The enforced Covid lockdown of live music has given me a chance to belatedly give The Live Karaoke Band a refresh. It's a big undertaking, identifying nearly forty new songs that will work well within the context of the band, preparing Spotify playlists for the band, updating the lyrics folders, updating the lyric laptop, creating and printing new banner artwork, press releases... it's no small task.
However, something else I've been wanting to add to the setup was a way for guests to be able to request songs via their phone, so I've been developing the Live Karaoke Band website further to allow people to scan a QR code on the banners which will direct them to an online form, optimised for mobiles, that will allow them to choose their songs and enter their name and, voila, job done! The band host then has a management screen on their phone which automatically refreshes with all the online entries.
I've still got a few bugs to iron out in time for the official launch of the new 2022 set on Saturday 5 March but the trial was an overwhelming success. The benefits? Apart from the "wow" factor it also meant guests were able to get their requests in early before the show started plus the musicians could also see what was coming up next. We've also got some larger corporate award shows so it should work well in larger venues.