Karaoke Forums

I didn't want to hijack the RIP Dimples thread, but a post there from CafeBar hit a familiar note with me...

Our Thursday evening show at a small service club always attracts at least 30 to 40 singers and another 20 or more non-singers. It's been like that for close to ten years. Our Saturday night (different venue) attracts even bigger numbers, but that's not my point here.

Sometimes, when I'm finished the Saturday night show (over at midnight) I'll drop in to the Thursday evening's club... They always have entertainment... either a band or a DJ, on Friday & Saturday evenings... and they normally run until 01:00 or 02:00.

More often than not, if there is a band playing, there will be more people in the band than in the audience. And I'm talking about decent bands... not rank amateurs. Doesn't matter if the band is country, rock, oldies... it's usually the same story... very small audiences.

Ten years ago, it was a completely different story... Apparently back then, the place was full every weekend.

I don't know if its any different anywhere else, but that's what's happening here in SW Ontario. Perhaps it's the tightening of drinking / driving laws, perhaps it's the economy... but if that were the case, you would think it would affect karaoke as well.

I guess there's some truth to the old cliché that a musician is someone who piles $5,000 worth of equipment into a $500 car to drive 100 miles to do a gig that pays $50.


Just an observation...

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Earl
(BS, PHD & Certified CurmuDJeon)

[font=Times New Roman]"Growing Old may be mandatory... but growing UP is still optional."[/font]

My thoughts are that we are hopefully nearing the end of period to time that suffered from lack of good songwriting talent (or more likely, the talent was there, but it was marketed in the wrong direction). As a karaoke singer told me awhile ago, "the best thing about the '90s is that they're over with". That statement is a bit unfair to the 90s, but does contain a grain or more of truth to it.

With regards to country music, I think we may be on the verge of a resurgence in good melodies, clever lyrics, consummate musicianship--and a return to well-crafted songs. I'm looking forward to it.

I've watched it here as well. I know bands that play currently that used to shut the doors of places with lines outside waiting to get in, now those same bands play in those same places and there are always empty seats to be found. Karaoke is no different, even dj places aren't as happening as they used to be. There are niche clubs that are still packed, but it's only a matter of time before even they succumb to lesser crowds.

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

I beg to differ.......

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-Chris

I believe it is "the death of a thousand cuts" for the drinker and musician (and karaoke host). Under assault for their smoking, and wary about hyper-vigilant DUI monitoring, the drinkers are staying home. The ones who do go out are turned off by the people trooping outside all the time to smoke. Fewer numbers mean fewer people to cluster at bars and form the critical mass for a hot spot. And face it -- the heavy drinker is the profit center for a bar. Less revenue means less money to spend on entertainment. Plus I think more young people are genuinely health-conscious and don't drink like they used to.

Combine all that with an oversupply of karaoke hosts and bands, and it makes for a very toxic live music environment.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Mckyj, speaking as a former fulltime bar band road warrior and current club owner, you've got it exactly right. Most clubs make less money now, and so do most entertainers of all stripes. People who grouse about declining entertainer pay and greedy club owners overlook the fact that the clubs that supposedly underpay them also are obliging enough to go out of business on a regular basis. I still do both, so it's a double whammy.

You used to be able to make a good living as a mediocre musician or as an incompetent club owner. A lot of the things that had the music scene humming in the 80s weren't exactly salutary for society. It's probably good that fewer people are bingeing on cocaine, smoking in public areas, driving drunk and having indiscriminate casual sex.

But it makes it harder for some of us to make a living.

As they are saying, there's a neon light at the end of the tunnel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXXszJUmmik