This place has such an awesome reputation in the city that I couldn't wait to check this place out. It's not a karaoke bar per say, but they do offer a karaoke night on Saturdays, & are well equipped to do so, considering all the live shows they have going on.
The sign on the door says Karaoke starts at 10 P.M. Since it's currently 9:20 P.M., we manage to get a great seat with a fantastic view of the stage where people would be singing. We are immediately greeted by an attractive blonde woman with a voluptuous ponytail, & are asked what we'd like to drink. Most of us already knew what we wanted, so we placed our orders, which came out moments later, along with the bill. The server stood around, expectantly. We all started to pull out our cards, but the action was cut short when she stated, quite abruptly: "cash only".
We looked around at each other, then around the room, looking for some way we could have possibly known about this beforehand for this woman to be treating us so impatiently. The server rolls her eyes. "There's an ATM upstairs." & then she was off to the next table. My sister decided to get this round, so she heads upstairs to get out some cash. The server returns shortly thereafter. "So, who's paying?" "My sister left literally a second ago to get cash. She'll be back in a bit." She sighs, quite dramatically might I add, before buzzing off to another table. & then she's back again, just as my sister is coming down the stairs. "I'm getting this round" she announces. The server does some quick & pretty impressive mental math to tally up all the bills, & my sister gives her two brand new twenty dollar bills. The server giver her exact change, but doesn't leave the table. "You owe me 15% for the tip, so that's about five dollars." We all look at her like she's nuts. We don't automatically owe her a tip, & her service was definitely not stellar. Timely, yes, but not conducive to a positive experience at this establishment. My sister quietly gives her a five dollar bill, just to get her out of our face, & we never saw her again for the rest of the night.
I tried to put this off-putting experience to the back of my mind, because it was almost time for karaoke. Only, at 10 P.M. they hadn't even cleared the stage from the previous show of live music. Instruments littered the stage. There was no music. Around 10:15 P.M. there was still no sign of a karaoke night starting, but patrons were piling in like ants at a picnic. My mom had gone out for a smoke & my youngest sibling had gone to the bathroom, so their chairs were lacking people. Apparently, this was a sign that we did not need the chairs or our tables, as people were trying to take them left & right, despite the fact that their things were still very clearly on them. In this establishment, if anyone leaves at any point, guard those chairs with your life, because they will get taken. The atmosphere was far from festive, despite the fact that a bachelorette party had just walked in, but I still had hope the karaoke would be fun.
At 10:40 P.M., I check the stage to see if they've made any progress on getting karaoke night started, only to see that there's a guy singing on stage. We couldn't hear him at all! The words to the song were projected throughout the room, but neither the music nor the singer could be heard from where we were seated... & we were in the center of the room. There was a small group standing by the stage swaying to the music, but the rest of the room was filled with the loud conversations of young people enjoying each others' company. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it certainly isn't the karaoke night I was expecting. I asked the male server who happened to walk by if we could have a round of water for the table. He came back with a single glass.
I decide to give the karaoke a try. I'm here, I might as well. I make my way to the front of the room to give my name, only to discover that I'm up next. I mentally prepare myself to go on, only to have the guy call out someone else's name. I check the list, my name is at the top. I ask him why I'm not going on, & he tells me: "we're trying this new thing called alternating." WHAT? WHAT? ALTERNATING WHAT? He didn't clarify, & I was officially fed up with the place. I head back to my table to tell everyone that we're getting out of here. As I get my coat on, it becomes apparent that the person I had been "alternated" with didn't show up, & the guy called my name. My mother excitedly exclaims: "That's you, you're on!"
My response? F*ck them.
Bad service, a cutthroat atmosphere, horrible acoustics (or just really low mic volume), & ALTERNATING (whatever that even means)? Nope. Karaoke, true karaoke, is not the aim of this particular bar. "Karaoke Night" is a catchy title to get people's attention much more than it is people living out their fantasies of singing their hearts out in front of a crowd.
I was here for my twenty fifth birthday, & it was a MASSIVE disappointment. I left in tears.
