Karaoke at The Gladstone

It's 3 in the morning and my jaw is sore.

Stop giggling you pervs.

I was smiling most of the night. After work I was jonesing for a beer and a laugh, seeing as I how I wasn't working the next day. So I hit karaoke night at the Gladstone Hotel on Queen Street.

Lo and behold, I was expecting a beer, but the amount of laughter and cheers were unexpected, for I have witnessed karaoke at the newly reenovated Gladstone Hotel. I was just looking for a beer and some atmosphere, but I can't see how you can't have funsitting in on a karoake session at The Gladstone Hotel on Queen (unless you were Lesley's cousin from Calgary, who decided to balance a mike stand on his hand, which got him promptly booted and made his cousin Lesley leave before I got her digits. Thanks dude. By the way Lesley, your cousin's friend totally looked like Brian from My So-Called Life.)

The atmosphere of the bar is kind and communal, everyone is there to have a good time, and every performance, good or bad, was a lot of fun, especially when they incorporated some choreography. It's a social crowd; I made some new friends tonight. (Hi Lesley from Ryerson, Brendan and Jeanette. Word.) The selection of songs to sing is pretty wide (from Lauren Hill to Hank Williams, with plenty of 80s hair metal and reggae in between). I myself did not not rock the mike, but next time one of you kind readers is heading down, you call me and just try and stop me form hitting the stage. There was plenty of Johnny Cash to keep me on stage for a couple of tunes. If you've ever seen The Wedding Singer, you can go and BE THE WEDDING SINGER (seriously, they had "Love Stinks").

There was plenty of 80s nostalgia like WHAM and Journey, and hip-hop and R & B. Lots of Aretha Franklin and Elvis. The performers may not be Canadian Idols, but I'll be damned if they won't surprise you. Some local guy in a mullet totally ruled Meatloaf's "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad". And the host, Peter Styles, was fun and encouraging, and not easily rattled by all the drunken shenangians (see pervious reference to Lesley's cousin and the mike stand.)

If you want to book a session, let me know and we'll make a night at the Gladstone.


Karaoke Night @ The Gladstone Hotel
1214 Queen Street West, Toronto
Thursday thru Saturday evenings

Voted "best Karaoke bar" by NOW Magazine for 4 years running.
Come early for the best seats.
Karaoke at The Gladstone

Note to self: check for Joy Division's"Love Will Tear Us Apart".