Ennis Knupp @ Jak's Tap

It's not everyday that I wear my well-worn Levi Strausses to a professional deejay gig. In the case of the Ennis Knupp company party, the exception was welcomed. As I learned from my client Cindy Spalla, this investment consultant firm had just hit over 100 employees, and it was time to celebrate the old and the new in a relaxed, fun atmosphere. Oh…and they wanted some karaoke action, too. Hi-yah. The downtown bar restaurant, Jak's Tap, was the setting for a fun night of music, merriment, and a multitude of Millers. My partner Matt and I were certainly not alcohol lovers, but we certainly drank to that vision.

We set up a full rig—including the karaoke television and such—in less than 30 minutes. Wowza. It was as if Matt and I were playing the game "Perfection", trying to get all those pieces into their right places before the platform popped. We worked together well to get our equipment up and going. As the crowd trickled in, we began to play music to set the tone of the laid-back bar setting. With a strong foundation of classic rock music, Matt and I split the decks and played a plethora of genres, including classic soul, some 80s, funk, and modern pop. As I played, I constantly did what any normal disc jockey would do: read the crowd. I continuously gauged what the crowd was feeling; most of the time, they were either talking, smoking, chowing down on their pizza and hot wings, or investing in a game of pool. Usual bar activity, as I saw it. Was karaoke going to fit into this smoke-lined picture? Matt and I were soon going to find out.

About two hours into the four-hour event, I got on the microphone and announced that karaoke was about to begin. It took a while for people to gain the gusto to sign up. How much time, you ask? An hour, believe it or not. I was glad to see people signing up, but it was disheartening to know that time was running out. Here's the great thing, though: After the first few singers performed, the list began to fill up nicely. In fact, as we were entering the last 15 minutes of the event, Cindy asked us to stay an extra hour, just to get more people singing karaoke. Sweet! I could have sang "I'm So Happy" at that moment—luckily, it wasn't in our karaoke library. I was amazed at the number of people that sang various country songs—it seemed to be the "thing" with the company. The crowd did get pretty drunk, but thankfully, people were dancing, singing, and having fun. That was what Cindy wanted, and that was all that mattered to me.

As Matt and I experienced tonight, music brings people together. Alcohol comes in at a close second.

– Brent Rolland, resident Fig deejay