Did I do the right thing?

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All the examples you cite Rick are of truly accidental nature (bumping into stuff).

When stuff like this happens in karaoke, it's usually because someone is trying to be a showoff. Being a showoff is intent of itself.

All the stuff Carolyn said, i've had all that same stuff happen. It's really scary when some drunk is swinging a wired SM58 like a medival ball and mace with a 10' radius.

I also agree with her point of setting the example. You let one get away with it, they all will try it.

Still, lesson learned... I gotta be more low key in situations like this. When I get into work today i'm going to be farting around with reaper. I'm gonna try and make an emergency stop key on the midi controller. Hit one key, all mics off cept DJ mic, karaoke BGM off and filler music on.

OT but hey rick, have you played with Arduino boards yet? I got one coming in the mail. I'm going to build my own midi controller from it.

Getting back OT though... If you haven't, you should really watch my video stream. Watch a Tuesday Night, and a Friday night, and compare the two. Tuesdays is all Japanese, and as with most stuff Japanese there is a big focus on not "Losing Face". Everyone is respectful of equipment, staff, and each other. Everyone stays seated until thier turn. They're also mindful of tipping the KJ.

Contrast that to my nights. College co-eds screaming at the top of thier lungs. People running up and down off the stage. People standing in the aisles keeping the wait and bus staff from tending glasses. It's mayhem.

Why did I bring up those two contrasting karaoke situations? I dunno... Screw it, i'll try and make some sense of it...

OK, you go to an arcade to play your favorite video game. Maybe it's Defender or Stargate? You see some jerkwad there beating on the game for no other reason than thier own amusement.

The owner turns the game off and tells them to leave.

Uhhm, ok, getting closer to a point here...

If both mics break at the same time in the night, where does that leave us? CODB, heh we'll be down for the night. As an equipment steward, I should be able to count on my crowd to be just as tame and as civil as the Japanese crowd.

Oh wait, they're Americans. Hey man, don't infringe on my freedom of speech to be obnoxious.

Don't tread on me. One of the founding phrases of our country.

Maybe the Japanese understand more about being American than we do. <shrug>
 
BTW, no I don't host karaoke, and never have -- albeit, I have been at quite a few shows, and made a complete fool out of myself on a number of occasions (and yes, I swing the mic if it has a cord) :)


I looked at this from two points of view:

1) The singer/customer/client -- whatever you care to call them, and

2) The business owner (you, not the bar owner).


The customer does not care about you, that is a simple fact of life. He/she is there to have a good time, show off their "talents", maybe get on the next AI, impress chicks/guys, impress themselves, etc. Even the Japanese ones are doing the same thing, they just tend to have more manners -- they still don't care about you or your equipment. You are forgotten once they leave.

The business owner (you), have to realize you have a following in this market. Embarrassing customers (whether your intent is good or otherwise), is not a productive endeavor. It may seem productive at the time, but it will only erode the support you have built over the years.


There are two rules to successful business (as described to me by many successful business people):

1) The customer is always right.

2) If #1 isn't true in a particular case, make believe it is, and suck it up.


Making money and being successful, is not about making friends or being in total control -- it is about being able to handle the unexpected in a charming way (in other words, punt, smile and BS).




On the other side of the coin, is Pride (read: one of the 7 deadly sins).

Pride requires you to be in control of every situation that comes along, even when you are wrong, and to make someone else responsible for something, whether they were, or were not...

Inevitably, doing so, will cause you to be less successful, and make less money.



So, the real question is (IMHO):

Do you want to be successful and make money, or do you want to be in control...?
 
[QUOTE/TOQUER]
I've learned some good stuff off the responses. It's nice that the general concensus is I did the right thing, though I could have handled it better. I get told all the time I drop too many F-bombs, it's a bad habit I need to get out of.
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Pretty much covers it. I would have stopped the song, and used humor to embarrass the jerk. If he gave me an aggressive hard time, THEN I may have given him the "inyerface"- after finding a corner somewhere and flipping to filler. The customers don't wanna see us grumpy.


Drunk mics ( if you can read the singer in advance) are a good thing. For this purpose I use a steel Pyle UHF mic. Sounds pretty good, range of 130 ft or more, and STEEL. Around 65.00.

Bottom line, ya done right, but maybe not the best way...

.............................................................................
(and yes, I swing the mic if it has a cord) - Softjock
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Note to Softy: Question, since you don't host karaoke, would you let a dancer rest their drink on your equipment? Your mixer or amp? And if they then spilled it? A happy face for you? I'm thinkin' no.....

Swinging a wired mic? When I use the wired mics, they are SM-58s or 48s. Kind of heavy. Forgetting about the cost to the host, the next time you swing one, think about it flying off the cable and hitting someone you love in the face... Change your perspective at all? The same goes for the wireless. It may have been an accident, but it happened due to loss off control and overly rambunctious behavior. VERY DANGEROUS TO OTHER PATRONS. Rick, it's not just about the money. Our job is to keep everyone happy, but if we can't, then shoot for the majority, and that includes safety.

Making sure that people know ( and they should-and most do- anyway if they were raised by actual parents who taught them respect for others' property) that abusing equipment won't be tolerated will not only keep your costs down, but will create a more friendly, less aggressive atmosphere. VERY good for business. ( I might add, VERY good for MY business).
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Thanks, Joe.

The repercussions that result from careless and indifferent behavior are not accidents. In truth, accidents are preventable.

In Toqer's case, what occurred was no accident. This was deliberate. It demonstrated indifference on the part of the singer. I beg forgiveness for seeming to come across as a hardass but I do not invest in quality business equipment to have it broken. Neither does Toqer.

You don't start your car then reach your hand into the engine, do you? To do so would be pure stupidity, not an accident. :)
 
Toqer:

I looked at the video with my wife. We both agree that it was an accident. But, my wife told me that I would have probably had a fit myself, and she's right.

During a charity karaoke event a guy threw down one of my Shure's to do a dance to the song. I took off after him and ran him off stage and out if the building. The mic didn't even get a ding in the screen.

I went out and bought a set of cheap drunk mics and only use my Sures for myself.

The bottom line is that life's too short to worry about this stuff.

My wife just said to me, "Wouldn't it be terrible if the last few minutes you spent on earth was spent worrying about a microphone?".
 
Note to Softy:
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See, I told ya that name gives me lots of grief :sqlaugh:


...would you let a dancer rest their drink on your equipment? Your mixer or amp?
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I do it myself, why should I worry about others...?
Just more for me to drink, when they forget it :)


...think about it flying off the cable and hitting someone you love in the face...
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Now that you mention it, there are a few folks that I wouldn't mind singing to... :sqlaugh:


Rick, it's not just about the money. Our job is to keep everyone happy, but if we can't, then shoot for the majority, and that includes safety.
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Save the PC BS for the patrons -- it's lost on me ;)
 
Now to answer Toqer's question...

Stopping the song was the right thing to do. Getting on the booth mic wasn't.

I would have stopped the song, shut down the mics, put up the Looking Back version of Sweet Home, and then escorted them from the stage. Accident or not, the guy is too inebriated and is a hazard on stage. The next time he tries to get colorful he might get somebody hurt. I have liability insurance but don't want to use it.
 
toqer said:
Yah reflecting back on it, this is what would have been the right thing to do...

Kill thier BGM and Mics
Krank up the filler music
Walk over and gently take the mics from thier hands.

Getting on the booth mic and talking smack probably wasn't the best way of handling it, but lets get to the root of opinion i'm looking for.. Was cutting them off the right thing to do (yes I know it could have been done better:p )
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Absolutely it was the right thing to do.. If a person is too drunk to handle a mic, then they shouldn't be singing. You have a responsibility as host to keep your equipment in working order so EVERYONE has the opportunity to sing. If that means banning one person for the greater good, so be it.

I wouldn't sweat it to much, everyone has an off day.. If it had been me, I would have made them pay for the microphone, so in that regard you were a lot nicer about it than I would have been.

Just remember, always count to ten before you comment or respond to anything a person says or does.. This has kept me out of trouble more time than I could count.


hope that helps

-James
 
Part of our job is to be cool it was an accident I would have checked the mike if it was ok then the party goes on you have got to expect something like this to happen. At a beer garden where I was playing once I had a football hit my new laptop dead on it slamed shut and hurt both my hands lucky everything was ok, wanted to kill but stayed cool, the show must go on, unless the threat is not taken care of.
 
Joe: Quote:
Rick, it's not just about the money. Our job is to keep everyone happy, but if we can't, then shoot for the majority, and that includes safety.

Rick: Quote: Save the PC BS for the patrons -- it's lost on me


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Sorry to hear that Rick, 'cause it's not BS, and it can't be BS in order to run a successful Karaoke show.. Sorry to sound harsh, but from your entire post, it sounds like you don't care what gets damaged or if someone you love gets hurt as long as you have a good ole time for yourself. That's fine, and won't try to change you, but I have been lucky in that most of the people I know are not like that, even in the rowdiest biker dives that I used to work. However, on the occasion that I do run into one like that, they're done, and I'm capable of enforcing it.

I can only hope you were joking......
 
Sorry to hear that Rick, 'cause it's not BS, and it can't be BS in order to run a successful Karaoke show.. Sorry to sound harsh, but from your entire post, it sounds like you don't care what gets damaged or if someone you love gets hurt as long as you have a good ole time for yourself. That's fine, and won't try to change you, but I have been lucky in that most of the people I know are not like that, even in the rowdiest biker dives that I used to work. However, on the occasion that I do run into one like that, they're done, and I'm capable of enforcing it.

I can only hope you were joking......
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Joe,

My last post was in a humorous way, but the rest were not -- I was looking at it strictly from a business and client perspective.

It sounds to me like some KJ's are very controlling by nature (at least based on many of the comments in this thread).

As I mentioned earlier, I have been to many karaoke shows, and I have never seen a host stop a show and start yelling, because somebody dropped a mic, or tripped over something, etc.

When you hand your equipment over to somebody who has probably been drinking (or just likes to show off), you have to expect that Murphy's Law will in fact take over from there...

At that point, IMHO, you have to take it in stride when sh_t happens. If you can't handle it in a nice way, without losing your cool -- you are probably in the wrong line of business, or are in it for a different reason other than making money, and just don't care about your client base.


BTW, the comment about drinks on the speakers was not a joke -- I do it all the time. If someone leaves a drink on my speaker, I simply move it when I get a chance. No need for confrontation with the people who are directly or indirectly paying my fee :)
 
Well obviously, we are all going to have to agree to disagree.
 
There is a huge difference between accidentally dropping or tripping over equipment and purposely throwing or tipping over equipment. These two scenario's need to obviously dealt with differently.....

If someone accidentally trips or something slips from their hand and it's obvious that, that is the situation then sure I'm not going to stop the fun...

But, if that person is swinging a 1LB microphone from a 20' cord where there is a potential for that mic to go flying off the cord or even extending into the crowd that little 1lb mic is going to smash someones face with enough force to break bones, namely and most likely a nose. In that situation it is up to the Host to control that and if it takes shutting the music off to gain control of the situation then so be it.... I would not want to be explaining to my liability carrier why I didn't stop the action before it got out of control if I could have when they sue me for doctor bills and other losses.

That's why many of us have clauses in our contracts that allow us to stop the music if a situation occurs that we deem as unsafe or even if a guest starts acting in an intolerable way....

Fun is fun but destructive fun, especially if done on purpose is not tolerated, period.
 
SoftJock Rick said:
Joe,

My last post was in a humorous way, but the rest were not -- I was looking at it strictly from a business and client perspective.
:)
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Whew! Kinda thought you were yankin' my evil chain, but wasn't sure.... My bad. :spembarassed:

While I agree that the inyerface should have been avoided, at least in public view, stopping the song and retrieving the mic WAS appropriate. I too prefer to use humor in tense situations to keep all comfortable. The only time I get the uglies is when a patron gets aggressive after being stopped. Then it's a matter of both defense and a quick resololution rather than a long screaming match- just a quick "yer done" and move on....
 
jokerswild said:
If someone accidentally trips or something slips from their hand and it's obvious that, that is the situation then sure I'm not going to stop the fun...

But, if that person is swinging a 1LB microphone from a 20' cord where there is a potential for that mic to go flying off the cord or even extending into the crowd that little 1lb mic is going to smash someones face with enough force to break bones, namely and most likely a nose. In that situation it is up to the Host to control that and if it takes shutting the music off to gain control of the situation then so be itFun is fun but destructive fun, especially if done on purpose is not tolerated, period.
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That may be a clearer way of saying what I meant, Rick..
 
Toqer the only thing I feel you did wrong was when you abused your audience initially by not handing out ear plugs.
 
I'm with Rick.

Stop the music and move on is fine if that's what you feel you need to do.

But, here's some food for thought:</p>
For the next 7:30 of that video there's a club in which NOTHING is happening, unless of course you count the DJ on his mike arguing with patrons. As a venue owner what would you think?

If I were the owner I'd either rip the DJ a new one or fire him because I didn't open a club to prevent broken mics - I opened it to sell food and beverages. Angry or embarrassed patrons don't spend money - they leave.

If there's a trouble maker we can throw him out. But, let's not close up the shop over a microphone.

Even if the guy deliberately threw the mic to break it. I don't care. Do what you need too to get him off the stage and keep him off with minimal impact to the rest of the venue. Just don't tank my food & beverage business over some guys greasy fingers.

Simple solution would be to pick up the mic and let him continue without one. He gets the message - and the club is unaffected. Then just keep him off the roster - the same way bartenders stop serving people who spill their drink on the bar.


Finally, as a CoDB why are you giving a $400 mic to a $5 singer? "Shure-ly" the last thing this guy needs to be worried about is frequency response. Shock mounting - maybe. But , seriously - why not just give people a tool that is commensurate with their capability?
 
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