There’s only one thing I hate about karaoke and that is when there is that one girl who goes up and is brilliant at singing that one song by Adele.
She must sing that song at every karaoke she goes to, and she is pitch perfect at it. Ask her to sing ‘Genie in a Bottle’ though and she sounds like a duck with its neck in a vice.
Karaoke isn’t for decent singers, it’s for getting drunk and making a fool of yourself in front of your mates and their Instagram stories. Have a look at where you can get involved in Manchester below…
K2 Karaoke Nightclub
Absolutely caked in shiny metal, neon and mirrors, K2 is the closest you will ever get to an actual Chinese nightclub outside of Shanghai. There is of course a karaoke bar here too, with a wide selection of songs for you to murder. They’ve got a pretty impressive happy hour available every day, for people who want to do karaoke before 5pm and 7pm. You can get 2 hours karaoke plus 2 free drinks for £10 per person (£15 on Friday & Saturday) – so if you want to get drunk and do karaoke during the day – this is the place to go.
K2 Karaoke, 52-56 George St, Manchester M1 4HF
www.k2karaoke.com
Bunny Jackson’s
Taking things just that little bit too far – as is always the case with Bunny’s, their karaoke isn’t just some drunken fool stood on their lonesome in front of a TV screen, no, this is BANDEOKE! Every Thursday, you get to go on stage and be a proper rock star, singing in front of the house band and flailing around like Ozzy after too many cider & vodkas. It’s a LOT of fun this!
Bunny Jacksons, 1 Jack Rosenthal St, Manchester M15 4RA
www.bunnyjacksons.co.uk
Orchid Lounge
The legendary Orchid Lounge is open until 4am at the weekends and you can always find some pissed up knob head singing Linkin Park pretty much all the way into the early hours. It’s a great, messy place – my mate once had a play wrestling match with a stranger in the toilets, then came out and absolutely destroyed some Wham. Perfect.
Orchid Lounge, 54 Portland St, Manchester M1 4QU
The Late Night Karaoke Dungeon at YES
You’ve already missed this month’s Late Night Karaoke Dungeon at YES but fear not – they’ll be back once again soon for some proper good tunes, sung by absolute legends all night. I say this because this place has been a particular favourite of mine recently – so if you go – you’ll definitely hear a few bangers from me.
YES, 38 Charles St, Manchester M1 7DB
www.yes-manchester.com
Vina
Located just off Portland Street, Vina is a fantastic den of drinking and singing which is open until 4am on most days. Drinks prices are reasonable and the crowd is usually loads of fun. I once did ‘Mysterious Girl’ in here and completely forgot about the rapping section towards the end. I was trying to impress a girl, but ended up looking a right tool. Some geezer did a Nickleback song after me though, so who’s the real idiot here?
Vina, 34 Charlotte St, City Centre, Manchester M1 4FD
www.vinakaraoke.co.uk
The Millstone
Surrounded by trendy gaffs where it’s starting to cost you close to 6 quid for a pint of lager, the Millstone is a shining beacon of reasonably priced drinks and great atmosphere in the NQ. With karaoke on most Thursday and Friday nights, the Millstone gets packed to the rafters. It’s a proper boozer with sound locals and a great karaoke MC Phil Mitchell look-a-like who won’t judge you if you end up singing Dire Straits at 2am.
The Millstone, 67 Thomas St, Manchester M4 1LQ
Lane 7
A colossal undertaking on the ground floor of the Great Northern Warehouse, Lane 7 is one of those places that has everything under one roof – kind of like the garden centre that you trudge around on a Sunday, except with more high-heels. Alongside the bowling and the darts and the ping pong and the pool and the cocktails and the Fat Hippo burgers, you’ll find a couple of well-decked out karaoke booths – perfect for bashing out a pitch perfect Bon Jovi on a Tuesday lunchtime.
Lane7, Unit 3, 235 Deansgate, Manchester M3 4EN
0161 510 0034
One Central, Altrincham
Open until the end of February is One Central’s fully heated Tipis, and once you’re inside – you can sing away to your heart’s content with tonnes of song options, alongside loads of food and drink from the One Central vendors. A word of warning though, the people of Altrincham will probably hear you singing as they walk past, so it might be an idea to stay away from the heavy metal. Actually no – you go for it!
One Central, Charis House, 1 Central Way, Altrincham WA14 1SB
Crazy Wendy’s
If you live anywhere near Didsbury and you’ve never been to Crazy Wendy’s then you need to put that pot of quinoa down and get yourself there ASAP. Hosted by Crazy Wendy herself, you can expect an evening of singing, cabaret and great Thai food and drink without leaving the comfort of your own chair. On the website Wendy says “I dress as Shirley Bassey, not Elvis because I tried being Elvis once and I think a Thai woman looks funny. It is the song that are important, the emotion, that I want to recreate.” – I suppose this gives you an idea as to what to expect.
Crazy Wendy’s, 210 Burton Rd, Manchester M20 2LW
www.crazywendy.co.uk
The BOX
Another rowdy bout of Bandeoke at Deansgate’s newest bar – BOX – every Thursday from 8:30pm. Your opportunity to be a real rock star and sing with a proper band, make sure you buy some leather trousers off of eBay (I got some for £7.68), get some eyeliner on (I recommend Benefit) and choose your song wisely. Just make sure you don’t get carried away and bite the head off of anything though – they’ll kick you out.
The BOX, 125 Deansgate, Manchester M3 2BY
www.theboxbar.co.uk
Anneyong Korean BBQ
This seemingly innocent Korean BBQ restaurant near St Ann’s Square is hiding a dark, shameful secret. If there’s a group of you and you want to try some of their absolutely brilliant BBQ dishes, which you cook yourself at your table I may add, then Anneyong is the place to be. Even better is that you can add to do Karaoke at the same time too – turning this place into a den of power ballads, sizzling pork and pina coladas.
Anneyong Korean Restaurant & Bar, 5-7 Chapel Walks, Manchester M2 1HN
0161 832 2491
The Gay Village
To be fair there’s always a load of Karaoke going on pretty much every night in the Village so a swift walk up and down Canal Street will usually uncover some Whitney Houston coming from the speakers. The main culprits are usually Churchill’s and New York New York. It’s always busy, it’s always bloody good fun, and it’s always a little bit messy so get down and get involved.
Churchill’s – 37 Chorlton St, Manchester M1 3HN
New York New York – 94 Bloom St, Manchester M1 3LY
