Karaoke Forums

i know this will come off as rude by me. but it felt so good to do (this is a vent thread, but feel free to chime in, if you gots an opinion):

(deeply sorry for the length of this post, but i'll get to it, after the buildup of this story, towards the end)

so i've been a KJ at the same venue, with the exact same staff, every Thursday night for the past 2.5 years. ok? nothing has changed. working alongside the very same people every week, for like 120 weeks since there's 52 weeks in a year, ok? 2.5 years....

at first, the bar staff & I were cool. but after 2.5 years I feel like i've never ever been treated any special by them (just the bar staff only, absolutely everybody else which includes the owners and patrons, everyone else treats me very awesome). so now, i'm lukewarm with the just the bar staff and keep it moving.

case in point: when i'm ready to start my karaoke night, the jukebox is playing. and will continue to play, unless for some reason, I say something. but i'm thinking: c'mon, it's been 2.5 years now. y'all know what time karaoke starts. i'm only here once a week. the rest of the time, you got the place all to yourself. turn the damn jukebox off, I don't feel like I need to say anything, y'all can see i'm ready to go. (the bartenders completely controls the jukebox).

now, let's say my gig starts at 8pm. i'm typically late. but everyone loves me there, except for just the bar staff, so everyone lets me get away with my chronic tardiness. the point is: i'm not physically starting at 8pm. i'm physically starting at like 8:20. but the jukebox is STILL ON by 8:30. like, turn it off, you know karaoke is starting. you had a free 20 minutes of grace by me. turn it off! I don't feel like I have to walk over to the bar staff and tell them to turn it off, every damn week, for 2.5 years, like, turn it off already!

so, i'll get there at 8pm and it'll take me about 20 min to fully set up. the jukebox is playing the entire time. by 8:20, you can visually see i'm ready to go. I typically use the venue's largest TV, so you see on the big screen TV, karaoke is ready, i'm ready, it's a half-hour past start time, let's goooo!! so this is what I do: in-between jukebox songs, there's silence. that's when I pick my moment to start announcing LOUDLY, karaoke has began. in the past, the bar staff gets the hint and would quickly turn off the jukebox.

lately, the bar staff will let the jukebox run. and keep running. And yet, I keep announcing, whenever there's silence in-between jukebox songs, that karaoke has begun. I'm a HUGE believer in NOT disrespecting a VENUE, STAFF, or PEOPLE over the mic. So, I will not say on the mic, "hey staff turn off the jukebox" or say, "finally!" on the mic after the jukebox comes off. I DO NOT PLAY THAT. I always feel like comments like that do not need to be on the mic, ever. I only say complimentary and positive things on the mic about staff, the menu, the venue, etc. Because I expect the same. I hate when folks say anything negative on the mic. Keep it to yourself. You're not a King, Queen or a God.

I do always promote the staff, tell folks to tip, promote the menu, on the mic, though nobody's ever asked me to. I also promote the other DJs and their nights who work there. I remind all that on the mic. I think that's why everyone loves me there. I show love to everybody. And I'm so cool, about once a month, I take a night off, and I tell the barstaff, YOU pick my replacement for the night. I won't be here next Thursday, YOU pick a DJ or a KJ or no DJ or no KJ, do whatever YOU want. I do that randomly, once a month. If not once every 2 months. So, nobody can complain they're tired of me, or that I feel entitled to anything. All I ask is that once I start and i'm ready to go, turn off the damned jukebox!!

I'm sure the bar staff thinks they play better music from the jukebox than I play. Because they're bartenders and they just wanna get everyone drinking off their butts. You know how bartenders are, they just want non-stop, crazy music to get everyone in a drinking mood. I like to fake like I can't play music, then play really good music which throws everyone off. And maybe why folks generally love me there. By looking at me, you can't tell, I know great music, I know today's music, I know old school music, I know it all. I'll fake like I can't play stuff, then when anyone least expects it, I'll get in a zone and rock everyone off their seats. And I think everyone else appreciates that my shows are so unpredictable. Personally, I call my shows 'street karaoke' because you never know what's going to happen next, you never know what i'm gonna play next, you never know who's singing next. it keeps people guessing and in their seats. I firmly believe the karaoke performances that happen at my shows you just don't find or see elsewhere. and even better: I don't even have a following. every show it's just random people getting up and singing. back-to-back. I don't know what'll happen next. I don't know who's singing next. I get many folks who are just singing for their first time ever. And somehow, my shows are train-wreck-free. Because if a singer isn't that great, that's when i'll drop an awesome song that nobody saw coming to cover up the singer. Folks note that. I think that's another reason I get so many singers and if someone bombs on the mic, I'll pull a song outta nowhere to play that'll make everyone forget it. Because I don't sing. I actually can sing, but I never do. another ace in my pocket. I love those rare moments when I sing and folks are dumbfounded: I've never heard you sing before, you can carry a tune, why don't you sing? Because that's my ace in the pocket if I need it.

So, lately, the bar-staff and I will go back-n-forth. They don't turn off the jukebox, I'm announcing karaoke any quiet moment the jukebox is in-between songs. I refuse to go to the bar and tell them to turn it off. It's been 2 years. I'm here every week. Stop playing.

SO AFTER ALL THAT, HERE'S WHERE IT FELT SO GOOD, I FINALLY WON A BATTLE: so, we'll go back and forth--the jukebox stays on, I keep announcing karaoke LOUDLY over and over in-between quiet moments while the jukebox is in-between songs. I refuse to walk over to the bar to say anything, c'mon, 2 years, man. But the other week, something different happened. A narcissitic singer who thinks she's Beyonce and goes into full theatrics when she sings, was ready to go, but the jukebox was playing. She already snatched my microphone--I accidentally had it lying around and she said to me, she's ready. I'll bet, I started late like I always do, she's ready to go. So, we started. And I realized: my system can completely drown out the jukebox. . I never realized that. It's annoying, you can still hear the jukebox, my system, is shutting down the jukebox, sound-wise. My Beyonce-wannabe does her thing, the audience is captivated, and you know how it is, perhaps the audience goes to the bar and tells the bar to turn off the jukebox. The jukebox was on during the whole Beyonce performance, but she was way more capitivating and entertaining and my system was way more louder. Immediately a bunch of folks signed up and I put them on immediately. I can feel the bar side filled with RAGE. But it's like 8:45pm now, it's MY time, turn the jukebox off. They finally turned off the juke box off during the like 3rd or 4th singer. It felt sooo good to win in that moment. I know I'll be doing this going forward: I just did it again last Thursday night. But I also think it'll come to fisticuffs with me and the bar side. I don't know why they wanna power trip.

Oh and as you can bet, karaoke ends let's say at 1am. At like 12:55 that jukebox comes on. It hasn't come on, so far, when anyone is in the middle of singing, that I can remember. I'm supposed to start shutting down at 12:45, but I usually still have singers way past 1am. But at 12:55 if I'm about to announce a new singer, that jukebox comes roaring on. I often oblige and cut the karaoke off at that point and let angry singers go straight to the bar to fight. I love doing that. I try not to play about when the staff really wants me to stop. Yes, I go over my time slot every gig I've ever done, but if the staff makes it clear they want me to absolutely stop on a dime, like due to a fight or law enforcement, I will stop the entire show on a dime, no questions asked. Or do something silly like turn off the TV or turn the jukebox on, I stop on a dime and I don't say nothing.

It felt sooo good to drown out the jukebox. Rarely do I ever feel good by exacting revenge. But it felt sooo good. I mean, I give my 5-announcement warnings that karaoke has begun. Everybody in the room can hear it. It's been over 2 years. Everyone knows what time karaoke starts. Just turn off the jukebox.

Despite all that, believe it or not, I still randomly tip the entire bar staff, tho I do not order any food. And get everyone birthday cards for their birthdays with tip money inside. Yes, I do both: random tipping and birthday cards with tip money inside. So, I really really really don't feel like I need to ever have to tell the bar staff to turn off the jukebox, but here we are.

And I do this all whatever venues I can. I hold down my bar-staff with birthday cards and random tips. karaoke isn't my only job, I got a day job unrelated to karaoke, so I can do what I want.

but it felt sooooo good to drown out the jukebox. hope it don't come to fistfights over this. . but i'm not budging. I'm not going to tell staff to turn down the jukebox.

and I dunno what the bartenders are thinking. the owners love me. and the owners pay me directly, not the bar staff. so I know whenever i'm at this gig that i'm getting paid at the end of the night, regardless. the owners love that it's not the same people showing up every week like (no disrespect at all, please no disrespect) like other karaoke shows. I don't have regulars. you won't hear the same show every week. no disrespect. so i'm looking at the bar-staff, like, it don't matter if you keep the jukebox on until 11pm, you know your owner still owes me my money at the end of the night, right? turn the jukebox off, idiots

end rant/
thanks for listening

I cannot stress this enough: I have in the past and absolutely will continue my karaoke show while the jukebox is playing.

one of my gigs, elevator music is playing in the venue 24/7. it's not loud at all, you barely notice it. i've been doing my show for YEARS over that elevator music in the background. hell, I videotape some performances, and you never hear the elevator music going on. and I have never, not even once asked the staff to turn off their elevator music.

i'm one of those KJs who realize: at the end of the night, you better have my money. so, if you wanna keep your music playing in the background, i'll do my show regardless, but you better have my money (not a threat or promise, you don't have my money, i'm gone).why not just turn off your sound, because you're paying me anyway? is alls i'm saying.

so, for years, I deal with light elevator music at one venue playing 24/7, but you hardly notice it. at this 2.5 year venue, it's been a battle every week for 2.5 years. I don't get how the bartenders never wanna turn off the jukebox. like, you work there all the time, just turn it off when i'm there until I go, how is that so impossible?

and it's so in my character to do my show while the jukebox is going full blast. because you're gonna have my money at the end of the night, you're paying for this mess. this is why I don't sing karaoke at my shows. let the singers get mad and cuss you out for having the jukebox on.

I mean, this past month was the first time that i've continued a show for that long over a loud jukebox. I haven't done that before. it sounds a hot mess, yes, but my system is louder. and my character will absolutely do an entire show that way, because, hey, just turn off the jukebox, idiot, I don't think I have to say it every week. like, bartenders, you do realize your bar is paying for this....

I'm doing my show during the time slot you gave me. if the jukebox is still playing, i'm not going to beg every week for you to turn it off. i'm going to play my show, while the jukebox is playing and everything sounds a hot mess. because you're gonna have my money at the end of the night, you're paying for this. SMH...

ah, and for anyone wondering: yes, about once a month, I have a Thursday off. because i'm not under contract anywhere to do karaoke. another venue approached me about doing karaoke on Thursdays once a month for elderly folks. at this point, i'd been working Thursdays at the spot 2 years. so, around that mark, I always think, anything goes now, any changes can come suddenly now, so have one foot in and one foot out going forward. at first, I got a Thursday night replacement each once a month (it's a only been a handful of months so far. then I got an idea, tell the bar-staff, i'm not getting a replacement anymore, YOU get your own replacement. so you can get yourself a DJ on my night, or a KJ or do nothing. it's up to you. bar-staff, I already told the owner and he's cool with it as long as I don't quit altogether, he's cool with me going away 1x a month and it's refreshing, he can try different things in that time slot or not or do whatever. so now it's up to the bar-staff to bring in who they wanna bring in on Thursdays when I'm not there.) The beauty of when you have a day-job; one foot in one foot out...

so again, after 2 years, c'mon, I don't need to tell the bar-staff to turn off the jukebox...I don't think that's arrogant of me