Royal Hotel karaoke

The Battle of the Karaoke Hosts at the Royal Hotel...

Ahh… The Royal Hotel. I've spent many a happy night here, singing my favourite songs, hanging out with my mates, & arriving home just on the dark side of sunrise. This pub is easy on the eye, & most agree that it's a little upmarket.

Then, a year or so ago, my world was turned upside down, & new hosts arrived.

They landed amidst a flurry of confusion, the patrons cried 'Why new hosts? - we were happy with the old ones'. But these new hosts were determined to make this pub a general success so they immediately sent the Karaoke upstairs into the dining area (Karaoke only starting at 11pm when the restaurant closed) & put a modelling show on downstairs in the main bar. They wanted to attract new patrons, the old ones were just too loyal & well behaved. So they brought in very young girls (mostly non model types) & flaunted them in front of their new audience - mostly young men looking for a sleezy night. Of course the first to go were ladies - it's not pleasant to watch teenage girls (many lacking confidence, & clothes) being rudely ogled by men (& women) while they parade in microwear. Many gentlemen were not happy either, as the modelling show brought some wild things into the Karaoke space upstairs. The die hard regulars were dwindling in numbers. More fights were breaking out as the general atmosphere was getting more aggressive.

So the hosts dropped the modelling show & put the Karaoke show back downstairs where it belonged. The regular Karaoke patrons gingerly checked out the new set up - they had been traumatised - who knew what these hosts would do to them next.

But the hosts smiled (some of the time), & put on a show for us (filled with toilet humour & mike hogging). A circus really. We sat back & watched, (mostly because we hardly got to sing). When your turn to sing came (a two hour wait for your first song, unless you were a bosom buddy of the hosts) you would first be tortured with toilet banter & then allowed to accompany the not so good sound. They added dancers, who joined you on stage when your song finally came up, & dance brackets to bring in the 'young' crowd (the ones that don't drink 'alcohol'). The dance bracket worked for the hosts - at a particular time each Friday the place would be swarmed by 'dancers'. We learnt that if you kept perfectly still the incoming dancers wouldn't notice you, & you'd be less likely to get whacked in vunerable places. So we waited & watched.

Then the dance bracket would end & the Karaoke singers would breath a collective sigh of relief. The swarm would head for the door. The Karaoke waiting game would resume.

Now keep in mind that this is a great pub. Nice looking, recently renovated, with English pub décor, lots of tables . . .(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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