Part 1: Popped in Sunday 22nd November for the first time since the renovation. Prior to the renovation, I must say I was wholly unimpressed with the layout and overall feel of the place. Minimal seating which didn't really matter because there was a massive column in the middle of the room meaning that your view of the stage was obstructed from most points in the room. This is when the stage was at the front of the room. The renovation has resulted in the entire room being moved around, with the stage for karaoke being up the back of the room. They seem to have kept an eye towards connectivity too because not only does the sound tech have his own cabinet with all of his gear in it (mixer, discs etc) but there a number of Bose speakers installed around the room connected to the sound system. The audience gets two column speakers on either side and the singer gets a small foldback mounted on the ceiling and to their left. Gone too are the need for BYO screens as the video is able to be routed to multiple screens for the audience and one just to the left of the singer for them to read the lyrics. To add to this are an array of snub nosed parcans circling the singer bathing them in light and a rail guiding singers to get up onto stage at one place only (where the steps are) but also one presumes those that might be hard of mobility. All of this combines to give a very very sweet deal to the karaoke operators who effectively don't have to bring anything or plug much in besides a few microphones. The singers are the same, older style songs and the hosting, while considerably less grumpy than last time, still seem a little lifeless. The MC is stationed on stage with the singer, sitting down the entire time with his mic on a stand. While he was lacking in energy, I do have to admit that it was in keeping with the vibe of the room. I managed to get a smile out of the techie and a bit of a conversation when I told him I was leaving and for him to cross off my last song.

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