Keep the feedback coming, I'm sure LBA won't mind. If he can hack my jokes he can handle anything ;) I'm going to give my opinions now that the commentary has had time to be digested. Keep in mind they are my impressions and that its likely that not everyone agrees with me.

= Menzies =

The host here does a great DJ warm-up which was perfectly pitched to the place. As a consequence, I didn't feel that 'it had to start now', I was happy to sit back and soak in the tunes, and yarn away until it started. The host started 5mins after he said he would which isn't too bad but was significantly later than advertised here. I suspect he was waiting for singers to all have at least one drink and be 'in the mood'. Sound is his unique mix which personally doesn't appeal but some people love ( lots of FX and compression ). Probably the only unfortunate thing is that he doesn't really come across as friendly or engaging but perhaps this is just the need to get the excitement back, 10 years is an awfully long time at one venue. This is a great venue to take friends who aren't totally into karaoke as its not 'full on'.

= Sly Fox =

Atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere - this is what makes this place work. Willy is totally over the top in a good way and the place has that magical 'controlled chaos' that makes also makes Kellys so special. This is enough to override the constrained songlist, the favourites [ last time I was there I probably was one lol ] and the sound. I didn't mind the backup singing but I suspect it really depends upon the songs you choose. I haven't been for quite a while so probably need to update my impressions.

= Kellys =

I chuckle at the 'Cult of Mike' in a way. Sure, really nice guy getting good at singing and always keeps the party going but he is human like the rest of the hosts. Mike does juggle the rotation but you will get the same number of songs as everyone else ( about 3 per night with an hour or so wait between each ). He does play favourites and really likes some songs as I notice if I throw in a Johnny Farnham number that will be called up when the pace begins to flag. If its an artist he hasn't heard before I remain in the normal rotation sequence. And unless your a ( semi ) regular or part of a 'party group', you probably will only get one song. I try to play fair and tend to only do known party tunes on the Friday and save my experimental ones for another night.

I think Mikes' BIG secret is that he convinces everyone he's playing favourites and your the number one. LBA on the other hand is strictly by the book with the 'racing persona'. Its a case of 'oh bother, I'm no longer in the circle' however your still getting the same number of songs and the pacing is upped. I believe his boss refers to him as the Karaoke Nazi lol.

The downside of Kellys? The songlist. I've gotten used to singing the latest songs from Capital and they just aren't in the computer ( aka 'Chasing Cars' and the Eskimo Joe tunes ) so when I get the hanking I tend to try an unknown venue instead and you probably see my footsteps through the gig comments. And these days, if I'm not inspired to sing I kinda choose something else to do so I'm not as regular as I used to be ( is there such a thing as karaoke fibre? ).
Submitted by Music Addict on 20-03-2007

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