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lead singer is addicted to karaoke...

#181
Here's the thing OP. You have to be comfortable enough with yourself to admit something. A live band is NO DIFFERENT from karaoke in one respect. As long as you are entertaining, the audience DOES NOT CARE. You told your buddy in the original story on several occasions that "nobody cares" or something like that. He may be just about the oddest guy you know (certainly the oddest guy I have heard of recently). BUT, if he can sing, put on a show, get to the gig on time, and presents little to no drama for the band, then I would say you have little to worry about.

So what if he's a dork. If he can sing and the crowd likes him, leave him alone. I promise you that YOUR audience doesn't care about the little things any more than a karaoke audience does. Anyone who tells you any different is taking themselves WAY to seriously.
 
#182
two fingers said:
Here's the thing OP. You have to be comfortable enough with yourself to admit something. A live band is NO DIFFERENT from karaoke in one respect. As long as you are entertaining, the audience DOES NOT CARE. You told your buddy in the original story on several occasions that "nobody cares" or something like that. He may be just about the oddest guy you know (certainly the oddest guy I have heard of recently). BUT, if he can sing, put on a show, get to the gig on time, and presents little to no drama for the band, then I would say you have little to worry about.

So what if he's a dork. If he can sing and the crowd likes him, leave him alone. I promise you that YOUR audience doesn't care about the little things any more than a karaoke audience does. Anyone who tells you any different is taking themselves WAY to seriously.
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Well, the issue was..... he was not dedicating the time needed for our band, and instead seemed to prefer spending his time doing karaoke. Which is fine. He no longer jams with us. However, while he was a member of the band, he was derelict in his duties as far as committment and rehearsal go.

Yes, he can sing.

And no, karaoke isnt like being in a band. Any drunkard can stumble up to the karaoke mic and butcher the classic rock or country song of his/her choice. No talent. No practice. No committment required. Being in a gigging band takes time, dedication, committment to reheasal, woodshedding, and also some degree of talent. Karaoke is for hacks, dellusional drunks, people who cant hack it in a band, or people who are just too lazy to be in a real band.

Also, his singing isnt the problem its his "stage show"... which consists of.... but not limited to... screaming at the crowd, slinging the mic, yelling at the KJ, heckling other singers, kissing old ladies, taking runs at patrons, etc.
 
#186
The fact that he is a good singer is probably why he likes karaoke. Amongst the usual array of drunkards and no-talents, he probably stands out as being pretty good (by karaoke standards). In the world of proper live music, he's just another singer (despite his supposed past "near glory"). Classic case of big fish in a little pond. (or a puddle in this case)
 
#187
MarkMgibson said:
The fact that he is a good singer is probably why he likes karaoke. Amongst the usual array of drunkards and no-talents, he probably stands out as being pretty good (by karaoke standards). In the world of proper live music, he's just another singer (despite his supposed past "near glory"). Classic case of big fish in a little pond. (or a puddle in this case)
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I think you hit on something. If he was in a gigging band right now, he wouldn't stand out much at all, but yes, amongst the average karaoke singer, he does infact stand out.

But the sad part is... Id rather be an average singer in a gigging band, than a joke at a karaoke bar. Plus, no one goes to karaoke to admire and enjoy other singers. They go to get drunk and sing. They simply have to wait for the other drunks to finish up first. There is no respect for karaoke singers. It's just a fun time for drunkards.
 
#189
powderfinger said:
I think you hit on something. If he was in a gigging band right now, he wouldn't stand out much at all, but yes, amongst the average karaoke singer, he does infact stand out.

But the sad part is... Id rather be an average singer in a gigging band, than a joke at a karaoke bar. Plus, no one goes to karaoke to admire and enjoy other singers. They go to get drunk and sing. They simply have to wait for the other drunks to finish up first. There is no respect for karaoke singers. It's just a fun time for drunkards.
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Yep, I think I'd rather be a mediocre singer in a band than be the best karaoke singer in the world. In fact that sounds like a joke headline, "The World's Best Karaoke Singer". As you say, who cares?

I play in bars and clubs to small crowds all the time, but I've never felt like a joke. Your cousin just can't see it, but he's a mate, so what can you do?
 
#190
So cousin and I jammed last night with a drummer friend of ours in my music room (just for some holiday fun). Normally we'd have a lead guitarist, but cousin insisted he bring his own guitar, and said he didnt want another guitarist at the jam because he had it "under control" (Im certain at this point the crazy nutjob cannot handle any form of competition in the music world). His rythm playing was rough (at best). His lead playing was purely putrid. If guitar licks had a smell, his would have smelled like a pungent, steamy pile of soiled diapers, armpit, and rotten eggs.

I almost felt sorry for him... would have, had he not been constantly bragging about his guitar skills the whole jam session. He barely jammed. He sat on a stool, guitar in hand, and went onto talk incessantly about his guitar playing, which songs he was learning, and which songs he was going to learn. One thing was painfully obvious...

... he enjoys TALKING about playing guitar, far more than actually PLAYING guitar...

His vocals are still good, but not nearly as strong as they were in the 90s/early 00s. When we would play a song, he'd forget words, fumble lines, screw up licks, and his singing sounded weak (for his standards... I knew smoking cigarettes would catch up with him one day). I guess at karaoke, its easy for him to cover up his weaknesses, bc every is drunk, the words are on the screen, and the PA is usually loud. However, in the bare bones jam setting... the ol' fella has lost his touch. I asked him would he prefer to move over to piano for a couple songs. He is a decent pianist, and still is. He told me that, "no... lead singers play guitar... not keys". I reminded him of Elton John, Bruce Hornsby, Gregg Allman, Dennis DeYoung, Jerry Lee Lewis, Lennon and McCartney (on certain songs), Ben Folds, Billy Joel, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, Steve Winwood, Ray Charles..... he wasnt impressed. He said none of those guys count.... (smh).

I guess we wont be jamming for a while.
 
#191
He told me that, "no... lead singers play guitar... not keys". I reminded him of Elton John, Bruce Hornsby, Gregg Allman, Dennis DeYoung, Jerry Lee Lewis, Lennon and McCartney (on certain songs), Ben Folds, Billy Joel, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, Steve Winwood, Ray Charles..... he wasnt impressed. He said none of those guys count.... (smh).
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Yeah, he has a point. Not much talent in that group :eyebrow: .
 
#199
marmadaddy said:
I personally believe that there probably isn't a "karaoke cousin" but OP is a decent story teller so it's worth reading the updates.
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Decent? Man, I am the Mark Twain of TalkBass.

And speaking of updates...

Last night we did night 3 this week of karaoke. We went to the place that did the Two for Tuesday karaoke special. Thursday night is a themed night. Last night they did Rocks Off, which is a Rolling Stones themed karaoke contest.

First up, was an elderly Japanese gentleman did "Run Run Rudloph" by Keith Richards. His anunciation was precious, and he was a total hit with the crowd. Cousin was not pleased at the reaction. He began yelling, and I had a moment of dejavu, "THIS ISNT A STONES SONG.. THIS IS A CHUCK BERRY SONG". The little Japanese man, who looked a lot like Lance Ito just smiled at him.

The next performer was a young African American gentleman. He did an odd thing. He actually kind of rapped "Painting the Whitehouse Black" by George Clinton to "Paint it Black". It was unique, and very impressive. I thought it was a creative idea. Cousin disagreed. He began yelling, like he did at the Christmas contest, "DISQUALIY HIM... HE'S NOT SINGING THE SONG RIGHT". The guy just laughed at my cousin.

Up next was the guy I posted about last year on the thread. The guy whose hearing aids were feeding back through the PA system. Well, during his rendition of "Start Me Up", his hearing aids began feeding back during the "you make a grown man cry" part. It was pretty bad. It almost made me cry, myself, having to watch it.

Finally cousin went on. His song was "One Hit to the Body" from 1986's Dirty Work album. Before the songs hit, he got on the mic and yelled, "you're about to see a stage show now... by god, you're looking at the winner tonight...". When the song hit, he pulled his Adidas snap pants and sweatshirt off. He was wearing underarmour pants and shirt (yellow), and a silver chain. He was very animated, and during the instrumental part, he began doing the Jagger chicken strut. He lost his footing, and fell off the stage. He fell through a table on the front row, and the table broke. The girls at the table began screaming. Cousin was knocked out, covered in liquor and beer that had been on the table, prior to him coming through it like a WWE wrestler.

He went to the ER, and they now have him wearing a neckbrace, but he is expected to make a full recovery. Tonight, we go to karaoke again. Ill let you know what happens.
 

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