Mood killer

[Bigdog]

Several weeks ago a lady started to sing the song HONEY by Bobby Goldsboro.... about half way through she got all choked up and started to cry. She stopped singing and told me to stop the music.... Looking around the bar half the people were also crying partly because of seeing her cry....partly because of thinking about somebody they lost.....

Well nobody is ever going to sing that song again....

[wiseguy]

Let them cry as long as they stay and keep drinking. Maybe they'll drink even more trying to drown their sorrows.

[The Lone Ranger]

I have to agree with wiseguy on this one Bigdog. It is the crowd that determines to a great degree where the entertainment goes for a particular evening. The old saying holds "that you play to the crowd". All to often the KJ or worse the venue owner wants to dictate how the entertainment is to be conducted. As long as the show is entertaining that is what is important, it is the job of the KJ host to be the air traffic controller and make sure the singers don't collide with one another. If you really want to control the situation more you should be a DJ instead. Then you have more control but you still have to be able to read a crowd.

[Paradigm Karaoke]

i dont know...
if it is going south it is up to the KJ to fix it and redirect to keep people there and having fun.
but you can't be a total nazi about it either "No Song For You!"
a delicate balancing act that many hosts neglect and bounce from show to show every few months for ignoring.

[Bigdog]

Well since I use an edited song book I really don't care which songs they sing...but a long string of slow songs or country songs or screaming rock songs could create a situation. Besides I was only kidding about never singing that song again...and the more alcohol you dump on a heartache the more depressing it gets. That night there were too many heartbroken people there..

Music selection can quickly kill a crowd....that's why I personally like it when different types of music gets sung during the night....something for everyone... I rarely sing country songs for that reason.... I usually inject an up beat rock song after reading the nonsingers reactions to the last rotation. I also base my selection on crowd control....if everyone seems to be getting too wound up...I'll slow it down...if I want get rid of some undesirables...I'll sing slow oldies or country....fortunately those nights are few and far between...just remember alcohol and testosterone don't mix.

[wiseguy]

In 22 years I've never had a crowd that was "too" wound up.

[Bigdog]

I was in farm country where they were still wearing bell bottoms 15 years after they were out of style...borderline hillbillies....lots of drinking and metal/rock songs...and probably lots of under the counter drugs.....I was getting nervous....until I sang that slow song and people started slow dancing... Believe me it was just what the doctor ordered....it was at that moment the lightbulb went off and I realized how much power I had with the music selection....I used that method many many times to induce subliminal crowd control.... Trust me it works.

After that I never worried about people singing slow songs....a mix of music genres and tempos during the rotation is what I want....not too high and not too low....like gently rolling waves in the ocean....up and down, up and down...not into big spikes.

[wiseguy]

I was in farm country where they were still wearing bell bottoms 15 years after they were out of style...borderline hillbillies....lots of drinking and metal/rock songs...and probably lots of under the counter drugs.....I was getting nervous....until I sang that slow song and people started slow dancing... Believe me it was just what the doctor ordered....it was at that moment the lightbulb went off and I realized how much power I had with the music selection....I used that method many many times to induce subliminal crowd control.... Trust me it works.

After that I never worried about people singing slow songs....a mix of music genres and tempos during the rotation is what I want....not too high and not too low....like gently rolling waves in the ocean....up and down, up and down...not into big spikes.

I almost nodded off just reading that.

[The Lone Ranger]

Bigdog your description of the venue reminds me of the Blues Brothers playing at the redneck bar with the wire mesh protecting the band from flying beer bottles. Why did you take a gig like that in the first place?

[Bigdog]

There are actually places I will not play... I'm not doing biker bars or actual dives....but since I discovered how to use the music to my advantage I don't get a worried about it.

[The Lone Ranger]

Just like the Blues Brothers singing "Stand By Your Man" in the redneck bar, to calm things down.

[DanG2006]

My best venue happened to be a bikers bar before the bouncer got knifed to death on the DJ's night. I was supposed to be working the next night but the gig got cancelled because of the bouncers death. I tried to warn the owner about the crowd the DJ attracted.