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Here's a situation I've observed first hand a couple times. An established KJ already in  a regular gig starts taking outside gigs(weddings, private parties, etc) on dates that they're scheduled to be at they're regular bar gigs. In place they have substitute KJ's work the bar gig that night while they are at the higher paying privatd gig. I've subbed in this situation a couple times as favors to the regular KJ. I found it to be somewhat of an awkward situation, not knowing exactly what thier actual working arrangment with the owners were. In one case the KJ was starting to sing with a band regularly and was covering the band gig, the other the KJ was working private parties. My impression was that the bar owner got tired of not haveng the REGULAR SCHEDULED KJ there who they were PAYING to be there(not some sub-no matter how good they may or may not have been). In both cases there was a string of different subs over the course of several months. At one of the places the bar owner actually approached me and asked if I'd like to take the gig permanently-as it
"Wasn't working out". I politely declined as I'm not one to take a gig out from under someone. In any event the net result was both of these KJ's lost thier gigs(both were well paid by the way). From my stand point if I were a venue owner and my KJ was having a string of subs fill in regularly, I too would let them go and find someone who would put MY VENUE FIRST and not take other gigs and only have strange subsitutes working everytime another opportunity arose. So a word to any KJ's that are doing this;................DONT. Be loyal to your bar owner and stick to your commitments. If you cant  or wont because recurring other gigs present themselves then you need to be upfront and business-like and quit the bar gig to pursue the offsite gigs. To not do so is unfair to both your venue and your Karaoke singers. Cant do both. And if you try to it will damage both the venue's business and your own business reputation.

Comments????

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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

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[font=Comic Sans MS]I agree.  Typically the only time we have one of our KJ's do "our" night is if we are on vacation together, and this is a rare event.  :(  We have three other couples we go RVing with but that doesn't happen much...  

We have gone into clubs letting them know we will start the karaoke but that it will be so & so's show later on.

I would love it if my kids were interested in hosting as they are alot of fun but both have young children so it's not feasible.  We are very fortunate to have 2 ladies that KJ for us and are very good at what they do!

Susie [/font]

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I agree the only reaseon there should be subs is if youre on vacation or out sick or some act of god thing happens. Or if the management knows going in that you will be replaced in some short amount of time after the the show initially gets rolling by PERMANENT KJS' who will be there ALL THE TIME and will be under YOUR control so the management still has you for customer service issues.

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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

I recently lost a long term gig because I had a sub fill in for me but under special circumstance--my brother was in ICU in critical condition from viral pneumonia and almost died.  I had the dj at the club sub for me while I was out of town visiting with my family (understandable considering) and stayed with him awhile after he finally got out of the hospital for obvious reasons.

What I've since found out was the club owners have been basically running me through the muck so to speak, telling all my regulars and prospective clients (I got many private parties from that gig, a lounge in a major hotel) that I just stopped showing up and left them in the lurch!  Of course they neglected to mention to anyone I had made arrangements for my equipment and music to be set up so the show wouldn't be interrupted!!!  Ungrateful #$&!%(*&!!!!!

Kinda sucks huh.

That definitely sucks..  Did your sub try to let the customers know the real reason you were gone?

Susie

_________________
You do it in the shower,
you do it in the car,
Ccome do it with us,
and be a star!!!!

Karaoke with Full House Entertainment

[scroll]Just because I have a short attention span doesn't mean...... [/scroll]

The only time I missed my regular gig was because of illness. (only happened once)
I have been offered better paying engagements on the night a regular gig was booked and turned them down.

You don't want to crap where you eat   so to speak

I am loyal, but it isn't because the bar owner treats me well.

I have a sub for emergencies - that is just good business.

I think a KJ that has a lot of subbing going on has to realize there is a good chance they'll lose business. If they are willing to take that chance it is up to them. I personally count on the money.

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i fall into the "has a band and uses a sub" on occasion.  the difference is my sub is with me almost every week so everyone knows him.  he runs the show when i'm on vacation, or have a band that interferes which is rare.  i definitely understand an owner who wants a regular face he/she can count on every week.  that way the show runs the same week in week out and cutomers know what to expect.  i'm lucky in the fact that my sub is good at running the show, is a good singer, and the girls like him (just out of the marines).

Ummmmmmmmm, you could say I've let it be known what really happened .  The club manager and I have worked there together for the last 3 years and he was pretty shocked when he found out.  The only thing he knew was they had gotten someone else.

As for my sub, I was basically in the same position as you Crank (sorry, dunno your name).  He's there every night (being the in house dj), he sings great and the girls love him .  When I left it was on an emergency basis and I informed him when I made the call I had to leave and the reason why.  Sometimes you can't help the circumstances and although KJing is my only source of income my brother's life was a tad bit more important than showing up for my gig (I like the money too Babs ).

On an up note tho, I've heard the new guy they got sucks and they've lost mucho business on karaoke night.  Hehehe, I'm evil for being happy about that huh  LMAO

may be evil, but human emotions are hard to suppress!  did any of your regular singers follow you to a new venue or come to see any of your other shows? my real name is steve, stage name is hunter.  hope your bro is ok now.

I've seen some real sloppy KJ's that operate out of their car trunk and never seem to have it together....Trouble is, the bar owners hire them cause they are cheaper than the more pro guy who is reliable....sometimes the bar owners are their own worst enemy....then they scream cause cheap-o KJ doesn't show up and they have to ask someone from the audience to run the show on house gear.

I know one KJ who expanded and bought several systems to place around town on the busy nights....He had trouble at first cause at each place everyone expected he would be running the show....He solved that by dropping in at each venue several times a night to work with his hired help....Folks finally accepted the new KJ's like they did him....The bar owners also liked the way he looked after his business interest and theirs.

I have a friend KJ who will take a Private gig any time she can.  I don't agree with this.  It is ok on occasion,as a private party can pay 5times what a bar gig does.
MOST IMPORTANT thing is to discuss this possibility of SUBS with the owner upfront and give them advace notice when a sub will be present.

Normally anytime I sub, I'll hand a buz card to the owner/manager and ask them to call me if they ever need a kj/dj or get stuck one night or add karaoke on ANOTHER NIGHT.  I NEVER solicit ...directly for the job I'm subbing for.

KJ's..If you have a steady weekly bar gig.... Be very careful and aware of your commitment to be THERE and not somehwere else makling more money.

Hi Steve, nice to meetcha!!  Yup, several of my regulars have been coming to my shows for years and they keep in contact with me on a continual basis.  I have a show at a private club on the weekends (been there for 11 years!) and some will even come down there, a few have even joined.

My brother is doing much better now thanks, although the drs say it could take 6 months or more for him to recover.  He was in ICU for almost 3 weeks and had almost a total system shutdown so it was very serious.  So many drs!!!  Thank you so much for asking  :)

Hi Melly!!  Ummmmmmmm, yeah I let em know hun .  And honestly they couldn't pay me enough to ever do a show there again--loyalty should go both ways.

Here is another slant or idea.. Most of my private parties are for people ive known for years... They schedule their party when I dont have a gig...Most of the time they do it in the bar I gig in... they setup a huge feast Everybody is in familar with the bar and the mgr is happy too....Best is they get to run it the way they want....

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Catseye - I'm so glad your brother is doing better!!

It sounds to me as if you may have been replaced with someones relative or friend.
It is a little suspicious they would fire you and make up stories about you especially at such a trying time. They lost an experienced KJ with a following, their loss!

I think some of these bar owners think what we do anyone can do without training.
I even had a bar owner tell me because he had an electrical engineering degree  he could run my system when I was gone - NOT. He wanted me to show him in 5 minutes what to do. No way - I have an expensive system and this is my lively hood.
He could careless what happened to it and is he going to replace it if he breaks something - I think not.

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

Ain't that the truth Babs!!!  They honestly think it's a cakewalk when nothing could be further than the truth.  It's much more than just changing discs and trying to keep your rotation in order, which people soon find out once they try it themselves!

And you're more than likely right too about the friend/relative thing.  I know for a fact he runs his show for less than I run mine--he doesn't even have books!!!  The guy they got now bought a hard drive from eBay and hooked it to his pc and decided he could run karaoke shows.  Ha!!!!!

Well said Jam!

and that's the crux of the matter... when you start out and work a long-time gig, it's important that you don't "lessen" the show by having a lot of fill-ins. Yes, illness and stuff that just happens DOES happen, but ANYTIME that you're not there as contracted, there's a chance it'll set something in motion that you don't want... whether it's the loss of the gig, or at least, a misunderstanding on the venue management/owners that can cause the final disruption. If they think you're not loyal, then it's only a matter of time.

Remember, the reason the show's a success is the Karaoke HOST. Their philosophies, their procedures... it's not the music or the equipment... not really. It's how you run the show that truly makes it!

Tig has run some of my shows at this local place I'm at... now he's a far superior host than I ever will be... but even he has grumblings there from the locals because he's just not ME!

_________________
You do it in the shower,
you do it in the car,
Ccome do it with us,
and be a star!!!!

Karaoke with Full House Entertainment

[scroll]Just because I have a short attention span doesn't mean...... [/scroll]