REVIEW: Karaoke at the Casino!

EXCLUSIVE where2sing.com KARAOKE GIG REVIEW

It's Sunday, and I'm at the Gold Coast's Conrad Jupiters Casino. I've read on the W2S listings that there's karaoke here, and so I'm keen to find out whether it's a elaborate affair or just a small setup in the corner of a small bar.

As I walk up the stairs from the carpark, I can hear live singing, but when I poke my head around the corner and look into the Prince Albert bar, I see a large stage with a professional setup and a singer who is obviously a professional. And so I keep on going around to the front of the casino, and ask a man at a desk whether they have karaoke. 'There' he says, poking a thumb back at the professional singer who could still be heard clearly. 'Is that karaoke?' I ask him, genuinely surprised. 'We'll see how long that lasts' he replies, obviously expecting things to get worse. And so I head back to the bar.

The Prince Albert bar is one of those in-casino bars that makes believe you're in an old English pub - recreating a courtyard outside where people can dine and drink, and decorating the walls like an English village pub. Inside, the pub is less authentic, but has a large stage filling much of one end of the pub, whilst the other half is filled with tables and stools. I arrive just as the singer finishes his number, and announces that the karaoke is starting. So this singer is actually the host.

A new singer takes the stage, and is certainly not as confident a singer as the host, but nonetheless gives a good performance. Behind the singer is a large poster declaring 'Be a Rockstar - this Sunday' with a picture of a lady standing on her bed and singing into her outstretched hand in the guise of a wouldbe rock singer. All very corporate and casino-publicity-machine like, and I'm unsure whether to expect a drove of 'Australian Idol' wannabes or normal karaoke singers.

The crowd is split, with about eight being young male yobbo type, and the other ten or so being elderly couples. The yobbos display all the worst traits of those with limited education and too much alcohol, but the elderlies accept it in good humour. I walk to the far end of the bar to get my drink.

One of the benefits of finding a pseudo English pub is that Kilkenny is normally on tap, and such is the case here. But, as I stand awaiting the settling of my beer, I hear the young man behind the bar telling the girl 'I don't want to work here on Sundays' and obviously in reference to the karaoke. I ask him if he doesn't like karaoke, and he rolls his eyes. 'We normally have some great covers bands here' he says in explanation, so I ask him 'what's wrong with these singers?' He doesn't really have an answer, so I persist. 'Some of these singers are better than those in covers bands' I try. He's not convinced.

Back at the karaoke, it has been about four really good singers in a row, but now we have a young man called 'Triple J'. I remember the name from another recent karaoke, and I think I am remembering it for all the wrong reasons. I am. He sings in a monotone, expresionless and just reading the words. Happily, songs are soon over and soon forgotten. He is followed by one of the elderlies, and they are giving us an excellent diet of old classics, and really well sung. There's also the mature cowboy in his black garb and black hat who gives us country. It's all very entertaining.

But then we had a seriously old gentleman helped to the stage, the host announcing that 'he's only sixteen, but he's had a hard life'. It gets a lot of laughs, but the gentleman proceeds to do something really modern by Robbie Williams - including the section of rap in the middle. He is, of course, given huge applause, and immediately adopted by the yobbos who enquire whether they might sit at his table with him (he is sitting alone near the stage). And so the yobbos are toned down a little by virtue of taking care of the old man.

The stage, as I mentioned, is large, and takes up nearly half of that end of the room. It's obviously set up for a band, with a row of four ceiling mounted speakers pointing into the audience, and five foldbacks on the rim. Either side of the stage is a strange collection of older looking speakers - at the base is a large speaker, with a couple of empty roadcases sitting on top, and above that a couple of small but not new speakers sitting on each other - and the whole contraption is kept from falling over by being bound together with a tie-down strap. And, at the back of the stage, are the two normal, tall and old, speakers that belong to the host.

The sound can be very good, but it depends on the singer, the backing, and whether . . .(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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