I have had trouble with last call singers. Guys who want to sing at last call. Even though we usually quit playing Karaoke at 30 minutes too close. It seems like every night i get someone who has had to much to drink come up and beg and/or bribe my dj's to let them sing. We had made a policy that this is not allowed. But then a couple times the guys just get mean or they spill their drinks. I had a customer come to me one night and told me the bar owner said he could sing. I still didn't allow them to sing. Afterwards the bar owner come to me and said they had said so and so could sing. I said well can I come and get offsale from you 10 minutes after you close. He said well no that is illegal and I said And I Have a policy It is in your contract explaining that we are done with Karaoke at 30 minutes to close. Then the bar owner agreed with me that it was rude to go above my head.
Just looking for some opinions on this are we doing the right thing or not.
Thank You
last Call singers
Last call for songs is at 1:00 am... I pick up the books shut down my search engine after loading the last round... and If someone asks i tell them i have already put away the music this normally works... BE consistent.. Say no and mean it and say it every time. I sing the last song every night and no one will sing after me. I never anounce last song of the night Until my song starts therefore i don't have an arguement i find this works well.
It just so happens that tonight after I had out my "no more requests" sign and had the books picked up and put away, several people came up and requested to sing "one more" song. One guy said he would pay me $20 for the overtime.
I played the last few one mores and wrapped up a little late with Goodnight Sweetheart.
Well as you can guess there was no offer of $20 and nothing was said about it. This isn't the first time over the years that someone has offered and then disappeared or just went brain dead..
That said, Next time when I get the one more song request with an offer for overtime money...my palm will be offered out, before I will ever type in the song request.
If they don't like it..... Goodnight Sweetheart is set to automatically start in .....5.....4....3...2...now.....see ya
I played the last few one mores and wrapped up a little late with Goodnight Sweetheart.
Well as you can guess there was no offer of $20 and nothing was said about it. This isn't the first time over the years that someone has offered and then disappeared or just went brain dead..
That said, Next time when I get the one more song request with an offer for overtime money...my palm will be offered out, before I will ever type in the song request.
If they don't like it..... Goodnight Sweetheart is set to automatically start in .....5.....4....3...2...now.....see ya
i don't mind playing a little past 2 am... just to finish the last few singers in the round... BUT i have a problem with the owner. she says done at 2 am and not a minute later period. She also sings at night. lately i have made her apart of the last 3 or 4 singers taht way she will let me finish the round but besides the fact that she is in the round she wouldn't let me finish up.. anybody else have the problem of not being allowed to finish off a night a few minutes late?
Bars here give last call for alcohol at 1:45. Close at 2 and everyone has to be gone by 2:30.
I had a bar that wanted 9-1. I was playing at 5 after 1 and the owner came up and asked me what I was doing? I said playing these songs out...He said he wants 9-1. From then on it was done at 1..see ya.
I try to give the bars 15 minutes over as a courtesy kind of thing. No bar owner ever wants to come up with money to play over, so I generally don't play more than 15 minutes past. But I had some relatives of the bar owner want me to keep playing their requests... I had to mail out a letter saying that if they wanted me to play over, they are going to pay over. None have...
If you add up the 15 minutes over the last 15 years, we are talking about thousands of dollars. Customers don't seem to understand the overtime thing. But I bet they never work at their real jobs for free overtime...day after day (night after night) just to be nice guys...
From now on....Money first.... overtime song request next..
I had a bar that wanted 9-1. I was playing at 5 after 1 and the owner came up and asked me what I was doing? I said playing these songs out...He said he wants 9-1. From then on it was done at 1..see ya.
I try to give the bars 15 minutes over as a courtesy kind of thing. No bar owner ever wants to come up with money to play over, so I generally don't play more than 15 minutes past. But I had some relatives of the bar owner want me to keep playing their requests... I had to mail out a letter saying that if they wanted me to play over, they are going to pay over. None have...
If you add up the 15 minutes over the last 15 years, we are talking about thousands of dollars. Customers don't seem to understand the overtime thing. But I bet they never work at their real jobs for free overtime...day after day (night after night) just to be nice guys...
From now on....Money first.... overtime song request next..
last call
We play from 9-1 usually. Everyone always wants "one last song" We usually play our last singers rotation then we always end the night with 2 slow dance songs (not karaoke). Once you start the music, they are usually so drunk they forget about singing that last one, they usually grab a partner & hit the dance floor. Works for us.
The bar owners decide when they want karaoke. They pick the hours to start and stop. There are liabilities to think about as far as people getting drunk and driving. There are bars that turn their clocks ahead 10-15 minutes so they can cut people off early.
If they want 9-1, I give them 15 minutes, after that it's see ya later. They aren't paying me more money to stay extra. Business is business. My time is just as valuable as the next guys.
I had one bar that wanted 9-1. They meant 9-1. Not even 5 minutes after 1. So I stopped at 1 every night. Didn't matter who was left or what songs didn't get played. The bar owner is your boss. They say stop, you stop. It's pretty simple.
The Liquor Control Board (LCB) says that everyone must be out of the building at 2:30 AM. That means last call for alcohol is at 1:45. After everyone has had their last call and it's after 2 AM, you're done. Nobody is to be served. There are to be no drinks, even water left on the bar after 2:30 AM and no people. Just employees. The bar can get cited and pay a fine. So most bars want to get people moving toward the door by 2:15 AM.
It takes me 30-45 minutes to wrap up and get out. So if I quit at 1:45 AM I'm not packed up until 2:15-2:30. I want to go home like everyone else. They had fun all night, I worked.
If they want 9-1, I give them 15 minutes, after that it's see ya later. They aren't paying me more money to stay extra. Business is business. My time is just as valuable as the next guys.
I had one bar that wanted 9-1. They meant 9-1. Not even 5 minutes after 1. So I stopped at 1 every night. Didn't matter who was left or what songs didn't get played. The bar owner is your boss. They say stop, you stop. It's pretty simple.
The Liquor Control Board (LCB) says that everyone must be out of the building at 2:30 AM. That means last call for alcohol is at 1:45. After everyone has had their last call and it's after 2 AM, you're done. Nobody is to be served. There are to be no drinks, even water left on the bar after 2:30 AM and no people. Just employees. The bar can get cited and pay a fine. So most bars want to get people moving toward the door by 2:15 AM.
It takes me 30-45 minutes to wrap up and get out. So if I quit at 1:45 AM I'm not packed up until 2:15-2:30. I want to go home like everyone else. They had fun all night, I worked.
Karaoke Kid, I'm not sure why this is such a mystery. I don't have any gigs that want me to play all the way until close. Bar time here in my area is 2:00, no alcohol can be served after that and just like in Big Dog's case, by 2:30 every needs to have cleared out.
I've played bars where they've said absolutely no running past my end time (usually 1:00). Most of the time the reasoning is they want people to start winding down, get their last drinks and finding their way out. If I played right up to 2:00, those people would ready to party only now there would be no time, they'd have to leave immediately.
I can tear down and be packed up in the van ready to leave in under 20 minutes so it doesn't really matter to me what times they want me to play from and to. I do put in some overage if needed, however I've gotten pretty good at knowing when to collect the books and stop acepting new signups based on my song list so that I can end right on time. Rarely is there a need to go over.
The bars are the ones that set the times we play, not us. If they say end at 1:00 without exception, you better believe that's what I'm gonna do. Makes it easier when you have to turn a late singer away. More than once I've been able to tell a person who was trying everything to get me to add one more (bribes, begging, etc) that it's the bar's rule not mine. That usually shuts them up.
I've played bars where they've said absolutely no running past my end time (usually 1:00). Most of the time the reasoning is they want people to start winding down, get their last drinks and finding their way out. If I played right up to 2:00, those people would ready to party only now there would be no time, they'd have to leave immediately.
I can tear down and be packed up in the van ready to leave in under 20 minutes so it doesn't really matter to me what times they want me to play from and to. I do put in some overage if needed, however I've gotten pretty good at knowing when to collect the books and stop acepting new signups based on my song list so that I can end right on time. Rarely is there a need to go over.
The bars are the ones that set the times we play, not us. If they say end at 1:00 without exception, you better believe that's what I'm gonna do. Makes it easier when you have to turn a late singer away. More than once I've been able to tell a person who was trying everything to get me to add one more (bribes, begging, etc) that it's the bar's rule not mine. That usually shuts them up.
