Karaoke is rather like Marmite. On most karaoke nights, there is a 50/50 mix of avid of fans and foes. The fans enjoy performing but also appreciate the talent of the other performers. The foes are the grumpy friends, partners or family members, hauled unwillingly into their own personal hell because their friend, family member or significant other happens to be a fan.
I am a fan.
Last night, a friend and I attended the karaoke session at The Goat and Boot in Colchester. In the best possible way, it was not a normal karaoke night. Why? Because, somehow, there were no foes. The atmosphere was electric despite the sweltering heat. The enthusiastic performers were greeted by an excited audience, who, very clearly, were all karaoke fans.
I hadn't performed for a really long time and I was quite nervous. It soon came flooding back though and I managed to sing Billy Ocean's 'Get out of my Dreams, Get into my Car', Chesney Hawkes' 'The One and Only' and Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid' amongst others with just a little bit of air guitar and head banging thrown in for good measure. It was fun.
What made it so brilliant? One word. Andy. He was running the karaoke. He clearly knows what it takes to create a superb atmosphere. He has just the right amount of get up and go and he is very fair in his distribution of songs, trying to get through as many requests as he possibly can.
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