Karaoke Forums

Hi everyone,

I have big road trip around the United States coming up this summer. I'm planning to hit just about everywhere I can get to by car (and even some places I can't!), with the goal of exploring all of the fun and awesome things and people out there to discover.

My friends have recently gotten me into karaoke, and we've had such a blast going to some local haunts. I'm hoping that I can take this newfound fascination with me on the road. In particular, I'd love to seek out any interesting or unusual karaoke nights that you've heard about.

For example, I know that there are some karaoke nights that use a live band. I've never been to one, and it sounds like a lot of fun. Or, another example, I heard that there's an occasional karaoke night somewhere in Philadelphia hosted by Skeletor; you know, the villain from He-Man.

I'm sure I'll be looking for ways to fill my evenings while I'm out on the road, and if you have any suggestions for places to experience some memorable karaoke, I would love to add it to my itinerary. Here's hoping that the wonderful community here can help me find my way to some of those places... I'll be happy to report back on what I find.

Cheers!

- Eric

Eric, I hope you keep us posted on what you find.

As for the "Sing With A Band" style of karaoke:

CON: Since it's a live band, the selection will be limited to what they can play, not the thousands of songs you're used to in a regular karaoke show.

PRO: It's a helluva lot of fun, and REALLY makes you feel like a star!

I once ran into a show in NYC called "Karaoke Like A Playboy" where they had absoloutely georgeous, um....scantily clad... women singing background and dancing with you.

Funny thing- I can't seem to remember a thing about the sound quality, equipment, etc...

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

Hi Joe,

Thanks for the feedback. I know there's a few live band karaoke spots here in Portland--one of which I hear has a pretty substantial repertoire, and another which suffers from the "only knows a few songs" syndrome that you mention.

I'll keep my eye out for a few of the more "adult"-style karaoke venues, too, just as a novelty. It's not really my thing, but sine I've never been to something like that, it could be interesting to watch.

Ooh, also! Has anyone ever heard of any karaoke places that have stand-up comedy routines instead of songs? I feel like I heard about this once, and it would be fascinating to track down!

- Eric

Not my show but here in Pittsburgh, PA You can go To Bare-E-Okie.

While you sing on stage there are strippers dancing and grinding on you to your karaoke song.

Yup, the same kind of show I ran into years ago. I just phrased it in a bit more subtle manner.....

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

In Portland there are 2 karaoke bands presently. The longest running(for over 10 years) is Karaoke From Hell.........five piece band 400 song selections. Two nights---Mondays at DANTE's in downtown on 2nd & Burnside, Thursdays at the Tiger Bar also in Downtown on NW Broadway by the train station.

The other band is Karaoke Kings...a start up Karaoke band with 200 songs. They play on Thursdays in NW Portland also(I forget the venue).

You can do an internet search and go to either of thier websites for specifics.

There are at least 3 bars that have some form of stripper Karaoke where a dancer will get up on stage and strip while you sing. On is on Wedn nights in SW Portland, another in NE after 2am ONLY(like an afterhours attraction) and the main one at DEVIL's Point in in SE Portland on Sunday nights called STRIPPEROAKE. (you can look at thier website also).

As to regular Karaoke they are everywhere, almost everybar has some kind of Karaoke show. It is quite over-saturated.

But then Portland is the SOURCE of all KARAOKE GOODNESS!!

Hey let me know if you are coming out here and we will arrange to have a KS meet up. (Wildflower, Flipper, and myself Swingcat. Perhaps it may be a weekend when ISIS is in town too, and maybe even we can lure Karen K. down from Snohomish!!)
We do this for every out of town KS visitor who comes to PDX(Portland).

But then thats how we roll in THE 503.

So keep me posted.

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"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

It's true, Portland has some great karaoke spots. I haven't been to Dante's or the Gypsy, but I really enjoy Joe's Cellar and the Galaxy (which, sadly, is closing soon). Haven't been bold enough to check out Stripperaoke yet...

I just heard about another place in Philadelphia (what is it with Pennsyvanians?) that used to do Puppet Karaoke once upon a time. Shame that it's no longer going on, but I'm going to keep my ears open for anything else like it out there.

Having done karaoke in 30 states and provinces and hundreds of cities, I can tell you that you might find some interesting ones. I like the live band karaokes (as long as they aren't the kind that play along with a karaoke track). But if you are traveling a lot in smaller towns, sometimes it is hard to find any.

My favorite approach nowadays starts at the hotel front desk. 8 times out of ten, they can point you to *some* bar which has karaoke. If you go there, and they don't have it that night, you can usually ask and find out where it is being held that night. Just keep following the leads and eventually you get there.

If you are eating dinner out, ask your waiter. If they don't go to karaoke, they know someone who does. Slip 'em an extra couple bucks and they'll do some real bird-dogging for you.

Local papers are worthless in most cases. If the region has an entertainment paper, that would be the best bet for examining options. There are few places with high-quality online guides, though I have found them in Seattle, Portland, Philadelphia, and the Florida Space Coast.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

One other place you may want to check out for possible karaoke would be casino's. Went to one with the inlaws and found out that they had a live band karaoke contest going on. It was at the stage in the contest that anyone could enter. So we ended up doing that more instead of gambling, .

Hey Mickey. Thanks for the tips on who might have some good leads for local karaoke. I'm curious about the "interesting" karaoke gigs you've seen. Care to elaborate? Do you remember any places that had particularly memorable karaoke events?

Pyrate: That's a great idea, too! I'll keep my eye open for any of those casinos out there on the road. Who knows what I'll find!


This isn't quite the same thing, but has anyone heard of Presentation Karaoke? It's more like an improv game where a power-point presentation plays behind the person on the mic, who is obligated to give an impromptu lecture tying together all of the random graphics, photos, and charts that show up behind them. From what I hear it can be super hilarious when done right. (or wrong)

A few that stand out are:

* Cleveland, at the Pickwick & Frolic. The gig was done in a musical theater! The audience sat in the seats (waitresses serve there) and the performer gets up on a real stage with curtain. Sound was dynamite.

* Newport, KY where the cast of Rent came in for karaoke the night before the show started. WOW! It was fantastic to hear all those great performers let it all hang out.

* Karaoke at the most northern bar in North America, in Inuvik NWT. They had a full setup with laser discs, though they rarely got enough singers to really hold one. But they let me fire it up and I ran a show. Mostly they wanted me to sing, which of course I was happy to do -- nothing I like better than The Mickey Show!

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

We went to Vegas the year before they tore down the Stardust. They had Karaoke there with - get this -- back-up DANCERS. You'd sing and they'd be dancing on either side of you. It was an experience, for sure. : )

Birdofsong

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Birdofsong

Of course the VERY BEST KARAOKE in ALL OF PORTLAND and VANCOUVER is in my downstairs basement bar/nightclub!! Many Many Karaoke parties over the year with YOURS TRULY KJ'ing!!


Hey Sabu----did you live here in PDX at one time???

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"You know that I sing the Blues and I do not suffer fools. When I'm on that silver mic, it's gonna cut ya, just like a knife"-The SWINGCAT

I live here now, sir! In fact, my friends and I are heading out for some karaoke tonight, probably at the Galaxy.