Karaoke Forums

Truly, sometimes people don't think!

I am losing playing at the local American Legion (monthly karaoke gigs) due to the fact that they don't like the people that the karaoke attracts.  This place requires anyone that isn't a member to be signed in, so obviously someone is signing these people in.  When I bring this point up, the commander (head of that particular legion post) claims that he knows who is signing them in, but he don't want to hurt her feelings.  So instead of telling one person to stop signing in certain people they are simply sacrificing the entertainment of the 30 to 40 bar regulars that come in every night!  PLUS even if he don't like the ones that come in when I play, they still make money off them from drinks.

I just don't get it.  To me something doesn't add up.  However, the commander did say that if this particular lady decides to leave that I will be called and invited back in to play, and I will still play their special functions, just not the regular monthly karaoke.  So it's not like I am being replaced, just not playing nearly as much.  My question is why are they sacrificing profits over a few people?  The ones he is talking about are not behaving poorly, just normal karaoke lovers that drink a bit, just like everyone else in the bar.

i know where you are coming from. i have never lost the job though over it, i was replaced when i went to florida for 6 months and when i came back i heard about the people that the particular dj attracted (his following), i know that the particular legion i play at really dont put up with bad behaviour. no one has to sign in, but the first bit of out hand activity they are out the door. i know it can get rowdy anywhere u go when u got 100 different people that really dont know each other and newbies always get the once over, its just the way it is i guess.
i play there every weekend, 2 nites a week, (well on and off over the last 4 years-vacation, etc.)if they done that to me i would be finding somewhere else to go play though, i suppose.

I never played at an American Legion , but what I think of is a membership of older
men and women who don't care if the bar makes money --really they just need to cover costs so they can come back and drink next week.

well, i guess that all depends on the legion it is maybe? i know ours just spent 80,000 $ putting in a new bar. and they have legal poker machines and make alot of money on that, but they calculate the amount of money i make them ..thru bar sales itself.
its true that alot of the people that come in are older, but most of them are planted firmly at the poker machines. the singing crowd varies for me from 21-65 years old.
we do get a nice crowd of people in their 20's-40's and generally at least 100 of em any given karaoke nite. i wouldnt trade that gig for the world actually. its steady - i dont have fights breakin out or beer bottles hitting my machine from bar fights there....YET.

If this were a regular tavern I'd be surprised.  At the American Legion, not so much.  They tend to be very cliquish, and very possessive about "their" place.  In my experience they tend to be a little suspicious of people they don't know.  Still, it seems like in the situation you describe, they could just limit attendance to members rather than getting rid of the show.

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Reward: nine yen in drawer.

unfortunately, the Moose Lodge, the Eagles, American Legion type places cater to an older crowd... and they tolerate karaoke only when that type of people come in. Not saying those places don't have a younger crowd that will join them, but it's not that usual for them to be a driving force.

Karaoke is usually a younger crowd... the twenty-somethings to the forties...

Which is why for a short time, karaoke works there... but it can cause problems with the older members!

Is the one lady that seems to be the problem singing songs that may be offensive to a number of the people there?  She may not be rowdy or any other obvious problem to you.  We (my wife and I) regularly attend shows at a venue that offers both Tuesday and Thursday night karaoke.  There are different KJ's running each night.  Each KJ attracts a different crowd.  We sometimes take our adult children and grandchildren with.  We will not go back on Tuesdays because the song choices are too obnoxious for us, right from the early evening start.  An occasional (and preferably later in the night) song like Connie Vannett's "Pussycat Song" is OK.  But when some of the other rap and songs like "The Rodeo Song", "Ode To My Car", etc. that have too many F###### lyrics are being done all the time, it is no longer a place that we care to be at.  Ask the manager if there is something you can do to correct the problem.  Just a thought - put those types of songs on different pages so they can be removed from your song book depending on the venue.

ive had that situation at the place i play too. i have been told that to not play certain songs no more. thats fine. there was a big issue over one song..they finally said okay it can be played but not til after midnight and they had to NOT say the bad words. thankfully the ones that do sing the afroman song..are regulars, but i still hold my breath when that part comes up. if someone new wants to sing it, i tell em its scratched n dont play it
we have one particular patron that goes out of his way it SEEMS to monitor the words n actions that goes on there. to the point even the officers get aggravated with him.

Nope, no inappropriate songs.  The worst one would be Devil Went Down To Georgia, sung by someone in the Ladies Auxilliary.  It's just the people that this person signs in that someone doesn't like, for what reason I can't figure out since they behave fine.

Well, if "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is the worst you have, nothing wrong there!  It's a DA## good song.  Strange.  I would still ask the commander or manager what the problem is.  Apparently the way he phrased why you are losing the work, he should be man enough to fill you in on his reason.  It is not fair to you or the others that come for the singing not to know.