LIVE MUSIC AND THE CONCEPT OF LIVE VS KARAOKE

To most musicians out there you mention the word "karaoke" and you immediately get a distasteful look followed by a barrage of criticism.
Musicians naturally put themselves above the amateur vocalists and resent their very existence as part of the "live entertainment" concept. "Karaoke is not entertainment! ...it's painful!" is the most common attitude. I know all about it ... been there!

Well, for the last 10 years I've been doing a conbination of both and it's proved very successful, especially at Portofino where I did a residency for 8 years playing 3 to 4 nights a week. Why?

When I started out at Portofino we had two musicians, myself included, doing 4 nights per week and the remaining nights there was karaoke. The karaoke nights were always busy but the attendance on live music nights lagged behind. This shouldn't be too difficult to understand - not everyone is up to the sofistication level of the songs we do (see karaoke choices and you'll understand), and of course everyone loves to sing, particularly when it's made so easy with pro backing and highlighted words up front.

Over the years I have found that karaoke remained as popular as ever and if we, the live music guys don't wake up, we're in dire straits. That's when I started "Live Music/Karaoke", a carefully orchestrated combination of both.This format has proved very successful for me and the reasons I've analized as follows:

Those patrons that follow live music and those that want karaoke are two distinct types, and there are a few that like both. But when a combination of live music and karaoke is used, both types are catered for. The karaoke crowd can still enjoy "live" while choosing their song (they also enjoy the fact there is a professional musician alongside to support them) and the "live" aficionados don't mind the occasional karaoke singer because these are usually quite good, (the amateurs are embarassed to get up in front of the pro musician) and having a pro musician in control makes a big difference when it comes to sound mixing.

Another point I'd like to make is:

We, the musicians have a duty to keep the old good music alive, and with the dwindling numbers in attendance, if we were to reject outright any thought of mixing the two formats, we run the risk of putting ourselves out of business since there would no longer be the "guidance" that feeds the karaoke guys when choosing their songs to sing. Songs like "Come fly with me" "C'est si bon" and "Minnie the Moocher" would never have made it onto the karaoke lists if not for the experienced musicians who knew how to choose the classics. Every time someone wants to get up and sing a song that I have done, it means I've been heard. It's not that the person thinks he can do it better. It's not a competition!

Another point is that, like myself, so many of us have incorporated laptops with backing into our acts, with highlighted words on the screens, to a point that we're headed down that road anyway! Sure, we're playing our guitars and keyboards and I don't mean to make light of the talent it takes to do that, but it still means we've moved in the direction of "karaoke". Getting someone up to sing a song or two is a welcome break for the musician as well as the audience. I find it also helps me do some creative riffs on the guitar since my attention is now focused there.

So unless your act is so awesome that people will be enthralled for the full 3 or 4 hours of your show....perhaps changing with the times might be a good idea. I have and it's paid dividends ... (and it's also a lot easier!)