Finnigans Chin Irish Pub

Why is Finnigans' 'terrific' karaoke in Brisbane held only once a month?

Some of our 'karaoke junkie' friends had mentioned, with excitement, their once a month Saturday night excursion to this 'terrific' karaoke venue just north of Petrie. But what could be so good about a karaoke show and a venue that could only see the value in holding an event on the second Saturday of every month - couldn’t be too hot, we thought?

Nevertheless, and with a little persuasion from our friends, we agreed to meet at this 'terrific karaoke venue' at around 6.30pm, with the thought of having a meal and then experiencing just what it was that they had been raving about for all of these months.

Finnigan’s at Kallangur, north of Brisbane, would appear to the passer-by to be a typical Irish pub - not unlike so many others around Brisbane, and probably playing Irish music and serving Irish food. And, even though it is visible on the left as you drive along Anzac Avenue towards Redcliffe, one could be forgiven for driving past and not bothering to check it out - after all, we have all been to an Irish pub before. We figured it would take us around 30 minutes to get there, and as we had been to many a karaoke venue much further away, it didn’t seem too far to drive for what was hopefully a night of interesting entertainment.

As we approached the large double front entry doors at just after 6.30pm, the waiting doorman charmed us with his courtesy and big open smile, and, to our surprise, opens the door for us - encouraging us to enjoy our evening. We entered a warmly lit bar area, and were pleasantly confronted by a great expanse of stained wooden floors, rich wooden décor, the sound of laughter, happy voices and the temptation of pleasant food smells.

After locating our friends (who had already arrived), we grabbed ourselves a much-needed drink, then stood and perused the large overhead menus - which boasted everything from typical Australian cuisine to exotic seafood, and, of course, the traditional Irish stew. We made our decision, paid our money, and a pretty young waitress guided us to a nice roomy table in a quiet alcove to sip our house red and Fourex Gold, and to have a relaxing chat whilst waiting for our food to arrive.

After a very satisfying meal, we made our way from the restaurant area through the rowdy bar crowd of around 30, mainly under 30 year olds, and towards what we were assured was the karaoke area. Being in the over 50 age bracket, I was determined that I was not going to stand up all night, and so with that in mind we proceeded through the already growing crowd to search for a spare table.

The tables were what appeared to be old empty beer kegs, and were quite large, but were probably specially made as tables to fit in with the Irish décor and theme. Stools were a little scarce, and although I didn’t relish the thought of sitting on them for long periods, we managed to hijack four of them, sat down and also managed to find a songbook.

There didn't seem to be a lot of song books - nevertheless other would-be singers didn’t seem to mind if you borrowed 'theirs' (only for a while, mind you), and we found our songs easily from the clean, well presented books with around 4000+ songs of all genres and styles.

As we looked towards the raised stage in the corner, we all agreed that the setup was good - with flashing stage lights, 2 fold-back speakers, 2 mics on stands, 2 huge three-way FOH speakers standing either end of a generous stage, and with a velvet cloth sign on the back wall reminding everyone that they are here as guests of 'Party Hard Karaoke'. And as the crowd grew, so did the ambient noise.

The mixing console is unobtrusively set up to the left of the stage, with two full sized pool tables at the extreme left of the room, around which there is a hive of activity with many a private competition challenge continuing throughout the night. At this stage, the karaoke room seemed to be a little too small for the number of bodies which were now each clamouring for a suitable position at what . . .(full story on where2sing.com)

Read the rest of this exclusive Karaoke Gig Review, and find whether this karaoke gig is still running on Where2sing.com . . .

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