to sing.

He took the mic and my blow up guitar and started to run around the restaurant and strarted to scream in to the mic (thank god for my limiter). The crowd started to cheer him on which got him more excited. Then he got on top of a table about 15 feet feet from me started to do Pete Townsend act on the blow up guitar. At this point, I should have stopped him but I was too late.

As music ended, he struck a pose with the mic raised above his head and then, yep, he drops the mic. This was from about 8 feet. As I watched in horror, this guy had no idea what he did and jumped down to take his bow. The owner of the restaurant finally offered to pay for the mic if it wasn't working. I checked out and it seems to be ok but when I got home I found that it was damaged a bit. Oh well, part of doing business.

Next time, I am only using wired mic so they will be tethered to the stage.

_________________

Seize the day and SING!!!

You could even rename this "congested venues" and the cost of equipment.  Certain layouts are just nightmarish situations for an entertainer.

Many horror stories from the road regarding this type situation.  if not this, theft.  

Fortuneately I had the luxury of having enough equipment allowing me the option of NEVER having to bring my best equipment into a congested dive-type bar where a microphone and boom stand and drunk (or even a sober person dancing or watching too close in an innocent accident scenerio) could start such a domino effect damaging good stuff, reality is this is almost always an "accident', it just goes with the territory, and for this reason we are tough to affordably insure.  Stuff just disappears even before it can make it into the venue sometimes,  parking lots are notorious for "rip-offs" too while in the process of putting something in the trunk, destraction can cause loss..  High risk environments.

If I didn't have plenty of room (even apart from OTHER bandmembers) the good stuff stayed home, wasn't worth worrying about what could likely happen.  I suppose there are different thoughts on "getting the best equipment you can afford", and where NOT to bring such equipment if you can make-shift with a cheaper rig.  sticky drinks getting thrown, spilled, people falling, drunks reverting to 4 year old type behaviour wanting to touch and turn knobs, you name it...  Some places are not suited for the $3000 guitars,  tube microphones, highest end speakers, etc...  Other places are.

JMO..


Few of us are made of money.  I don't like seeing my equipment destroyed if I can minimize loss.

_________________
Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

oh the ol' mic swingers, spikers... man, I could go on.

I made a guy that spiked my brand new microphone pay for it. The bar initially wanted nothing to do with  it... until I walked! I closed the show at Red's, packed up my gig and started to leave. Even when they made the guy pay for it, I still put my notice in... and was going to finish out the month.

Next week they tried something else when I was setting up. I just shook my head and carried all my stuff back out to my van and told them I'd never work for them ever again. It wasn't the owner or even a reliable employee that was giving me crap... and when they called to (@$%&#!) about it I told them to talk to their bartender that wanted to dictate to me policy. They said she's only a bartender and doesn't speak for the bar... and were going to hold me accountable for the rest of the contract since I broke the contract agreement. I told them that THEY broke the agreement by siding with the regular, and the contract was null and void, so they couldn't hold me accountable to it.

Then came the whining and cajoling, and saying I was costing them all sorts of money. "Oh Really? What about the arguement that you weren't making squat off the shows, and therefore couldn't afford to pay me the increase you were due to pay me last year" when we extended my agreement with them. That shut them up pretty quick. Uttering a pretty profane and quite punctual phrase, they hung up.

I hate stupid people that try to play me like a fiddle!

yeah but didnt I read somewhere that you said you are no longer are a kj? Seems to me that the bar was more than meeting you half way do you want some of my red hair dye? cos it appears the volatility of your nature matches the colour I dye my hair and the reason I dye it

_________________
"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

Not trying to judge you, but it does sound like a bit of an over-reaction, especially after having had time to calm down.  

Even by your account of the story, it appears you were less-than fair, and somewhat unwise.  

Anger management, cheaper mics, and better luck next time.  

that's not the reason I'm not a KJ.

By the way, this all happened when Tig was my partner. It happened on his rotation.

I won't work for a venue that hamstrings you. You have NO control over the situation.

They don't own me. Nor do they own my equipment. You let one customer get the better part of a problem, you'll never have the control there ever again.

The reason I put my notice in was I had 86'd the volitile customer... the bar disagreed and said he could come in. I said fine, but he will not sing on my equipment. They said they wanted him to participate. I said fine, but you supply the microphones, and if anything else is damaged by him or anybody else, YOU pay for it. They disagreed. I put my notice in.

I am a natural red-head, no faker here.

When it's your time, mone and equipment and reputation on the line, then you make the decision that's good for you. This is how I did it, had been running this way for seven years before that incident, and three years afterwards.

I make NO apologies for the incident. I went above and beyond reasonable customer service.

By the way, the customer that got me my next gig in the neighborhood was a regular at the bar the incident happened at, and was one of the first to stand up to the other customer AND the owners. They were drunk at the time, and that was ANOTHER clause in my agreement that if they're participating as customers (i.e. drinking), that ANY decisions would be ttalked at on business time, not while imbibing!

Liability insurance only. Insuring for dmages in a bar WOULD be cost prohibitive.

_________________
"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

  Not speaking for anyone but me, but I don't believe in a booth for hosting. Access to  the host would be too limited for proper interaction.

_________________
"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

You make some good points.

I apologize if I misspoke.

There is a point at which one must stand one’s ground or lose all control and respect.

Yeah I have a booth.  They only things that could be knocked down are the 4 racks of discs on the side ( and fully anticipate it at some point in time) - however no one is hardly ever there, no tables to sit at, no chairs, nothing to bring anyone over there - just an empty corner.  Speakers are chained & hanging from the ceiling over the dance floor & the other one is mounted on the wall.  The stage is surrounded by a nice brass rail so the singer monitor is pretty safe - never had it go down yet (that was a singers fault).  Mics go down all the time - that why I purchase SM58's, same mics since '94 & counting  :dancin:  :yes:

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

Nope it's right off to the side of the stage for easy interaction with singers when I need to help out & open in front to interact with people turning in slips without disturbing & running up in front of singers on stage.
As a matter of fact, there are a couple of pics in the how do you dress thread.  Top pic is from the front & bottom pic is from the singers view.
http://www.karaoke-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=9669

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