Karaoke bars are on the rise. Why go to a concert when you can hear the screech of your own voice blasting through a microphone? Why go to a club when you can dance your heart out to the sound of your friend butchering every note of “Shallow”? One thing is for sure: Karaoke bars are in, and everything else is out. Here are The Tribune’s ratings of some karaoke bars around campus.
Author: Agatha Ryan, Contributor
Address: 1241 Rue St-Hubert
Distance from campus: 30-minute walk, 13-minute metro ride
Au Vieux St-Hubert is the definition of a genuine karaoke bar, with a jukebox and a hilarious emcee. The bar’s selection of songs isn’t large, but that adds to the authenticity, as Au Vieux St Hubert takes you beyond the world of YouTube Karaoke. The crowd is incredibly fun and supportive, singing along and clapping even if you miss every note. With no private rooms, everyone sings along together, and the drinks are decently priced. On the Saturday night I attended, the crowd was a mixture of students from McGill and Université du Québec à Montréal, a bachelorette party, some solo singers, and other groups of friends. By the end of the night, after the emcee had engaged us all in a collective rendition of Pitbull’s “Fireball,” everyone was dancing to one another’s songs.
There is a certain vulnerability that you allow yourself to give in to the second you enter a karaoke bar, an open mindset that you must adopt. Sometimes that is anxiety-inducing, but everyone there leaned into the fear and the fun of it all, and we all fell into karaoke’s welcoming spirit.
Rating: 9/10
Author: Naomi Gupta, Contributor
Address: 1695 Boulevard De Maisonneuve Ouest
Distance from campus: 15-minute walk, 5-minute metro ride
Located a few kilometres away from campus, Le Mic Karaoke Lounge hosts groups of anywhere between a couple of people to 20 or 30 guests. I joined 15 of my friends there last February, where we rented a private room for the reasonable cost of $25 an hour. Although their private rooms appeared well-equipped, various pieces of karaoke equipment were, in fact, malfunctioning—such as one of the two karaoke microphones provided. Le Mic’s catalogue was fairly limited, which meant that we either had to settle for a handful of mediocre pop songs released between 2016 and 2019 or resort to good old YouTube Karaoke—where performances were punctuated by the occasional awkward advertisement.
The service was satisfying; the staff were polite, efficient, and most importantly, didn’t rush to kick their clients out as soon as their time was up. I wouldn’t say that this place offers you significant bang for your buck, but it certainly does the job if you’re looking for a fun night out with friends at a close and accessible location.
Rating: 6/10
Author: Abby McCormick, Student Life Editor
Address: 2110 Crescent Street
Distance from campus: 10-minute walk, 6-minute metro ride
Bar K Karaoke offers private rooms for groups of up to 16 people. Each room comes equipped with sofas, two TV screens, and two microphones. You can choose from thousands of songs in many different languages, including English, French, Vietnamese, and Russian. The bar’s English song list is a whopping 117 pages! Bar K also offers a wide selection of beverages and snacks for purchase.
Since this bar is made up of private rooms, its ambiance is really what you make of it. If you go with a group of friends who are ready to sing judgment-free, it might just be one of your best nights out yet. However, if you aren’t ready to let loose, this bar might fall flat.
Bar K’s room rental price is a bit steep, especially for students, with a four-person room costing $35 per hour. But, if you’re looking to splurge every so often, this bar’s vast array of songs and warm service have made it a personal favourite.
Rating: 8/10
