I will start off by saying I can’t sing. At least that’s my opinion, people have told me I am decent. However, my opinion aside I love to go out to karaoke. There are a few in the area which I’ve gone to. Some I’ve liked and some, not so much. Please keep in mind my opinion is based on my experience and that you may have/end up having a completely different experience and opinion
The Harp (Thursdays)-Amherst,MA
Tucked away on an easy to miss road in Amherst, MA is a bar called the Harp. The Harp serves food as well as drink. I have mixed feelings about this particular place. On one hand it’s where most of my friends go for karaoke, but on the other it can get pretty crowded. I’ve gone there for a few hours and have only gotten to do one song. The DJ, Lee, is friendly towards the wannabe singers and interacts with them, a major plus. I would recommend the Harp if you don’t mind the “college crowd” as well as possibly waiting a while to do your best Mariah Carey impression. The WWII Club aka The Deuce (Fridays and Saturdays)-Northampton, MA
This is an drink only (meaning no food) place and takes some time to get buhttps://contributor.yahoo.com/edit.shtml?content_type=article&edit_page=builder&input_type=on&type=550&content_type_id=8360115sy. I was able to do about three songs before I had to start waiting a while for my turn. One of the plus sides to The Deuce is that there is a dance floor in which people actually dance on (the DJ plays some songs in between people’s renditions of “I Will Survive).
Snowzees (Wednesdays)-Sunderland, MA
A decent sized place and not too long of a wait to sing. I actually can’t remember if they serve food or not. My biggest complaint with Snowzees is that the karaoke DJ would often use YouTube videos, thus making it very difficult to hear and sometimes the lyrics wouldn’t even be on the screen.
Paradise City Tavern (Sundays)-Northampton, MA.
This place is an actual sit down restaurant with a bar so the karaoke set up is a little different.The few times I went there were not a lot of people, but the upside to that was I got to sing several songs. To compensate for lack of “talent” some of the employees sang as well. There are no in between songs so things moved pretty quickly. Coincidentally the same people who provide the tone deaf tunes at Paradise also provide them at the Deuce. Look up Cloud 9 Productions.
Mingles Lounge (Every Night)-West Springfield, MA.
Yes, they have karaoke every night, but, in my opinion, STAY AWAY. This is your typical dive bar complete with drunken sleeze balls ready to hit on anything with two legs and woman parts. Aside from that I had a horrible experience and found their bartender and karaoke DJ to be extremely rude. I had recently moved within walking distance of the bar and decided to go and have a bit of fun and sing my little heart out. I don’t drink so I usually just got a water. Well, one day I put in my usual request (“Fat Bottomed Girls”) and waited for my turn as I sipped my water. After a few songs into the night I started to notice something funny; People who came in after me were getting turns before me. I asked a couple of times when my turn was and the DJ assured me it was coming soon (“a couple more songs” he would say) and that he just had to work the new people into the rotation. But then people who had gone already were getting 2nd, 3rd, 4th turns and I still had not gotten a first. So, I went up to the DJ and asked again. Well, it turns out the bartender (who I am not sure was an owner, manager or just a bartender) told the DJ to not allow me to sing because I wasn’t buying drinks. Now, mind you I had been going there for weeks, never bought a drink and no one ever said anything. Well! I was furious! I had been sitting there for hours being told I would be singing soon. If they only wanted to allow paying customers to sing that’s fine, but say that off the bat. Don’t string someone along and lie to them. To make matters worse when I tried to talk to the bartender he was extremely snide and rude. So, long story short, stay away from Mingles.
I would have to say my favorite place for just singing is Paradise Tavern. It’s clean, bright, the wait isn’t long and there is plenty of seating. For a night out singing with a group of friends, The Harp is the way to go. Another plus is both serve food and drink.
Oh and if you go to the Harp you might find a dragon!