Karaoke Review
Well, I went to O'Malley's on Friday night and had myself an interesting time. I only had one person with me, but that's okay. I'm not sure I wanted anyone else to endure this.
When we walked in, the bar was packed. Not that it had lots of people in there. It's a rather small place. The host at the door had quite a time finding us a spot, let alone one that was anywhere near the karaoke area. The karaoke area was very small as well. I was already doubtful when I saw that there wasn't a stage, but a small... small area cleared out amongst several tables to make room for the microphone.
Now, when I called the place, I asked what time karaoke started. I was told 9 o'clock. This is a lie! What actually started at 9 was the karaoke host's Honky-Tonk hour! He pulled out his guitar and sang several songs that no person north of the Kentucky border has a right to know! Unfortunately, several people in the bar did know these songs. One was even accompanying him on the second mic. And if that wasn't enough, the man had the voice of a tobacco auctioneer on depressants. He spoke all too slowly for an auction, yet he still had the unintelligible mumble. Strangely, there was 8 empty seats at the bar after this started up.
While this was going on, I had to ask our waitress for one of the books and several slips because they were no where to be found. When I finally got them, I knew there was going to be a problem. The book was very thin. Like any normal karaoke goer would do, I turned to find my standards; the songs that I knew I could sing well without any warm-up. To my dismay, I found no Michelle Branch and no Evanescence. I was getting worried. There were three Jewel songs. Well, that was something.
I soon came to a conclusion, though. If you're hitting this place for some karaoke, don't worry about practicing those new songs. It seems that the newest songs they have are the ones your mother used to sing in the car on the way to day care. The "new songs" section in the back included the 'Pop Hits of 2001' CD. This being new.
Well, I had some songs picked out, and I made my way to the front for my first song. I'm sure glad that I'm getting over my stage fright. You know how most people just ignore the person singing and continue on with their conversations? Not here! There are about 20 people surrounding you, and the farthest one from you is 6 feet away. And they're all staring at you! If that's not enough to make you uncomfortable, the 3-year-old that needs to be kept on a leash will. This kid decides that while you're singing is the best time to circle the table and play with all those cool cords.
A word on the clientele. Most are mid-40s and up. One had a large cowboy hat on. One woman had a broken leg, one tooth, and was very drunk. There was even the cliche woman who was very drunk and ran around saying hello to everyone, and butt into everyone's conversations. And to make it all even more confusing, after a certain point, several "are they old enough to drink"s walked in... and seemed to be regulars!
All-in-all, I won't be going back to this bar, and I don't recommend it for anyone else.
When we walked in, the bar was packed. Not that it had lots of people in there. It's a rather small place. The host at the door had quite a time finding us a spot, let alone one that was anywhere near the karaoke area. The karaoke area was very small as well. I was already doubtful when I saw that there wasn't a stage, but a small... small area cleared out amongst several tables to make room for the microphone.
Now, when I called the place, I asked what time karaoke started. I was told 9 o'clock. This is a lie! What actually started at 9 was the karaoke host's Honky-Tonk hour! He pulled out his guitar and sang several songs that no person north of the Kentucky border has a right to know! Unfortunately, several people in the bar did know these songs. One was even accompanying him on the second mic. And if that wasn't enough, the man had the voice of a tobacco auctioneer on depressants. He spoke all too slowly for an auction, yet he still had the unintelligible mumble. Strangely, there was 8 empty seats at the bar after this started up.
While this was going on, I had to ask our waitress for one of the books and several slips because they were no where to be found. When I finally got them, I knew there was going to be a problem. The book was very thin. Like any normal karaoke goer would do, I turned to find my standards; the songs that I knew I could sing well without any warm-up. To my dismay, I found no Michelle Branch and no Evanescence. I was getting worried. There were three Jewel songs. Well, that was something.
I soon came to a conclusion, though. If you're hitting this place for some karaoke, don't worry about practicing those new songs. It seems that the newest songs they have are the ones your mother used to sing in the car on the way to day care. The "new songs" section in the back included the 'Pop Hits of 2001' CD. This being new.
Well, I had some songs picked out, and I made my way to the front for my first song. I'm sure glad that I'm getting over my stage fright. You know how most people just ignore the person singing and continue on with their conversations? Not here! There are about 20 people surrounding you, and the farthest one from you is 6 feet away. And they're all staring at you! If that's not enough to make you uncomfortable, the 3-year-old that needs to be kept on a leash will. This kid decides that while you're singing is the best time to circle the table and play with all those cool cords.
A word on the clientele. Most are mid-40s and up. One had a large cowboy hat on. One woman had a broken leg, one tooth, and was very drunk. There was even the cliche woman who was very drunk and ran around saying hello to everyone, and butt into everyone's conversations. And to make it all even more confusing, after a certain point, several "are they old enough to drink"s walked in... and seemed to be regulars!
All-in-all, I won't be going back to this bar, and I don't recommend it for anyone else.