Hey Tune-Stars! So being the cool, calm and collected cats we are here at Tune-Up, we wanted to steer away from the business side of things and give you a little insight into the behind the scenes conversations that occur amongst the Tune-Up girls, Kats and our customers.

So we thought we’d take you on a step-by-step tour through the staff dinner we had on Monday night at Central Bar which was arranged to discuss this blog. We ended up reminiscing on some classic conversations that have occurred in Tune-Up over the years….

(We all arrive at Central and take a seat at our table)

Bec : ” Ohhh I used to come here all the time the waiters were so hot!!”

Carly: ” Yeah I used to go to a bar on Chapel street all the time because the men that worked there were so attractive. Woman just flocked!”

Bec: ” What should we eat? Are we sharing or getting our own? I don’t really tend to share my meals..”

Georgie: ” I want a pizza but I don’t think I can eat a whole one”

Kelcey:  “Come on now you’ve gotta fatten up a bit!”

Carly: “Yeah you’ve got to learn to eat a lot if you want to work at Tune Up”

Bec: ” I’ll get the chicken fettuccini but can I please have it with anchovies?

Waitress: “Sure”

Kelcey: “I’ll have the same but with ghnocci no anchovies please (pronouncing gnocci ‘nokey’)

Carly: “Bec do you add anchovies just so you don’t have to share?”

Bec: “You know me too well”

Carly “I’ll have to steal some of Kelcey’s then” (Later stabs her fork into Kelcey’s meal and takes some without asking)

Kelcey:  “Shit he’s hot!! Carly quick look”

Carly: (looks at a balding older man with glasses) “What? Who? Him?”

Kelcey : “Haha nooooo!” (Very attractive younger man steps out from behind)

Waitress places Kats meal in front him. All Tune Up girls proceed to steal chips off his plate.

 

As we are all eating dinner, the conversation turns to Tune Up and all of the funny conversations and situations that have occurred in the past:

Customer: “Can I have a screwdriver please?”

Kelcey: “No we don’t have those sorry”

Customer “You don’t have vodka orange?”

Kelcey “oh so THAT’s what a screwdriver is!”

 

Laura: (Talking to Bec) “Hey babe, I need a VCR for a customer,  do you know what that is?” (Vodka Coke Raspberry)

Bec “Uh, duh! Its what you put videos in!”

 

Carly is known for her bad hearing, especially when talking to customers:

Customer: “Can I have a Vodka Redbull?”

Carly: “Sorry what?

Customer: “A Vodka Redbull!”

Carly: ” ohh a Vodka Redbull?”

Customer:”Yes, a Vodka Redbull”

Carly: “So that’s a Vodka Redbull?”

Customer: “YES a Vodka Redbull!!”

 

Being from the country, Carly often gets ridiculed for her strange country mannerisms and colloquialisms…

Carly: “This is a nice song, Innit?”

Bec: “Innit? You sound like such a bogan!”

Carly: “What? Do I say that? Oh my god, I didn’t even realise!”

 

Customers often struggle to detect our sarcasm which leads to awkward conversations such as this…

Customer: “May I please have a water?”

Bec: “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?”

Customer: “What? I asked for a WATER!”

Bec: “Oh, I was just joking!”

Customer: “Oh ok..” (uncomfortable silence). So can I please just get my water?”

 

At staff meeting…

Kelcey: “Wow, this is the first staff dinner we’ve had where someone hasn’t been drunk.

Bec: “That’s not true, we were all sober at the last one!”

Kelcey: “No, you and Laura went out to Waxy’s after, remember?”

Bec: “Oh that’s right, yeah we were pretty smashed. In fact, this is the first staff dinner I’ve ever been sober at. I’m proud of myself!”

 

Conversation leads to the new bar… Very insightful…

Kelcey: “Its taaallllll!!! Bec can you even see over the top of it?

Bec “Its awesome! We can train on it. I was trying to do a wall squat for 45 seconds but only got to 30 seconds because Kats interrupted me trying to get past… So Rude!

Carly ” Yeah it was like us doing tricep dips when that male customer commented.. remember?…

 

(Carly and Bec doing Tricep dips using the bar)

Customer: ” You’re not doing it right! You need to go lower”

Carly and Bec: “Do we? What do you know?”

Customer: “Dude, look at me.. I lift!”

Carly: “Did you really just say that?

 

The Tune Up crew never take themselves too seriously. Here’s a sneak peak into a group text conversation about the Wall of Shame. If you’re not sure what this is, have a read of Kelcey’s previous blog. 

Kats “Hey Carly, you must talk to girls something urgent”

Carly “Ok sure. I’m just on my way home. Do you want me to call you?”

Kats “The Wall of Shame will be gone in 24 hours (due to renovations)

Carly “Oh noooooooooooooo 🙁

Carly to Bec, Kelcey and Laura: “Its a sad day today girls…. In 24 hours the Wall of Shame will be gone 🙁

Bec “Noooooooo!!! Not the Wall of Shame 🙁

Kelcey “My life has no purpose now”

Bec “What is life without evidence that people think we’re hot?”

 

Kats often comes across as a quiet and mysterious man, but after working behind the scenes with him, us Tune Up girls have learnt that he has quite a humorous and spiritual side and has had some classic one liners…Kats Quotes:

“Sometimes I think to myself, It’s not fair that I was born Japanese. I wish I was born an American, I wish I was born Bon Jovi.”

“When I was young, I was a bit of player. I mean, a LOT of girls liked me. Then I came to Australia and I was really shocked that every Aussie woman didn’t want me!”

(Kelcey walks in with tight metallic blue dress and hair pulled back)

Kats: “Haha, you look like a Power Ranger!”

Kelcey: “Ohhh” (face drops)

Kats: “Say you’re on a raft and there’s a ship in the distance but there are sharks swimming around you…do you swim to the ship and risk being eaten or stay on the raft and die?” (we all stare blankly at him, confused) “….Does it make sense?”

And these are just some of the little things he says we notice is his every day conversations…you’ll probably start to notice them too!

“For your information”

“Plus plus”

“Sorry, once again”

“Does it make sense?”

“Case by case”

“This and this”

“Can I pay you in lollies?”

“Be cool”

 

Here’s the most commonly asked questions to the Tune Up girls….. I bet you’ve asked at least 3 of these 😉

– “What’s your favourite song?”

– “Do you have Bohemian Rhapsody?”

– “What’s a good song?”

– “Are you single?”

-“Can I buy you a drink?

– “Can you drink while you work?”

– “Can I have a lolly?”

– “What time do you finish?”

– “Is this a gay bar?”

– “I can’t read, can you find the song for me?”

-“You must have so much fun working here?”

– (We announce that the bar is closed) “Can I have one more song?”

And finally the most commonly asked question…. “How far away is my song?”

 

The conversation continues at the restaurant…

Georgie: “Gosh i’m so full”

Waitress “Would you like to see dessert menus?”

Kelcey, Bec & Georgie: “No thank you”

Carly & Kats “Yes please” (Of course, the ones who always eat most of the Cat food… “Cat food” being snacks for the Tune Up crew. Why is it called Cat food?? Well that’s best left for another blog entry….

 

Back at Tune Up now, sitting around laughing and joking before we open the bar.

Kats looks up at the Power Ranger Shots sign.

Kats: “Hey Carly, why don’t you tell people about the competition of the Power Ranger Shots V’s Tune Up girls Shots?”

Carly: “Gosh I still can’t believe Tune Up girls shots lost!!”

So in case you’re wondering, here’s how the Power Ranger Shots came to be;

Kats came up with the idea of having Power Ranger Shots… All different colours and flavours Red, Blue, Pink, Green, Yellow. I wanted Tune Up girl Shots… Each Tune Up girl created her own shot.. 5 different shots on a tray, each named after the Tune Up girl who created it. I was so sure customers would love my idea more that I took a pole at Tune Up one night. I asked as many customers as I could and low and behold majority of customers wanted the bloody Power Ranger Shots. Eventually that night customers started asking for Power Ranger Shots. We sold more than I can remember that night. Power Ranger Shots have become incredibly popular with customers.

 

Almost time to open the bar. Carly’s doing Kelcey’s lonely Monday shift tonight. One by one all the girls head home and Carly and Kats get the bar ready.

We hope this has given you a little insight into the crazy shenanigans and fun that happens in Tune Up

The Tune Up crew

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi guys,

It’s Kats here…

It has been a very busy 2 weeks. Both for the opening hours and the renovation work. Some of you have already seen the changes that have been made to Tune Up Bar. We now have a new bar counter but it is still half way to being completed. Hopefully now we can give you even better service for your enjoyment of Tune Up entertainment.

 

The last 2 weeks and the week coming we have a lot of things to organise. I haven’t time for much sleep and became grumpy and eventually had a migraine. The other night I had dinner with a friend of mine. We had a few vodkas which made my migraine even worse! But that experience makes me think… When and how much I should drink?… In a smart way? As drinking works in different ways for each person.

 

A few weeks ago the American Navy were on the Gold Coast and quite a few visited Tune Up. I remember two soldiers in particular. These soldiers came in on a Monday night. They asked about the ‘Power Ranger Shots’ we are currently introducing. 5 different shots each a different colour and flavour Red, Blue, yellow, pink and green. They ordered one each before they began drinking Jack daniels and coke.  After having a few JD’s they ordred another round of power Ranger shots and continued on drinking JD and coke. They were always very respectful and enjoying themselves. The boys really impressed me with their ability to hold their alcohol. This really interested me and made me think about how people enjoy drinking.

At the same time I also remember my time in Singapore in early 2000. I met lots of Chinese people. They don’t do shots like we do here. Instead they do ‘bottoms up’ what ever they are holding beer, wine, spirits etc etc. They say Kampei the meaning of cheers but often the meaning being changed to bottoms up during drinking time. They often make an excuse to kampei. I remember I had to cheat and swap my brandy for healthy chinese tea. Pretending to drink as much as they do.

We all drink in different ways and we all act in different ways. Some being smiley, some talkative, some crying and some being a dick. It doesn’t matter which way but we always wana be cool at the Tune Up bar. If you are smiley its ok, if you are talkative its ok, if you are crying its still ok, even if you are a dick its still ok. To be cool understand ones self and others and respect both.

Until next time…..

Keep on going.

Kats

Good evening my fellow tune up lovers.

It is once again the start of my lonely Monday shift!!!

I call it the lonely Monday shift because it is the only day of the week where I don’t have a fellow tune up girl with me.  Of course I do have Kats here to give me a lending hand if necessary.  So to keep me company I often encourage fellow tune-up lovers to come visit.  I personally believe Mondays would be the best night for customers to come in ! Mondays are not usually busy, which means everyone is able to sing as many songs as they like! Unlike the weekends, Mondays are a lot more intimate and relaxing.  It also gives me the opportunity to have a chat with our customers and get to know them a little better.   The atmosphere is also more chilled and everybody seems to go out of their way to meet the other patrons in the bar. So personally I believe it is the best night to come in !!

It is the only day of the week where I actually get on the mic and bust out a few of my favorite tunes.  But once I start singing I don’t actually stop unless there is work to be done! So poor Kats is stuck listening to me (the screaming cat ) sing songs I clearly am not able to sing!! =) And needless to say I am a huge beyonce and Eminem fan, so I do believe he would be sick of these artists by now.

So when you’re at home bored on a Monday night, get up and come visit me.  Why not start your week off on a high! Meet some new people, sing a few songs and maybe consume some sneaky drinks.  You do only live once so I encourage everyone to take a step out of their comfort zone and try something new!! Tune- up Karaoke Bar the only place to be on a Monday night!!!!

SEE YOU NEXT MONDAY =)

Love Kelcey xx

Hi guys,

If you haven’t heard the good news here it is… We have extended our trading hours from 2am to 3am!!! The week just passed was such a busy week and opening until 3am seemed very favourable amongst our regulars and new customers.

The week just passed was not only one of our busiest for this time of year but we had a new addition 🙂 I’d like to welcome Georgie to the Tune Up team! Georgie has just completed her first week at Tune Up… She even said her first ‘good jaaarrrrrb’… with great skill might I add. Make sure you drop in and say hi to her.

In other news Tune Up is having some renovations done. You may notice a few changes over the next week or so… Maybe a little bit of mess from the construction but we will still continue to be open 7 days a week from 8pm to 3am. We are very excited and can’t wait for you to see the finished product.

Until next time,

Good jaaarrrrrrrb

Carly