Narangba Valley Tavern karaoke

These days being a Sydney boy, it's not often that I get out to karaoke in the middle of nowhere, but a recent trip to Brisbane in the height of their summer heat saw me do just that. 'Narangba's the best' enthused Martin 'though it's a bit of a drive...

Equipped with rental car, I headed north from Brisbane, and about an hour later turned off the highway following a sign that reassuringly announced Narangba. Surely the Narangba Valley Tavern would dominate the area, and be a cinch to find...
Nope. I found the metropolis named on the sign easily enough, an unimpressive crossroads coinciding with an un-gated railway crossing, and even travelled a kilometre down each of the four possible ways in search of my tavern, but the best I could come up with was a strip shopping area with an extremely busy video rental shop - which did not, in my mind, auger well for finding local alternative entertainment. A nice looking girl said that her boyfriend would know, and pointed me towards a young guy looking more like he would slit my throat than give me directions, but instead he turned out to have that incongruous charm, manners and courtesy inherent in most country folk.

Being originally from a little village in England, I know that some interpretation of rural directions is generally required, and therefore sped off in search of the 'gas station just up the road'. A full ten minutes later I arrived at the only source of light within miles, dutifully turned right and immediately left, and it was a mere five minutes later that I found one enormous sign declaring Narangba Valley but giving me the choice of three roads. I chose the newest looking, a single track lane.

Narangba Valley Tavern is a new and huge building amongst many new and huge structures in an area which must be the shopping destination of that piece of Queensland. Parking was easy. Locating the bar in which karaoke was being held, was not.

When finally discovered around the far side of the building, the Sports Bar turns out to be a huge and high-ceilinged room laid out with generous high tables and stools, an equally large stage at the far end, and even space for a car to be parked at the side of the stage (the main prize in the Go Karaoke competition). I counted upwards of 80 people in the place, but it still looked all but empty with this number, and I can imagine that even the couple of hundred that they can attract would still leave the place looking barn-like.

But folk in the country are a friendly lot, and a newcomer is always good for a chat. . . .(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 . . .

Where2sing.com