My first synagogue gig

It would be a cold day in Milwaukee when I would do a synagogue gig. Seriously. It was cold. Seriously cold. It was 20 below when I unpacked my gear at the synagogue. Did I mention it was cold?

The youth leader had scheduled a "coffee house" night for the youth. Groovy idea. There were poetry readings, and two different bands that the youth had put together. Good stuff. And there was karaoke.

I hired John the Revelator to do karaoke for a youth event at my congregation. John was a pleasure to work with. He obtained song requests from me before the show and added them to his already extensive collection. John was flexible, accommodating, easy going. He worked well with the kids, putting them at ease and treating them fairly. They liked him and talk about performing karaoke again.

Debbie I.
Religious Education Director
Cong. Beth El

First church gig

My church has a "Friday fun night". I had never been to one, but I volunteered to bring in karaoke for one of the events. I was kind of expecting a general collection of people from the church, and that this one would include a few more people who were into music.

I brought along all the gear and arrived forty-five minutes early to set up. That was great, since I found that I was missing an adapter when I got there.

So, I learned that it is important to know where the nearest Radio Shack or Best Buy is. I ran to the Best Buy, bought the adapter, and ran back.

Needless to say, when I got back, I found that the adapter was already on the end of the cable, and that cable was plugged into the mixer, just where it was supposed to be.

Hmmm... maybe I learned something else? I guess not, cuz I can't think of what it might be!

I have a pic here of my adorable wife and number one groupie, the Gypsy Songstress, doing a mic check for me.

I taught Algebra for a while at UW Milwaukee. I had my groupies there. Math professors have always had more than enough groupies. When Jagger and I would get together for a beer, that was the big conversation topic. His groupies were generally more strung out than my groupies, but other than that... it was all the same.

I must say... being a karaoke DJ and being down to just one groupie... that's a good thing. I recommend this to all math profs and all rock n roll legends: Become a karaoke DJ, and get yourself one good groupie.

But I digress.

The crowd was not quite what I was expecting. How was I to know that "Friday Fun Night" was the night for families with young children? I don't know if Jagger will sympathize with me on this one. Has he ever played a gig for people mostly under the age of 10? Ok, maybe the Backstreet Boys could.

I like kids. That's not the issue. I adored my own, I love my grandkids. (Yes, I have two granddaughters.) The only problem was that I really did not have the songs that they knew.

Since then, I bought some nursery rhymes. No one at a bar will ever sing "Eensy-weensy spider", but I have it in my book. I am ready for the next Friday Fun Night.

"A very special thank you to John Seymour for the karaoke. It was such a hit I'm getting requests for it every month. I'm also listening to my 2-year-old sing 'YMCA' as I type this!"

Sally