ADVENTURES IN KARAOKE: Locust Bar

Karaoke isn't only known for terrible singing. The backing music that accompanies the wanna-be rockstars is usually more rough than listenable. Some KJs have decent-sounding karaoke systems and some, like the one at Locust Bar, aren't as easy on the ears.

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ADVENTURES IN KARAOKE: Locust Bar

POSTED: Thursday, August 11, 2011, 10:00 AM

CP's Brian Wilensky is on a mission to hit up every karaoke haunt in town — and then share all the mellifluous details.

Karaoke isn’t only known for terrible singing. The backing music that accompanies the wanna-be rockstars is usually more rough than listenable. Some KJs have decent-sounding karaoke systems and some, like the one at Locust Bar, aren't as easy on the ears.

The karaoke there on Sunday, however, was good because the songs selection was cohesive. The overall theme was classic rock tunes, which spawned songs like “Piano Man,” “The Joker” and “House of the Rising Sun” — all karaoke gold because everyone can sing along.

On top of the poor sound system, some guy had the nerve to sing a country song with a cheap country singer’s drawl. Really, man? Just sing it with your own bad singing voice, not someone else’s. Unlike that guy, a fella sang the Stones’ “Under My Thumb,” pretty well.

It was good to hear Tina Turner’s version of “Proud Mary” because the two chicks that sang it really kicked it up at the end. They were even joined by an older guy doing the fast footwork and hand motions just like the Acid Queen would. One of the last songs picked was “Like a Virgin,” with a faint hum of most women singing along throughout the bar. Then the KJ ushered in the end of his shift at midnight by playing the Looney Tunes theme song. Surprisingly, the place cleared out shortly after.

Nitty gritty for performers: Sundays, 7 p.m.-12 a.m., free, The Locust Bar, 235 S. 10th St., 215-925-2191.

(brian.wilensky@citypaper.net)

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