No Moon Karaoke!

You might wonder what No Moon Karaoke is and the easy explanation is that it started last Wednesday when I was Hosting Karaoke and there wasn't a Moon.  The night was kind of crazy, just a really strange night and Aimee explained to me that sometimes No Moon brings out more weird behavior than a Full Moon.  That was 100% true that night!

Last Wednesday wasn't super busy but we had a good rotation going.  I opened the night with 'Only Happy When It Rains' by Garbage and then Stevie Wonder's 'I Just Called To Say I Love You.'  Another song I hadn't sang in a while was 'Summer of '69' by Bryan Adams.  Marty has been asking me to sing the duet 'Say Something' by Great Big World and Christina Aguilera for weeks so that was one of my new songs of the night. *[Insert story below at this point.]*  Since that situation happened I felt like Eminem was necessary so I did another new song, 'The Real Slim Shady' which was so quick and difficult but I was surprised that I was able to pull it off!  I closed out the night with 'Alone' by Heart, one of my favorites.  Aimee told me about the No Moon at the end of the night and all I could hope for was that Friday night when I was covering for another Host couldn't get much worse!

Apparently, I knew weeks ago it was only a matter of time till someone foiled
Karaoke night by massacring 'Piano Man.'

*Even though I work in a bar and deal with drunk people, some people can act so ridiculous and this part of the night wasn't even the worst of it, just something interesting.  Apparently, our Karaoke equipment allows you to change the tempo of a song; I've never used it and that night a guy asked me to slow the tempo of 'I Don't Want To Miss A Thing' by Aerosmith because another Host does it for him.  The song clocks in at 4:58, pretty long, making it even longer when slowed down. When I have 10 people singing, the rotation is about 40 minutes (and I try to keep it moving by only playing a few seconds of songs while transitioning to the next singer on busier nights) and if a singer sings a song longer than six minutes, it's almost equivalent to singing two songs.  When it's slow I have no problem letting someone sing 'November Rain' if they really want to.  Most long songs with an extended musical break have a shorter version where the break is cut out and a lot of the time singers want that version so they don't have to stand up there for two minutes without anything to do.  I didn't like changing the song (especially because this guy is consistently rude and though I don't think tips are completely necessary while Hosting Karaoke, that does help me pay my bills, and he NEVER tips) but I slowed it down for him after he made a big deal about it.  When it came time for his next turn, he wanted me to slow down 'Piano Man' by Billy Joel.  This is where I draw the line!  I question why slow the song down and he says he wants to massacre the song, which I ask why because massacre means do something bad.  He responds by saying he will massacre this song and show people how it's supposed to be done.  I can't even react the way I want to because I have to be polite but as he's saying this I'm thinking how people around the world would feel about this guy saying the great and amazing Billy Joel wrote 'Piano Man' wrong and it should actually be slower.  Billy Joel apparently made a mistake and made the song too fast for the average person to sing.  Maybe that's because it's one of those classic songs that NO ONE should touch unless you can truly do it justice!  There are people who enjoy going out once in a while to Karaoke and then there are those who find a Karaoke bar every night of the week to sing the same songs over and over again.  Very different people...just stop into Gabe's one night and you'll easily figure out who's who.  Trust me!*

Friday ended up being a breeze after Wednesday's fiasco's.  The night started out slow but was crazy busy by the end and I couldn't add any new singers to the rotation after 12:30 am because it was so full!  It started out with a country theme so I opened with 'Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under' by Shania Twain.  It's been quite some time since I sang 'Before He Cheats' by Carrie Underwood, but after singing it realized I actually prefer 'Cowboy Casanova' which is more fun.  Everyone had the party going and it turned rock for a rotation so I got the crowd singing along with me to Journey's 'Separate Ways.'  Back to normal and quiet for a moment brought one of my favorite songs to sing, 'Baby Love' by The Supremes; another song I hadn't sang in a while.  I was a little nervous for my new song of the night because I hadn't listened to it in a long time and then when it came time for the bridge, realized I didn't even know it!  The song was Billy Idol's 'Rebel Yell' and I actually had a blast doing it and it was right in my range.  I can't wait to sing the song again!  Marty and I closed out the night singing 'A Whole New World,' from Aladdin to let people know it was time to chill out, close their tabs, and safely head home.  Thank goodness people were happy drunks that night because I couldn't have handled the nonsense two days in a row (there was a fight at Irish Times the day before during my shift between customers and regulars).

Whether you have No Moon or a Full Moon or people are just drinking themselves crazy, you just have to roll with the punches (pun  intended).  That may not always be easy, but it feels better in the long run, and you've still got your grace and dignity in tact :)