I heard this story last week.
A large karaoke company that works across the street from one of my newer gigs, was recently replaced. It seems that their KJs are allowed to drink on the job. The KJ got drunk and started a fight with a customer. The bar owner fired them.
They have been replaced by a KJ that plays Rap and Hip Hop between the singers. He is chasing away the serious singers to cater to the non singers. They are starting to come to my show.
You may think you, as the KJ/owner are there to party. The fact is you are there to work. No other job or company will permit the employees to drink on the job. The same rules should be in affect for your company. You can "party" on your days off. Your reputation is more important than your need to party on the job.
Show Conduct
Agreed about the not drinking to large extent. I typically don't drink at all, however I have had members of the crowd buy me a drink (usually a shot cuz they know I'm a whiskey guy). In that case I'll have it. Also I may have a bottle of beer at some point during the gig, I mean I am in a tavern. Even that is very rare for me. As you said, it just doesn't seem right since I am working.
I've been to shows (one in particular) where the KJ gets drunk and turns into a royal jack***. That's part of what got me into this business in the first place. Idiots who piss off the crowd by their own drunken foolery at their shows.
I've been to shows (one in particular) where the KJ gets drunk and turns into a royal jack***. That's part of what got me into this business in the first place. Idiots who piss off the crowd by their own drunken foolery at their shows.
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Black_Mamba
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2007 4:10 am
- Location: NSW, Australia
Atlast people with that thought! 
I know quite a few musicians around here and all of them drink during gigs (not just KJ's but singers, guitarists, etc as well). Personally I believe you are there earning money, which is work, so do your job! You can still have fun without grog and there are plenty of other drunks that will happily play the fool at a karaoke night. Having said that, occasionally I do consume a beer BEFORE a gig
I know quite a few musicians around here and all of them drink during gigs (not just KJ's but singers, guitarists, etc as well). Personally I believe you are there earning money, which is work, so do your job! You can still have fun without grog and there are plenty of other drunks that will happily play the fool at a karaoke night. Having said that, occasionally I do consume a beer BEFORE a gig
Drinking on the job isn't a problem for me as I don't drink anything with alcohol in it.
While I don't sing anything dirty myself aside from maybe the male part of Paradise By The Dashboard Lights, I play what the crowd gives me. I've had Two Live Crew in my catalog and have yet to hear any of their songs sung at any of my show. The biggest offensive song done at my shows is probably the "I-95 Song" or the "Rodeo Song". But aside from that and a request for Crazy Bitch, I hardly play anyhing offensive.
While I don't sing anything dirty myself aside from maybe the male part of Paradise By The Dashboard Lights, I play what the crowd gives me. I've had Two Live Crew in my catalog and have yet to hear any of their songs sung at any of my show. The biggest offensive song done at my shows is probably the "I-95 Song" or the "Rodeo Song". But aside from that and a request for Crazy Bitch, I hardly play anyhing offensive.
Show Conduct
OK! So your a KJ or KJ/DJ
DUI laws are pretty strict now! Drink at your show, get trashed, get stopped on the way home, and WOW- some jerk will be doing your show, next month because you won't be driving!!!!!!
You not only lost your license, but a job too! Maybe 2-3 or more jobs a week. A nice income to be ripped away for stupidity.
Think about that! Is it worth it? Especially if this Karaoke job is your lively hood.
DUI laws are pretty strict now! Drink at your show, get trashed, get stopped on the way home, and WOW- some jerk will be doing your show, next month because you won't be driving!!!!!!
You not only lost your license, but a job too! Maybe 2-3 or more jobs a week. A nice income to be ripped away for stupidity.
Think about that! Is it worth it? Especially if this Karaoke job is your lively hood.
I know a KJ that just got 10 days house arrest for DUI. It should have been 30 days in jail or 60 days house arrest with ankle jewelry. (House arrest is always double the jail time.) Turns out the public defender cut the deal and didn't know the law was changed. The judge was mad but went with the plea deal. She told the public defender that the law requires 30 days for the first offence, not 5 days anymore.
So I would say that you could clearly be unemployed from any job, if you had to do 30 days jail time.
So I would say that you could clearly be unemployed from any job, if you had to do 30 days jail time.
I Drink socially at my shows as a matter of fact i don't drink anywhere else. I Will consume 5 drinks in a 5 hour period, but nothing more. I Don't get hammered and i don't get drunk and I Understand how drunkenness can affect your job.
So here is a scenerio that happened to me, At a bar i worked at a while ago, the owner a real lush disgusting fall over and piss himself sitting in the bar decided since i was the one who had to deal mainly with the crowd i would be the one to decide wether or not a person stayed, (His staff all 18 and 19 year olds, in a bar where knifings and bar brawls were a common place thing when i started there) it was my first gig. About 2 and a half years of working there, a woman comes in hammered out of her mind, couldn't even walk comes in and starts yelling obscenities at me for no apparent reason screaming over and over, had to call the cops to get her out even. I Went to the bar owner (Who was loaded) and asked him to take care of her, he told me it was his night off and i had to deal with it. While we are waiting for the cops, she stepped over the line and started in on my 2 kids at that time maybe 6 and 7, she called my 7 year old a "retard, a drooling little retard" (my daughter is Handicapped) that is when i lost it COMPLETELY!, I turned around looked at her and said "your nothing but a filthy fat disgusting ditch pig drunk and i wouldn't cross the street to piss on you if you were on fire"
WELL the cops came everything went on as normal til about 4 days later when i was served with papers from her lawyer, They were suing me for slander and they were suing the bar as well. Well i got out of it only because i had approached the bar owner and asked him to take care of it and he didn't, which let me off the hook. I Hadn't been drinking that night, BUT if i had been loaded, i have a feeling things would have turned out differently and i'd be paying that THING money for the rest of my life.
Needless to say the bar ended up getting off as well after a public apology, The bar couldn't let me go because then i had means for a lawsuit myself against the bar. I Continued to work there for another year before i Finally got sick of the owner and Quit.
If your Drunk or even slightly tipsy at your show and something should happen physical or not, You could be held liable for it even though you might have been in the right, all because the cops decide that you had too much.. It's always something that is in the back of my mind while i am working.
So here is a scenerio that happened to me, At a bar i worked at a while ago, the owner a real lush disgusting fall over and piss himself sitting in the bar decided since i was the one who had to deal mainly with the crowd i would be the one to decide wether or not a person stayed, (His staff all 18 and 19 year olds, in a bar where knifings and bar brawls were a common place thing when i started there) it was my first gig. About 2 and a half years of working there, a woman comes in hammered out of her mind, couldn't even walk comes in and starts yelling obscenities at me for no apparent reason screaming over and over, had to call the cops to get her out even. I Went to the bar owner (Who was loaded) and asked him to take care of her, he told me it was his night off and i had to deal with it. While we are waiting for the cops, she stepped over the line and started in on my 2 kids at that time maybe 6 and 7, she called my 7 year old a "retard, a drooling little retard" (my daughter is Handicapped) that is when i lost it COMPLETELY!, I turned around looked at her and said "your nothing but a filthy fat disgusting ditch pig drunk and i wouldn't cross the street to piss on you if you were on fire"
WELL the cops came everything went on as normal til about 4 days later when i was served with papers from her lawyer, They were suing me for slander and they were suing the bar as well. Well i got out of it only because i had approached the bar owner and asked him to take care of it and he didn't, which let me off the hook. I Hadn't been drinking that night, BUT if i had been loaded, i have a feeling things would have turned out differently and i'd be paying that THING money for the rest of my life.
Needless to say the bar ended up getting off as well after a public apology, The bar couldn't let me go because then i had means for a lawsuit myself against the bar. I Continued to work there for another year before i Finally got sick of the owner and Quit.
If your Drunk or even slightly tipsy at your show and something should happen physical or not, You could be held liable for it even though you might have been in the right, all because the cops decide that you had too much.. It's always something that is in the back of my mind while i am working.
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mightychrisgill
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 3:44 pm
- Location: Whitianga New Zealand
Th litigous nature of the U.S sure does throw a whole new set of things to consider when putting a show on.. I'm pretty lucky to live in a little town in new zealand where i am the only show around for most of the year.. there is never two shows in direct competition on any given night..
aside from not drinking when at work, i am glad i dont choose to indulge cos it would be a little too tempting to forget to bite the tongue when dealing with belligerant customers... quite a community feel to the bar which is cool but every so often someone decides to be a clown..... they should know never to heckle a sober man that has the microphone.... and is a radio announcer to boot.... a thinly veiled Blind Item type call on my show the next mornig is often a most satistying form of retribution..
aside from not drinking when at work, i am glad i dont choose to indulge cos it would be a little too tempting to forget to bite the tongue when dealing with belligerant customers... quite a community feel to the bar which is cool but every so often someone decides to be a clown..... they should know never to heckle a sober man that has the microphone.... and is a radio announcer to boot.... a thinly veiled Blind Item type call on my show the next mornig is often a most satistying form of retribution..
when me and my partner go out on a gig we drink a few drinks but that has landed us a few gigs. because the money they are spending on us they get back and alot of time on out nights off we will drive out of our way just to go to the bars that hire us because of the same reason. I let my kj's drink on the job but if i get one complaint they get a warning and a 50 dollar penalty second time is 150 penalty and they are done. They all know this when they start and i have yet to get a complaint about their drinking i always get the complaints about they way the rotation is run but who doesn't get them even if it is spelled out
i agree with dan about a fair rotation but it seems there is always one person or group nthat thinks it is not fair i have a policy sheet in the gront of every book that explains how we come up with the rotation that we do some of the complaints are about songs that have already been sang some about that i put in twenty slips before they put in any and the ones i love the slip with their name and the song name, no number no artist and why haven't you played my song yet well because you have to fill out your slip with all information. I had a guy argue with me one night that it should not matter if he put the song number on the slip i just had to prove him wrong and he put up another slip with a common song usually only by the one artist and i went through and found the artist i figured he would not know and played that and when he said thats not the right song i told him well to bad thats the one i looked up because there was no number or artist i just picked one and now you are at the back of the rotation. never the less i have decreased that problem and most of my bar owners agree they would rather have a smooth running show than have me sit there and play secretary. i have had a few times where some one will put sweet georgia brown version which i think is fine because i have went through and made a notation in our master book which version it is.
