First I want to thank muzicman144 for the very kind words. Next time you're in the neighborhood, please identify yourself to me so I can thank you personally.
Please understand, although I may not feel completely worthy of your praise, it would be disingenuous of me to disagree with your assessment.
But seriously, to answer Bryant's question, "...what seems to make Alan Rosses show a whole lot different than the others..."
Bryant, I wish I knew exactly what it was that draws people to our show, but the truth is, I think it's one of those intangible things that defies description.
When I knock on doors to sell our shows to new venues, I tell them about our format and the manner in which we approach the shows, but in the end, I invariably have to tell them that to really understand, they have to come out and see the show. Once they see it, we get booked.
When people ask me what they can do to make their shows better, I tell them this:
First, it's not a matter of being better. It's a different approach that works for our area. What works for us, may not work in other areas and vise versa. I went to a show on Bourbon Street in New Orleans (pre-Katrina) and found a show that works perfectly for that street, but would fail miserably in our area. So the first thing you have to do is understand your client base and the flow of traffic in and out of your venue.
Second, we have to have rules. People like structure. They like to be treated fairly and they like to be able to enjoy themselves in a safe environment. You will always have some who dislike the rules, but the majority of people appreciate them. Some of the rules include, no swearing on the mic; no drinking or smoking on the stage; no one is allowed to jump up and start singing with someone unless they are invited and are not already in the rotation; the rotation is the bible and we don't deviate from it; everyone gets one turn on stage in each rotation - period; new vocalists wanting to sing after the first rotation are added into the rotation every other song so there isn't a two hour wait to sing their first song. Detailing why these work would take a whole volume so I'll try to move on.
This all leads up to the third, but most important point which is to respect the vocalists. Karaoke is all about the audience and when someone steps up onto that stage, it is the hosts' responsibility to help them shine.
We work hard to give them the best quality sound for their voice, which means adjusting each person and each song constantly throughout the night.
We also police the stage to prevent unwanted distractions. Anyone messing with the vocalist is messing with the show and that's unacceptable. Good singers don't want to sing with crappy sound and drunken idiots jumping up to "help" them sing.
You don't have to have the most expensive system, you just need to know how to tweak it. I've tried to train all our employees to adjust the sound for each vocalist to make the room sound like it is a concert hall.
We also never compete with our vocalists. I've seen shows where the host is so insecure that when a good vocalist comes in and gets a huge response from the crowd, the host will try singing their big song to show that they can sing too. This is childish. Embrace great vocalists. Give them their props. The audience will appreciate you much more if you are secure enough in yourself to let others shine. There have been many many people that sing way, Way, WAY better than I do, and I love it! It makes for a great show that people want to come watch. This is all part of creating an environment in which great vocalists want to be. You get better singers, you get more audience. You get more audience and the bar gets more patrons - more patrons, more revenue = job security.
Finally, Give your show a more professional look. There are several ways to do this.
1) Dress appropriately. Even If you're doing a show in a local bar, dress one step up from the majority of the patrons. If everyone else is in t-shirts and shorts, wear a button down shirt and jeans. If you're in a Country Club, wear a suit. Always look your best for the environment.
2) Have good looking song books and request slips. Use a graphic designer if design isn't your strong suit. Make your books and slips look like they were made by a professional. Then, keep your books clean. This can be a nightmare, but no one likes to open a song book that's been abused, had drinks spilled on it, has unsolicited comments written on the pages, or is unorganized. Make your books user friendly by thinking about it this way... Think about the one person you respect the most. Whether it's a family member, a friend or a celebrity, think about how proud you would be for the person you most respect to see your song book. If you can see them being impressed with your song books and requests slips, then you've got it right.
3) Don't drink while working. If you stay sharp, people will respect that you know what you're doing.
4) Find someone in your area who has solid, reliable sound design experience. Ask them to help you find the best way to set up your system to get the best quality sound while being as inobtrusive as possible. You want the audience to hear the sound without necessarily being aware of the equipment it takes to produce it. This means tucking cords in so they're not seen, getting a road case that keeps your equipment neat and positioning things so the vocalists can really take the spotlight. I've seen shows where the host puts a table on the floor, puts their equipment together on it and has wires hanging all over the place and it looks really unprofessional.
5) Be professional and respectful in your delivery. As you introduce people up to sing, leave no dead air. Ad lib, improvise, repeat their name, ask people to tip the bartender, whatever, just don't leave any dead air hanging while you wait for the next vocalist to begin. Some KJs fill this time in with music, but my feeling is, if you are letting people take that much time to get up to the stage, your show is dragging. Keep things moving. Pick on people who are taking their time to get up to the mic., but do it in a nice way. Never be outright insulting.
The bottom line is, I've seen many good shows, but the best are the ones that are polished and sharp. The host has a great personality and from song to song there is a really good tempo to the hosts' delivery. Remain upbeat and enthusiastic and that energy will transfer over to the audience. The host must set the tone and be fully aware of the energy in the room. A good host can read the crowd and adjust their own energy to accommodate.
This is what I do and it works for us. As I said, it may not work for your area, but don't be afraid to try something different. We are also blessed by having what I like to call, drunken Karaoke shows to the North and South of us. Most of the really wild, drunken people hang out in those places and allow us to shine. Not that we don't get our share of drunks who get up and try to slur out a song, but by having a number of good vocalists, the drunks are more comic relief for the audince rather than being the obnoxious frontrunners. When the drunks outnumber the rest of the audience, they set the tone for the show rather than the host. This is a disaster.
Well, I don't know if I've answered your question, but to the best of my knowledge, that's what separates our shows from the rest. I'll let muzicman144 give you his take on it and see if anything I said makes sense to him or if he has other reasons for his opinion.
- Alan Ross