Tequila Karaoke

Thursday Karaoke is a rarity for me, but not from lack of choices. Since the stars aligned tonight, I figured I’d make a go of it. But my first three choices didn’t pan out — the Arcade Bar at Lakewood Theater wouldn’t be starting until 10, and both Stratos Greek Taverna and the Founder’s Grill downtown had discontinued their Karaoke nights. But there was one Thursday night Karaoke that I didn’t remember until I was already in Oak Cliff — a joint called Barbara’s Pavillion. I knew they had Thursday Karaoke, because Pegasus News had run a blurb about the Pajama Karaoke they put on for Christmas Night — I was planning to check it out, but I had a cold (not to mention the ice storm). So I headed over to the little joint, squeezed in between Jefferson and 12th streets, near Oak Cliff’s cool downtown and a a few blocks south of the Bishop Arts District.

It wasn’t easy to find. It’s just a narrow little space next to a law office. No flashing lights or neon sign, just a sign in the window that I recognized from the PegNews article. Apparently, it didn’t even used to have that — locals called it “OPEN”, because that was the only sign it had. Inside, it’s barely wide enough for a pool table in the front, a karaoke stage and well-stocked bar in the middle, and bathrooms (and I think a patio?) in the back. I grabbed the only open seat at the bar and ordered my usual Tequila Sunrise — which was very good.

The nice lady on the next barstool introduced me to the DJ. His name is Bill, I think — I’m awful with names, but the web site on his song books was billmarc.com. (Unfortunately, the site is down at the moment.) He’s got a small Karaoke setup, but a big song list. With the small group at Barbara’s, he was able to do song lists — tell him the songs you want to sing through the night and he’ll queue them all up at once. The sound system isn’t concert-quality, but Bill worked through the kinks... and the truth is, we Karaoke singers ain’t concert-quality ourselves, so it pretty well evens out.

By the time the Karaoke started, though, the lady next to me had left, and there was only one other female in the bar. That’s when I noticed that the between-song text on the monitor that I had originally read as “The *greatest* bar in Oak Cliff” actually said “The *gayest* bar in Oak Cliff”. Now, remember, I’m a big-time Karaoke newbie — until last November, I hadn’t even been *in* a bar more than a half dozen times in the 20+ years since I reached drinking age. When the other lady at the bar left, and it was just us guys, I realized that I’d reached another milestone... singing Karaoke for the first time in a gay bar.

After the jump: good times and high-school flashbacks

Of course, as anyone to the left of Pat Robertson should know, a straight guy in a gay bar isn’t really such a big deal. Barbara’s Pavillion isn’t some sort of meat market. Just like in the straight world, some places are casual and laid back, and that’s just what I found here — a place to go, hang out, have a few drinks, and relax. This place just happens to have an unusually high male-to-female ratio. I’d say it was like a locker room... except that all my locker-room experiences in high school were marked by fear, loathing, and occasional terror at the hands of guys with something to prove about their non-gayness. This was just the opposite — a place where anyone, gay *or* straight, can get away from the daily grind.

With the small crowd, I was able to try out some new songs that seem like possibilities for the contest (if it ever happens). And there was something about the atmosphere that told me I could take some chances, and sing some songs that I might not have sung in a while. First, to my happy surprise, the DJ had Roy Clark’s “Thank God and Greyhound”, so I picked that to start. It was as fun as the last time I sang it in the car — about three years ago, not long after I broke up for good from my wife of 20 years. The song starts out like it’s going to be slow and melancholy, but then breaks out in a raucous chorus. It’s too new to count as an “Oldie”, though — Wikipedia says it was released in 1970. Still worth considering in the “Country” category.

Just four or five songs later, I was up again. This time I did Kenny Rogers’ “Lady”, a song with some history for me. When I was picking a song to sing to try out for the Northern Oklahoma College Roustabouts, I had my mind set on another Kenny Rogers song, “Sweet Music Man”. The pianist didn’t have that song, so I picked “She Believes in Me” instead. But she told me, just by hearing my voice on the phone, that I should sing “Lady”. Did I listen? I was 18 years old and knew everything... OF COURSE I DIDN’T LISTEN. Well, 25 years later, I took her advice... and loved it. The song has wonderful dynamics, with soft spots and soaring crescendos, and it just felt great. I’m going to be terribly torn between “Lady” and “Dance Little Jean” — it may come down to which one is in the contest DJ’s songlist.

The small crowd was appreciative so far, singing along and having fun. So for the last song, I changed it up a bit. While looking for ‘80s, I kept coming back to a rather unlikely group — Wham! (exclamation point mandatory), the duo from which George Michael would become famous and the other guy... well, I don’t know what happened to him. Oddly, the group also has a part in the Northern Oklahoma College story — the Roustabouts are a song *and* dance troupe, and the dance tryouts involved learning a set of steps to go along with “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”. Searching for songs by Wham! showed the other two songs that were big for them in the ‘80s — “Careless Whisper” and one I’d forgotten, “Everything She Wants”. Of the three, “Everything” is the most intense, especially for someone a few years out of a very long and trying relationship. So that was my pick. It violated all the rules — I hadn’t heard the song for years, maybe decades, and I didn’t even know how it started. Classic recipe for Karaoke failure: pick a song because you like the chorus. But when the intro started and the words came on the screen, it was 1985 again. “Somebody tell me, whoa hoa hoa hoa, why I work so hard for you?” Even when the track turned out to be the extended version, I made the extra verse sound convincing — the look on the faces at the bar was “I forgot about that verse”. I’d want some more practice, but “Everything She Wants” is a clear contender for the ‘70s-‘80s contest song, even against “Born to Run”.

But that was it for my night at Barbara’s Pavillion. For one thing, I knew I needed to get to work in the morning... and that I’d *have* to write a blog entry about the visit. And despite the laid-back atmosphere, the joint was still lacking something... girls. I really enjoy listening to women singing Karaoke, and it’s just more fun being in the company of the fairer sex. You know what’s strange, though... back in the locker-room days, someone who didn’t like hanging out with the guys would have been branded “gay”. I guess it truly is a mixed-up, jumbled-up, shook-up world... ‘cept for Barbara’s.

Tags: Barbara’s Pavillion, Oak Cliff