Monday, February 14, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Stephen is perhaps the Simon Cowell of karaoke reviews lol!!
Bold statement to headline with,eh? As most of my friends know, I am an avid karaoke goer. Have been for the past twelve years now. I have been to shows all through western Washington and some in southern California. I've seen the good,bad, and the ugly. Occasionally I write reviews about the various venues that I have been to. Sometimes good and sometimes bad. I don't pull any punches on my opinions of the kj,sound,waitstaff,etc... Why should I?
It wouldn't be any different as you going out to a used car lot looking for a car and the dealership you are looking at have had over two dozen recalls and bad consumer reviews. Wouldn't you want me to tell you," Hey don't buy a car from these wankers!" Same case and point with karaoke establishments. Whatcom County used to be one of the prominent places in Washington state for karaoke fun. This was three years ago when most of it turned to horse crap.
Drug use,faulty equipment, and personal dramas have been the downfall to many of Whatcom counties karaoke problems. One company in Bellingham has put such a bad taste in local bar owners mouths, that when someone else comes into town they say," Sorry we've had too many problems with Mr. Clean entertainment* One of my biggest sticklers for karaoke is unfair rotations and favoritism. I have seen a place in town that had a near twenty person rotation and the kj's deemed it upon themselves to put themselves up at the top of every rotation. They could have had six different people up during this time instead of stroking their own egos.
Favoritism is another biggie for me. Local karaoke icon "Johnny V" is a very nice guy,whom I've had the pleasure of having many conversations with over the years. If any of you don't know Johnny is an elderly man in his mid 80's who is a crooner. He has a great voice and people always give him great ovations whenever and where ever he appears. My issue is this, just because Johnny comes in at eleven pm and turns in a song slip does not mean that he should be put up right away! There are many other patrons whom have been there since starting time or early and should not have to wait longer because someone is a popular singer. Hey I'm a veteran of local karaoke myself as are a few of my other friends but I no way expect for the kj to drop everything and put me right up if I arrive late!
The thing that believe it or not lately tends to be the kj's not knowing how to run their own equipment! I've seen many hosts sit there stairing at me and looking at their sound board just flipping random switches the entire time hoping nothing will mess up. Learn your machine!! Take a class at the college for sound operation or consult a trusted veteran karaoke host. I know that many karaoke gigs don't pay much and sometimes when you calculate it out at times it can be right about or below minimum wage. However this is still no excuse not to know and care about your job.
Well this has been my two cents on the matter. If anyone else would like to comment,send hate mail, praise,confused yet? ;-)
Cheers
Stephen
It wouldn't be any different as you going out to a used car lot looking for a car and the dealership you are looking at have had over two dozen recalls and bad consumer reviews. Wouldn't you want me to tell you," Hey don't buy a car from these wankers!" Same case and point with karaoke establishments. Whatcom County used to be one of the prominent places in Washington state for karaoke fun. This was three years ago when most of it turned to horse crap.
Drug use,faulty equipment, and personal dramas have been the downfall to many of Whatcom counties karaoke problems. One company in Bellingham has put such a bad taste in local bar owners mouths, that when someone else comes into town they say," Sorry we've had too many problems with Mr. Clean entertainment* One of my biggest sticklers for karaoke is unfair rotations and favoritism. I have seen a place in town that had a near twenty person rotation and the kj's deemed it upon themselves to put themselves up at the top of every rotation. They could have had six different people up during this time instead of stroking their own egos.
Favoritism is another biggie for me. Local karaoke icon "Johnny V" is a very nice guy,whom I've had the pleasure of having many conversations with over the years. If any of you don't know Johnny is an elderly man in his mid 80's who is a crooner. He has a great voice and people always give him great ovations whenever and where ever he appears. My issue is this, just because Johnny comes in at eleven pm and turns in a song slip does not mean that he should be put up right away! There are many other patrons whom have been there since starting time or early and should not have to wait longer because someone is a popular singer. Hey I'm a veteran of local karaoke myself as are a few of my other friends but I no way expect for the kj to drop everything and put me right up if I arrive late!
The thing that believe it or not lately tends to be the kj's not knowing how to run their own equipment! I've seen many hosts sit there stairing at me and looking at their sound board just flipping random switches the entire time hoping nothing will mess up. Learn your machine!! Take a class at the college for sound operation or consult a trusted veteran karaoke host. I know that many karaoke gigs don't pay much and sometimes when you calculate it out at times it can be right about or below minimum wage. However this is still no excuse not to know and care about your job.
Well this has been my two cents on the matter. If anyone else would like to comment,send hate mail, praise,confused yet? ;-)
Cheers
Stephen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
