Karaoke at the Chalet

There is so much more to karaoke than just the singing.

It all starts with the choice in venue. I have not had a wide range of karaoke hang outs, but I like to call them diverse. There's been the Crow's Nest where I saw my first official bar fight with shirts being ripped off to look more ferocious and tables being knocked over to make room for the fight. There is the classic Sportsman in Minneapolis where one sits on fraternity couches and munches on free French fries. Billy Joe's Lounge was nice, but a little too crowded for me. I didn't get to sing nearly as much as I would have liked. The Okoboji Bar and Grill was not seedy enough for my taste. There wasn’t a haze of smoke that limited my view of the audience. All of these joints had some character, but The Chalet in Maplewood, Minnesota beat them all.

The folks at The Chalet were the supportive type. They sang, they clapped; they even slow danced to the ballads that were sung. We decided that we wanted to choose a song that would make The Chalet customers move to the music. Janelle and I sang a new karaoke favorite, “LOOK AWAY” by Chicago. (You know the one…the one you sing to when you are listening to the radio.)

Our karaoke strategy that night was to sing new songs, not the regular old songs that we always sing. Amy sang some Bruce Springsteen. I sang, “These Boots are Made for Walking” by Miss Nancy Sinatra. Janelle sang karaoke for the first time in more than ten years. She impressed us even though she kept spouting that she was “more of a dancer than a singer”.

I always like to take a stage name. I was Dixie. Janelle was Misty. Amy was Amy. Amanda was Roxie, and Sara was …I forget.

I don’t know how anyone can be in a karaoke bar and not want to grab that microphone like they are the next Aretha. It is kind of a practical joke on myself like when I paint my nails bright red. It is fun.

Check out the pictures. Sorry, the ones of the singers didn't turn out very well.